JOSHUA 1: 7-9...
7+++Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the Law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may achieve success wherever you go.
8+++This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will achieve success.
9+++Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be terrified nor dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
Joshua is to make the law of God his rule. He is charged to meditate therein day and night, that he might understand it. Whatever affairs of this world we have to mind, we must not neglect the one thing needful. All his orders to the people, and his judgments, must be according to the law of God. Joshua must himself be under command; no man's dignity or dominion sets him above the law of God. He is to encourage himself with the promise and presence of God. Let not the sense of thine own infirmities dishearten thee; God is all-sufficient. I have commanded, called, and commissioned thee to do it, and will be sure to bear thee out in it. When we are in the way of duty, we have reason to be strong and very bold. Our Lord Jesus, as Joshua here, was borne up under his sufferings by a regard to the will of God, and the commandment from his Father.
There is NO separation to be had in those of FAITH from THE LORD *GOD*, therefore HIS WILL IS the binding denominator in one's relationship with HIM, which means FAITHFULNESS UNTO HIS WORD, HIS WILL, HIS WAYS! We might not be wholly able to be constantly, or consistently FAITHFUL, yet we TRY to be, and put it's importance into proper perspective, KNOWING such will please HIM, and will lead us always towards HIM. Our role is to SERVE HIM, then others, and this all is done in LOVE which IS THE COMMANDMENT which will KEEP us ON THE PATH OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, even as we learn, trip, and stumble as we go...
CHRIST JESUS IS our EXEMPLAR of FAITHFULNESS, and it IS HIM that we OUGHT to model ourselves after, AT LEAST in the best of our understanding, and capacity AS those of FAITH! HE SHOWED us HOW to navigate the world REMAINING FAITHFUL UNTO *GOD* THE FATHER; NEVER being swayed, or influenced, instead more convinced of our NEED FOR HIM! YAH, we have our work cut out for us, BUT we are NOT ALONE; HE IS WITH us, and IS FAITHFUL, even when we are not! HE KNOWS FIRSTHAND what we endure, and WHY we are assaulted by the world, and its ways...
In Christianity, faith causes change as it seeks a greater understanding of God. Faith is not only fideism or simple obedience to a set of rules or statements. Before Christians have faith, they must understand in whom and in what they have faith. Without understanding, there cannot be true faith, and that understanding is built on the foundation of the community of believers, the scriptures and traditions and on the personal experiences of the believer. In English translations of the New Testament, the word "faith" generally corresponds to the Greek noun πίστις (pistis) or to the Greek verb πιστεύω (pisteuo), meaning "to trust, to have confidence, faithfulness, to be reliable, to assure".
The renewed man acts upon new principles, by new rules, with new ends, and in new company. The believer is created anew; his heart is not merely set right, but a new heart is given him. He is the workmanship of God, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Though the same as a man, he is changed in his character and conduct. These words must and do mean more than an outward reformation. The man who formerly saw no beauty in the Saviour that he should desire him, now loves him above all things. The heart of the unregenerate is filled with enmity against God, and God is justly offended with him. Yet there may be reconciliation. Our offended God has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ.
By the inspiration of God, the Scriptures were written, which are the word of reconciliation; showing that peace has been made by the cross, and how we may be interested therein. Though God cannot lose by the quarrel, nor gain by the peace, yet he beseeches sinners to lay aside their enmity, and accept the salvation he offers. Christ knew no sin. He was made Sin; not a sinner, but Sin, a Sin-offering, a Sacrifice for sin. The end and design of all this was, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, might be justified freely by the grace of God through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. Can any lose, labour, or suffer too much for Him, who gave his beloved Son to be the Sacrifice for their sins, that they might be made the righteousness of God in him?
This 'newness' is thus reiterated; ROMANS 6:4: We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life.
Baptism teaches the necessity of dying to sin, and being as it were buried from all ungodly and unholy pursuits, and of rising to walk with God in newness of life. Unholy professors may have had the outward sign of a death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteousness, but they never passed from the family of Satan to that of God. The corrupt nature, called the old man, because derived from our first father Adam, is crucified with Christ, in every true believer, by the grace derived from the cross. It is weakened and in a dying state, though it yet struggles for life, and even for victory. But the whole body of sin, whatever is not according to the holy law of God, must be done away, so that the believer may no more be the slave of sin, but live to God, and find happiness in his service.
Here we see a problem, as many people were ceremoniously baptized as Children, but were not taught THE WAY, nor of the GLORY of this ritual, nor their inclusion in THE LORD, and so, numbers are baptized, yet, are NOT LIVING IN HIM! And because of the worldly ways in which we exist, it is common to accept baptism without ever recognizing duties, or responsibilities of such a BLESSED state. THIS IS how we have gone FAR from THE LORD, FAITH, and FAITHFULNESS, it really is...
FAITH is to ultimately be so strong as to be unshakable, and FAITHFULNESS so TRUE as to be unaffected by the world, and its ways, instead bound by THE LORD *GOD*, and HIS WILL. Let us ever seek HIM, LOVE, TRUTH, and to REFLECT HIM HONESTLY, for in doing so, we are indeed ONE WITH HIM, and HIS PLAN to SAVE others...
LWINSOR © 2021
BIBLICAL, and/or other references marked BOLDLY IN COLOURS
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