When God makes you a promise, there will be a process you must undergo to reach its manifestation. God’s promise is good, but the execution by us of what we must do to receive it is where we fall short. Because when we realize we have to do something to obtain the promises of God, we grow weary in following through and being patient. Why? Because doing something usually means we have to let something go. Were you receiving in permanence before you turned your direction to The LORD?
To receive we must let go of old ways, friends, beliefs, expectations grounded in and on the physical. We no longer live ‘primarily’ in the physical, but being spirits in this tabernacle is temporary. Where are you going? More specifically, where will you end up?
We have to acquire patience and discipline, we have to wait (be still and know that I am God! Remember that?) Some things are not in His will for you to have, our God knows all and He knows best. A situation, though painful currently in faith, will lead to blessings. We do not know, GOD knows all.Since the beginning of time we have been given ‘reasoning minds’, the ability to exercise free will. Even with free will were we made with a purpose. God created us in the image of the trinity (“Let us make Man in our image”) not as equals, but as subjects. We have shared a Lego Creator’s influence on his creation. “Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth Aven to the east of Bethel, and told them, “Go up and spy out the region.” So the men went up and spied out Ai.
When they returned to Joshua, they said, “Not all the army will have to go up against Ai. Send two or three thousand men to take it and do not weary the whole army, for only a few people live there.” So about three thousand went up; but they were routed by the men of Ai, who killed about thirty-six of them. They chased the Israelites from the city gate as far as the stone quarries and struck them down on the slopes. At this the hearts of the people melted in fear and became like water.
Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown to the ground before the ark of the Lord, remaining there till evening. The elders of Israel did the same, and sprinkled dust on their heads. And Joshua said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord, why did you ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan! Pardon your servant, Lord. What can I say, now that Israel has been routed by its enemies? The Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this and they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. What then will you do for your own great name?”
The Lord said to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.
“Go, consecrate the people. Tell them, ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow; for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There are devoted things among you, Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them.” Joshua 7:2-13
We are a part of The Creation. What is our part? Big question. Pray before and in each battle, trust The LORD in ALL. Simple things trip many up, when led through rough land, circumstances and situations. As we receive, receive with open arms and give. We so often seize the concept of “what is mine is mine.” Do we share? Bless others? What you receive are from gifts given to you to raise others up. Overflowing of blessings come from blessing others from your possessions. You are blessed! So give and share freely with others.
Be mature about rejection! Every closed door is a message that what lies beyond is not meant for you, hold on to your faith. Faith it! Your change is coming! Be in prayer and praise until it arrives.
Stop holding on to ‘relationships’ that are not meant for you (this does not mean go get a divorce. God abhors divorce as He holds marriage as sanctified. Do not sin or be misled and think that God will honor such disobedience by divorcing your spouse). Even in a time where, in a city smaller than Jericho city that Joshua and the Israelites just conquered, they lost the fight at Ai to a weaker tribe. They learned that life can change in a second and our victories can turn to defeat if we forget to praise God for our victories and pray to Him before we enter into battle.We are blessed to win all battles with Him by our side!. So in the first six chapters of Joshua the Israelites are enjoying victory after victory, but now in Chapter 7 the Israelites lost the battle to Ai. Let’s look at what gets us in trouble with God:
Things that can cause you to lose:
- When you Refuse to help the rest of us; it’s not about who is the greatest but it’s about sharing with those less fortunate
- Selfish people aggravate God
- The mark of Christianity is compassion. If you have no compassion, you aren’t a Christian;
- When God has been good to you and you don’t want to help anyone else. You see when He delivers you, He doesn’t just do it for you alone, but so that you would help lift somebody else up. You see it takes all of us working together to get to where God is taking us;
- We also get in trouble when we play with God. He is an all-knowing and all-seeing God and yet we still rob, cheat, lie and steal from Him. We take what is not ours and claim that it belongs to us, as with our tithes and offerings. Failing to give God what He asked for. Everything you get ain’t meant to be spent on you. Don’t be greedy;
6.He is angered when we store for ourselves what He has blessed us with. The only way we get a harvest is by planting the seed in good soil not storing it up for yourself; - He is angered by a lack of integrity. People who lack integrity will steal and misuse blessings and misappropriate them by acting as if they are theirs;
- We spend so much time fearing the evil one can destroy our bodies, but no time trying to please the One who can destroy both your body and your soul;
9.When the people of God become unfaithful members, that Unfaithfulness makes us vulnerable to Satanic attacks; - The weakness of one of us, leaves all of us vulnerable to the evil one. The stronger ones must undergird the weakest of us;
- God is also angered when we don’t pray. From chapter 1-6 the Israelites praised God after every victory and prayed before each battle. But by chapter 7 Joshua only prays after he loses the battle.You see Prayer pre-supposed that we NEED God and are dependent upon Him in everything in our lives, from the big to the small battles.
- By not praying we act as if we don’t need Him.
If it took God to win all those battles you need Him. Don’t take stuff lightly because it may be the simple stuff that defeats us. Stay in prayer and praise. The correct response is praise to God for surviving the last situation and prayer for what is yet to come. Never determine your need for prayer based on the size of the battle. When we pray to Him, He speaks to us about our current situation and through prayer He will speak to us about what’s yet to come.
MrsRitaOluwole 