Final Thought

I hope we can challenge each other and support each other in our individual efforts to maintain our individual mindsets and missions. Remember, our goal is to make small investments of our time and resources everyday to be faithful in a few things. We also want to stay focused on what we are doing and why we are doing it. Whether it is getting in shape, passing a test, preparing for job, or anything else. Let's help each other stay focused.


 Keep Your Eyes on the Prize

Joshua 1:7

Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.


Joshua 1:1-4

Moses, the servant of the Lord, died. After that, the Lord spoke to Joshua, the son of Nun. Joshua was Moses’ helper. The Lord said to Joshua, 2 “My servant Moses is dead. Now then, I want you and all these people to get ready to go across the Jordan River. I want all of you to go into the land I am about to give to the Israelites. 3 I will give all of you every place you walk on, just as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will reach from the Negev Desert all the way to Lebanon. The great Euphrates River will be to the east. The Mediterranean Sea will be to the west. Your territory will include all the Hittite country.


Lessons Learned

Joshua chapter 1 details two very important directives Joshua was given by God. The first was his mission. Joshua and the Israelites were told that their mission was to conquer the land of Canaan. Second, Joshua was told to focus his attention on the law or principles of God. He was told to focus on them so deeply that he would not turn his head to focus on anything else.


Here we have two directives, fulfill the mission and focus on the game plan. All else is distraction.  God spent forty years ensuring that His children understood what it was they were put on Earth to accomplish. During that time, He constantly had the children of Israel recite and rehearse the law. It was woven through every aspect of their society so that it could not be forgotten. The law gave them a specific mindset, which guided how they thought and how they acted. The mindset leads to the fulfillment of the mission.


THINK ABOUT IT


1. Based on last week's lesson, what one thing are you seeking to accomplish? What is your mission?

2. To accomplish your mission there is probably some type of playbook, rule book, or rubric you are following. What guides you as you accomplish your mission?

Is the Mission Supported

Joshua 2:8 - 13

8 Rahab went up on the roof before the spies settled down for the night. 9 She said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land. We are very much afraid of you. Everyone who lives in this country is weak with fear because of you. 10 We’ve heard how the Lord dried up the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt. We’ve heard what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings. They ruled east of the Jordan River. You completely destroyed them. 11 When we heard about it, we were terrified. Because of you, we aren’t brave anymore. The Lord your God is the God who rules in heaven above and on the earth below.

12 “Now then, please give me your word. Promise me in the name of the Lord that you will be kind to my family. I’ve been kind to you. Promise me 13 that you will spare the lives of my father and mother. Spare my brothers and sisters. Also spare everyone in their families. Promise that you won’t put any of us to death.


Joshua 9:3-6 and 14-19

3 However, when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, 4 they resorted to a ruse: They went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded[a] with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended. 5 They put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply was dry and moldy. 6 Then they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the Israelites, “We have come from a distant country; make a treaty with us.”


14 The Israelites sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord. 15 Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath.

16 Three days after they made the treaty with the Gibeonites, the Israelites heard that they were neighbors, living near them. 17 So the Israelites set out and on the third day came to their cities: Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth and Kiriath Jearim. 18 But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the assembly had sworn an oath to them by the Lord, the God of Israel.The whole assembly grumbled against the leaders, 19 but all the leaders answered, “We have given them our oath by the Lord, the God of Israel, and we cannot touch them now.


Lessons Learned

When we set goals for ourselves, it is difficult to accomplish them alone. We usually need help at some point in our journey. We need people in our corner: however, it can be quite difficult knowing who is really in our corner. Even the kindest acts can have a person's self-interest as their primary motivation. A person's actions towards you may not have anything to do with you, but how that person can benefit from interacting with you.


In this text, Rahab's primary motivation was saving her family. She admitted that she and all of the kingdom had heard of the Israelites and that they were afraid. She knew, because of the stories she had heard, that God was with Joshua and his people. She knew to oppose them would mean certain death. So, to save her family she helped the spies. In this instance, it really does not matter what Rahab's motivation was. What mattered was that she supported the mission.


However, it was a different story for the Gibeonites. They were motivated by self-preservation as Rahab was. The difference was that their actions didn't support the mission. The result was an unnecessary burden for the Israelites for the rest of their journey because Joshua was not careful to consult God before making an important decision and making a treaty. You are not able to determine everyone's intentions or motivations. However, you can determine if your interaction will keep you on mission or deter you from it.


THINK ABOUT IT

1. Regarding your mission, do you know who supports it and how they support it?

2. Do you know how to determine if someone or something will take you off the course of your mission?

Is the Mindset Reinforced

Joshua 7:1-3

But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things[a]; Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri,[b] the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel.

2 Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth Aven to the east of Bethel, and told them, “Go up and spy out the region.” So the men went up and spied out Ai.


Joshua 7:19-21

19 Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and honor him. Tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me.”

20 Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: 21 When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia,[c] two hundred shekels[d] of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels,[e] I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”


Lessons Learned

Achan's family supported the mission, but had a different mindset. God had sent Israel to overcome and cleanse Canaan. He did not want the Isrealites to take any of their spoils. Achan wanted the beauty and the riches of Jericho, so he disobeyed the law that God told everyone to cherish as their focus. This disobedience led to Israel's defeat at Ai. Achan's desire  caused him to take his eyes off of the law. This loss of focus led to a changed mindest that not only infected him, but his entire family. God would not allow this mindset to infect all of Israel, so he had it purged from Israel through eradication of Achan and his entire family. 


THINK ABOUT IT

1. Have you created a method for staying focused on your playbook?

2. How do you plan to reinforce your mindset daily?

3. How would purge that which is infecting your mindset?


Chapter 9

Last Week

During last week's lesson, we discussed the benefits of working towards your blessings in small ways consistently. We learned that God reveals Himself in the little things more often than in the big spectacles. He rewards us for the few things to which we are committed rather than the big accomplishments. My hope is that we are motivated to work on that one thing God has placed before us little by little and day by day. Those little things lead to big rewards.

Introduction

We live in a busy world that is filled with  individuals and institutions competing for your attention. It can be difficult to focus on what is truly important because everything around you is trying to convince you that it is the most important issue at the moment. This week we are going to focus on telling the difference between what is important and what is distraction.

Don't Get Distracted