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Day 62, or March the 3rd. Keep your word, no

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matter what. Our thought today is rooted in Joshua

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chapter 9, verse 19. All the leaders answered,

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We have given them our oath by the Lord, the

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God of Israel, and we cannot touch them now.

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First, the big picture surrounding this verse.

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Having entered the Promised Land with varying

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success, The Israelites now turned to conquer

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every city. Initially, they conquered Jericho

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and defeated the southern cities, and then, next,

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turned north to tackle the northern towns and

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cities. Despite his people making mistakes, God

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kept his word, and in no time at all the whole

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land had been subdued. But there were still several

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pockets of resistance. These unconquered areas

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would have to be tackled before the land was

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really in the hands of the Israelites, as God

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had promised their ancestors. Nevertheless, they

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were in the promised land at last, and the task

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of dividing the land and settling the people

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was about to begin. Now today's action step.

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Sometimes keeping a word is costly. It's easier

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to break it and apologize. I'm glad God doesn't

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act like that. I'm glad he told us in Isaiah

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chapter 55 verse 8, My thoughts are nothing like

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your thoughts, says the Lord. It's as easy as

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that. Breaking his word is not an option for

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God. He wouldn't think of it. Sadly, this is

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an ungodly option that we believers still use,

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and we must stop. When the Israelites were lied

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to by the Gibeonites, and this trickery resulted

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in them giving their word, they stuck by it because

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it was the godly thing to do. Can you imagine

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how different the world would be if everyone

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kept their word? In those old films, based in

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the 1940s and 1950s, when a baddie is caught,

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he immediately says, Fair cop, gov, I did it.

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On the other hand, modern films reflect the approach

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of many in the 21st century society, when transgressors

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say, you can't prove anything, I want to see

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my lawyer. If God's people don't keep their word,

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how can we expect unbelievers to? It's up to

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you, and me.