Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Are You Forgetting About God? | The Life of Joshua | Joshua 4

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life in the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. And I'm Patrick Miller. We are currently exploring some of our favorite Bible verses and how they've changed our lives. Also, if you want to connect with us, follow us on Twitter at TMBT podcast. You can also check out our hashtag, hashtag, AskT, TMBT, where you can ask us anything, and we'd love to connect with you. It's hard to believe that we're already halfway through the summer. And maybe that means that you've been off your podcast game.

Starting point is 00:00:41 Maybe you're hopping back on with us for the first time in a while or for the first time ever. But I want to let you know that we have a new co-host, Tanya Wilmuth, who's done this episode. And if you've been listening to her, you already know, she's great. She's a great Bible teacher. She has excellent insights. And she's going to help you deepen your love with Jesus and walk with God more faithfully. How do you keep from forgetting? scientists tell us that our memory begins through our senses. So that means things we experience

Starting point is 00:01:10 with the form of touch, taste, sight, sound, and smell shape our memories. As we encounter the world in this way, our brain decides which information needs to be stored and which can fall away. Well, in our family, we've noticed that the things that we remember over time come from pictures and stories. So either we've captured the moment with a snapshot that we look at again or again, or we tell the same stories over and over that tend to be the ones that stick in our memories. As the one who created and wired our brains, God both knows we tend to be forgetful people by nature and helps us with the things he wants us to remember. Like a parent to hands-down family stories, God is intentional to create ways for us to remember his big story and how it shapes our lives

Starting point is 00:01:57 and really the lives of all people for all time. Moving toward Canaan was Joshua and the Israelite people, we've just watched how as soon as the feet of the priest, carrying the Ark of the Covenant reached the flooded Jordan River, the water actually stopped flowing and they were standing on dry ground. Now surely, as they crossed the Jordan River, the people would have been remembering how 40 years earlier the generation before them was able to cross the Red Sea on dry ground as they escaped the slavery of Egypt. This would have been a story that they had heard over and over. So today, the day of crossing, well, this was also a monumental time in the history of Israel. But the people didn't have textbooks and they didn't

Starting point is 00:02:45 have photo albums to record and pass down what had happened at the Jordan River. Instead of paper, treaties and lane titles were recorded on stone and the commandments were recorded on stone. To know or remember meant you either had to see what happened with your own eyes, hear about it from someone who did or have access to the stone tablets or memorials. But for the Israelites, God had a plan to keep them from forgetting what happened at the Jordan River. He knew they would need a reminder of his faithful power on this day. He knew they would need to remember his presence when they face the next obstacle or when they faced the next enemy to conquer the territory he'd promised to give them. In Joshua chapter four, after the people have come through the river, the Lord said to Joshua,

Starting point is 00:03:36 choose 12 men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priest are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight. Now we know that that place will come to be called Gilgall. So basically what he's telling them is after everyone's, has made it safely to the other side, a representative from each of the tribes is to go back into the center of the riverbed, grab a stone, and carry it out of the river for a memorial God had instructed them to build. I actually imagine the stones stacked up kind of like the cairns we see today that also serve as memorials or guides. But these stones would represent

Starting point is 00:04:23 something only God could have done. Only God could uncover a dry stone in the middle of a flooded riverbed. And certainly only God could unite all these people to work together for a common pursuit of his promise. God wanted the Israelites and their future generations to think about and talk about what happened at this river in a way that would shape their story. They would see the stones and tell the story of God's mercy to them. They would see the stones and remember that Yahweh is with them. They would see the stones and know that God is infinitely better than anything else. In verse 21, Joshua said to the Israelites, in the future, when your descendants ask their parents, what do these stones mean? Tell them, Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground. He did this so that all

Starting point is 00:05:17 the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always feel the Lord your God. I don't know if you can relate, but I had a time in my life where I didn't remember God. And I don't mean a day. I mean a time. And I probably didn't even realize that I didn't remember him. I know it's true, though, because it's marked by the fruit of forgetfulness. It was a time that I didn't remember the Lord was merciful. That I didn't know him or think of him as Yahweh. That I didn't really feel like he was better than anything else. But because of the Lord's memorial stones, I had a way to see and remember him. Well, I'm not talking about the stones and go gall.

Starting point is 00:06:02 But because of his people who put their trust in Jesus Christ, I had living reminders of him all around me that eventually helped me see what, or really who I had forgotten. So here's what the Holy Lord knows about us. He knows that we're going to forget how good he is. He knows that we're going to forget how much we need him. He knows that in our sinfulness and weakness, we're going to forget the good things he's done for us in the past and replace remembering with worry and fear and insecurity and control. He isn't surprised by this, but it's also not what he wants

Starting point is 00:06:43 for us. So God gives us ways to remember and he gives us a way to come back when we forget. just like the people of Israel who came together with one representative from each tribe to carry out a memorial stone. So God gives us a community of people to help us remember his goodness. This is the church, not a building we go to, but the people we live with and among who are following God. These are his people that God puts in our lives to give us sometimes encouragement and sometimes discipline to keep following Jesus. I think to best utilize this amazing resource of remembering, we have to ask ourselves something. I think we have to ask ourselves if we're letting these people into our lives in a way that affords that opportunity. What I mean by that is, are we authentically giving ourselves in our weaknesses

Starting point is 00:07:37 and real life struggles to the brothers and sisters around us who can help us remember God? Are there people who know when we're standing in front of a flooded river and we need help? How can we remember how good God is if we aren't letting go of our pride to share with others how much we need God? He also gives us His son, Jesus, who meets us with mercy because he's taken the punishment for forgetting God for us. So when we forget to make God the center of our life, we don't have to run away from him out of shame, because we have an open invitation to run into the arms of Jesus instead. So when I find that my day or my days or weeks have been filled with a lot of me and self-talk and self-thought and really just self-love,

Starting point is 00:08:28 Jesus is the stone I can run to to remember the faithful goodness and mercy of God. Because of Jesus, the path to God is always clear and open for us to come back, repent, and remember. Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe and give us a rating. That helps other people find this podcast more easily. Also, ask yourself, who could you share this podcast with? Texting an episode to a friend or a family member is a great way to help them grow spiritually.

Starting point is 00:09:05 If you want to go deeper, check out our show notes for book recommendations. Thank you.

Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Are You Forgetting About God? | The Life of Joshua | Joshua 4

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