Joshua Review Continued

We will continue to look at some things learned from Joshua.  The first thing is that we must rely on God to be behind whatever we are blessed with in this life.  The people of Israel did not just see a particular area and claim it for their own, but they relied on God to distribute the land.  Had they just claimed what they wanted, they could have been fighting each other over a particular area.  We today as followers of Christ must ask not for what we may want but for God's will to be done in our life.  We also saw that in some of the areas that the people of Israel did not destroy all the other people living there.  In one case, they were tricked into making a covenant, and in at least a few others it was stated that they were unable to drive them out.  We cannot afford to compromise with the people of this world, but must drive all ungodly attitudes out of our lives.  God had given them the ability to do this, and He gives us that same ability today.  We are told that when the people of Israel were faithful to God that they were victorious and that God gave them the land and an ability to live at peace.  When we are living by faith in Christ, we should be at peace in our lives.  God has already given us our heavenly home, so the question then becomes how content we will be in this life.  We also see that those who are God's leaders die.  The book of Joshua began after the death of Moses and basically concluded with the death of Joshua.  We need to realize that the earthly leaders of the church today are going to die, but that we need to look to God for the next leader.  Sometimes, they don't die but simply move to another place to serve, but God is still in charge.  Just as the people in that day had to accept Joshua as Moses' replacement, we today must accept new leaders when they come.  Finally, we see that at times there can be misunderstandings even about worshipping God, but if they occur, we need to get the facts under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  When we do, we like the people on the one side of the Jordan may find that the people on the other side really aren't being disobedient to God.  Just because we do not all worship exactly the same way does not mean that the way that others worship is wrong.  I do believe that we have a responsibility, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, to make sure that nothing that is not consistent with God's word is done in His name though.  Next, we will look at the book of Judges.