Strength to Faithfully Serve God Together Through Challenges and Victories

๐—ช๐—”๐—ฅ๐—  ๐—จ๐—ฃ

โ€ข Can you recite the birthdays of your immediate family members? Why is it easy for you to remember them?

โ€ข Have you ever been on a trip with friends? What was the best part of traveling together?ย 

โ€ข When was the last time you decluttered your room or house? What things did you keep and what things did you get rid of?ย 


๐—ช๐—ข๐—ฅ๐——

โ€œโ€˜๐˜ ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ข ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ต, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ. ๐˜ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ถ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต.โ€™ ๐˜•๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜–๐˜™๐˜‹ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ง๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด. ๐˜—๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜™๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜Œ๐˜จ๐˜บ๐˜ฑ๐˜ต, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜–๐˜™๐˜‹. ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ช๐˜ง ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ญ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜–๐˜™๐˜‹, ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜ด ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜™๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ, ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ. ๐˜‰๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฎ๐˜บ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜–๐˜™๐˜‹.โ€ ๐—๐—ข๐—ฆ๐—›๐—จ๐—” ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฐ:๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฏโ€“๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฑ


(Study ๐—๐—ข๐—ฆ๐—›๐—จ๐—” ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฐ.)


In Joshua 24, Joshua was nearing the end of his life and gathered Israelโ€™s leaders for a final address. He recounted Godโ€™s dealings with His peopleโ€”from calling Abraham, to delivering Israel from Egypt, to bringing them safely into the Promised Land. Today, we will examine Joshuaโ€™s final exhortation to Israel and discover what it means to live faithfully before the Lord.


๐Ÿญ. ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—Ÿ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฑโ€™๐˜€ ๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€.ย 

โ€œโ€˜๐˜ ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ข ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ต, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ. ๐˜ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ถ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต.โ€™โ€ ๐—๐—ข๐—ฆ๐—›๐—จ๐—” ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฐ:๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฏ


God had delivered His people from Egypt, sustained them through the wilderness, and brought them into the Promised Land. Everything they enjoyed was a result of His faithfulness and grace. In the same way, faithful service begins with remembering what God has done for us in Christ. Through Jesusโ€™ life, death, and resurrection, we have received forgiveness, adoption, and eternal life. How does this truth affect your attitude in serving Him?


๐Ÿฎ. ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—Ÿ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น.ย 

โ€œ๐˜•๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜–๐˜™๐˜‹ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ง๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด. ๐˜—๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜™๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜Œ๐˜จ๐˜บ๐˜ฑ๐˜ต, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜–๐˜™๐˜‹.โ€ ๐—๐—ข๐—ฆ๐—›๐—จ๐—” ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฐ:๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฐ


In light of Godโ€™s faithfulness, the Israelites are called to serve God in sincerity and in faithfulness. One expression of doing this is to remove anything that may be competing with Godโ€™s rightful place in our lives. What can easily distract you as a believer from faithfully serving God?ย 


๐Ÿฏ. ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—น๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—Ÿ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ ๐˜‚๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—น ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ.

โ€œ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ช๐˜ง ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ญ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜–๐˜™๐˜‹, ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜ด ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜™๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ, ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ. ๐˜‰๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฎ๐˜บ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜–๐˜™๐˜‹.โ€ ๐—๐—ข๐—ฆ๐—›๐—จ๐—” ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฐ:๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฑ


Joshua not only challenged the people to make the choice to serve God, but also declared his own resolve for him and his house to serve God. For Joshua, serving God was both an individual and communal decision. He set himself, his household, and his next generation apart to follow God until the very end. Who are the people youโ€™re serving the Lord with? Why is it important to serve God together with your family and community?ย 


As believers, all that we will ever do in this life culminates in the fulfillment of Godโ€™s mission. We take on that mission by staying on course as we remember the Lord, revere Him above all, and resolve to serve Him until the end. God invites us to co-labor with Him and with the people He places in our lives. In all this, He doesnโ€™t leave us clueless. We have His word to guide us and His Spirit who empowers us, as we continually look to Jesusโ€”the greater Joshuaโ€”who resolved to obey and run His race well, to the very end.ย 


๐—”๐—ฃ๐—ฃ๐—Ÿ๐—œ๐—–๐—”๐—ง๐—œ๐—ข๐—ก

โ€ข How has God come through for you this year? What do these things tell you about the character of God?

โ€ข What person, possession, ambition, or activity is competing with God for first place in your life? What step can you take today to place it under Christโ€™s Lordship?

โ€ข Identify who God is calling you to be more intentional with, in terms of doing life together and serving Him together. Commit to connect and meet with them this week.


๐—ฃ๐—ฅ๐—”๐—ฌ๐—˜๐—ฅ

โ€ข Thank God for His faithfulness in the past, present, and future. Thank Him for adding you to His Church and for placing you in a community where you can know and serve Him with others.ย 

โ€ข Ask God for the grace to remember His faithfulness and to choose Him and be fully satisfied in Him every day.ย 

โ€ข Ask God to continually bless your local church with the spirit of unity and devotion to Jesus. Pray that as a community you will live in remembrance of Godโ€™s faithfulness.