Backpacking Through Joshua (C)

(P.S. ~ I started writing this post last week.) Today is an exciting day. A good friend of mine heard the heartbeat of her little bundle today. She is an amazing woman and you would be blessed to be friends with her. Some of you are. :) You can get to know her here, where she is Standing On Hope.

Also, today I embark on a Backpacking adventure with a huge group of women. So huge, in fact, that we had to be divided into smaller groups. I am in the Red Group. Go Big Red!!




Some of these women I have never met, which is okay because our leader, (I would say fearless, but I won't because she is not, but she IS faithful) is my BFF, and more importantly our mighty and patient and faithful God is at the helm.


You might not know this about me, but I like tools. And sometimes, accessories. Here are my supplies for Joshua...



There are four components to Backpacking Through Joshua...

C = Commentary (This is where the author speaks a bit about the material we will cover that week)
A = Asking God (This is where we ask God ~ in our quiet/prayer time ~ specific questions about where we are and how we can improve)
M = More To read (Further study)
P = Putting It Out There (Answering group questions with the group)



M = More To Read

I decided to do a word study on Faithful, as it pertains to the faithfulness God has shown, not the faithfulness I/people have shown.
I didn't get very far in the breakdown of the word from the Hebrew, etc etc but as I was researching this, I heard a sermon referring to Joshua 1:8 - specifically where God talks about meditating on the Word, ~let it never leave your lips~ and it struck me that right here, in the very first chapter of our study, God is repeating a command that so many of us in the study have admitted to failing at; being in the Word, meditating, studying, sharing. To me that shouted of God's faithfulness when He says, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" and personal knowledge of me (and all of His children). It's as though He said, "Yes, you do struggle with this, and yes I know it. And right here, in the study that I have brought you to, we will address it." God even felt it necessary to remind Joshua to keep His Word in his mouth and mutter it (meditate) day and night. Joshua had already proven himself faithful to God's commands and God STILL reminded even him. (That makes me feel like less of a dolt and, somehow, more motivated to do better.)

P = Putting it out there

1. What made you decide to join this adventure? There are lots of factors I could list ~

• I know the author,
  
• I am not currently in a group study,
  
• I need to do more studying in the Old Testament,
• Lots of my friends are doing it,
  

and they would all be true. However, the bottom line is that the Holy Spirit has been seeking me on the issue of making decisions based on my own knowledge, out of my own understanding and reasoning, rather than my knowledge of God and His character and commands. Amber addressed this issue IN THE INTRODUCTION of this study. So there you go. God reading my mail again. What do you hope will come from the study? Less of me. More of God.

2. In what ways have you found God to be faithful recently? read here

I have decided that I am going to add one more component to my study each week (without author permission or approval) :) and that will be

W = Worship (I will post for my benefit and yours a song that goes with the week's study)
Today is a song called He's Always Been Faithful by Sara Groves. (Thank you AR for teaching me this song!)