Pastor Jeremy Russell
Joshua 24:14-27
14 “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” 16 Then the people answered, “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods! 17 It was the Lord our God himself who brought us and our parents up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. 18 And the Lord drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the Lord, because he is our God.” 19 Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. 20 If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you.” 21 But the people said to Joshua, “No! We will serve the Lord.” 22 Then Joshua said, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the Lord.” “Yes, we are witnesses,” they replied. 23 “Now then,” said Joshua, “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.” 24 And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God and obey him.” 25 On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at Shechem he reaffirmed for them decrees and laws. 26 And Joshua recorded these things in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak near the holy place of the Lord. 27 “See!” he said to all the people. “This stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all the words the Lord has said to us. It will be a witness against you if you are untrue to your God.”
The _Responsibility
Ephesians 4:14 – “So that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.”
James 1:8 – “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”
Matthew 6:24–“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon”[money, possessions, fame, status, or whatever is valued more than the Lord].
The cost of following Christ is free yet extremely costly!
Luke 14:25-35
“Authentic discipleship may exact from you the highest price relationally and the highest price physically.”-John Piper
The Remembrance
1 Corinthians 4:7 TLB-.“What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if all you have is from God, why act as though you are so great, and as though you have accomplished something on your own?”
When we forget God’s goodness we start claiming credit for things God has done.
Romans 1:21 NLT–“Yes, [people] knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused”
*Remembering what God has done keeps our minds in the right perspective.
Psalm 103:2, NLT)–“Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me.”
Here are 5 quick ways to remember:
Think about what He has done for you.
Thank God for what He has done for you.
Write down what God has done for you.
Tell Others about what God has done for you.
Create a reminder or memorial for what God has done for you.
The Response
Psalm 90:2 ESV- “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”
Hebrews 13:8 ESV –“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
Malachi 3:6 ESV –“For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.”
James 1:17 ESV – “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
Revelation 1:8 ESV “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
God is unchanging in His love and grace towards us. He desires for us to come to him and not hide from our own sins and failures.
“There is no cost you can pay in following Jesus that won’t be made up a thousandfold in the resurrection.”- John Piper
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