PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (Conviction): Today’s sin confession doesn’t have anything to do with today’s scripture. I feel convicted in my spirit to confess to You, Father, about my lack of consistency lately. I started off so great upon returning to my family and working hard to help out in the house. As of late, however, I find myself slowly but surely helping less and less frequently with things around the house. Instead of proactively getting things done without any mention of it from my wife, I find myself waiting until she asks for help to do things. This is not how You’ve taught me to behave in my household, Father. Please forgive me for my slight regression, Father. Help me to get back on my feet and on the path You have deemed for me as the leader of my home.
PROMISE (verse 13): Your promise to Caleb through Moses many decades prior has been fulfilled! Joshua granted Caleb the promised inheritance which Moses had promised him 45 years prior. Caleb stayed faithful this entire time knowing that You always fulfill Your promises and here You are doing so! Thank You, Father, for yet another example of Your faithfulness. Thank You for showing that even after many years of faithfulness, obedience, patience, and waiting, Your people should never be discouraged at the time that is passing because Your timing is always more valuable and important than our own. Yes, Caleb likely would have preferred to get his inheritance on the spot from Moses, but who knows what the condition of that land or his soul would have been at that time. Maybe he needed to be involved in this ministry of battle for 45 years to get to the point which his soul was strong enough to You to truly embrace and accept the inheritance from You. I do not know Your reasons, but I do know and see that You are always faithful to us.
ATTITUDE (verse 19): Caleb offered up his daughter to anyone who would be willing to go forward and capture a town successfully. His daughter was given to the victor along with the land inheritance from that victory, but his daughter wanted an additional blessing from her father on earth. She was not sure what the answer would be nor was she certain if she would receive it, but she felt a strong enough conviction about this blessing to be willing to ask the question. Help me to embrace this same conviction, Father. Help me to embrace an attitude that knows my identity in this life, but also never fears to approach You with questions I may have. Help me to embrace an attitude that never fears asking You for “things” in this life that I may need or want in the moment. Help me to also always be okay with whatever Your response is, Father, and to handle it in a way that gives honor and glory to You through it all. If the answer is no, then I’m sure You have Your reasons and I must be okay with that. If the answer is yes, then that response also has its reasons and again I must be okay with that. I must celebrate whatever the response is, even if it goes against my fleshly/worldly desires in that moment because Your plan is always greater than my own.
COMMAND (verse 19): I find this verse to also be an implied command. Caleb’s daughter came to him asking for an additional blessing after she was “gifted” to another for their victory over a land and they were granted the land as an inheritance. She asked for an additional blessing to her newly established family of the bodies of water adjacent to their inherited land. The reason I see this as an implied command is from Caleb’s response. He could have gone the negative route and said something like “have I not given you enough? The rest of this is mine.” He did not do that, though. He showed a tremendous amount of spiritual maturity by immediately granting her the request of the additional blessing out of his faithfulness and out of knowing that nothing he possess is truly his. God granted all of these victories to his people and he could just as easily take it all away. The command here is to know that nothing in this life is mine. It’s simply something that I am temporarily put in-charge of while I’m living this life. I am to be a good steward of my inheritance and blessings while at the same time knowing when God wants me to pass off something to the next generation as Caleb did here. Help me to be wiser in my decision-making on this topic, Father, so that I may honor You throughout all of my decisions in this life.
EXAMPLE (verse 63): This very last verse in today’s scripture is an interesting one. There was a group of people in the new inheritance of Judah (Jerusalem) which could not be driven out. Everyone else in the battles prior to this, You commanded them to completely obliterate from existence. These people, however, were the Jebusites and You said that they were not driven out and, in fact, still live amongst the descendants of Judah in Jerusalem to this day. Are the Jebusites an important people to know about, Father? Is there a reason why You allowed them to survive throughout all this destruction? Not only to survive, but to actually continue to live amongst Your people in the promised land?
*DAILY NOTE: Today’s scripture had a lot of “property lines” related talk, but in between those lines I was able to reap a great message from You concerning my heart, my spiritual maturity, and always honoring You. Thank You for today’s conversation, Father. It always amazes me how You can do so much in my heart and mind with so few verses. Although this chapter has over 63 verses in the HCSB version, only maybe 8-12 of those are not on the topic of property lines and borders. Here we are fully finished with my journal on less than a dozen lines of scripture! Thank You, Father, for opening my eyes to be able to see, my ears to be able to hear, my mind to be able to understand, and my heart to be able to embrace all that You have to offer.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES