Devotions by Pastor Dave Timm: Tuesday – April 7, 2020

By March 17, 2022 Uncategorized

I imagine many of you have a plaque or picture on your wall that says, “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Many times it is placed over the entrance door as a reminder to those who live there, as well as a statement to all who visit. A statement that says that this house and household will glorify God.

These words are spoken by Joshua. As far as we know, Joshua never had to deal with the impact of the coronavirus! And Yet, here is a guy who experienced many ups and downs in his life. As a youth he lived in slavery in Egypt, witnessed the plagues, the sea parting, military victories by the Lords power, went up the mountain with Moses, was one of the 12 spies that checked out Canaan, (by the way only he and Caleb trusted the Lord would prevail over the Amalekites in the land that the Lord had promised. The people rebelled and ended up wandering for 40 years. Read the story in Numbers 13-14). Joshua replaced Moses and lead Israel into that promised land. At the end of his life, he looks back at God’s blessings through it all, renews their covenant with the Lord and says:

Joshua 24:14-15…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.  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.”

So, what does your “house” look like these days? Maybe it’s an apartment, an assisted living/nursing home room, a house in the suburbs, or mansion by the lake. Maybe your “household” consists of you feeling lonely and isolated since you are living by yourself, or as a retired couple, or in a family of 6 feeling very cramped in this new “stay in place, social isolation” world that we live in. Maybe your “household” is filling their boredom by cleaning and doing home projects, or maybe yours has lost its enthusiasm to accomplish anything more than moping around the house in despair.

Regardless of where you fit into the above paragraph…The question to ask is if you can say, “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” It’s easy to shake your head and say “yes, of course we do!…we don’t worship the Gods of the Amorites!” But is the Lord number one in your household? Does His Word guide and direct your plans and choices? Does your Hope come from Him alone? Is serving Him more important than gaining money, power, career, pleasures? So what does that look like in this coronavirus season we are living through? Well it would include a household that:

  • Prays! Thanks to the Lord for blessings, interceding for and lifting up the needs of others, for wisdom, compassion, and integrity for our leaders, protection for those out working, for those financially struggling, for an end to this madness.
  • Worships! Are you glorifying the Lord with your thoughts, words, and deeds? Are you going to royred.org and participating with our online worship? Are you supporting the church financially during these times of need? Are you reading and then passing my devotionals on to others…and doing the same for Pastor Harris’ daily devotionals?
  • Is Thankful! Do you count your blessings every day? Regardless of how this virus is affecting you, God has richly blessed you…and promises His eternal Blessings simply through faith.
  • Shares Christ! Do you take time to call, skype, online chat, send cards sharing Jesus and giving His Hope to others? The way I see it, people are very open to hearing about the “Good News” in this world filled with daily death counts on tv.
  • Helps those in need! The opportunities are countless. Maybe it’s donating food to our food pantry (they are working hard to provide for the needs within our community). Maybe it’s baking cookies and dropping them off at a neighbor’s house. Maybe it’s chalking encouraging words on the sidewalk that is overly busy with people taking walks. Maybe it’s some other random act of kindness!
  • Trusts! That the Lord is still the Lord. That this will pass…that He will bring good out of all that is bad and evil. That He has a plan for each of us (a plan to prosper us and not harm us, a plan to give us a hope and a future). We trust in the fact that this Holy week is a reminder to each us that we have eternal life thru faith in Jesus perfect Life and death and resurrection!

Proverbs 3:5-6…Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Check my devotion tomorrow as I highlight 10 verses for your household.