Word of the Day: And as they fled before Israel, while they were going down the ascent of Beth-horon, the LORD threw down large stones from heaven on them as far as Azecah, and they died. There were more who died because of hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with the sword. Joshua 10:11
This verse is from the Israelites second battle with Ai, the first one didn’t go so very well. Why, because God wasn’t in that battle with them. So much of life is a battle in one form or another. And I’m finding that many of life’s battles don’t have to be fought at all.
In today’s word of the day we find the PERFECT example of this! The hailstones that God threw down from heaven killed more men than the swords of Israel! God fought FOR them, He worked FOR them in that battle.
One evening Jesus and His disciples were out in their boat. Jesus exhausted from preaching all day was asleep on a pillow in the front of the boat, seemingly unaware of the danger surrounding them all. A great windstorm popped up and caused the waves to break over the side of the boat filling it with water. If something didn’t change soon the boat would sink and they all would die… except Jesus was with them! Sleeping… but with them; He was their only hope. So the men frantically woke Him saying “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And He awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” (Mark 4:35-40)
Jesus’ reply to their fear brings up a great question, what were they really afraid of, death or that Jesus didn’t care enough to save them from it? Now don’t get me wrong, a situation like that would scare the pants off just about anyone. But when we look to what the disciples say, we find what’s in their hearts. “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” First of all, they call Him Teacher, of all the titles they could have awoken Him with, Savior, Messiah, Son of the living God, they chose Teacher. It shows their lack of faith in His proven record of miracle-working. They’re not trying to wake up that guy; they’re waking up the teacher, maybe because He is about to teach them something.
Second, they say to Him “do you not care that we are perishing?” Don’t you care Jesus? They were afraid that Jesus didn’t care enough about their situation to wake up and save them from it. Yet nothing could be farther from the truth. While the body of Jesus slumbered on his pillow, the Spirit of Jesus, the Living God was WIDE AWAKE! Psalm 121 tells us: “I lift my eyes up to the hills, from where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all evil; He will keep your life. The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth forevermore.”
Read that one aloud, it gives me chills and my spirit rejoices EVERY time, because it is the TRUTH! In every battlefield of life, every storm that threatens to cause you to perish, no matter how terrifying, no matter how asleep Jesus seems to be, He is AWAKE, He is ALIVE and He is acting on your behalf for your benefit and His glory! It is only a mere matter of time before you see Him rise up and calm the storm with His simple, “Peace! Be still.” It is only a matter of time before you see the hailstones falling from the sky pelting your enemies to death and missing you completely. The LORD is for you. And if the God is for us, then who can be against us?
“You shall not shout or make your voice heard neither shall any word go out of your mouth until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout.” Joshua 6:10
In Exodus chapter 14 Moses is leading the Israelites out of Egypt, they’ve come to the impassable Red Sea and the entire Egyptian army is quickly pressing in on them. Fear drives the Israelites to panic and complain against Moses and the LORD. To which Moses responds “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” (Exodus 14:13-14)
In Joshua chapter 6 we find the story of the fall of Jericho wall. As I was reading this passage I noticed something interesting. In verse 10 of chapter 6 it points out that Joshua commanded the people “You shall not shout or make your voice heard neither shall any word go out of your mouth until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout.” I find it curious that in both Exodus and Joshua the people of God are called to silence. Could it be perhaps that in our fear we tend to speak things we shouldn’t?
James tells us that our words are like two-edged swords, powerful and potentially dangerous. Could it be that when we are in situations that frighten us the last thing we should do is open our mouths? I just can’t help but think of the first Ghostbusters movie at the moment. Do you remember the part at the end where anything they think of will come to life and kill them, and one of them accidentally thinks of the Stay Puft marshmallow man and he comes to life in giant form! Perhaps this is precisely why God tells us to stay silent when we’re afraid, because if we speak it could bring to life our greatest fear. However, if we remain silent perhaps that very fear will die unborn because it was left unspoken.
I can only imagine the comments those Hebrew troops would have made as they were circling the city if they had been allowed to talk, do you think the wall still would have fallen down if it had been covered in comments of doubt for seven days? I don’t think it would have. But God is wise, and He advised them through Joshua and Moses to just keep their mouths shut… and WATCH what GOD can do for them. He commanded them to be still and know that HE is God, then He parted the Red Sea and they walked on DRY ground. They kept their silence and the strongest walled city in all the land fell at their feet like dust because they did it God’s way and not their own. Do not let doubt or fear keep you from your salvation or your promised land, rather “be still and know that HE is God”. (Psalm 46:10)
Word of the Day: “Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. (1:3)
“No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you.” (1:5-7) “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” (1:9)
“The LORD your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land.” (1:14) “Be strong and courageous.” (1:18) “Truly, the LORD has given all the land into our hands. And also, all the inhabitants of the land melt away because of us.” (2:24) “you have not passed this way before.” (3:4) “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.” (3:5) “When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.” (3:8)
“Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites…. when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.” (3:10, 12-13)
There is a way that we can KNOW that the living God is among us and that He will without fail do what He says He will do. He makes a way where there is no way. He calls things to be that once were nothing. For nothing is impossible with Him. There is something in your life, some river that needs crossing, and there is currently no bridge over which to cross it. The river is too high and too wide to swim across, and there are too many of you to take a boat. But soon and very soon you will no longer need a bridge, or a boat because that river will stand up in one heap as the LORD your God holds those raging waters back so that the soles of your feet can walk across on DRY ground and take claim on that promise you’ve been waiting for!
Be strong and courageous my friend, because it’s big and it’s coming!
Word of the Day: And the LORD said, “Do you do well to be angry?” Jonah 4:4
Oh Jesus how I need to feel Your arms wrapped around me right now! The Enemy wants me afraid, tormented, and paralyzed. But you want me free, content and mobilized. Papa, help me reach out! Out of myself, out of Fear, out of bondage to the past. This is my year, it is my time and it is Your plan for me to do all these things You’ve set before me.
Lord, I parade my friends before You and pronounce blessing over each one. Jesus please help them trust You more. Help them realize how strong and mighty You are. Help them SEE your faithfulness to them. Lord, infuse them with the strength they lack. Help them to have faith even when it’s hard. Bless them with the strength to endure the race set out for them.
Lord, what am I afraid of? Why do I rebel against Your authority? I want what You have for me because I know that if it’s from you it is good for me.
Word of the Day: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life – the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us – that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son JESUS Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.” 1 John 1:1-4
“If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” (1 John 1:6)
Walking in darkness is the condemnation and judgment of others and ourselves. By doing these things we are not practicing the truth that we ALL have been redeemed. Granted, we all may not have accepted that redemption yet, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t been forgiven and are no longer judged by their own actions. Rather we will all be judged by the actions of Christ – because He took our place! Hallelujah!
1 John 1:7 calls us to “walk in the light”. When we have fellowship with Him, we remember what He has done for each and every one of us and it helps us to see ourselves and others through His eyes. He remembers our sins and transgressions no more because they have been separated from us as far as the east is from the west. What He sees when we disobey is someone who isn’t looking at Him.
“The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from ALL sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:7-8) Our sin is a constant reminder of our forgiven state. It is NOT there to remind us of our sinfulness but rather to remind us of our REDEMPTION from sin! Our sins shouldn’t make us focus more on us; they should make us focus more on HIM!!!
Word of the Day: “I find no guilt in Him,” John 18: 38, 4 & 19:6
Pilate was completely stuck between a rock and a hard place! Here he proclaims to the Jews three times, “I find no guilt in Him.” It’s so incredibly obvious that Pilate believes that this bloody mass of a man before him really is someone of significance. And then when he hears that Jesus has “made Himself the Son of God” (John 19:7), Pilate suddenly realizes the true seriousness of his own situation. The Jews are forcing him to kill the Son of God! His wife even had a dream about Jesus and told him to “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of Him today in a dream” (Matthew 27:19). Pilate tried, he really did, but it had to be done. And thank God it was done!
Can you imagine the horror of still having to slaughter animals to atone for sin… only to realize their blood doesn’t last, doesn’t cover, doesn’t truly atone; it only satisfies briefly in order to maintain civility. Ahhhh… but the blood of Jesus, now that’s an altogether different story! The blood of Jesus fully satisfies for eternity the penalty that is due to us! His blood does what the blood of bulls and goats and sheep never could. While their blood only covered up the sin, masking it briefly only for it to come back up again like a stain in the carpet. The blood of Jesus erases our sin completely, never to return again! On the cross, Jesus called all our sins (through all the ages) down upon Himself. Like Luke Skywalker calls his light saber or Thor calls his hammer, Jesus calls the entirety of our sin to Himself to be crucified on the cross with Him. But that’s not the end of the story. Hallelujah there’s more.
When a man commits a crime he goes to prison and stays there for a certain amount of time to “pay” for that particular crime. When his time is up his crime has been atoned for and he walks out of prison a free man. Oh, this is good! Jesus took every crime of humanity upon Himself, from anger to murder, and with Him each of them died on the cross; that was the judgment. Then He went to the prison of death where He stayed until every crime was fully paid for. Then He rose from the dead and emerged from the tomb of death to walk again among the living, proving that our sins have been fully paid for through HIS death!
So as many of you know, and some of you don’t, one Sunday afternoon (March 11th 2012 to be exact) I was attempting to nap after church and just as I was beginning to fully relax into my bed the Holy Spirit spoke life-changing words into my spirit: “Write through the Bible in a year”. I literally sprang from my bed and went straight to my computer to update my blog (www.tamarknochel.com). I’ll admit, there have been times when this challenge has been…well… a challenge! But the rewards that I have reaped have far outweighed the cost. That afternoon as I tapped away on the keys to my computer, updating my “followers” of the news, I had no idea the true changes that God had in store for me within this challenge. His Holy Spirit truly is the best teacher any of us could ever have, and asking Him to come and teach us as individual children of God is the best choice we could ever make in this life after choosing Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
I am praying that this simple little Bible Study will help you grow and learn about the love of God through Christ Jesus. It has been through reading the Word of God daily and writing about it that I have been able to see God’s hand at work in my life like never before. I pray that this journal does the same for you!
Here’s how it works…
Every day we hold our Bibles to our chest (like they’re Jesus Himself greeting us before sitting down with us to chat) as we pray:
“Come Holy Spirit, fill me with Your fire so that I may be more like You. Father Open my eyes so that I may see You clearly. Open my ears so that I may hear You soundly. Open my mind so that I may know You more. Open my heart so that I may love You more. Open my mouth so that You may fill it with good things. Open my hands so that I may give generously and receive humbly. Come Holy Spirit, fill me with Your fire so that I may be more like You. Help me Jesus – I trust You.” (Click here for a printable card.)
While praying this prayer picture the Holy Spirit coming and opening these things up like French doors to let in a spring breeze – you may even feel the breeze enter your heart as you pray! The Holy Spirit has taught me this prayer over the years and it is so near and dear to my heart as EVERY time that I pray it I can feel my heart burning within me in acknowledgement to His fiery presence.
Next we open our Bibles to that day’s reading and read the entire selection. Now, I know that some of you may have trouble doing this, BUT, I am giving you permission to… *gasp*… write in your Bible. Yes, really. It is a book with pages of paper and words written in ink just like any other textbook. The pages and the ink are not holy or sacred, THE WORDS themselves are. We are doing this as a study of His words so act like a student. Highlight those pages, mark them up with your own ink, dog-ear the pages and fill them with bookmarks and sticky notes! Make this book your own; special and unique just like you. By the time you’re done with this study in about a year, (or more if you’re like me) when you flip through these pages a rainbow of color and life will greet your eyes and make you smile, it’s a very beautiful thing! If you would like a new Bible to mark up for less than $5 click here! Or email me and I’ll do what I can to get you one for free, you may just have to wait a bit longer for it.
After reading for the day go back over the verses you highlighted, which one(s) speak to you the most? That verse is your very own “Word of the Day” straight from God Himself just for you. Write it down (we have created a companion journal just for this purpose if you would like one click here). As you are writing picture yourself writing with a supernatural pen that writes the words straight onto your heart. Where nothing can erase them or blot them out because God’s words are alive and as powerful as a double-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12) and they never return to Him void, they always accomplish the purpose for which He sent them out. (Isaiah 55:11)
Lastly there are the notes. I will share mine here and I encourage you to do your own; write down any insights that you have gained from your reading, anything that really struck you or changed you. I encourage you to write down your prayers and thoughts toward the LORD. I have been amazed at the things that God has told me through my own writing and I pray for the revelations that He will show you through your writing! The main purpose of me being here in this place is to help others build a RELATIONSHIP with the Almighty, not just a religion. This blog is a place for us to meet and fellowship with one another and I encourage you to leave comments, talk to one another, ask questions, interact with each other and me but most of all HIM. He is here, with us in this place, let us rejoice and be glad in it!!!
In Revelation 12:10-11 tells us that the Accuser is defeated by the blood of the Lamb AND the word of OUR testimony! I want this to be a place where the Enemy can not tread because it is so filled with our testimonies of how the Lamb of God has been working in our everyday lives!!! Let’s fill this place up with so many testimonies of how Jesus conquered the Enemy in our lives that EVERYONE will come just to see what all the fuss is about. This blog isn’t about me, and it’s not about you, it’s about HIM. So lets do that shall we? But I can’t do it alone, I need your help, your input, your participation. Even if you’re just reading what I write and commenting, that’s great. But the REAL power will come from reading His word for yourselves and allowing His voice to come to the forefront of your mind.
Happy Reading & Writing! Here’s the Intro video to the series, enjoy! (There is an outline below the video if you would like to use one.) Please please please let me know if the video doesn’t work for you, this YouTube thing is still very new for me!!!
This is the outline for the video if you’d like to use it to follow along. You can also click here for a printable version if you would prefer.
Masks of Perfection Introduction Video Guide
-This Bible Study is all about getting into the W______ of God daily, letting it sink into your l______ and shut out all the outside v______ to focus on H____.
-The benefit is in taking off the M______ of P______ and allowing people to see your:
s______
how you’re f______
w______ you really are.
-We as Christians, women, mothers, friends, wives and as daughters of Christ need to allow ourselves to s______ so that the p______ around us can see the effects that they have on us.
–We are justified! We are j______ as if I’d n______ s______ . We are justified!
-The Mask of Perfection says, “I d______ s______, I’m perfect!” Taking that mask off allows others to see that we’re h______ and gives us something to t______ about.
-The Bible is the W______ of the Word .
-The Water of the Word washes away the dirt and grime that builds up while we’re l______ l______ and being human.
-As they build up in our hearts, the Words of God become part of w______ we are!
-When we get married to Christ we become o___ f______!
-The Spirit of God lives in m__!
-I am a p______ child of God.
-2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
-We need to look at God and say to Him, “You are e______ for me.”
-I don’t have to be p______ because HE IS!
After the video:
(Feel free to answer these questions in the comment section below!!!! 😀
