Always Steadfast

SCRIPTURE
- Joshua 23:14        
“And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one thing has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you; all have come to pass for you, not one of them has failed.” 

REFLECTION
- Sarah

MUSIC
-Crystal Sky

NOTES
-

PRAYER OF LETTING GO
To You do I belong, O God,
into Your hands I surrender my life.
Pour out Your Spirit upon me
that I may love You perfectly,
and serve You faithfully
until my soul rests in You.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_04 0:25

Good morning. Today's scripture reading reminds us of the steadfastness of the Lord. In today's reflection, Sarah points out how important it is for us to look back and reflect on the peaks and valleys in our life and see where the Lord has never failed us. Welcome to prayer. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_03 0:53

Amen.

SPEAKER_02 0:54

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise.

SPEAKER_01 1:01

Protection based on Psalm 34. We have ancestors who have passed through the journey of time and had become angels who stand by our sides to guide and protect us. As we find our way in our journey, we feel their presence and listen to their warnings.

SPEAKER_02 1:30

Now we have the blessings of children to guide and to raise, and the message is even more powerful. When fear confronts us with hopelessness and despair, stand tall and be humbled by the Spirit.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

To know God is to know that we are always protected, that our prayers are heard, and that He stands by our side in our journey.

SPEAKER_02 2:04

Along with our loved ones who have gone before, who even now continue to walk beside us as angels. Let us glorify the Lord. Let us exalt his name together.

SPEAKER_01 2:20

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_02 2:25

As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 2:49

And now I am about to go the way of all the earth. And you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one thing has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you. Not one of them has failed. The word of the Lord. Some years ago, I was going through a master's program in religious education. The program really emphasized the art of reflection, looking back on experiences and looking for God's presence in them. And that's what's going on with Joshua in today's scripture. He has come to the end of his life and is reflecting on God's presence. Now Joshua was the one who took over leadership of the Israelites after Moses died. He was the one who led them into the promised land. And by the time we hear the words of this passage, he's lived through a lot. There were victories, but there were also battles and plenty of uncertainty along the way. And now Joshua looks back. On the Kairos retreats that I lead with my students, we do an exercise called the life graph. We actually graph our lives on a piece of paper. The triumphs are plotted high and the difficult times go down. When it's finished, it looks a little like a roller coaster. But the most powerful part isn't really the graph itself. One of our faculty speakers shares their own life graph with the group. They tell the stories behind those peaks and valleys. The times that were wonderful and the times that were incredibly difficult. And as they tell their story, something else begins to emerge. You start to hear where God was in it. Sometimes God's presence is obvious. Other times, the speaker can only recognize it because enough time has passed for them to look back and see their life a little differently. But now looking back over all of it, Joshua can say, not one thing has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised. And I think that's true for us too. When we're in one of those valleys, we don't always recognize what God is doing. Sometimes we're just trying to get through it. We pray and sometimes we don't feel anything. We wonder why our lives have taken the turn they have. But time can give us a different perspective. We look back and recognize someone who showed up when we needed them. We see strength we didn't know we had. We might begin to see that even in a chapter we never would have chosen, God never stopped walking with us. And there may still be parts of our story where we can't see that yet. And that's okay. Maybe those parts are simply too close. Today, think about your own life graph. Remember some of those peaks and valleys. And maybe, as you look back, you'll begin to notice that God has been there all along.

SPEAKER_04 7:06

Let us now bring our intercessions before the Lord. With confidence we pray.

SPEAKER_03 7:25

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

SPEAKER_04 7:41

Let us pray. Lord, you have kept every word you spoke. Not one promise has failed. As we come to the end of this day, this season, this chapter, let us say with Joshua's confidence that you have been faithful in all things. Where we doubted, forgive us. Where we feared, steady us. Let our heart and our soul know without question that you are the same God who never fails. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. To you do I belong, O God. Into your hands I surrender my life. Pour out your Spirit upon me, that I may love you perfectly and serve you faithfully until my soul rests in you. We really appreciate you joining us today. And my hope is that your day is filled with the love and peace of Christ. And may Almighty God bless you, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_03 8:55

Amen.

SPEAKER_04 8:56

And we look forward to seeing you tomorrow.