The Captain

Dear Ones:

God reveals Himself to the heart and mind of an individual or a people according to their need.

“And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?  And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come.”  (Joshua 5:13,14)

Joshua was about to begin the campaign to conquer Canaan and was camped near Jericho.  God came and revealed Himself to Joshua as the captain of the host of the Lord.  The Lord came as Captain of the situation.  He came exactly when needed, “as captain of the host of the LORD am I NOW come.”

“And the captain of the LORD’s host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.” (Joshua 5:15)

Remember that God had instructed Moses in the same way. (Exodus 3:5)  God also revealed Himself to Isaiah in this manner.  “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.” (Isaiah 6:1-3)

It was imperative that Joshua grasp what God was seeking to reveal to him.  God called him to see Him as He is, in His uniqueness, His holiness, His perfection and His beauty. So it is with all of God’s servants.  We are never to lose the perspective that as He is, we are to be in this world.  This is only possible as we depend wholly upon Him. submit to Him without reserve, and give Him all the glory for what He does.

As Edmond Budry wrote in “Thine be the glory, risen, conquering Son“:

“Thine be the glory, Risen, Conquering Son
Endless is the victory, Thou o’er death hath won.”

With the revelation of God to the heart, there is the calling by God not only to believe, but to obey.  When the Lord spoke to Gideon and revealed Himself, He also declared, “The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor.” (Judges 6:11,12)  As was the case with Joshua, so it is with Gideon.  God reveals Himself and seeks to evoke the response of faith, and the commitment to obey.  Gideon had some difficulty believing it was actually God who was speaking to him, but when that matter was settled. he responded in faith and obedience.  Again as with Joshua, so with Gideon, there followed the manifestation of the glory of God as each man went from victory to victory.

Edith G. Cherry (1872-1897)

Edith G. Cherry wrote in “We Rest on Thee“:

“Yea, in Thy Name, O Captain of salvation;
In Thy dear Name, all other names above;
Jesus our Righteousness, our sure Foundation,
Our Prince of glory, and our King of love.

We go in faith, our own great weakness feeling;
And needing more each day Thy grace to know,
Yet from our hearts a song of triumph pealing;
We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.”

 Listen: “We Rest on Thee”

Today may the Captain of our salvation the Lord Jesus, lead us. May our hearts rejoice in Him who is  the Author and Finisher of our faith and may we believe Him to reveal in us His victory.  After all, He IS the God, the Lord, of Joshua and of Gideon.  He is OUR King and Conqueror to trust and obey, and we are His.

Also from “We Rest on Thee“:

“We rest on Thee, our Shield and Our Defender:
Thine is the battle, Thine shall be the praise.”

Have a wonderful, rejoicing day in Christ.

Love,
Dad

Enduring Strength

Dear Ones:

Faith requires strength and courage.  In the first chapters of the book of Revelation, Christ addresses the individual churches in Asia Minor.  “To him that overcometh” is a phrase He uses repeatedly.  There are many enemies to faith.  Not only do we live in an atmosphere of unbelief but we are faced with powers of darkness which actively seek to keep us from an attitude of faith. Christ wants to communicate to us His strength that we might overcome our enemies.  He wants us to believe Him for this.  The strength He provides is His very own.  It is sufficient, it is limitless and He imparts it to us in response to our faith.

Union with Christ

Dear Ones:

Francis Ridley Havergal wrote in the sixth stanza of the hymn “Jesus, Thy Life is Mine“:

“Jesus, my life is Thine,
And evermore shalt be,
Hidden in Thee, 
For nothing can untwine, 
Thy life from mine.”

Let us today, by faith, lay hold of the wonderful truth of our inseparable union with Christ. (Colossians 1:27; Ephesians 2:5-6) The Apostle Paul said, “For me to live IS Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21)  Paul lived in the reality of his union with Christ.

Our Father

Dear Ones:

Frederick Faber wrote in his hymn “My God, How Wonderful Thou Art” about God as the Father:

“No earthly father loves like Thee,
No mother e’er so mild
Bears and forbears as Thou hast done
With me, Thy sinful child.”

One of the most wonderful of all the descriptions of God is as our Father.  Christ Himself taught us this in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your FATHER which is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

Digging Wells

Dear Ones:

“And there was a famine in the land…” (Genesis 26:1)  In the will of God we will face trials.  Here we read of Isaac during this time of famine.  God instructed him to NOT go down to Egypt but to go to Gerar, and to live among the Philistines.  Gerar would prove to be a place of great blessing but also of intermittent conflict.

Abraham, Isaac’s father, had previously been in Gerar and had dug a good many wells to provide fresh water for his family and flocks. After his death, the Philistines, out of malice,

Marching Orders

Dear Ones:

Today, I encourage you to choose to be strong. Do not let an awareness of your own limitations, smallness, or weakness, deter you from being all that God would have you to be. Use the sense of your own need to move you to seek His strength. Do this and you

Buried Treasure

Dear Ones:

If a treasure is buried what is it worth? Of what use is a candle put under a basket, or money that is deliberately hidden in a field and never used?

Jesus said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure it, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)

Interposing Christ

Dear One,

To know ABOUT Christ is not the same as having a true experiential knowledge of Him. Head knowledge is not heart knowledge. It is essential to have a knowledge of the truth but we shall not know true freedom of soul and spirit, nor will we know victory in our daily living without personal fellowship with the Son of God. It is in personal fellowship with Him

Taught of Lions

Dear Ones:

There are a good many lions mentioned in the Bible.  And as we study the situations, and the context, in which these animals are mentioned, we find that God has used them to accomplish many of His purposes.  Sometimes the lessons from lions were aimed at demonstrating to the world that He was/is God.  This was the case with Daniel, mentioned in Daniel 6, where he was thrown into a den of lions, his enemies anticipating that he would be torn to pieces. 

God Speaking, Revealing

Dear Ones:

Is God real to you?  Are you conscious of living in His presence?  Is He, like the Psalmist describes Him in Psalm 46:1, “…a very present help in time of trouble?”
If there is one thing that we find is true of those who truly have known, and walked with the Lord, it is this…God is a reality to them.  He speaks to the heart, and reveals Himself to the soul.  Indeed, there is that aspect of such a life