The way you day turns out can be determined by how you start it. The question now is: Do you know the most appropriate way to start your day as a child?
My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
Psalms 5:3, KJV
When you wake up in the morning, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? What do you do first? Do you reach first for your phone or the television’s remote? Or join your family for morning devotion?
God wants to be the first person you speak to and spend time with every morning. You do this by praying immediately you wake up. That is how to start your day. Begin with praises and thank Him for another day. Move on to committing your day to him. Thank Him for your family members, ask Him for protection and provision. Tell him anything that is on your mind.
Regularly doing this helps you develop closeness with God and He will bless you for it.
So, tomorrow morning, when you wake up, start to talk to God immediately. Start your day that way; He is waiting to hear your voice.
Prayer: Dear Father, I want to start my day with you before anything else. Guide me as to how to pray to you when we meet at the place of prayer. Thank you.
Action plan: prepare the night before for your morning time with God. Tell your parents or siblings about your new decision of how you desire to start your day. Ask for their help to wake you up early. You can also set your alarm to the time you want to start praying.
Joshua and God also had their own adventures together! As we continue this series, we will be looking at the life of Joshua today.
After the death of Moses, the Israelites needed a new leader.
After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them- to give to the Israelites. (Joshua 1:1-2 NIV)
Moses died before he got to the Promised Land and God needed to fulfill His promise to Abraham. So, God chose Joshua to continue from where Moses had stopped. Since he had been an aide to Moses, he was the best fit for the job of leading the descendants of Jacob to the promised land. And so it became Joshua and God.
Joshua also fought many wars to win land for his kinsmen. God also showed and used His great power during this period. Through praise, he had the wall of Jericho fall down so that the Israelites could defeat the people of Jericho. The Jordan also parted for the Israelites to walk through it just like the Red Sea, in the time of Moses. The sun stood still so the Israelites could win their fight against the Amorites (chapter 10) and victories over many more battles. It was in Joshua’s time that each tribe of Israel received their portion of the land promised them by God. This is part of the adventures of Joshua and God.
God was with Joshua just like He was with Moses. He did everything He promised. He gave provision and protection as always. On any adventure, God always watches over His children.
Moses and God had their adventures too. Let’s start from the beginning. The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Push, “When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth and observe them on the delivery stool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. (Exodus 1:15-17 NIV)
Pharaoh passed this law during the birth of Moses. Through Joseph, one of the sons of Jacob, the Israelites had settled in Egypt (read Gen. 37-50). This order was made out of fear the Israelites in their large numbers might harm the Egyptians. But, thank God for the midwives that refused to feared God more.
Raised by Pharaoh’s daughter in his palace and when the time came for God to set His people free, Moses’ adventure began.
First he ran away from the palace because of a crime he committed, then he had the burning bush experience, meeting with God for the first time
When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. (Exo. 3:4-6 NIV)
God used Moses to get the Israelites out of Egypt. It was one adventure that witnessed the absolute and miraculous power of God. The plague, eating the Passover meal, parting of the Red Sea, the sun standing still, manna from heaven, water from the rock and many battles fought along the way. All these and more happened on this God and Moses Adventure.
God protected and provided for the Israelites throughout their journey to the promised land.
Jacob ran away from home after stealing his brother, Esau’s, blessing from their father, Isaac. It was while he was resting, on his way to his uncle, Laban, that He had an encounter with God. Jacob’s adventures with God began.
He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the Lord, and he said: I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying…” (Gen. 28:12-13 NIV)
If you read further down to verse 15, you will see that God was pretty much telling Jacob the same thing He had told Abraham. And Jacob too had a change of name like his grandfather. God changed Jacob’s name to Israel. Adventures with God is interesting, as we are seeing.
Even when Jacob was cheated by his uncle, Laban, God still ensured that Jacob ran into no losses. God made Esau forgive Jacob for stealing his blessings. Jacob had 12 sons born to him. These sons formed the 12 tribes of Israel. From one of the tribes, Judah, Jesus Christ was born.
Jacob had some trying events on his adventure with God. He lost his wives, heartbroken when he thought Joseph was dead, fleeing from Laban and more.
Throughout the journey, God did all He promised to do for Jacob. He never compromised once. Again, on adventures with God, God always does what He promises to do.
An adventure is filled with many electrifying, great and interesting moments. There will be periods when the fun reaches sky-high and totally takes your breath away. And moments when you think this has got to be the coolest thing you have ever seen or experienced in your life. Much like how some cool people in the bible felt when they took an adventure with God.
Did I just hear you ask if God likes an adventure? He definitely does. What did you think happened during creation? God was on an adventure- He was creating experiences, things, animals, trees, people, the sun, moon and much more.
What if God had called you when He was about to create the world? How would you have felt if you were there when He was creating the world? How would you have reacted when He created the animals? If you were there, what would you have done? When you saw the sun and moon, how would you feel? What questions would you have asked Him? How would you feel on that adventure with God?
On the first day, when He created light, would you have asked Him why? When He rested on the seventh day, would you have asked Him why? And even asked Him, why He stopped at seven?
Going on an adventure with God can never be uneventful or boring. It definitely will be full of fascinating events, people and situations. Or what do you think?
In our new series we will look at adventures with God and how it turned out for the people that followed God.
May the Lord take you on adventures with Him. Amen.
Prayer: Thank you Lord for your love for adventure. As I read about some of them, help me to appreciate your mighty power. Adventure with God is my lot In Jesus’ name, amen.
Action point: Put on your power of imagination as the journey begins tomorrow.
