A habit of disobedience and rebellion led to forty years of aimless wandering in an inhospitable desert while the promised land lay only miles ahead. But under Joshua’s holy, ordained leadership the Israelites reignited their commitment to the God who had rescued them from four-hundred years of back-breaking labor, persecution, and poverty in Egypt.

[bbctt tweet="Lingering in their pain and fearful of the unknown, the people refused to trust God.#heisforyour#donotbeafraid"]

Lingering in their pain and fearful of the unknown, the people refused to trust God. Instead, they exchanged dry, dusty living for abundance. Anxiety for fear. Faith in the all-powerful God for empty trust in manufactured idols.
While it’d be easy to condemn the Israelites for their short-sighted, self-destructive choices, I admit I am more like the average wandering Hebrew than I am like the courageous Joshua.
Like Israel, I tend to question and complain. Why would God allow this in my life? Is faith in Him worth the hardship? (Exodus 14:11-12)
I weep and cry out, questioning God’s love or refusing to trust that the Promised Land is ahead. The giants in my life are too big for God to manage. And I fashion my image of the Creator into a small, incapable god.

[bbctt tweet="Are you afraid to cross into the land of abundance because you know how to survive in the wilderness?#thrivenotsurvive#abundantlife."]

Have you, too, found yourself captured by the circumstances of an untenable situation? Are you afraid to cross into the land of abundance because you know how to survive in the discomfort of your wilderness? Do you question God’s good intentions and confine Him to the edges of your own understanding?
Oh, friend, can I encourage you to consider Joshua’s words of exhortation to a vulnerable people?
“…cling to the LORD your God.” (Joshua 23:8).
The word cling portrays the intimacy of a newly married couple cleaving to one another (Genesis 2:24). It is an expression of intimacy between spirits; a relationship of dependence and knowledge. An image of two people bound by love and joined in purpose.

[bbctt tweet="What,then,is the expectation of the Husband of our souls?He longs for us to bind ourselves to Him...#thisisfaith#devotedtoGod"]

What, then, is the expectation of the Husband of our souls? He longs for us to bind ourselves to Him with the passion and devotion of a woman devoted to her Lord. He desires to be known and to enter into relationship with His beloved.
Not because He lacks any good thing or is enthroned in loneliness, but because He longs to deliver those who are wandering in the barren places to a place of plenty and whisper words of comfort over those who tremble in fear.

[bbctt tweet="It's time to trust the One to whom your heart clings.Time to ignore the distraction of doubt and fear.#fearnot#bestrongandcourageous"]

It’s time to trust the one to whom your heart clings. Time to ignore the distraction of doubt and fear. Time to abandon the desert for a life overflowing with God’s goodness and grace. Time to loose the shackles of the past and embrace freedom in Christ.
This is your time to cling to Christ, dear one.
Peace and grace,
Tammy
 
Three Ways to Cling to God

1. Practice Obedience  “..do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses” (Joshua 23:6). The New Testament tells us, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15)
2. Pursue Renewal “Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not serve them or bow down to them.” (Joshua 23:7) What does this mean for us? “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds.” (Romans 12:2)
3. Place Your Trust in His Promises “…not one word has failed of all the good things that the LORD yourGod promised   concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed.” The Lord’s message to his people hasn’t changed. Jeremiah 29:11 assures every believer, “”I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans to give you a hope and a future.”

 
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