Pastor Bob DuPar
April 15, 2008

Journal Entry


Scripture

Joshua 11:1-12:24; Luke 17:11-37; Psalm 84:1-12; Proverbs 13:5-6.

Observation

Israel’s enemies combine forces and mount up against her – “a large number of horses and chariots – a huge army, as numerous as the sand on the seashore.” (Joshua 11:4) And yet, God encourages Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, because by this time tomorrow I will hand all of them over to Israel, slain.” That’s a lot of people to conquer in 24 hours! “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” (Mark 10:27)

It’s sad that our New Age culture today would agree with Jesus’ words that the “Kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21), they just would not attribute that to the work of Christ and the Holy Spirit – nor would/do they see Him as the sole/exclusive means of access to God and this Kingdom.

This fact reminds me that Satan’s greatest lie is to take the truth and blur it just a bit – so it sounds good, it sounds right, it seems familiar. The devil knows that a blatant lie is too easy to reject, too easy to detect. I’m reminded of a sermon by John Ortberg in which he talks about something called “shadow mission” which he describes as a mission or course which is only 10-15 degrees off, but that 10-15 degrees leads straight to Hell! Wow! How true. And, how insidious!

I love Psalm 84 and I love the Matt Redmond song based on this Psalm:

“How lovely is Your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty! My soul yearns and even faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh cry out for the living God. …Better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.”

Application

I easily forget God’s ability and power to do the impossible. As I thought about applying what I read today, I asked myself a question, “Does the Kingdom of God within me (my life) look like the Kingdom of God described in the Bible?” Answer: many times not. I think it’s a “not my will but Thine be done” issue – surrendering my priorities in exchange for priorities in line with God’s will.

Prayer

“God, thank You for the privilege of being in the ministry. Thank You for the blessing of spending my life working in Your house with Your people.”