ESOCS Devotional 17 August 2024 – The Hand of the Lord Has Brought Me this Far
MEMORY VERSE: “I gave you a land that you had never worked and cities that you had not built. Now you are living there and eating grapes from vines that you did not plant and olives from trees that you did not plant.”Joshua 24:13 GNV
TEXT: JOSHUA 24:1-13
hen Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God. 2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; and they served other gods. 3 Then I took your father Abraham from the other side of the River, led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac. 4 To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I gave the mountains of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. 5 Also I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to what I did among them. Afterward I brought you out.
6 ‘Then I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea; and the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. 7 So they cried out to the Lord; and He put darkness between you and the Egyptians, brought the sea upon them, and covered them. And your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. Then you dwelt in the wilderness a long time. 8 And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, who dwelt on the other side of the Jordan, and they fought with you. But I gave them into your hand, that you might possess their land, and I destroyed them from before you. 9 Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose to make war against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. 10 But I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he continued to bless you. So I delivered you out of his hand. 11 Then you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho. And the men of Jericho fought against you—also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. But I delivered them into your hand. 12 I sent the hornet before you which drove them out from before you, also the two kings of the Amorites, but not with your sword or with your bow. 13 I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’
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Looking back at biblical history, it is obvious that there is no single person who jumped to the highest point of his life with one single move. It has always been one single move to another with the invisible hand of God making the way where there is no way, and cutting the bars of iron and pulling down every strong hold of human and spiritual forces against the way of the elect of God. God does not fail to conclude His project in the life of everyone whom He chooses to bless. This was the case of father Abraham and his descendants. God started it as a promise (Genesis 12) and today, Israel stands as a great nation among nations according to the promise of God (Joshua 24:1-12).
By the mighty hand of the Omnipotent God, he planted Israel in the very land where they dwell today (Joshua 24:11,12).
Doubtless, there are families and organizations today who can boldly say, and the history is there for checks, that God said something about them and today, the Almighty has made them the greatest among others. The ESCOS Church is one good example. The journey started close to a hundred years ago with the ministry of our founding father, St. Moses Orimolade Tunolase and today, God has multiplied this Church to nearly every part of the World. ESCOS stands very tall among the comity of churches in the world today.
There are equally faithful individuals today who can make bold the testimony that the mighty hand of God has brought them this far. The Old Testament prophets, the early apostles and the church leaders all have a historic memory of how God led them through the step-by-step ladder of growth to a successful and prosperous existence, whose memory has lived till this day.
There is a sure hope that if we remain faithful to God and remain committed to His service, we shall not only see the fulfillment of the project of God in our lives but that our posterity will be blessed with what we live behind.
- Do you agree with this?
- Father, I hand my life over to you. Lead me up there by holy mighty hands, in Jesus name. Amen.
Further Reading: Daniel 10:1-14; Luke 7:1-10; Acts 20:1-16
ESOCS Devotional 17 August 2024
