OUR FATHER WHO GUIDES US IN PATHS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR HIS NAME'S SAKE.

Joshua chapter 15 verse 9 says this;

From the hilltop the boundary headed toward the spring of the waters of Nephtoah, came out at the towns of Mount Ephron and went down toward Baalah (that is, Kiriath Jearim).

This verse captures a detail of the survey notes that describe part of the northern boundary of the land of Judah.

The southern border began at the southern tip of the Dead Sea and wound its way westward to the Mediterranean Sea.

The western boundary of Judah was the Mediteranian Sea itself.

The Dead Sea was the eastern boundary of Judah. 

The northern border of Judah was a complex and precise allocation that started at the mouth of the Jordan River where it empties into the Dead Sea.

The boundary wound it's way westward via Gigal, Jerusalem,  the hilltop west of the Hinnom valley,   the springs of the waters of Nephtoah and turned to the towns at Mount Ephron and then to Mount Seir.

The border then went across to Timnah, crossed to Jebneel then ended at the Mediteranian Sea.

These were the limits of the kingdom of Judah.

These demarcations defined the area that the people of Judah were given to conquer. The territory they were able to take back from the inhabitants of the land that they were alloted, was the inheritance that they gained.

In the case of Judah, they were unable to dislodge the Jebusites from the area of Jerusalem and so that territory  never became exclusively theirs and remained shared land.

Such is the striving of a believer in the areas of our lives from where we are unable to drive away our enemies. These territories become jointly owned with the powers of darkness and they hold sway over how those parts of our  lives operate.

Let us bless the Lord who is our shepherd and who leads us in paths of righteousness for His names sake.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHOSE GREAT PLAN FOR THE REDEMPTION OF MANKIND PROGRESSED TO EGYPT ON THE SHOULDERS OF A YOUNG SLAVE

Genesis chapter 37 verses 2 - 3 reads thusly;

This is the account of Jacob’s family line.

Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.

Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate robe for him.

This was when the trouble started. Joseph, the second to last born in Israel's family, was out with the rest of his brothers tending the flock.

The older boys probably began speaking and acting leacherously while they were away from their father's homestead and upon returning home, Joseph reported to Israel what his older brothers were doing.

Israel, a seasoned manager of men, probably lined up his sons and excoriated them for displaying conduct unbecoming of the family name.

The brothers deduced that it was Joseph who had ratted them out and from that time on, they found every excuse to hate him more and more.

Their father plainly loved Joseph more than he did his other sons even going so far as to make an ornate robe exclusively for him which added fuel to the burning hatred his brothers had for him.

After Joseph announced to his family that he dreamt that they would all bow down to him, a murderous rage settled in the minds of his brothers.

Later, Israel sent his son Joseph out to the fields to see how his brothers were doing. He was probably interested in whether the older sons were behaving better after being disciplined.

When Joseph's brothers saw him coming, they plotted to kill him as described in Genesis 37 verse 14;

“Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”

They debated among themselves on what to do with Joseph and ultimately decided to sell him as a slave to some passing traders who were on their way to Egypt.

The brothers took a story of Joseph's death back to their father and produced his ornate coat dipped in the blood of a sheep as evidence of his demise.

Israel was heart-broken. He likely blamed himself for the death of his son Joseph because it was he who had sent him out to keep an eye on his brothers. He refused to be comforted and the family absorbed a very heavy psychological blow because of the disappearance of Joseph and the deception that surrounded it. 

Grief settled over their household and became the prevailing tone for most of the rest of Israel's life.

Unbeknownst to any of them, the young slave Joseph was in the hands of the Lord and he was set on a course that would change the fate of nations.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHOSE GREAT POWER MAKES A WAY FOR US

Joshua chapter 4 verses 11 - 12 says this;

The people hurried over, and as soon as all of them had crossed, the ark of the Lord and the priests came to the other side while the people watched. The men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, ready for battle, in front of the Israelites, as Moses had directed them.

This passage captures the moment when the nation of Israel finished crossing the Jordan River into the promised land. The first across were the men of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe  of Manasseh who were armed and ready for battle. The rest of Israel hurriedly crossed and finally,  the priests who had been been standing in the middle of the river holding the ark of the Lord, crossed as well.

While the priests were still standing in the Jordan, the Lord commanded Joshua to select a  man from each of the 12 tribes  and direct them to go to the middle of the river bed and pick up a stone and carry it on their shoulder back to their camp as a memorial of when the Lord, in His great power, dried up the Jordan river for the children of Israel to cross.

As Joshau said in the book of Joshua chapter 4 verses 24 - 25;

For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHOSE PROPHETS SPEAK TRUTH EVEN AT THE RISK OF THEIR LIVES

Mathew chapter 14 verses 5 - 7 says this;

Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered John a prophet.

On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for the guests and pleased Herod so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 

King Herod, the tetrarch of Judea, had been warned by John the Baptist that his marriage to his brother Phillip's wife named Herodias, was unlawful.

Both Herod and his wife Herodias harboured animosity towards John for this indictment against them and Herod had John arrested and imprisoned but dared not kill him because the people sensed that John was a genuine prophet and harming him would have been a political risk for Herod.

As it happens, it was Herod's birthday and  Herod's step-daughter danced for the guests and Herod was so pleased that, before all the guests,  he recklessly promised to give her anything she asked for.

Herod's wife quickly siezed the opportunity to force Herod's hand and she prompted her daughter to respond to his promise by  asking for the head of John the Baptist on a platter.

He was distressed but because of his oath and his guests, he ordered that John the Baptist be executed and his head brought to the girl.

A reckless off-hand promise compelled Herod to do something dreadful that endangered his political career as well as his soul for killing a prophet of God.

This passage highlights two thing; Firstly, that our Father's prophets speak His truth even when it endanger's their lives. 

Also, may our Father teach us to avoid  making careless oaths that so easily entrap us.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHOSE GUIDANCE GIVES US THE STRATEGY TO AVOID CALAMITY

Genesis chapter 35 verse 4 says this;

So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem.

Jacob, asked all the people in his household to surrender their house idols and earrings to him and he buried them under an oak tree.

This action was predicated by a command that Jacob received from the Lord to go and settle in Bethel and build an altar to God there. The preparations to do so included the gathering and burying of all foreign idols and earings that members of Jacob's family possessed.

The result of doing this purge of foreign gods was that, as Jacob and his people travelled, a dread of God filled the towns all around them and no one dared to pursue them.

The reason that they were likely to be pursued was  that Jacob's sons had retaliated against the Hivites who had  defiled their sister and they killed every male of that group.

When Jacob heard of this, he was afraid that the people in whose land they sojoured would unite against him and destroy him.

He was then led to carry out a spiritual exercise where he cleared his whole household  of idols and earrings  and buried them. This brought an atmosphere of dread in all the towns around them and Jacob's family and the people with him were able to travel to Bethel without being attacked.

The leading of the Lord provides the means of avoiding catastrophe when danger looms over us.

Amen.

 OUR FATHER WHOSE CLEANSES US BY HIS WORD

John chapter 13 verses 9 - 10 reads like this;

 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.”

During the last supper before the crucifixion,  the Lord Jesus got up, wrapped a towel around His waist, took a basin of water and began to wash the feet of His disciples.

When He got to the apostle Peter, Peter objected saying that he would never let his Lord wash his feet. 

Jesus told Peter  that if he did not participate in the object lesson, he could not be a part of Jesus.

In response to this, Peter said to Jesus that it should not be just his feet that He washed but his hands and head as well. Peter reasoned that if foot washing gave him a part of Jesus, then having his whole body washed would give him even more of Jesus.

The Lord replied that those who had taken a bath were clean all over and thus only needed to have their feet washed.

Jesus then said that His disciples were clean (though not all).

This is clarified  in John chapter 15 verse 3 which says;

You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 

The disciples of Jesus were cleansed by His words and thus only needed their feet cleaned to remove the residue of the road.

Let us bless the Lord who words cleanse us and  make us part of Him.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO PREPARES GREAT THINGS FOR US WHO LOVE HIM

1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 9 says this;

However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”—the things God has prepared for those who love him—

This verse in 1 Corinthians mirrors what is found in Isaiah chapter 64 verse 4 and it alludes to the idea that our mental faculties and physical senses have never been exposed to the things that God has laid out for us who love  Him.

It is when we start to walk by the Spirit of God that we are given the capacity to begin to perceive these things that were hidden as it says in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 10;

these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.

We live with the limitations of this world and as the apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 13;

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

We will first perceive things  that God has prepared for us dimly but they will absolutely boggle our minds when we see them in full.

Amen.