Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Can You Trust God? | The Life of Joshua | Joshua 13:1-7

Episode Date: August 30, 2021

God makes a lot of promises. Do you believe that he'll keep them? Is God actually trustworthy? As Israel prepares to enter the land God promised to them, we are reminded of God's faithfulness and trustworthiness over time. In today's episode, https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/staff/keith-simon/ (Keith) shares a few truths we can take away from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua%2013%3A1-7&version=NIV (Joshua 13:1-7). Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/ (website) and follow us on https://www.facebook.com/TenMinuteBibleTalks (Facebook), https://www.instagram.com/thecrossingcomo/ (Instagram), and https://twitter.com/tmbtpodcast (Twitter) @TheCrossingCOMO and @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TenMinuteBibleTalks (https://www.facebook.com/TenMinuteBibleTalks) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecrossingcomo/ (https://www.instagram.com/thecrossingcomo/) Twitter: https://twitter.com/tmbtpodcast (https://twitter.com/tmbtpodcast) Passages https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua%2013%3A1-7&version=NIV (Joshua 13:1-7) Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now.

Welcome to Tim Minna Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. I'm Tanya Wilmuth. And I'm Patrick Miller. Right now, we're going through the Book of Joshua. Also, if you want to connect with us, follow us on Twitter at TMBT podcast. You can also check out our hashtag, hashtag, Ask TMBT, where you can ask us anything, and we'd love to connect with you. One of the most important assessments we can make about another person is whether we believe

that person will keep their promises. If we think they do keep their promises, if they have a track record of doing what they said they were going to do, we call that person trustworthy. And that's a very high compliment. Think about the promises that we make in our life. For example, if two people are going to get married, they make vows to each other. And those vows are simply promises made before God, right? And those vows or promises, they are not for the wedding day. I mean, everybody knows the bride and groom are committing themselves to each other on that day. Yeah, no big deal. We all get it.

That's the whole point of the wedding service. Those vows, those promises, they're not so much about that day as much as they are about the future. They are binding you together as you walk into the unknown. That's why vows commonly say things like for richer, poorer, sickness and health, and joy and sorrow. In other words, we don't know what life is going to throw at us, but I promise that I will be committed to you. I'll be faithful to you, come what may. So when you get married, you're counting on your spouse to keep their promises.

And of course, they're counting on you to do the same thing. Or maybe it's in your work life and you're promised a promotion if you'll stay with the company. So maybe your boss says, hey, if you'll stay here another three years, I promise you'll have a new set of responsibilities, a new title, a new office, perhaps a new salary. Now, the question is, do you believe your boss? Do you believe the company will keep their promises? And do you believe them enough that when another company comes along with a job offer, you'll say no because you think you want to stay at the company that made promises to you? If believing someone's promises is true and our relationship with other people,

how much more is it true? How much more important is it that we believe that God will keep his promises? So let me just ask you, God makes lots of promises. Do you believe he'll keep them? One of the promises God makes is in Isaiah 4110.

He says this, so do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. The command there is really clear. It says, do not fear. Don't be afraid.

And that command is rooted in the promise that God will give you strength and help. So when you're facing surgery or a difficult conversation, or you are leaving out on a mission trip, do you believe that God will keep his promises? It's the only way to not have fear, to believe that God is with you and will uphold you. All right, here's another promise God makes in Psalm 3410. It says,

The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. Do you believe God's promise that if you seek him, there will be nothing that's good for you that you'll lack? I mean, life is hard, and things don't always turn out the way you want it to. In fact, they often don't turn out the way you hoped. So now here's a promise to say,

I'm seeking God and so I will trust that if God doesn't give it to me, it's because it's not good. Because here he has promised that those who seek him will lack no good thing. Is God trustworthy? Does God keep his promises? Well, that takes us to Joshua chapter 13. And this chapter marks a transition in the book. The first half of the book of Joshua is full of exciting stories about the conquest of the land. The second half of the book is more about how the land is divided among the 12 tribes. So we go from these vivid, dramatic narratives to lists of people and places.

While that might seem a little boring to us, there is a huge point, an important point being made. And the point is pretty simple. God keeps his promises. All the way back in Genesis 12, God appeared to Abraham and made great promises to him. One of those promises is that he would give him and his descendants the land of Canaan. The promise was repeated to Abraham and then to his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob. Now as Joshua and the Israelite tribes, they move in to settle the land, we are watching the very fulfillment of God's promise. What God is saying when he gives them that land is, I am a promise keeping God.

I want you to notice a couple of things about how God kept his promises to Joshua and the Israelites, things that I think might encourage you as you trust God to keep his promises in your life. First, it wasn't quick. It wasn't quick at all. Centuries passed between when God made the promise to Abraham and when it was fulfilled. Centuries. So maybe you're waiting on God and you're wondering when is he going to act in your life. Know this. God is never late. God is always on time, but it's in divine time, not your time. Second, notice it wasn't easy. There were all kinds of hardships and detours that the Israelites went between the time God made the promise and when he fulfilled the promise. And in most of those hardships and most of those detours, God didn't explain himself. They just had to

keep believing that God would honor his promise. Remember when Isaac was placed on the offering altar? God had promised that he was going to bless Abraham with a son and fulfill his promises through that son. But then God called Abraham to put Isaac on the altar. But even in that moment, God was still trustworthy. When Jacob ran away to save his life from Esau who wanted to kill him, God was still trustworthy. When Joseph was sold into slavery for Egypt and it looked like God's plan was going to be foiled, God was still trustworthy. When Israel had been slaves in Egypt for 400 years and it looked like God had forgotten them, he hadn't. God was still trustworthy. When Pharaoh let the Israelites leave Egypt but then changed his mind and trapped them out in the desert and there they stood between

Pharaoh's army and the Red Sea, and it looked hopeless, God was still trustworthy. When Moses was up on Mount Sinai for too long, at least according to the Israelites, and they made an idol because their faith had wavered, God was still trustworthy. There were many days when Joshua and the Israelites doubted God's promises, but there was never a day when God's promises were in doubt. So what is God promised every Christian? Well, here are a few of them. God is promised to never leave you or forsake you. He's promised to be your shield and defender and refuge. He's promised to satisfy your hunger and quench your thirst. He's promised to meet all your needs in Jesus. He's promised to give you everything that is good for you. He's promised to resurrect your body at his return. He's promised you unending joy in his presence. Put your trust in God. God keeps his promises. He will never fail you. Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe and give us a rating.

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