Joshua 23:11
So be very careful to love the Lord your God.
This morning God highlights where and on what I need to focus. I started out distracted this morning. Not yet 6:30 and already things pulling me away from sitting down with my bible. Malfunctioning coffee pot, distracting messages popping up on my phone and drawing me in to one quick look at my email, another rabbit hole of distraction. “So be very careful to love the Lord your God.” This does not happen without intention. It is a deliberate, purposeful act. Always, everywhere, in every situation, I must look to God.
Holy One, you are everywhere, yet at times I do not pay attention, and do not see you. Guide me and teach me, God. Your Holy Spirit has a home in me. Amen
Becky, transforming
Joshua 23: 11 So be very careful to love the Lord your God.
God is love. Loving God requires devotion that must be nurtured by me on a daily basis. God is all. He doesn’t need anything from me except my love and devotion. Building on that daily is something I have to work on. Knowing I love God and that he loves me gives me reason to do better. Knowing God and spending time with Him daily is something that I have learned from Pastor Gil’s teachings. I am so grateful that I have been given this opportunity to know God better and grow in love for Him.
Dearest Lord, you give me unending love. You need nothing from…
Joshua 23: 11
Be very careful, therefore, to love the Lord your God. This one verse is a reoccurring message in the entire Bible. Put God First! Be very careful therefore to love your God ( over 100 verses). The temptations and distractions that affect me are simply my choices to make at all times, in work, money, family, or success. I have allowed these to interfere in my spiritual growth. I’m free to make my own choices, and negative choices will always produce negative results. (if you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you’ve always got). I can’t play an instrument, I can’t write a book, I get confused with computer technology…
Joshua 23:11 So be very careful to love the Lord your God. In reading this passage from different translations, I see careful, take good heed, and watch yourselves carefully, in this verse. I believe Joshua was warning the people to stay close in God’s word as there will be Temptations by outsiders to believe differently. This warning is very relevant today. We live in a world with so many distractions, that it is too easy to put aside our time with God’s word. For me, having to and wanting to read and write a devotion each day keeps me on the path Joshua and God wants me to be on. Prayer: gracious God help me put aside the Temptations that keep me from…
Joshua 23:11
I am struck by the word, “careful” in this verse. In modern usage this word implies caution, but in the context of this verse it seems to convey a sense of being very thoughtful and purposeful in one’s devotion to God. We must be sure of not only what we believe, but why we believe it. Faith that honors God is not simply declared, but also acted upon in prayer, service, stewardship of the earth and loving one’s neighbor. By these standards, I am not always careful, but Joshua’s exhortation is as valid today as it was in Old Testament times. I must be more careful to love God.
Prayer - God of all creation, instill in me…