Pray For Your Husband: 31 Day Challenge–Day Five

Nikki Leake

Day Five: That he would sacrifice as Christ

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…. ~Ephesians 5:25

There was a time, several years ago, when I suffered a protracted period of deep depression from which I was unsure I would emerge. My marriage was in peril. I could not eat. I could not sleep. God, in his mercy, pulled me from that miry pit (Psalm 40:2), yet he did so by the very human hand of my husband. I cannot describe in this short space the many ways my husband gave himself up for me when I could give him nothing in return, but his rescue mission left an indelible mark on my soul. In giving of himself for me, my husband not only saved my life, he redeemed our marriage and the future family relationships of generations to come.

Lord Jesus, how you have loved us! How you have given yourself for us, your bride, your church. Lord, I would ask today that you call my husband to the same kind of love and self-sacrifice. I didn’t deserve it from you, and I don’t deserve it from him, but I so need it. Father, equip him, strengthen him, encourage him to love his bride as you have loved yours.

—

An anonymous wife.

The Most Shared Verses In Their Context (Joshua 1:9)

Mike Leake 1 Comment

At the end of last year, YouVersion highlighted the top 10 Bible verses that were shared the most. I found the list interesting and thought that it could be helpful to understand them in their original context. Today we are looking at Joshua 1:9—which according to YouVersion was the eighth-most shared verse in 2013. (It also ranked as the fourth most popular verse)

The Verse:

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9 ESV)

The Context:

The book of Joshua begins with the death of Moses. The man used by God to lead the Israelites out of Egyptian captivity and to the promised land has now died. The Israelites have not yet possessed the land that the Lord had given them. But now Moses is dead and a new leader must emerge. That new leader is Joshua.

The first chapter of the Book of Joshua is the Lord’s charge to Israel’s new leader, Joshua. Three times in the first nine verses Joshua is commanded to “be strong and courageous”.

Such a charge is not surprising given the daunting task of leading a stiff-necked people into the promised land. They’ve just wandered in the wilderness for forty years because of disobedience. Taking leadership of such a group would be a scary proposal to say the least. As the assistant to Moses, certainly Joshua would have witnessed the toll that leading such a people had taken on Moses. Now he must take up that mantle.

The call for Joshua to be strong and courageous is grounded in the fact that the Lord will be with Joshua wherever he goes. In the same way that the Lord was with Moses so too he will be with Joshua. Joshua 1:9 caps the Lord’s charge to Joshua. He is called by the Lord to follow His every word (Joshua 1:7-8) and to do it with courage, because the Lord is with him.

The Meaning

We like Joshua 1:9 because we’ve had times in our lives where we feel much like Joshua would have—overwhelmed by the call of God upon our lives. In such times it is comforting for us to grab ahold of this promise that God is always with us and therefore we can be strong and courageous. But should we? Is this a promise to individuals in the 21st century or only to Joshua?

In one sense this promise is very much directed to Joshua alone. The promise that “The Lord is with you wherever you go” is certainly a reassurance that Yahweh will be with Joshua just as he has been with Moses. This specific promise is not ours—we aren’t following in the line of Moses leading the people of Israel into the promised land.

But at the same time this promise is indeed ours. And it is ours because of the accomplishment of the Greater Joshua. Christ has led us into the true promised land—the true rest of God (see Hebrews 5) and because he has done this he has secured the promise given to Joshua that the Lord would be with his people wherever they go.

Having said that I’m still not confident that we really apply Joshua 1:9 correctly. In my opinion we move to quickly to personal application before really chewing on what the Lord is saying specifically to Joshua. Because of this tendency the strength and specificity of the Lord’s words to Joshua are often lost on us.

We often apply this verse whenever we are faced with a daunting task or a tough decision. And so we give ourselves these promises and we comfort ourselves that the Lord will be with us in our new job and that we shouldn’t fear because God will give us success.

And that is where we go off the rails in applying this promise to our own lives. The promise of the presence of God for Joshua equaled success in leading the people of Israel into the promised land. Presence of God + Obedience from Joshua = Successful Mission.

We cannot apply that same formula. For instance, if you are a lawyer that is really stressed out about a case, you cannot go to Joshua 1:9 and apply that formula. You cannot rightly say, “God is with me, I’m going to obey him, he’ll give me success in this trial”.

But we can apply Joshua 1:9 and say that Christ (the Greater Joshua) has conquered all of our greatest problems in the Cross. He, and he alone, has faithfully lead us into the Promised Land. Because of this we can rest—knowing that He is ever present with us through His Spirit. And because of this we, like Joshua, can respond to difficult callings with courage instead of fear.

Conclusion:

Joshua 1:9 is applicable for us, but be careful in how  you apply it. The great and precious promise of the presence of God is fully ours. And because of this promise we too can live with courage instead of fear. As you share Joshua 1:9 do so with a great thankfulness that Christ has purchased the eternal presence of God on our behalf.

Today in Blogworld 08.04.14

Mike Leake

Am I in Trouble?

Feeling like you are in trouble with the Lord can cause you to further neglect spiritual disciplines. I appreciated this encouragement.

Why We Love the Amish

Tim Challies discusses the intrigue of the Amish. Though I’m slightly shocked he didn’t factor Weird Al into his article.

Anatomy of Songs

This sums it up perfectly.

Laying a Gospel Foundation But Not Building Anything

There is a danger in being so focused on the foundation that we forget to build anything on it.

This is a neat optical illusion:

Pray For Your Husband: 31 Day Challenge–Day Four

Nikki Leake

Day Four: That God Would Sustain our Husbands

I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me. (Psalm 3:5 ESV)

It is not easy for our husbands to keep going everyday. They get tired; sometimes they don’t want to get out of bed and face the day. We understand because we feel the same way on some days. And yet, day after day they work to provide for us and our children. On other occasions, they may be worried with all the responsibilities of being a husband and father and they lie awake at night wrestling with burdens – financial, spiritual, etc. Today, let’s pray for the Lord to sustain our husbands for the days ahead, the restless nights, and for us to show them respect.

Lord God, You are sovereign. You are the ultimate provider and lover of our souls.  And yet, you have given a role that mirrors your relationship to your bride, the church, to our husbands.  This is not an easy road of loving, providing, and being a spiritual head.  Lord, please shower our husbands with your mercy and grace.  Be their rest as they lie down in peace and safety.  Lord, be their courage as they get up another day to live a life of worship to you as they reflect your love, grace, provision and protection to their family.  God you are so good to us, thank you for the gift of our husbands.  Continue to help us work out our salvation together in our roles as husband and wife.  Help us to show respect to them in our attitude and actions; help our hearts to submit to you Lord, as we lovingly and respectfully submit to our husbands without fear.  In all these things we pray in Jesus name, Amen.

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Bethany Wilhite is wife of Michael who is the meterologist at SouthernIndianaWeather.com, and the mother of Abigail, age 7 .  Bethany attends True Vine Baptist Church in Ferdinand, IN.