The light shines
       in the darkness,
and the darkness
    has not overcome it.

                  John 1. 5

(No matter what.)

...and that repentance
     and forgiveness of sins
should be preached in His name
                  to all nations,
beginning from Jerusalem.

                          Luke 24. 47

(You are different now.
This is what forgiven looks like.
God has redeemed you.
     Live that way
     starting right where you are.
Bring the name of Jesus there.)
             

...the LORD will rule over you.

                        Judges 8. 23

(Who do I choose to rule over me?
If not the LORD,
then something else
     will take His rightful place.
Worship changes me.
God changes
     the trajectory of my life.)
   

The LORD reigns.

                   Psalm 97. 1

(And that reality 

         changes everything,

even in this impossible place.

His purposes are fulfilled

even in what I don't understand,

deeper than I can

         possibly imagine.

Repeat often,

       even now,

       even in this.)

But he said to Him,

"Pray, Lord,

      how can I deliver Israel?

Behold, my clan is 

the weakest in Manasseh,

and I am least in my family."

And the LORD said to him,

         "But I will be with you..."

    

                         Judges 6. 15-16

(God chooses the unlikely

     that His power will be 

                       that obvious.

Whatever He has given me today,

     "But I will be with you..."

The LORD makes

       the significant difference.)

    

               

     

Does not the LORD
      go out before you?

                    Judges 4. 14

(God alone makes the difference
       between victory and defeat.
You are not alone.
Don't live as if you are.
Obedience to God
    is never insignificant,
no matter the task,
no matter where
       He places you today.)

Because you have made

     the LORD your refuge,

the Most High your habitation,

no evil shall befall you,

no scourge come 

            near your tent.

For He will give His angels

charge of you,

to guard you

          in all your ways.

                     Psalm 91. 9-11

(On what do I dwell

or in Whom do I dwell?

The most unshakable 

fact of life is that 

God loves you

more than you can know.)

...choose this day
whom you will serve.
...as for me and my house,
    we will serve the LORD.

                   Joshua 24. 15

(A daily commitment to the LORD
changes the course of my day
  and the trajectory of my life.
The choice also impacts
those around me
 and the generations yet unborn.)

...but cleave
   to the LORD your God...

               Joshua 23. 8

(Hold on tight
   with both hands
   and a faithful heart.
Sometimes that is
        all I can do.
Sometimes that is
     exactly what God intends.
What does cleaving to Him
              look like today?)

...to love the LORD your God,

and to walk in all His ways,

and to keep His commandments,

and to cleave to Him,

and to serve Him with all your heart

               and with all your soul.

                        Joshua 22. 5

(What is God's will for my life?

         That would be it.

The rest is just details.

What does that look like today?)

Not one 

of all the good promises

which the LORD had made

to the house of Israel had failed;

     all came to pass.

                    Joshua 21.45

(God is faithful

       no matter what.

His goodness is 

         so encompassing,

sometimes I can't see it

                for what it is.)

...for the Most High himself

       will establish her.

                   Psalm 87. 5

(Beyond my control,

  right in His hands.)

This is the boundary 

round about 

   the people of Judah

according to their families.

                Joshua 15. 12

(A boundary is not

     what I cannot do,

but direction where I am,

not a limitation 

but God's deeper vision

                within it,

    His purposes to fulfill.)

    

And He told them

        a parable,

to the effect that they

ought always to pray

    and not lose heart.

                     Luke 18. 1

(Praying and

      not losing heart

go together 

         hand in hand.)

And the LORD 

        said to Joshua,

"Do not be afraid of them..."

                     Joshua 11. 6

(It's time to follow

          not to fear,

not time to flee,

but to draw closer to Him.

God will guide you through.

Fear will only trip you up.

In whatever you face today,

And the LORD 

        said to Joshua,

"Do not be afraid of them..."

                     Joshua 11. 6

(It's time to follow

          not to fear,

not time to flee,

but to draw closer to Him.

God will guide you through.

Fear will only trip you up.

In whatever you face today,

God is stronger.)

So the men partook 

        of their provisions,

and did not

ask direction from the LORD.

                    Joshua 9. 14

("The only thing harder

than waiting on the LORD

is wishing that you did."

       -- Crawford Loritts

Show me, O LORD,

    Your way in this.)

....but hold yourselves

          all in readiness.

                     Joshua 8.4

(for whatever 

   God has in store today)

You shall march around the city,

all the men of war

     going around the city once.

This you shall do for six days....

                        Joshua 6. 3

(You want me to do WHAT?

God chooses His own means,

not dependent on my own understanding,

      to accomplish His deeper purposes.

Pray around your "city"

 and follow Him in every detail.

Help me to see it, O LORD,

not as problem or a conflict, 

      but an opportunity for Your glory.)

...stood on dry ground

      in the midst of the Jordan.

                 Joshua 3. 17

(God's way through the impossible

  is the story of God's faithfulness.)

This book of the law
shall not depart out of your mouth,
but you shall meditate on it
         day and night,
that you may be careful to do
according to all
      that is written in it;
for then
   you shall make your way prosperous,
and then
   you shall have good success.
Have I not commanded you?
Be strong and of good courage;
     be not frightened,
     neither be dismayed,
for the LORD your God
is with you
         wherever you go.

                        Joshua 1. 8-9

(When my heart is filled
      with the Word of God,
there is no room for fear,
nor any reason for it.)

He said therefore,
"What is the kingdom of God like?
And to what should I compare it?
It is like a grain of mustard seed
which a man took
    and sowed in his garden,
and it grew and became a tree,
and the birds of the air
     made nests in its branches.

                     Luke 13. 18-19

(What I sow in my life
     impacts everyone around me
and to the furthest generation.
God redeems,
   and God produces the fruit.)

For it is no trifle to you,

but it is your life...

             Deuteronomy 32.47

(Your walk with God

     is no casual interest.

God impacts the

    trajectory of your life.)

Be strong
       and of good courage,
do not fear
  or be in dread of them,
for it is the LORD your God
      who goes with you;
He will not fail you
              or forsake you.

             Deuteronomy 31. 6

(Anxiety will only trip you up.
Fear just gets in the way.
Look to God alone.
"Follow Me into it."
What does that look like, today?)

I have led you
   forty years in the wilderness,
your clothes have not worn out
                          upon you,
and your sandals have not worn off
                           your feet
...that you may know
     that I am the LORD your God.

                          Deuteronomy 29. 5-6

(God is faithful
     even in what I see as wilderness,
His provision prevails,
His purposes fulfilled,
        that I may know Him more.
I may walk through some tough terrain,
but that time is never random.
God always redeems even the midst of it.)

 

And all these blessings

shall come upon you

          and overtake you,

if you obey the voice 

     of the LORD your God.

                 Deuteronomy 28. 2

(What comes first?

         Heeding the LORD.

God changes everything.)

...for we are here in a desolate place.

                              Luke 9. 12

(God provides in extraordinary ways
         even on ordinary days.
You are not alone.
The world says, "Random."
But God says,
                     "Redeemed!"
Even in what we cannot see yet,
God's incredible purposes
         are seamlessly woven.)

Whatever house you enter,
first say,
       "Peace be to this house."
And if a son of peace is there,
your peace will rest upon him.
But if not,
it will return to you.

               Luke 10. 5-6

(Come into any situation
with peace in your hands
and heart.
The outcome is God's alone.)

But when I thought
   to understand this,
it seemed to me
       a wearisome task,
until I went
  into the sanctuary of God.

                  Psalm 73. 16-17

(When I lay it out before Him,
when I drag it to the altar,
God changes how I see everything
          and changes my heart.
God will guide you through.)