So the people shouted, and the trumpets sounded.
When they heard the blast of the trumpet,
the people gave a great shout, and the wall collapsed.
The people advanced into the city, each man straight ahead,
and they captured the city.
Joshua 6:20
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I am in awe of our God and His never-ending blessings. He loves His children so much and He wants to bless each one of us…and He does. As children, we are taught to tell the truth at all costs. And if you have been around little children, you know that this is true. They tell the truth—even if it hurts! But as we get older, we somehow lose bits and pieces of our honesty. One white lie leads to another and then we get used to our new way of telling the ‘truth.’ But God—He always tells the truth and He always keeps His promises.
Some of His promises are conditional, like “If you will ______ … then I will_____.” This was the case in the Battle of Jericho (read the account here). The Lord said, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, and its king and its fighting men.” Can you imagine what Joshua thought? Maybe something like…”It doesn’t look like mine to me!” as he looked at the wall that he couldn’t get through! But the Lord’s message was that the victory was already his but He wanted him to do a few things first.
Even today, God directs us in ways like this. In the battles we face day to day, victory is already ours because of our position in Him. But it may not be in our possession if He doesn’t get our full cooperation. See, God has already defeated the enemy by sending Jesus to die in our place…in sin’s place. But some of the victories that we have are ours only if we take them. We have to take that first step sometimes to show that we want it! Here’s how:
Stay armed for battle — Joshua 6:3-9
God’s Word is a Sword. Our victories will never happen without it!
Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
Ephesians 6:17
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Always stay on course — Joshua 6:3,14
Never get tired of doing the right thing. Pray every day that God will give you direction and lead you on the right path and that you will never grow tired of trying.
Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses
surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight
and the sin that so easily ensnares us.
Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us….
Hebrews 12:1
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Always stay together with your army — Joshua 6:13
Surround yourselves with Jesus followers that will help you be the best you. The people that will lift you up out of the trenches and speak truth loudly over the enemy’s lies. Stay in the Church and serve with the body of believers so that the enemy cannot even get a toehold!
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Always stay awake and alert — Joshua 6:18
Always avoid the temptations that the enemy sends your way and keep your eyes on Him. It is so easy to let your guard down and let our foot slip. We start looking at our problems and we take the focus off of the Problem Solver. We lose hope. Stay in the Word! It’s the only way to keep your eyes always on the prize.
The things of this world look and smell and taste so good that sometimes we may slip into the enemies trap. But God is bigger and He is mighty to save! Psalm 13:8 says “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him.”
I am praying for each one of you to stay victorious! We need to step out as His children and tell all who will listen that He is The Way! And remember… you have already won!
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Let us pray: Dear God, thank You for loving us so much that You give us a endless supply of grace. We confess that we don’t always stay close and we do take our eyes off of You and we need forgiveness. Help us to stay in Your Word and really press into You so that the enemy cannot get through to us at all. We love You and we praise You. In Jesus; name, amen.
