Heart Hunger
No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Joshua 1:5 (NIV)
What a powerful scripture! God reveals His faithfulness to Joshua, reminding him that as He was with Moses, so He will be with him. What a guarantee, knowing how close God was to Moses.
While God was commissioning Joshua for His life's work, He was reassuring Joshua of His attributes, that He will protect, deliver, and remain faithful to him for the rest of his life!
We, too, have this confidence. As God was with those He called and purposed throughout scripture and history; He will be with us in all that He has purposed and called us to be and do.
As I was reading Joshua 1:5, it took me back to Exodus 33:11, where the Lord stood in a pillar of cloud at the tabernacle of meeting and spoke to Moses face-to-face, as one would talk to a friend. As verse eleven continues, Moses makes a point to share with us how he left the tabernacle, and Joshua, the son of Nun, was there and did not depart with him. Joshua stayed in the presence of God.
When I first read that verse, it pierced my heart and stirred a deep hunger within me. Moses is giving us a glimpse into Joshua's heart, hungering after God, through revealing his desire to stay in His presence.
My prayer is Lord; let us be burning ones who desire your presence more than anything else.
It is those that have a heart after God and pursues a relationship with Him that will be used for greater works!
Joshua, following the leadership of Moses, became an Imitator of Moses's heart towards God. In following his example, Joshua's heart caught fire and became hungry and passionate for God's presence.
Moses represents those who lead and Father from a genuine hunger and pursuit of God. Those sons and daughters, like Joshua, who yield, and follow will be led by example. They will take on the very heartbeat and passion for God that their spiritual leaders have exemplified.
God saw Joshua's heart and desire for Him. God knew Him, and Joshua knew God. God knew He could trust him to lead His people into the promised land!
It is our pursuit of God that reveals our hearts. God is looking for people that make their relationship with Him priority over everything else. That is what I love about Moses; he shows the significance of being in the presence of God to lead and deliver God's people; He reveals that His predecessor has the same heart.
We can so easily get caught up in doing all the works and not be in a right relationship with the one that we are doing it all for. We can easily stray from God's ways and move out of a wrong heart and spirit. However, if we pursue His presence and our eyes stay fixed on Jesus, we will keep the course that He has set us on, transformed daily to become more like Him.
My prayer is that we fall passionately in love with Jesus. That excitement arises within us that we can be in relationship with our Creator. I pray that our hearts will hunger and burn for Jesus, as we are transformed into His likeness.
In Love with Jesus,
~Tammy Brunk