Search the Community

5 min read https://www.givehim15.com/post/march-25-2022 March 25, 2022 First Things First In Joshua chapter one, Joshua is in the midst of a major - and what would no doubt be a very emotional and challenging - transition. The new season he was entering would be stressful, very demanding, and would test his leadership skills to the limit. Firstly, Moses, Joshua’s spiritual father, mentor, probably a close friend, and one of the greatest leaders in history, has just died: “The Lord spoke to Moses that very same day, saying, ‘Go up to this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab opposite Jericho, and look at the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel for a possession. Then die on the mountain where you ascend, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people,’” (Deuteronomy 32:48-50; NASB). “So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And [God] buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor; but no man knows his burial place to this day,” (Deuteronomy 34:5-6; NASB). “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; NASB). This had to be very emotional for Joshua. Moses was gone. No memorial service, burial service, time for grieving, or even knowledge of where he was buried. His emotions were probably raw, yet he would have to move fully into his new role immediately. “In three days you’re going into the land I promised Abraham centuries ago,” God said. That meant - not a pleasant journey into a new homeland - but a challenging move for an entire nation. And it meant war. Today, we glibly sing of going into “Canaan Land,” or the “Promised Land,” referring to the land in its symbolic meaning for us. For Israel, it was a physical inheritance; for us, it pictures our spiritual inheritance. We sing of crossing the Jordan or of the walls of Jericho falling down. This is easy and exciting for us; it was anything but, for them. Every step of the process was challenging and required great faith. God’s instructions to Joshua at this point would have been incredibly important, perhaps the most important of his life. What were they? Only the basics of our walk with God: don’t be afraid; trust Me; listen to Me carefully and obey; meditate on My words; I’ll be with you. Not theology, not battle plans, not travel formations, not how to get across the Jordan - not yet. First, keep the connection to Me strong. This will be your lifeline, Joshua. Do this and you’ll have great success. Have your devotions, then go to war! When you're about to go into battle, rush off to war, transition into something new, experience a great victory, move forward into God’s plan for your life…first go have your quiet time, your daily devotions. Then, advance. “In Touch and Live, George Vandeman writes: “A young stranger to the Alps was making his first climb accompanied by two stalwart guides. It was a steep, hazardous ascent but he felt secure with one guide ahead and one following. For hours they climbed. And now, breathless, they reached for those rocks protruding through the snow above them - the summit. “The guide ahead wished to let the stranger have the first glorious view of heaven and earth, and moved aside to let him go first. Forgetting the gales that would blow across those summit rocks, the young man leaped to his feet. But the chief guide quickly dragged him down. ‘On your knees, sir!’ he shouted. ‘You are never safe here except on your knees.’”(1) In this world where we are buffeted by the gale-force winds of sin, temptation, busyness, frenzy, and stress, we are never safe except when we are “on our knees,” spending quality time with our heavenly Father. This is especially true when we are cresting mountains. Joshua was reminded to make this connection daily, not just on that day. “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success,” (Joshua 1:8; NASB). Jesus said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink,” (John 7:37). The two verbs “come” and “drink” are in the present imperative tense. This means it is a command - not just an invitation - and involves continuous or repeated action. Christ was commanding, “Keep coming to me and keep drinking!” So often we try to live on yesterday’s manna. Just as the Israelites, however, we must have “daily bread” and we must take a “daily drink.” This is what is meant by Ephesians 5:18, “be filled with the Spirit,” Once again, the tense is present imperative. God is commanding us to continually be filled with the Spirit. After speaking on this subject. Dwight Moody was asked why he needed to be filled and refilled with the Spirit. “That’s very simple,” said Mr. Moody. “I leak.” All of us do. That’s why we must drink continually in order to stay filled with the Spirit. I know life gets busy, but we can find a way. We will make the time to connect with God if it is a high enough priority. “Alvin Straight, age 73, lived in Laurens, Iowa. His brother, age 80, lived several hundred miles away in Blue River, Wisconsin. According to the Associated Press, Alvin’s brother had suffered a stroke and Alvin wanted to see him, but he had a transportation problem. He didn’t have a driver’s license because his eyesight was bad and he apparently had an aversion to taking a plane, train, or bus. “But Alvin didn’t let that stop him. In 1994, he climbed aboard his 1966 John Deere tractor lawnmower and drove it all the way to Blue River, Wisconsin. “Devotion finds a way.”(2) Pray with me: Father, thank You for being Abba - Papa God. We believe in Your heart toward us. We believe what we do with You is more important than what we do for You. We believe You want us first, not our works or service. Even our prayers should be born of our communion with You, not from our list of wants and needs. Keep us reminded of this. Remind us that we are never safe except on our knees. Remind us that before we go to war we must come to You. Remind us that every transition in life must be born of our walk with You. Remind us that we must drink from Your river daily. We know that Joshua was one of the great warriors and men of faith in Israel. He had a similar heart to Caleb’s. Yet, before You sent him to war You called himto Yourself. So, we will stay connected to You, and then we will war for our families and our nation. As we do this, we will be strong. We will ask in faith and command with authority and boldness. We do so now. We ask You to save our children, spouses, family members, and friends. We ask You to save America and other nations. We ask for a worldwide revival. We ask from Your presence and heart. And we know as we do this in Christ’s name, we will receive. Amen. Our decree: We decree that we will walk with God before we work for God..! ********************* Click on the link below to watch the full video. _____________________________ Larson, Illustrations for Preaching and Teaching, p 281. Larson, Contemporary Illustrations for Preachers, Teachers, and Writers, p 47.

4 min read https://www.givehim15.com/post/november-4-2021 November 4, 2021 Love Is A Many Splendored Thing Today’s post is from my dad, Dean Sheets. He is in heaven, but I dug out a devotional he wrote several years ago (that is now out of print). Dad was quite the orator. I think you’ll like, not only what he had to say, but how he said it. The message is consistent with the theme I have spoken on for the past two days: **************************** “Proverbs 18:24: ‘A man that has friends must show himself friendly; and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.’ “What a friend is Jesus! Believers love this friend so much because He first loved them - He instigated the friendship. Jesus said, concerning His friendship with you, I will take from My brow the crown of jewels and exchange it for one of thorns; I will cast away My mantle of glory for the state of poverty, that I may go and find My friends. “That’s what was required to establish the beauty of this friendship. We are friends with God, because He became a man! And as a man, Christ was ‘in all points tempted like as we are’ (Hebrews 4:15). It was C.S. Lewis who said, ‘Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, “What? You too? I thought I was the only one.’”(1) “Calvary echoes the love of Christ, our Friend. ‘Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down His life for his friends,’ (John 15:13). When Jesus came knocking at your heart’s door it was with a nail-pierced hand. Yes, He’s the friend of sinners (see Matthew 11:19). “I heard of a Native American tribe that had no word for ‘friend.’ They used, instead, the phrase, ‘the one who carries my sorrows on his back.’ That sounds like Jesus! “If you want to know who your friends are, just make a mistake. But Jesus is no fair-weather friend. He didn’t begin loving us yesterday. He desired our friendship way back when the world was wrapped in the swaddling clothes of mist, and He’ll be a friend when that world has vanished with the same haze. “A friend is a person who comes in when the rest of the world goes out. Jesus said, ‘I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee,’ (Hebrews 13:5). Jesus is a certain friend in uncertain circumstances. We must follow His example of love and friendship. “Years ago the Salvation Army was holding an international convention and its founder, William Booth, could not attend because of physical weakness. Instead, he cabled his convention message to those in attendance. It was simply one word: Others. “The Master has sent you into His vineyard to love and serve others. Perhaps it is the ministry of intercession for Christian workers here in America or elsewhere. Or maybe it’s the ministry of comfort to sad hearts within your own circle: ‘Bear one another’s burdens’ (Galatians 6:2). ‘Lift up the hands which hang down,’ (Hebrews 12:12). There are many ways to serve others - begin today! Too many are waiting for the ‘big ministry’ to come along, yet someone needs you right now! “Dr. Leonard Cammer, who specialized in treating depressed people, once said, ‘The human being is the only species that cannot survive alone. Humans need another human being - otherwise, they’re dead! A telephone call to a depressed person can save a life. An occasional word, a ten-minute visit, can be more effective than 24 hours of nursing care. You can buy nursing care. You cannot buy love.’(2) “Paul told us to ‘Bear [not bare] ye one another’s burdens,’ (Galatians 6:2). Never put a finger on someone’s faults unless it’s part of a helping hand. “We need one another so much! The words ‘one accord’ are mentioned 11 times in the book of Acts. Remember, that’s when Christians together ‘turned the world upside down’ for Jesus (Acts 17:6). “Together we can do so much. “A threefold cord is not quickly broken,” (Ecclesiastes 4:12). One cord made up of three strands is 100 times stronger than just one strand.” ****************************** Pray with me: Father, thank You for sending Christ to redeem the human race. Jesus, thank You for becoming human to save us. We cannot grasp this level of love. You will forever be the God-man. And thank You both for wanting our friendship this much. We press into Your nature in our hearts. We want to love the way You love. We want to serve the way You serve, experience the level of commitment to one another You modeled for us. The gospel is, in reality, a person. You are the good news! And we anchor our faith in this love. This is why the great awakening is coming - because You will not be denied Your inheritance. So we boldly ask for this revival now, a revival that will usher in 1 billion more hungry people into Your family. It will not be stopped! Demons will not stop it. Godless people will not stop it. Political parties won’t stop it. False religions won’t stop it. You are coming to save! America shall be saved. Other nations shall be saved. You are the Savior and You will win. In Christ’s name we pray, Amen. Our decree: We decree that love will win. Hands-down, no doubts, guaranteed, love will win. Click on the link below to watch the full video. _________________________ https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/10554-friendship-is-born-at-the-moment-when-one-man https://sermons.faithlife.com/sermons/104718-the-dark-night

6 min read https://www.givehim15.com/post/november-1-2021 November 1, 2021 Go and Tell We must begin preparing our hearts to share Jesus. The harvest is ripe. Our dear friend and amazing author, Quin Sherrer, always seems to be so practical in her teachings and writings, as is, the following exhortation. It is also very powerful: ********************* “‘I am an ordinary Christian, not an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, or teacher,’ a woman wrote me. ‘When I couldn’t go to church during the pandemic, I was fed by sermons and posts like Dutch’s Give Him 15; they also gave me guidance on how to pray outside my comfort zone. But what else can I do to make a difference?’ “I immediately thought about my friend Suzanne. One day she asked God what her new role was now that all her children were gone from home. She felt He gave her a question, ‘What can you do for Me that no one else can do?’ She answered back, ‘Tell my story.’ And she began to do that. “Peter, the disciple, wrote to the early Christians: ‘But you are the ones chosen by God…God’s instruments to do His work and speak out for Him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference He made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted,’ (1 Peter 2: 9-10 The MESSAGE). “A testimony is ‘to tell something you know firsthand, or to authenticate a fact.’ When we share our testimony, we can testify to what Jesus has done for us and hopefully help influence others for Christ. “Think on this Scripture: ‘That which we have seen and heard we declare to you…that you may also fellowship with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ,’ (I John 1:3). “Being a witness for Christ doesn’t have to be complicated. We declare what we have seen, what we have heard! You never know who is listening when you tell a story, or what the results might be. “One afternoon my friend JoAnne and I were in a big city attending a Christian conference and decided to have some tea. As we sat at a counter in an old-fashioned drug store, she began telling me the story of a recent miracle she had heard on a Christian television program. I asked pertinent questions to get the full picture. A man sitting two seats down from us held a newspaper in front of his face. He was obviously not reading it, but was listening to JoAnne tell how Jesus is still doing miracles today. “Suddenly the man threw the newspaper across the counter and loudly shouted, ‘All right, already, I will get baptized. Sunday, I will.’ And he ran out of the drug store. JoAnne and I looked at each other in amazement. We offered a short prayer for the man who was obviously on his way back to the Lord. “There are more than 500 references in the Bible related to the word ‘tell’ including these: tell the people, tell your son, tell your brother, tell the good news, and many individuals who are instructed ‘to tell.’ Jesus often said, ‘I tell you the truth.’ The New Testament is full of instances about people who shared their stories. They looked for opportunities...and told! “A young junior pastor asked his Care Group audience a pertinent question one recent Wednesday night. Then he called to tell me their shocking reply. “‘How many of you have told your testimony or led someone to Christ in the past year?’ he asked. Only two raised their hands. “‘Well, teach them how,’ I responded. Then I shared with him what my pastor, Peter Lord, taught us years ago. “Pastor Lord challenged us to practice telling our story. The idea was to zero in on how we had changed after we made Jesus the Lord of our lives. He suggested we practice telling it in different reasonable time frames: ten minutes, five minutes, and just one minute. “Standing before a mirror and imagining we were speaking to just one person about our transformation, we practiced talking about the most important change we’d undergone. He cautioned us not to tell our whole life story in one bang-up speech. Instead, he suggested we stick to one theme -- whether it was freedom from an obvious sin, or perhaps a hidden one such as unforgiveness, judging others, occult involvement, pride, lying, or any number of issues that were displeasing to God. “‘Just tell what Christ did for you and the freedom you now enjoy. Make it so interesting others will want to know how Christ can impact them too. And they just might want you to share more of your testimony,’ he urged. “Ask yourself, ‘What is my story to tell? How can I speak it with such clarity that I hit the bullseye --- the intended target? What can I say from my own life’s change that might lead others to know Jesus personally?’ “Let’s look at some Biblical examples. “Jesus delivered a man possessed by legions of demons. The evil spirits ran into pigs, who then plunged off a steep slope and drowned. Herdsmen who saw what happened ran to tell those in nearby villages. The man, now clothed and in his right mind, begged to go with Jesus. But Jesus told him to go home and tell others how much He had done for him--- how God had shown him mercy. The man obeyed. He even went to Decapolis - a region of ten cities - to proclaim his deliverance. And the people marveled at his testimony (see Mark 5:18-20). “‘It is a wonder of grace that Jesus used a man who once had thousands of demons to bring God’s truth to thousands of people. He became a missionary evangelist,’ writes a Bible commentator. 1 “After a Samaritan woman had an encounter with Jesus at Jacob’s well, she ran to tell the townspeople. Scripture says, ‘Many Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did,’” (John 4:39). Not only did they accept her story, but they also invited Jesus to their village. After two days with Him, many more believed He was the Messiah. Spiritual multiplication. “Philip sought and found Nathanael and told him that they had discovered the One whom the prophets wrote about--Jesus from Nazareth. ‘Come and see,’ he said (John 1:45-46). When Paul and Barnabas arrived in Jerusalem, they told the church, apostles, and elders all that God had accomplished through them (Acts 5:4). “On the morning when the women found Jesus’ tomb empty, they hurried to spread the news, and ‘were telling these things to the apostles.’ Their story appeared as nonsense until Peter ran to investigate for himself (Luke 24:11,12 NASB). “Amazed. Marveled. Astonished. That’s how the ‘hearers’ responded when they heard some of the testimonies recorded in the Bible. “God is still saving, delivering, and healing people. He is restoring families and rescuing lost loved ones. We just need to stay sensitive to what He wants us to share. And be open to doing it. “So, let’s rejoice over our own niche in life and look for ways to share our personal testimony. Let’s bring encouragement and hope to others by assuring them He can do something great for them, also! Let’s make a difference.”2 Pray with me: “Dear Father, forgive me for thinking I did not have value because I do not have the giftings I recognize in other people. Thank You for the way You have changed my life since I asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. Help me be bold to share my testimony when the opportunity comes—and not hold back because I don’t think what I have to say is important. Please bring the people into my life who can be blessed to hear my testimony. Thank You too for those in my past who did not hesitate to tell me about Jesus and His love for me. Amen.” Our decree: “I will tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love for us; and especially I’ll tell what He’s done for me.” ****************************** Today’s post was contributed by our dear friend and author, Quin Sherrer. You can learn more about Quin here. Click on the link below to watch the full video. __________________________________ 1. Brian Simmons, The Passion Translation Bible, 2020 edition, (BroadStreet, commentary on Mark 5:20), p. 104. 2. Portions excerpted from “Cast Your Shadow: Influence on Purpose” by Quin Sherrer. Her website is QuinSherrer.com