Thank goodness I am not God!

This past week we studied Joshua and Judges and while going through it I realized that if I were God I would have ended Israel's run long before their exile. God's grace and patience is amazing.

Joshua is such an amazing story, it really shows how great of a leader Joshua is. He is an example of Godly leadership. While going through the book you can see that he is a man of God because he is constantly pointing people towards God especially in the last section. He is also humble because he is willing to obey, admit that he is wrong and he is also willing to ask for forgiveness when he is in the wrong and even when he is not but someone else is. Joshua is an amazing read and I would highly suggest it to everyone. It really shows that God is faithful and gives what He promises.

And then their is Judges. To be honest Judges made me depressed. In just a generation the Israelites had strayed very far away from the Lord. Again and again they rebelled against God but to see God's reaction is absolutely amazing. The amount of love that He shows towards the Israelites is hard to imagine because if I were God I would have left the Israelites. Judges is a great book if you really want to see God's character. Again and again He comes to their rescue even when they rebel, and don't turn from their sin, He still loves them and rescues them. The amount of patience that Judges shows God has is unfathomable.

This coming week we will be doing Ruth and Samuel so I'm excited to see the redemption process move forward. Thank you for reading.

Nothing but Bible

As you may know by now I have started the Chronological School of Biblical Studies (CSBS). And let me tell you that it has been a ride so far!

It was difficult to adjust to being a student again but between the hard work and God's grace I've really enjoyed the books studied so far and believe that I've recieved some good revelation from them.

So far we've studied Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. We are currently studing Dueteronomy.

Now I could go into detail on what I learned from each book but I really don't think I could put it into words or type that much. So I'll just tell you some key points.

As you may know the first 5 books of the Bible are traditionally believed to have been written by Moses and the last 4 of them have to do with the exodus from Egypt and the journey to the Promised Land. One thing that stood out to me was the amount of effort and planning that God put into making Abraham and Israel into a nation. He gave them everything from descendants, freedom, sturcture, laws, and land. God had a plan for Israel and I firmly believe that He has a plan for everyone else as well. Which makes me wonder how much faith do I have in God providing what is needed to accomplish what I think His plan is for me. He provided everything, from one man, God created more than one nation. So I need to trust that God can accomplish His goals even without my help because He certainly didn't have Abraham's after he died!

Something else really struck me as we have been going through the exodus. The saying "it's about the journey and not the destination" really fits for the Israelites wandering through the wilderness. It was the journey that built the relationship with God which prepared them for the Promised Land. I often look at the promises that God has for me and focus on them when it's the journey that I need to look at and learn from in order to walk out the promises the God has for me.

This school is a journey for me and I need to have a balance of focusing on the present and learning from it while being encouraged by looking ahead at what God has promised.