So, today Hilda would have celebrated her 65th Birthday, although my beautiful sweetheart still looked decades younger to me. Today she’s celebrating up in Heaven with Jesus and so many friends and family who are already in Paradise. They are looking down on us at times and cheering us on.
Last night I had a dream of Hilda being with me. It was special. After waking from the dream around 2:00 am, it was too hard to fall asleep. Sometimes I talk with her in my Spirit, which we did. It was a great time to thank God for Hilda and to thank Jesus for His promise that I will be with Hilda again forever. I also listened as God, through His Holy Spirit, shared with me some things He wanted me to do in the near future.
God gave me many instructions and ideas about how to accomplish what He is asking me to do. For a follower of Jesus, we can expect God’s Holy Spirit to speak to us with comfort, guidance, and the assurance of God’s continual presence. That is what I received today, during the wee hours of the morning. I did get another hour or so of sleep, with Daniel’s encouragement, from about 6-7 am. 🙂
God Wants To Speak To Us
This type of communication from God to us as believers should be something normal. It is definitely to our benefit to listen when God speaks to us and it is for our good. That’s the Holy Spirit speaking, telling us what God wants us to know. Jesus asked the Father to send the Holy Spirit to us who love and belong to Jesus. He promised we would never be alone, because the Holy Spirit would be with us and live in us. The Holy Spirit is “Jesus without limits.”
Joshua was an army commander, who succeeded Moses as leader of the Israelites. He was already at least 60 years of age at this point. For 40 years of wandering through the wilderness with God’s people, Joshua had been mentored by Moses. He along with Caleb, were the only survivors of Egypt who endured the wilderness wandering to enter into the promised land of Canaan. All the others had passed away, due to their disbelief in God, their disobedience and their grumbling against God and Moses. That happened even though they witnessed first-hand their own miraculous deliverance from Pharoah and his army, and even though God rescued them through supernatural plagues, from their horrible life as slaves in Egypt for hundreds of years.
So Joshua (with Caleb) was now responsible for several million people, all 40 years old or younger. These people had only known wandering in the wilderness all of their lives. They had only known Moses as their amazing leader. Moses was someone who got directions directly from God, and it saved the Israelite people countless times.
I’m sure Joshua had some doubts that he could lead this huge group of men, women and children, into the land of Canaan, which was filled with fortified, walled cities and protected by millions of armed warriors of great reknown, including fearsome giants. These were tough, professional fighters with superior weapons and they were not going to allow the Israelites to simply come into these territories of mighty kings, and take them over.
As Joshua thought about this seemingly impossible challenge, he must have wondered if God would be with him and the Israelites, as God was with Moses. Joshua watched God single-handedly defeated Pharoah and the mighty Egyptian army at the Red Sea. There was no fighting required by Joshua and the men of Israel that day. They just stood on the other side of the Red Sea and watched God drown the world’s greatest army of that era.
This is a long post, as I haven’t posted often lately. I actually try to listen to what God is sharing with me, and when I believe He wants me to share it, that’s when it shows up on this blog. 🙂
Read these wonderful and encouraging words that God tells Joshua…
Yes – God is talking to Joshua!!! YAY GOD! Not only did God talk to Moses, but God talked to Joshua, when he really needed reassurance from God. God will talk to you too, especially through His Word, the Bible. When you read something in the Bible and it comes alive to you, that is, it seems to apply to you and your life situation, that is God talking to you through His Holy Spirit. 🙂
Here is this episode of God’s encouragement for Joshua.
1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide:
2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites.
3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.
4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.
5 No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.
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.
8 Keep this Book of the Law (for us that is The Bible) always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
10 So Joshua ordered the officers of the people:
11 “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your provisions ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you for your own.’”
Joshua 1:1-11 (NIV)
Here are some thoughts which I have written in my Bible just beside these verses…
Don’t Give Up – Obey God! God has been reminding me of this since Hilda went to Heaven. My sweetheart and partner has left me for a while. Happy Birthday Hilda – in Earth years that is. Jesus is thankfully with me every day, by the Holy Spirit, but life is so different and often feels so lonely without Hilda. Thank you God for Daniel, our wonderful son, and Elaine, my precious mother-in-law. But HOPE is so strong. Jesus has promised we will be together again forever. Thanks to Jesus, my name is written in The Lamb’s Book of Life, giving me entry into Heaven where Hilda is waiting for me.
Your situation may be very different than mine. Whatever you are going through, God challenges you and me for our own good. He wants us to grow and not die. That’s why we are still here. God has something for us to do, like He had for Joshua. God wants us to move on. If we don’t accept the challenges He has allowed, it will lead to rebellion against God’s plan for our lives.
To move ahead with the challenges which lie before you, have…
1. A Decisive Mind. If God tells you to do something, just do it. Follow what God is telling you. Be ready and go. Changes from God, (like my life here without Hilda), will upset some people around you. It’s not what they expected you to do. God wants you to cross over the Jordan River into Canaan, to possess the land that He has waiting for you. Move ahead. Joshua and Caleb were ready. God was with them. He will be with you, too!
2. A Devoted Heart. Disobedience to God leads to wandering aimlessly, as the Israelites did in the wilderness. Meditate on God’s Word day and night. Keep His Word by reading it and and obeying what God speaks into your heart as you read. Joshua 1:8 was a verse one of my older mentors (Mr. Paul Hamel) had us young adults memorize. That verse has guided me throughout my life since 1974. It encouraged me to spend time with God, reading His Word, every morning, every evening, and often during the day. The Bible is the main source through which God speaks to you. It gives you God’s strength, encouragement, direction and victory to walk in obedience. The Holy Spirit inspired the writers of the Bible with God’s Words for you.
3. A Determined Will. When God speaks to you and you obey, it gets amazing results. God wants to and will do greater things for you in your live, then you would have ever experience if you make your own decisions and lived by your own wisdom and strength. God’s will is not always easy. It wasn’t always easy for Joshua and the Israelites, who encountered enemy armies many times. But God did not abandon them. He promised Joshua that He would be with Him. God will keep His promises that He has spoken to you, when you do your part. So have faith in God and have determination to obey Him.
People of courage who spend time listening to God, meditating on His Word and obeying what He tells them, will do great things for God. Obey God and don’t fear men. Get close to God and you won’t need people’s approval. You will have direction from God Himself.
Remember always – this life with God is only possible through JESUS, the one who died for you. Jesus made the way for you to have a relationship with His Father. You can have a close relationship with God where you know when He is speaking to your heart. Believe that Jesus is God’s Son, that He loves you, and that He died to pay for your sins and rose from the dead. Now He is in Heaven with God the Father, and wanting you to be there too. Just ask Jesus to forgive your sins. Ask Jesus to come live in your heart. You can make that decision today! It will change your life down here on Earth and you will be given Eternal Life in Heaven someday.
One special verse on a little card is tucked inside my Bible, a bookmark where I am currently reading, along with Hilda’s photo holding baby Daniel. This card was left behind for me by Hilda. If you belong to God, and He is speaking to you as you read this blog, take this verse as a message for yourself from God…
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 (NIV)
So Don’t Give Up – Obey God!! And watch Him do amazing things in your life!
