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From what I can see Gods not a fan of people ganging up together to pick on a weaker person. He wasn’t a fan all those years ago, of countries ganging up against smaller countries and he’s not a fan today. It doesn’t have to be big countries either, Gods not a fan of a group of individuals bullying a single person or a weaker group either. I was bullied at school and I know the despair it can drive young people to. It can drive them to consider doing things that are not what God has planned for their live’s. It can make them start to believe lies, like they are not worth anything. These are not truths coming from God, but lies coming from the world. Just as God promised Joshua, he would help defend those who were outnumbered, God wants to protect those who are bullied. The truth is that God loves the bullied and that the bullied are worth a great deal. The bullied need to know that God does not want the them take it anymore, it’s time to find someone to help and make it stop. It’s time to seek out the Joshua in your life and find the answer that God has for you. But they are not alone, the bullies need to know that God does not want them to bully anymore. They are worth more to God than the identity they find in the bullying they do. It’s time to stop, it’s time to be the Joshua in other peoples lives. Bully or Bullied it’s time to be Joshua and make it stop.

Author - Max Cross, Joshua | 3 Comments »

If I was Joshua I would have said deal, what deal? You lied to me. But it seems that is not the Joshua way. No he keeps his end of the bargain. Interestingly enough, the other leaders didn’t get away with lying. No they still had to deal with the consequences of their actions. Joshua may have kept the peace with them, but they had to cut wood and fetch water for Joshua’s people. How do you feel, when you get lied to? If someone tells you they are your mate, and then they go off and talk about you behind your back? What do you want to do, when you find out that someone has been lying to you? I know my first thought is to get my revenge. There are consequences to our actions and there should be consequences to them lying to me. Just like there were consequences for these guys in the passage. Not only that, I am the one who can deliver those consequences. The problem with that, is the fact that I’m not the right one to judge those guys who lie to me. No, all through our instruction book The Bible, we are told to leave the judgment up to God. There are consequences to our actions and we all must face them, but there are also consequences to judging people when we are not perfect ourselves.

Author - Max Cross, Joshua | No Comments »

When I was a nipper I would always try my luck with my Dad first if I wanted to do something. I would go to Dad and ask him if I could come home late. If I got a no, I would trundle of to Mum and try my luck on her. More often then not I would get a yes. It was a risky gamble though. If my Dad found out, then I would be for the high jump when I got home. I acted all surprised, and felt hard done by, but the truth is I knew my agreement was based around my deceitfulness. That’s no different to these guys, who have made a deal with Joshua. Right now they think they are in the clear, but are they? Well we will find out more about that later, but the truth is, any relationship based upon lying and deceit, isn’t going to get very far. Jesus says that we are to let our yes be our yes and our no be our no. That’s Bible talk for tell the truth. No need to say to your college mates “I promise”. Your school mates shouldn’t need to hear you swear on someone’s life. No, Jesus says tell the truth all the times and they will know that what comes out of your mouth is worth listening to.

Author - Max Cross, Joshua | 1 Comment »

Joshua built an altar to God and then told God how cool he was by giving sacrifices. I think we should all build an altar to our incredible God. Now there is a small problem with my suggestion. I’m not sure how those guys around you will act, when you start building an altar out of bricks and stones that you find lying around the place. And I am pretty sure they will flip their lid, when they see you start a fire and sling a sheep onto the burning coals. Either they will think you have lost the plot or that you have a sudden craving for a BBQ. Thankfully the guys at college don’t have to see you as a nutter, with an unhealthy interest in outdoor cooking. When the Bible talks about Jesus being the Lamb of God, that’s what it is talking about. Jesus was the final sacrifice to God, he was the ultimate sacrifice to our awesome God. No, when we build an altar to show our God how incredible he is, our altar, is the way we live our lives. Your sacrifice to your God, is the way you treat the nerd at school. Your sacrifice to your God is the way you befriend the elderly neighbour who can’t get to the shops for themselves. Your sacrifice to your God is the way you live your life. That’s the altar to your God.

Author - Max Cross, Joshua | No Comments »

With God without God it’s your choice. Your God never made you a robot that has no choice. There is no little circuit board inside of you that makes you do what God wants. Can you image if the machines we use had the freedom to do what they wanted. You turn on the TV, and see as message that says. I’m too tired to show TV programs today. Maybe you go to college and the computers are complaining that they are too busy to deal with you today. Hey even the washing machine complains that it just finds doing your clothes boring. Actually that sounds just like the way I am with God sometimes. I’m too tired to ask God what I should do when I have to make a decision in my life. I’m so busy I couldn’t possibly read my Bible today. And really going to Church is just a bit boring sometimes. Now I know that you never think that way, but just suppose you did on the odd occasion, what’s wrong with doing things your way anyway? Well Joshua sure found out. Before this passage doing things the people’s way caused massive problems, but the minute he started listening to God, things turned around. The minute Joshua and his people chose to get God involved, things changed. So actually you are not a robot, and you don’t have to involve God in you day to day life. When you make you decisions on your own without God, the outcome is down to you. With God or without God, it’s your choice.

Author - Max Cross, Joshua | 1 Comment »