Knowing God - He Rolls Away Reproach

Josh 5:9a

                                                               

 And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you…

The Lord takes Away Our Reproach

Here we learn of a wonderful trait of our God.  He rolls away our reproach.  Reproach is another word for shame or disgrace.  Israel was treated like slaves by Egypt and they had been beaten down.  It had been many years since God’s people had left Egypt but now was the day that the Lord was to roll this shame away.  The term ‘rolled away’ is used in other places of scripture to describe moving heavy stones.  Shame and disgrace are heavy stones in our lives.  We can get flashbacks about our choices and even sins committed against us that seem too weighty to ever be removed.  Our God rolls this shame away.  When the women went to the tomb they questioned among themselves,

“Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?” (Mark 16:3)

  Who shall roll away the stone from the sepulcher of our past? Does your past seem overwhelming to you? The Lord can roll this weight away.  When the ladies arrived at the tomb

“….they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. “ (Mark 16:4).

Maybe you are anticipating the weight of your shame to be there. 

The Lord can roll this weighty burden away.  He is the one who, this day, can roll away the reproach of your Egypt.

Proverbs - God Rewards

Proverbs 26:10

The great God that formed all things both

rewardeth the fool, and rewardeth transgressors.

God formed everything so everything belongs to God.  He is the One who determines the law of sowing and reaping.  He determines what happens when we choose wisdom or foolishness and He has been quite generous in His instructions and warnings.  He rewards the fool and rewards the transgressor.  A transgressor is a sinner who violates the boundaries the Lord has clearly set and a fool is one who recklessly lives too close to those boundaries.  Both of these people will see direct results from their choices.  We cannot live either of these lives and not expect to have the results.  God is not mocked.  Whatever a man plants, that he will reap.  We must remember this when faced with the temptation to live foolishly or sinfully.  Our great God who formed all things rewards the fool and the transgressor.

Knowing God - The Lord Moves Upon Dark Places

Gen 1:2

 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

The Lord Moves Upon Empty Places

The earth was already created here and we learn that it wasn’t filled with life or order.  The Spirit of God moved upon the darkness of the deep waters.  The Spirit of God moves when there is darkness and lack of life.  The darkness didn’t ask for the Lord to move upon it and yet the Spirit of God moved upon it.  Is there darkness in areas of your life? Do you sense an emptiness and lack of creativity?  Is there an existence you have slipped into that seems without form and void? The Spirit of God is moving and desires to speak life, order and color into your life.  Sense His presence.  Invite the Holy Spirit to move upon your life and begin to make something good out of things that seem lifeless and empty.

Proverbs - Parables in Fools' Mouths

Proverbs 26:9

As a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard, so is a parable in the mouth of fools.

When someone is seriously intoxicated, they don’t necessarily feel certain pain.  A drunken person can have a thorn in their hand and not even notice it.  When a message intended to give instruction is sent in the mouth of a fool, people won’t even notice the potency or strength in the message.  This is why it is very important that we live as wise women.   When we are living wisely we can give our children and those around us truth and it will be given with strength and power.   The truth we share will be backed up by lives that are built upon that truth.  We won’t be foolish women trying to give parables and instruction that seem pointless and innocuous to our listeners.  As we continue learning the difference between foolish and wise living in the book of Proverbs we will be better equipped to speak the truth and live the truth. The Lord tells us in Hebrews 13:7-8, “Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you, considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.”  The Lord considers the conduct of the messenger and equates the effectiveness of the truth with the example.  As we consider this warning, it should help us not only open our mouths with wisdom but build our lives with it.

Knowing God - The Lord is a Living God!

Josh 3:10

And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail

 drive out from before you

the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites,

 and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.

The Lord is a Living God

                                                                              

God is a living God.  A God who doesn’t just exist – but lives!  How will we know that this living God is among us?  By the fact that He will WITHOUT FAIL drive out from among us those enemies in our lives that threaten us and posses areas of our lives that He has given to us to possess.  The children of Israel were told to go in and drive out these enemies.  This was not to be done in their own strength.  The Lord would go before them – but they needed to proceed in conquering trusting the Lord to drive them out.  What sort of Canaanites are in your life?  What habits, attitudes, fears or sins are occupying a life that has been purchased by the blood of Christ?  Turn and face them.  Move towards them with the confidence that God is among you and, without fail, will drive these things out from before you.  He wants you to know that He is the living God that knows how to make our lives worth living.

Proverbs - Honoring a Fool!

Proverbs 26:8

As he that bindeth a stone in a sling, so is he that giveth honour to a fool.

Giving honor to someone who is doing something foolish according to God’s standards is like binding a stone in a sling.  You are setting up a possible occasion of wounding and offense.  We don’t want to give ammunition to the enemy to hurl unnecessary pain and affliction upon other people.  One way to avoid this is by not giving honor to a fool.  We don’t praise foolish decisions, we don’t look up to a foolish woman and we certainly don’t espouse foolish responses as ‘clever’ or ‘quick’.  We must understand foolishness and regard it as something we don’t want to be nor regard in any sort of honorable way.  We must grow in our discretion and recognize foolishness by the guidelines of the Word of God in order to avoid this great mistake.

Knowing God - The Lord Will Break Our Pride

Lev 26:19

 And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass:

The Lord Will Break Our Pride

The Lord is personally involved in the transformation of our personalities.  We are His people and He is our Father.  If we experience discipline from our Father it means that He loves us and desires to see us become all that Christ died and rose for us to become.  If we resist the Lord, He will break the pride of our power.  Our power is unreliable and often hurts and damages ourselves and those around us.  It is His power that we need and His authority we must put ourselves safely under.  The weightiness we feel sometimes might really be the exalting of ourselves to positions the Lord never intended us to walk in.  Perhaps your heavens feel like iron and the earth feels cold as brass.  Humble yourselves under His mighty hand.  He will break the pride of your power that you might experience His perfect power and your environment becomes safe and warm.