Rahab’s story beautifully illustrates how someone comes to a “saving” faith in the Lord. My understanding of how a person comes to be saved is this: (1) Like Rahab, we come to a sense of fear, a reverence for God, repentance, and our need for Him. (2) We confess or acknowledge Him as the one true God. Rahab did this when she said, “The Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and earth below.” Joshua 2:11. And (3) We follow our confession with an act of trust in […]
God delights in using all kinds of people to do His work. The only qualification for God to use us is our faith in Him; will we trust Him to keep His promises? “Faith is the conviction that God will do what He has promised,” is how Jack Countryman puts it in one of his devotional books.* Rahab was likely the owner of an inn in Jericho, and is identified in Joshua 2:1 as a harlot, a prostitute. As we saw in last week’s blog, God saw something in her […]
One of the intriguing things about studying the Bible is that you sometimes have to “dig” a little deeper to understand what the Lord is trying to tell us. God likes to challenge us to think, to imagine what it might have been like to be “in the shoes” of those originally receiving His message. As we saw in last week’s post, “three” days carried a symbolic message, as well as a literal one. https://www.cosdavis.com/three-days-two-spies-and-one-prostitute/. Now, let’s think about the two spies who become involved in this adventure. Joshua 2:1 (a) […]
I have been amazed at the twists and turns of God’s redemption story, haven’t you? When things went wrong in Eden, God made a way to restore our fellowship with Him. When God decided to destroy evil mankind, He had Noah and his family build an arc and escape the judgmental flood. Later, God called an elderly man, Abraham, to become the father of the nation through which our Savior would enter the world. To continue the Israeli bloodline, He blessed Abraham (100) and Sarah (90) with Isaac. Isaac’s grandson, […]
God seems to delight in giving us, or allowing things to happen, that only He can overcome. Perhaps you are facing a difficult issue and know the ritght thing to do, but shrink back from doing it because you know it’s too hard for you. And perhaps you’re correct; it is too hard for you-alone. Life is difficult, and we face all kinds of challenges in our families, finances, health, and work. God knows all this. And He knows you need help in making the best of the situation you […]
When I was a young child, it seemed Christmas would take much longer to get here than it does now. Christmas was a magical time for me and my younger brother, Carl. We often had a part in the Christmas pageant in the country church where we grew up. Santa made his appearance, and each child received a bag of fruit, nuts, and candy. The cedar Christmas tree, glowing with red, green, white, and blue lights, sheltered the pile of gifts that would be exchanged. The church was abuzz with […]
“Now it came about after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying, ‘Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel.’” Joshua 1:1-2. Moses has died, but God’s promise to Israel is alive, entrusted to the leadership of a man named Joshua. Joshua, what do you know about him? What comes to mind when you […]
Today, we resume our thinking about Moses’ legacy. Last week’s blog focused on why he was considered the greatest Old Testament prophet. https://www.cosdavis.com/moses-legacy/ . But he was more than a great prophet; he was a key figure, a vital link in God’s promise to bring our Savior into the world through the nation of Israel. Moses, Deliverer and Law-giver God called Abraham to be the father of the nation of Israel. But God chose Moses to liberate the Israelites from Egyptian slavery and to establish them as a nation with the […]
What do you want those who know you best to remember about you when you’re gone? What will your spouse, children, grandchildren, and friends say about you? Will they remember you as a kind, encouraging person? Will they share stories about how you listened and helped them in a difficult time? Did they feel you genuinely cared about them? How do you want to be remembered? What do you want your legacy to be? Last week’s blog was an intriguing look at how Moses spent his last hours. https://www.cosdavis.com/moses-final-hours/ will […]
Who do you want to be with you when you pass from this life into the next? Maybe I’m a bit weird about the idea of dying alone, but I’ve always thought it would be comforting to have someone who has loved you and “put up” with you for many years to be with you when you take your final breath in this world. My older brother and I were with our mom when she transitioned from this life into the presence of Jesus in 2008, and that was a […]
