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.
Thankful Heart
My open hands receive blessings You pour out on me
Your tender care restores my soul
Your faithfulness endures, as mercy covers all my sin
Your perfect love has made me whole
Beyond the words I’m searching for
I long to give You something more
Here’s my thankful heart, thankful heart
Offered up in gratitude for all You’ve done for me
Here’s my thankful heart, thankful heart
Offered up in praise to You
I’m unworthy of the gift of Your unfailing love
But You embrace me as I am
You provide my needs, and raise a harvest from the seeds I sow in vain
I bless Your Name
Beyond the words I’m searching for
I long to give You so much more
From the raising of the sun
‘Til it’s going down
The name of the Lord be praised
Written by Gary Forsythe
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We can offer up our thankful hearts to our ABBA Father at any time; while
The vital point is THAT we DO give praise to Him out of the abundance of our thankful hearts!!!
Listening to this sweet song, this is my oh-so-very-favorite part:
Beyond the words I’m searching for I long to give You so much more….
How about you…do you ever find yourself exclaiming similar thoughts to God? Oh, I do! So often I am simply without adequate words to tell God all that is in my heart! (As if He does not already know!!!) But I am encouraged that He wants us (you and me!) to come to Him with all that is in our little hearts…what a kind, compassionate, loving Father!
Hear my prayer, O Lord; let my cry come to You!
Psalm 102:1
Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out Your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah
Psalm 62:8
…Unto You will I sing praises with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel.
My lips shall shout for joy when I sing praises to You,
And my inner being, which You have redeemed.
My tongue also shall talk of Your righteousness all the day long….
Psalms 71:22-24
A big key to heartfelt praise and thanksgiving is to recognize where we were before God saved us through His grace and love. Truly we were in a desperate situation. You could not save yourself from God’s righteous judgment. But God sent His Son, to save you—to save all mankind!—by His grace. Because now you have experienced His great love and grace, you delight in Him and His great salvation and you can’t help but sing for joy! May I encourage you, friends, to never hesitate…never hold back…never deny yourself the joy of singing praises to our Almighty God!
Sing for joy in the Lord, O you righteous ones;
Praise is becoming to the upright.
Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;
Sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings.
Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy.
For the word of the Lord is upright,
And all His work is done in faithfulness.
He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord.
Psalms 33:1-5
While studying through Psalm 33, I read Matthew Henry’s Commentary. Here is a portion of what he wrote, “What a pity it is that this earth, which is so full of God’s goodness <verse 5>, should be so empty of His praises, and that of the multitudes that live upon His bounty there are so few that live to His glory!”
I hope that will not be said of us. As God’s “righteous ones,” let’s be all about offering up our thankful hearts through our praise and songs of joy. Our lives are the proof that He delivers our souls from death. Our response should be to praise Him with thankful hearts.
Remember that line of this song that I shared I just love so much—Beyond the words I’m searching for I long to give You so much more—perhaps the words of the psalmist in Psalm 138 can help to express them. These are my prayer; maybe yours, too.