Live the Word Bible Studies

Purpose Study Bible 235: Fruit

Joshua and his army continued to go through the Land, defeating and dispossessing the leaders and inhabitants who were there:

These are the kings of the land whom the Israelites had defeated and whose territory they took over east of the Jordan, from the Arnon Gorge to Mount Hermon, including all the eastern side of the Arabah ... thirty-one kings in all (Joshua 12:1, 24).

The writer paused the historical narrative to give an account of the kings who had been defeated, naming each king by name and then totaling the list. This list represented the fruit of their labors and the tangible evidence of God's helping presence.

And now we are commanded to also bear fruit in our promised land as Jesus taught us to do: "Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father" (John 14:12) and "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you" (John 15:16).

When you stop and think about it, fruit is always measurable: a pound, bushel, half-bushel, peck, pint, cluster, or bunch. So when Jesus tells you to bear fruit, you should be able to count it so you know how much it "weighs" or how numerous it is. And Jesus expects you to bear fruit in increasing measure because the Spirit is in you to help you produce not just internal fruit, but also external fruit for the Kingdom that will glorify God.

What and where's your fruit? Is it important to you that you bear it? Can you describe it? How are you measuring it? Do you want more? Everyone's fruit varies because everyone has different gifts and is working in a different part of God's vineyard. Spiritual fruit can be difficult to measure but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to measure. Give some thought to this matter and then determine to be more mindful of your need to measure your fruit and hopefully see it increase over time.

Purpose Study Bible 234: A Lot With A Little

@2016, Ralph F. Wilson, [email protected]

Our God is an efficient God. He gets things done with a minimum of effort when He is working with cooperative and obedient subjects, and Joshua and his army were just that. After their initial foray into the Promised Land, we read this simple summary:

All these kings and their lands Joshua conquered in one campaign, because the Lord, the God of Israel, fought for Israel (Joshua 10:42).

God was fighting for Israel but Israel still had to fight, if that makes sense. They had to exert effort and invest their time, but when they did, God "fought for Israel" and they achieved a lot in a little time. This is important for you to understand. Why? Because you've often not done something because you thought, I don't have the time. But if God is with you, He can empower and strengthen you to do more with less—time, energy, money, or whatever other resource is needed to get the job done.

God can stop the sun, provide through animals like ravens or fish, calm raging seas, or confuse those who oppose you. He can defeat superior forces aligned against you, part the waters, or multiply a few rations into a feast. Those are just some of the things He can do for you, but you have to do your part. You have to trust Him and act, rather than waiting for Him to move before you do.

What have you been saying you will do "one day"? What have you been convinced you can't do because you don't have something instead of acting, believing God would provide that something? What have you said you don't have time to do but could start, trusting that God could stretch the time you have?

Joshua did a lot in a short period of time and that was only the beginning of their exploits in their new homeland. Let God help you to do more too and when you do, it will become not just a special event but a way of life when you see God move on your behalf time and time again.

Purpose Study Bible 233: For How Long?

Painting by James Jacques Joseph Tissot (French, 1836-1902) and followers

God had given the people the Land, but they still had to fight for the right to live in what God had given them. After the miracle of the sun and moon standing still, there was still plenty of work to do before they could rest:

When they had brought these kings to Joshua, he summoned all the men of Israel and said to the army commanders who had come with him, “Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So they came forward and placed their feet on their necks. Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous. This is what the Lord will do to all the enemies you are going to fight" (Joshua 10:24-25).

Like Joshua's army, you also have a lot of work ahead of you in order to come into and enjoy all that God has promised you. Through it all, God is teaching you how to stand in the authority of your purpose and the promises that He will answer your prayers and give you the victory. He has given you a purpose but now you have to confront your enemies and stand on their neck, to speak, addressing and overcoming behaviors motivated by fear and anger and selfishness.

And when you start the battle against them, it seems like it will never end, because more enemies keep showing up. Someone once said, "new levels, new devils." Yet what is the word of the Lord to you? It's "do not be afraid; do not be discouraged; be strong and courageous." For how long? For as long as it takes to gain the victory over doubt, condemnation, and a poverty mentality.

Are you growing weary of what seems like a constant battle? Do you question whether it is worth all the struggle to come into what God has for you? It's no problem to answer yes to those questions, but it is a problem if you shrink back from doing what you must to come into your own:

So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For, “In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.” And, “But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back" (Hebrews 10:35-38).

Be encouraged as you read this that God is teaching and transforming you in the midst of your battles. One day, you'll have a testimony and victories that will enable you to help others while also empowering you to live in the Promised Land of purpose that God is giving you.

Purpose Study Bible 232: More Time

Joshua and his men marched all night and went into battle the next day, surprising their enemies when they attacked as we read last week. They had so much to do and the battle was going so well in their favor that Joshua prayed this prayer:

On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel: “Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.” So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a human being. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel! (Joshua 10:12-14).

What a remarkable event this was! The men had marched all night, fought all day, and the sun and moon held still in their courses so the army could fight another whole day and night. According to my math, Joshua and his men marched or fought for 72 hours without rest. God gave them the time and energy they needed to do the job He had given them to do. In essence, they had faith for time and God gave it to them along with a great victory.

Later Paul wrote, "So then, be careful how you walk, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:15-16, NASB, emphasis added). Are you making the most of your time? Are you believing the Lord for more time, which is simply the time you need to get the most important things done? Are trusting God to help you require less time to do more? Do you see that along with time, God can give you supernaturally natural energy and wisdom to get any job done, no matter how big or overwhelming?

God can increase what seems to be a little time into all the time you need to do His will as you carry out your purpose and express your creativity. As you learn to have faith for money, career, and ministry, God wants you also to have faith for time and strength. Remember, you are not alone, for God is working right there with you.

Purpose Study Bible 231: Sleepless Nights

Joshua continued to lead the people through the Land, fighting against and defeating the inhabitants. When a number of local kings joined together to defeat the Jews, we read how Joshua responded:

So Joshua marched up from Gilgal with his entire army, including all the best fighting men. The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you.” After an all-night march from Gilgal, Joshua took them by surprise (Joshua 10:7-9).

God assured Joshua that the victory was theirs, but notice what he and his army had to do. They had to march all night and then they had to fight all day! There were no shortcuts to their victory in this instance. They had to lose some sleep and then go right into battle, relying not on their own strength but on God's.

We later read that both Jesus and Paul "lost sleep" as they carried out their purpose:

One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles (Luke 6:12-13).

I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked (2 Corinthians 11:27).

Is there anything so important to you that you are willing to sacrifice sleep to get it done? Do you then trust God that you will have the energy you need to carry out your duties while getting less sleep than you thought you needed? Notice that Jesus spent the night in prayer before He selected the workers who would remain closest to Him throughout His ministry. He did that to ensure that He knew the men He should select. Just like Jesus and Joshua, you also should be willing to seek God to see that your purpose and creativity are all that God had in mind for them to be so God can give you the victory in all you do.

Purpose Study Bible 230: Your Latent Creativity

You are a creative masterpiece made by God, but you may think that you aren't creative. Since you are made in His image, however, you are a creative being too. Let's talk about one aspect of your creativity that you may not have considered. In Joshua, we read,

There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua wrote on stones a copy of the law of Moses (Joshua 8:32).

Joshua knew how to write and in all probability, so do you. We know he could write because he wrote the Law on the stones. If someone doesn't know how to write, it's not that they don't have the ability. It's just that they have never been taught. And when they are taught the rules that everyone learns, they will then write in a style that is unique to them, so much so that an expert could examine samples of their writing and determine if they wrote something or not. The point is that your handwriting is an example of a latent creativity that has been given to everyone.

And another lesson is that you can't write until you've been taught. Once taught, you produce something that is unique to who God made you to be. This begs the question: What other latent creativity do you have that you aren't aware of? If you can be taught to write, can you learn to paint, write, sculpt, learn a new language, or start a business? The answer is yes, you can. How would you know what you need to be taught about some creative expression? You would know by paying attention to what interests you. It's what you've said over the years, "I'd like to take ceramics classes, or creative writing courses, or earn a business degree, or learn to speak French, or take piano lessons."

If you have said those or similar things, now is the time to act. This is the day that the Lord has made, so devise a plan for you so you can be exposed to something new. You won't know if you have the latent ability to do it until you are instructed and then practice, but just like the ability to write, there are other creative skills in you just waiting to be activated. The time now is to find out what they are, and then to develop your own style, just like you would your handwriting. And then you will have a creative expression that is yours to do with what you would like for the rest of your life.

Purpose Study Bible 229: Busy Builders

After the people entered the Land, we see again this week that they were busy building memorials and altars:

Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses—an altar of uncut stones, on which no iron tool had been used. On it they offered to the Lord burnt offerings and sacrificed fellowship offerings. (Joshua 8:30-31).

They had already built memorials to God's miracle as they crossed the Jordan, to their disobedience at the city of Ai, and their subsequent victory there after their obedience. This time they were putting down "worship roots" by building an altar as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had done in the Land centuries before the people's return.

Notice how they where to build the altar. They were only to use "uncut stones on which no iron tool had been used." Why was that? It was so the people would not get the sense that they were building God an altar for His benefit. They weren't to refine, decorate, adorn it according to their taste. This altar was to be one of and for His work, using the stones just as God had created them to build something for their benefit. It was on that altar that they were to worship him with "burnt and fellowship offerings."

The priests were not to eat a burnt offering but it was to be totally consumed by fire. Burnt offerings on that altar were a sacrifice for God and God alone to signify that what they had accomplished by entering the Land was for God's purposes and not their own. However, the fellowship offerings were sacrifices of thanksgiving that the people and the priests ate with joy and gladness.

Are you doing what you do for God as you express your purpose and creativity? Are you surrendering and committing your time and effort to Him? You have a purpose because God has something He wants to accomplish through you. It is for Him and because of Him. You will bless and benefit others but that's not the primary reason you function in creative purpose. You do so because it is God's will, nothing more or less. You are to be a busy builder but always building for the right reason, which is to do the work God has assigned that only you can do.

Purpose Study Bible 228: Victory

This week, we look at another memorial the people erected to commemorate an event as they entered the Land. It is rather gruesome to modern readers, but as we learned last week, it is there for our instruction as Paul taught us in Romans 15:4: "For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope."

So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolate place to this day. He impaled the body of the king of Ai on a pole and left it there until evening. At sunset, Joshua ordered them to take the body from the pole and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And they raised a large pile of rocks over it, which remains to this day (Joshua 8:28-29).

When Israel first approached the city of Ai, one of their own had disobeyed the Lord, causing them to lose their initial skirmish with the inhabitants. After Joshua addressed their failure, they obeyed the Lord and He gave them the victory. And they erected a sobering memorial to what happened there. This story reminds us that we're not involved in a game when we come into the Kingdom of God. Your purpose and creativity, your goals and time are not to be treated casually, as a hobby or something you will get around to fulfilling and utilizing "one day."

Are you obeying the "voice of the Lord" as you follow your joy and interests to be true to who He made you to be? Are you growing and learning, building on your past successes (and failures) to become more useful in God's hands? What more can you to do to overcome and put to death those things that are hindering your progress in the things of God?

God has put you where you are to succeed and bear fruit, and anything less is unacceptable to Him—and it should be to you as well. As you gain confidence and grow in the Lord, you are to erect memorials of your own, ways for you to remember and draw strength from your victories of the past—so you can go from glory to glory and be more than a conqueror in Christ.

Purpose Study Bible 227: Disobedience

This week and next, we will look at two memorials that the Lord had the people erect after they entered the Land. The first was to commemorate their defeat at Ai due to the sin of a man named Achan. We read the bizarre and seemingly harsh sentence carried out against him for his failure to obey the Lord:

Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them. Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from his fierce anger. Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achor ever since (Joshua 7:25-26).

This can be a difficult story to grasp for the sentence seems excessive. The only way to approach it is to remember what Paul wrote centuries later: "For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope" (Romans 15:4). Achan's story teaches us that there are serious consequences from disobedience for ourselves and others, and not just for wrong things that we do, but for the good things we could have done but didn't.

Are you being obedient to your purpose? Are you diligent to express your creativity? Are you setting faith goals that will help drive your fruitfulness in Him? Are you making the most of the time you have? To not do any of those things has serious implications, for you didn't do what you could have done to help or touch those who would have benefited from your presence or purpose. It's time to reflect on what you can learn from failing to do God's will until next week when we will look at a memorial Israel built to commemorate a time when they obeyed the Lord.

Purpose Study Bible 226: Don't Forget About Holiness

The Israelites sent out a raiding party to take care of a small number of enemies, but were soundly routed and retreated. Joshua was stunned by this defeat and sought the Lord for the reason, to which the Lord responded,

“Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction" (Joshua 7:10-12).

In this series, we talk a lot about purpose, creativity, and faith, but we can't neglect the fact that everything we talk about is based on holiness, which simply means being obedient to God's commands in regards to money, relationships, and matters of worship. And what's more, in this instance it was only one man's family who was guilty of the things the Lord identified as the source of Israel's defeat.

While you seek God's will for your life, are you paying attention to the ethical issues as well? For example, do you put in a full day's work even if you are self-employed? Do you pay your employees well and in a timely manner or submit to your leadership if employed? Are you behaving righteously in all your relationships? Are you truthful with others? Care for your family? These and many other of God's basic moral requirements must be obeyed if you want to have success in the areas of life that this study examines. Simply put, don't forget about holiness!