Caleb - Believer

Topic:               Believe

Scripture:          Joshua 14:13-14

Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance… because he followed the LORD, the God of Israel.

Devotion:

As we reach the end of this series on Caleb, we move to the “B”s.  Brave, Bold, Believer, looked Beyond, model Behavior, and Barely known come to mind.  I’ve been thinking of Caleb, the Believer.

C – Conflicting

A – Available

L – Layman

E – Example

B – Believe

How easy is it to believe?  The engineer in me wants to have proof.  I like facts, figures, pictures or anything that helps demonstrate the truth.  In my job, it’s necessary and appropriate, but in my spiritual life, that doesn’t always work.  In James 11:1, faith is described as “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” 

If ever anyone from the Old Testament embodied this, it would be Caleb.  He believed Moses could bring the Israelite people out of Egypt.  He believed they could survive in the desert.  He believed they could conquer the giants in the Promised Land.  He was about 40 when they left Egypt so no telling how long he had believed he would be released.  He wandered through the desert for a couple of years eating mostly manna believing he would reach the Promised Land.  He believed that his people could defeat the giants, because God had already said the land was theirs.  For Forty years he believed that God would give him land, and the power to take it, and God rewarded his faith.

What are the things God has promised us that we should believe in?  Do I always believe in them?  Am I willing to wait a couple of years for His answer? Am I able to wait 40 years without giving up? 

Caleb - Example

Topic:               Example

Scripture:          Joshua 14: 6-9

Now the people of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly. So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly.’

Devotion:

As we reach “E” I came up with Enduring, Eternal perspective, Exciting, Exactly the same, Excuse free, and Extremist - but I chose Example. 

C – Conflicting

A – Available

L – Layman

E – Example

B –

What do you want written on your tomb stone?  The internet is full of funny epitaphs.

·         Here lies the body of Jonathan Blake.  Stepped on the gas instead of the brake.

·         I told you I was sick.

·         He never killed a man that didn’t need killing.

·         Here lies an atheist, all dressed up and nowhere to go.

·         The children of Israel wanted bread, and the good Lord sent them manna, Old man Wallace wanted a wife, And the devil sent him Anna.

In many cases today, it seems that names and dates alone are most common.  This led to the phrase, “It’s all about the dash” meaning the life lived between birth and death are all you really have, and the memory others have of your life is all you really leave behind.  I thought of that as I read Caleb’s conversation with Joshua.  In particular:

I brought him back a report according to my convictions… I, however, followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly.

If that’s not an example to aspire to, I don’t know what is.  Whether we realize it or not, whether we want it or not, we are examples to the people around us.  The only thing we can influence is what kind of example we are. 

Today, I’m asking myself, do I follow God wholeheartedly, and does that fill me with the convictions He would have me exhibit?  And what kind of an example am I?  Will I be able to honestly write that I “followed my Lord wholeheartedly and lived according to my convictions” on my grave stone?

Caleb - Layman

Topic:               Layman

Scripture:          Jeremiah 13: 6, Joshua 14:13

from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;

Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since.

Devotion

The “L” characteristics/traits I came up with for our hero of the week include Layman, Leader, Leaning (on God), Limited, Looking beyond, and Loyal and there are bound to be more. 

I chose “Layman” to think about today. 

C –  Conflicting

A –  Available

L –  Layman

E –

B –

When I was in high school, I thought about being a full time youth minister.  I talked to my favorite uncle about it, and his advice has served me well to this day.  He said, if I was really called to full time ministry, I would never be happy or successful in any other vocation.  But he also said I was pretty young to determine that, and he suggested I go to college and get a degree that I could use to support myself and my family, and God would show me how He wanted to use my life.  I started in engineering, and never really looked back.  As I have grown and have been honored to know several full time ministers in a close and personal way, I have also been given the opportunity to serve my God in many ways.  One day, I realized what Uncle Hubert was saying to me – God needs laymen (and women) too.  In church pews.  In volunteer organizations.  At the office.  In neighborhoods. 

Did you notice that Caleb was from the tribe of Judah?  (And he was given the choicest parcel of land after the 40 years in the wilderness.)  It got me to thinking – he was not a priest or formal church leader.  The children of Levi (the Levites) were the spiritual leaders, and they were not even given land.  The other tribes were to support them.  Today, the “church” typically provides a minister a salary, but there are so many other ways a minister needs support.  Moses needed someone to investigate the promised land and stand up for what God revealed to him.  What does God and our church staff need from the laity today?  Our pastor may need someone to pray for him.  He may need someone to buy him a cup of coffee and ask how he’s doing.  He may need someone to do a task. 

Are we prepared and ready to be the lay leaders God calls us to be?  Do we serve our God, our church, and our community and our ministers as wholeheartedly as Caleb did? If we do, He will reward us.

Caleb - Available

Topic:               Available

Scripture:          Numbers 13: 1-3, 30

The Lord said to Moses, ‘Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites; from each of their ancestral tribes you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.’ So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, according to the command of the Lord, all of them leading men among the Israelites. These were their names: From the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur; ⁵from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori; from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh; …

But Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, ‘Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.’

Devotion

Onward through our acrostic odyssey, we get to “A”.  Here, I present options to you:

Able, Accepting, Action oriented, Alert, Alive, Amazing, Attentive, good Attitude, Available, Awake, Aware, and un-Afraid.  Twelve this time, and there are bound to be more. 

I chose “Available” to think about today. 

C –  Conflicting

A –  Available

L –

E –

B –

According to Biblegateway.com and using the NIV, I looked up the name “Caleb” to see what I could learn about him from his life before our lesson.  Guess where the first reference is?  Verse 3 in our text, after a lead in that says he was a leader.  Not much detail, and I’m sure today there would have been thousands of lost Israelites Googling him to find out every email and text message he ever sent to see if he was acceptable to lead them, but not then.  He was known as a leader, and he was available to serve his God and his community when he was called on.  This wasn’t a great assignment either – he was first separated from his family for 40 days and then, along with Joshua, stood against a large majority and eventually ended up walking around in the sand for years.  But he was available to serve and in the center of God’s will.

Are we available?  Or are things like work, hobbies, community service, church work, little league coaching, and exercising getting in the way of doing something God wants done?  Notice two things:  First, not everyone is called to lead, but we are all called to do what God wants us to.  Those can be things like DAILY quiet time and bible study, or serving your spouse.  Also notice, that none of the things I listed as getting in the way are necessarily bad things.  We need jobs, families, communities and churches, but we also need to listen and be available.  God has blessing in store that we miss if we don’t. 

What other “A” characteristics are showing up in your life when others see you?