Passage of the Day:
Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: 2 “I am now a hundred and twenty years old and I am no longer able to lead you. The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’ 3 The Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross over ahead of you, as the Lord said. 4 And the Lord will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land. 5 The Lord will deliver them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” 7 Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. 8 The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged,” Deuteronomy 31:1-8.
Reflection:
As a former high school coach, I learned the hard way that I couldn’t invest all of my time on my current players. After going to back-to-back state tournaments, finishing 4th in my 4th year of coaching, I had to do a complete rebuild as I lost 3 of my top golfers and most of my reserves. After a couple of lean years, I became a recruiter at football and basketball games, trying to convince new athletes to try out for the golf team. Realizing that he would not enter God’s Promised Land, Moses began to mentor Joshua to become Israel’s next spiritual leader. Based upon Joshua’s own words, Moses was passionate about Israel’s future.
Prayerful Action:
“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go,” Joshua 1:7.
Clinging a to Glimmer of Hope this Fall:
Youth pastors across the county go through the same transitional period as coaches every 4 years. When a strong leader heads off to college, these teenagers are hard to replace. While there will also be various personalities within a same group setting, developing strong spiritual leaders requires time and energy. As I near retirement in 4 years, one of the callings I sense from the Holy Spirit is to invest in the lives of teenagers like my high school coaches and teachers poured their lives into me. When passion is absent from your life, it’s hard to become excited about anything. Yet, when passion is conceived, God can give you a vision and hope for future generations.
Song of the Day:
Final Thoughts:
In this day and age, without discipleship, churches continue to die. Therefore, may today’s devotion inspire you to become passionate with hope for future generations as a holy war continues in the spiritual realm.
by Jay Mankus
ExpressYourself4Him 