9/01/12. Joshua 12:1-14:5. EVERY VICTORY IS IMPORTANT TO GOD-devotional

Joshua 12:1-14:5     Key Verse: 12:1

Saturday, September 1, 2012
Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF

“These are the kings of the land whom the Israelites had defeated and whose territory they took over east of the Jordan, from the Arnon Gorge to Mount Hermon, including all the eastern side of the Arabah:”

Dear Lord heavenly Father, Holy Spirit, thank you for the Midwest conference. Thank you that we can all enjoy spiritual fellowship and grow in the word of God together. I pray that we my form communities of God’s love among all the UBF chapters of the Midwest region. May the Milwaukee UBF grow and mature in faith and reveal Jesus to the students of Milwaukee. Please grant your word in my heart today from this passage in Joshua. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Part 1: Every Spiritual Victory Is Important (12:1-24).

Look at verse 12:1-24. Chapter 12 is a list of kings and nations conquered by Joshua. Each of the 31 victories is individually recorded instead of a blanket statement being made to cover them all. Each victory is important to God, no matter how big or small. God takes special note of each one.

There are times when we feel insignificant. We feel that all our efforts are in vain. We look around to see other Christians and it seems that their lives are so much more fruitful. Maybe they have kids that are serving the Lord. Maybe they are pastors of a brick and mortar churches. Maybe they are recognized and getting all kinds of recognition. May they have written a lot of books. May they have led several people to Jesus and these people have grown up to be influential servants of God. But when we look at our life, we wonder what have we accomplished for the glory of God and to expand the kingdom of God? We may become depressed that all of our labors in the Lord have been in vain.

But this way of thinking is not true. This type of thinking is not Biblical. Did not Jesus bless the five loaves and two fish of a small boy when Andrew offered it in faith. What about Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” The point is, your labor in the Lord is never in vain. What about Jesus’ words that those who have sacrificed much in this world for the sake of Jesus and the Kingdom of God will fail to receive 100 times as much in this world and eternal life in the next. Mark 10:29-30 reads, “29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.”

I have devoted my life and family to Jesus for the last 20 years. We have sacrificed a lot. I have been bearing spiritual fruit in my life and ministry. But when When I compare to others, I sometimes end up despairing. It seems that most I have worked for is falling apart right before my eyes. (Or it is taking a different form, which is unsettling to me.) But though I may not have a huge ministry and though I am not a good disciple raiser, this does not negate the victories Jesus has work through me. All of my victories are written in the halls of heaven. They are all remembered by God. They will bring about a heavenly reward. I thank God that he counts and recounts every victory. They are all significant. Nothing is in vain.

Part 2: Not Time To Retire But To Re-tire (13:1-32).

There is another situation where a person may feel insignificant. Look at 13:1-32. Verse 1 reads, “When Joshua had grown old, the LORD said to him, “You are now very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over.” Joshua was an old man in his 80s. He could have retired and disappeared. But God still had important victories for him to partake in. As we age, it is easy to think that we no longer have a place in ministry. We think that we will always be shuffled off to the “old folks” group after Sunday Worship Service. We find ourselves outside the main steam of the work of God. But as we age we don’t have to think we have become obsolete and insignificant. No way. We can realize that God has many great things for us to do. He has many victories for us to take hold of. We just have to listen to the word of God and find out what God has in store for us.

Part 3. Levi, Small But Not Forgotten (14:1-5).

Verses 14:1-5 read, “Now these are the areas the Israelites received as an inheritance in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun and the heads of the tribal clans of Israel allotted to them. 2 Their inheritances were assigned by lot to the nine and a half tribes, as the LORD had commanded through Moses. 3 Moses had granted the two and a half tribes their inheritance east of the Jordan but had not granted the Levites an inheritance among the rest, 4 for Joseph’s descendants had become two tribes—Manasseh and Ephraim. The Levites received no share of the land but only towns to live in, with pasturelands for their flocks and herds. 5 So the Israelites divided the land, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.”

The land was divided among the tribes, but the tribe of Levi was given only cities and pastureland. The tribe of Levi could have felt that they were not important. They were small. They were not given an allotment of land. But they needed to know why. It was not because they were not important. It was because they were dedicated to serving God. They could be mobile in order to be flexible.

We may think that we are a small church and not very important. We think that we are a small fellowship and not very important. But we need to realize that, though we may be from a small church, we actually serve a vital role in the church, in some very important way. Our ministry has never grown that much in DeKalb. I made more enemies than disciples of Jesus. But I think we have and still are serving a very vital role. But yet we are a source of strength and inspiration for multiple, small house churches. Maybe we are serving a type of monastic role. Jenn, who was sent out to Montreal, is trying to keep her Christian faith and is trying to influence others around her towards Jesus. We are small, but definitely not insignificant. We are very important in God’s eyes.

Prayer: Lord, sometimes I feel insignificant in this huge world. But always remind me that as I follow you, every spiritual victory is noticed by you and counts.

One Word: Take note of the victories from God