“And the LORD spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places.”

Numbers 33:50-52

It’s that time of year again! The weather is warming, children are finishing school, and vacations are beginning. For many, this is a season for more time with family, time spent relaxing, and more overall fun. Yet while many people are taking a vacation, the devil is increasing his efforts of trying to pull Christians away from the Lord. During a time when people are more relaxed, the devil is more focused. So how do we remain faithful to Christ this summer? How can we make sure these next few months aren’t wasted but are redeemed as we remain faithful?

—– our verses today describe the land of Canaan as a land full of idolatry. As the children of Israel made their way into Canaan, they faced the city of Jericho. Jericho was a well-fortified and prosperous city. This was a city that even an experienced army would have difficulties defeating, let alone a group of people who had been wandering the desert for years. Nevertheless, God gave the Israelites victory over the city. In our verses, God commands the Israelites to destroy all pagan gods of the city. He didn’t want anything left of them.

Why was God so particular about destroying all graven images? Surely the Israelites could have traded them with neighboring cities and profited from the sale. But God, realizing the Israelites’ weaknesses and the temptation to place other gods before Him, warned the Israelites to destroy all idols.

The Israelites struggled with something we still struggle with today-idolatry. While their gods were graven images, our gods come in the form of pride, materialism, frivolity, or apathy. Our gods are more in self than on the shelf.

Think of this in terms of the summer months. Many people “take a break from God” and make vacation and leisure their god. They travel and enjoy vacations yet forget to travel to God’s house and worship Him each week. There is nothing wrong with vacation, but God wants us to remain faithful to Him even during vacation.

Too often the relaxation mentality permeates our spiritual life as well as our physical life. A break from work doesn’t mean a break from being a Christian. We can be sure that they devil does not take a break from attacking us, so we must be ever vigilant against his attacks-especially his attack of idolatry!

Have you placed God first in your life this summer, or have you been on a “break”? While there are times for break from work, school, and the daily routine, there is never a break from Christianity. Christianity isn’t a routine you perform or a job you accomplish; Christianity is a life you live. Even though you will be tempted to neglect your Bible reading or church attendance, determine to keep God first in your life this summer. The next time you’re packing for a trip, make sure you pack your Bible and be in a church on Sunday and Wednesday.(By Paul Chappell)

“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”–Ephesians 4:32   The command to forgive others is clear, but let’s not kid ourselves it is tough! Living the Christian is more than difficult, it is down right impossible without help from God. We can love and forgive others only by first loving God and surrendering ourselves to His control. If you are having difficulty forgiving someone, consider these words from the pen of Selwyn Hughes:   —- The first thing we must do is demonstrate a willingness to forgive those who hurt us. “That’s hard,” you might say. My reply is: “Yes, in the case of those who have been badly let down, it is hard – but not impossible.” Here’s how you do it. Focus first on how much you have been forgiven. The key to forgiving others is to enter into a realized awareness of how much God has forgiven you. When people say to me during a counselling session, “My problem is that I can’t forgive,” I usually respond by saying, “No, that’s not your problem. Your problem is that you dont know how much you have been forgiven.” It may be difficult for some to see this, especially those who have gone through deep hurt, but nothing others have done to you is as awful as what you have done to God. If you have difficulty with the last statement, it is because you do not understand the nature of sin. Sin is taking the Creator of the universe and relegating Him to irrelevance; it is saying to the One who made us – “I can run my life on my own terms.” Sin is insanity – and you and I have been guilty of that. Yet in Christ God has forgiven us, pardoned us, and bestowed upon us His royal favor. Having been given such forgiveness, can we, dare we, withhold it from anyone who has betrayed our trust, no matter how horrifying that hurt has been?

Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them—” (1 Timothy 4:16)

In America today, we have something that could be described as a new spirituality. It’s a revival of sorts-not in the biblical sense of people turning to God, but a revival of all kinds of ancient and weird spiritual concepts and beliefs.

People are spiritually hungry. They are searching for truth. And the problem is, some of this strange theology is finding its way into the church.

We must be very careful to keep our guard up. Don’t forget that when the devil misled Eve in the Garden, he did it with partial truth. He did not question God’s Word altogether. Rather, he questioned if Eve properly understood it.

We must be careful of the deviant teachings that are out there today. So often, when a new teaching comes along, we will get excited: a new revelation!

I hope this won’t disappoint you, but there aren’t any new revelations. Everything you need to know about God is already written in His Book. As it has been said, if it’s true, it isn’t new. And if it’s new, it isn’t true.

So don’t go looking for new revelations. Spend your time instead in learning God’s Word, and He will bring fresh understanding of it.

Years ago, the great thinker C. S. Lewis warned us, “If you do not listen to theology, that will not mean that you have no ideas about God. It will mean that you have a lot of wrong ones.” I think this is especially important today.

We need to know what Jesus said. We need to know what the truth is. We need to pay attention to doctrine.         —by Greg Laurie

“—-the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.”–1 Samuel 16:7   A man was strolling down the beach when he came upon a cave. He ventured inside and stumbled upon a canvas bag filled with many hardened clay balls. It looked as if someone had rolled the clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake. They didn’t look like much, but the man took the bag anyway and headed out of the cave. As he strolled along the beach, he threw the clay balls, one-by-one, into the ocean as far as he could. He continued this for some time until he accidentally dropped one on the ground and it cracked open on a rock. To his amazement, a precious stone was hidden inside! The man began breaking open the remaining 20 clay balls left in his bag and found similar treasures in each one. Then it struck him. He had just thrown more than 50 clay balls into the ocean. He could have had thousands of dollars more in treasure, but he threw them all away because they didn’t look to be of much value. This is the same way we treat people sometimes. We look at the rough exterior and decide it doesn’t look like much, so we discount them and toss them aside. We see that person as less important than someone more beautiful, stylish, well-known, or wealthy. As believers, we must take time to get to know people, regardless of appearance. If we do this, then the clay will begin to break away revealing a brilliant gem inside. May we never find out that we have thrown away a fortune in friendships because the gems were hidden in unattractive bits of clay. May we always see others as Jesus does. (From Senior Living) Ask God to reveal the beauty inside others and show you those people the way He sees them

Direct my footsteps according to Your Word;
let no sin rule over me.” Psalm 119:133

This is a prayer which should always be on our lips.
We should get our direction from God, not once in
our life only, when we first give ourselves to Him;
not at the opening of each day only, as we go forth
to the day’s task; not merely at the beginning of
each new piece of work or of each fresh task-but
every moment, for each step.

That is what “walking with God” means.

We may make this so real, that we shall look up
into God’s face continually, asking, “What next,
dear Lord? What shall I do now? Which course
shall I take today? How shall I do this duty?”

If we can but have God’s guidance and help for
the little short steps-we need not fear for the
long miles-the great stretches of road. If each
step is of His directing-the long miles will be
paths of His choosing. ——————By J.R.Millier, 1890