Battle experience

Judges 3:1-2 These are the nations the Lord left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants … [who had] not had previous battle experience).

At least some of the “new” challenges I find myself experiencing in my life are probably allowed by God just as He allowed the battle experiences for the Israelites.  So many times I find myself saying that it seems like after so many years of walking the Christian life, I should not have to be fighting that particular battle.  But it is for that very reason … I have to learn how to fight, and the only way I can do that effectively is to actually fight!  God knows that so He allows certain battles to come along just so I can get the experience I need to be a better, stronger Christian.  It takes practice to do that.

Be careful

Joshua 23:6 Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left.

It takes strength to not deviate from doing the right thing.  It is so much easier to “go with the flow” instead of staying on the right track.  This is true in just about every area of my life, be it spiritually or in other areas of my physical or emotional life.  It seems to always be easier to take the easier (and usually the more natural) path.  My sinful, undisciplined nature will always win out unless I am very strong, and am careful to obey what is right. It is God’s Word that will help protect me from being weak and from deviating from His perfect path for me.  The cautionary tone of this verse reminds me of the importance of staying strong and cautious in my obedience.

It's birthday time for my sister, but don't tell her about this card I've made for her!  I tried something new... a block card.  It lays flat like this for mailing:

The little bicycle part is actually the bottom but the card is laying flat right now.
Then, push it open and this is what you get for the front view ...

And viewed from above, it looks like this:

I hope she enjoys her bunch of flowers for her spring birthday!

Building up my inheritance

I had begun thinking I was going to get through the entire winter season without so much as a cold, but it did not happen!  One of the problems with getting sick with a flu is that you lose your energy for all those "extras" that you like to do.  One of my "extras" is to write my Bible journaling, so I have fallen behind in my reading and writing. 

Joshua 19:50b And he built up the town and settled there.

The town of Timnath Serah was the town given to Joshua by the Israelites as his inheritance.  He had led them through the initial stages of the occupation of Canaan and this was his reward.  One wonders what made the town attractive to Joshua (he asked for it by name).  It was in the hill country of Ephraim and must have been small and maybe undeveloped, or in ruins after the fighting over the land.  But Joshua saw potential so he took the inheritance and built it up and settled there.  I should never be afraid to look at the potential of a situation, take possession of it, and do all I can to build it up and “live with it” (in a positive sense of that phrase!).  It is my inheritance from God.  I need to “own” whatever situation God puts into my life and make the best of it possible using the principles I see in what Joshua did.  I  want to be as strong and insightful as I see Joshua was.

Fear and discouragement

Joshua 1:9 Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

Fear and discouragement are two things that can destroy me and destroy my effectiveness as I try to please God and obey His Word, so I find it especially meaningful to have these two things dealt with at one time and by the same remedy: the presence of God Himself wherever I go, whatever I do.  The awareness of God’s presence has the power to eliminate fear and destroy discouragement, so it is important to keep my awareness of God’s presence in my sub consciousness as I go through each day and face each challenge that comes my way.

God bless my skills

Deuteronomy 33:11a Bless all his skills, Lord, and be pleased with the work of his hands.

This is part of the blessing-prayer that Moses gives to Levi as he was preparing to turn over his leadership to Joshua.  Because Levi’s calling was to lead Israel in their spiritual efforts, I find this blessing particularly meaningful.  What special skills would Levi have?  Verses 8-10 include things such as: 1) putting aside personal interests (v.9a), 2) watching over God’s Word (v.9b), 3) teaching the Word (v.10a), and 4) offering incense and burnt offerings (v.10b).  Most of these were non-physical labor kinds of skills, but here was a prayer of blessing over those skills that are often forgotten.  This is my reminder that even my non-physical labor can be blessed of God, so nothing I do ever needs to be outside of that blessing.  As I have grown older and find myself reflecting on my life experiences, I have frequently been troubled over some jobs I’ve performed that I felt like were less than stellar even though I was trusting God as I did them … jobs such as leading the library through the aftermath of the fire.  That was not a physical job but it took a lot of work, and as I am reminded from this verse, I can rest in the fact that God blessed my skills and that He is pleased with my work. 

I found some metallic teal embossing powder on sale at the local craft store a few months ago and bought it even though at the time I had no specific plans on how I would ever use it, but yesterday as I was looking at making a card using some new teal, brown and red flowered paper (see it peeking out around the butterfly?) I realized that this was the perfect time to get that powder out.  After lightly coloring some cream card stock with light blue and tan distress inks, my brand new butterfly stamp took on new life with that embossing powder.  After embossing the edges of the card as well, the completed project is quite striking, I think.