Joshua's Deception

A lesson learned in the life of a great man of God. A man that was human, and made his mistakes, but a man that learned from those mistakes and gave control over to God.

Each of our campuses are full of men and women that have the potential to do great and powerful things with the help of God.
God’s power, wisdom and guidance is right here with us, available every step of our journey through life. Through the good times and the bad. As much as we try to remember God, we often forget that it is God who gives us the strength to do all things.

We just forget! I don’t think Joshua was being blatantly defiant towards God. He just got caught up in a moment. Perhaps he was so busy ‘fighting’ for God, he neglected to talk to God? You just overlook it.

ILL – Other day looking for my wallet
-When you’re not completely focused, when something else is on your mind, it’s easy to overlook the obvious.

This mistake of Joshua with the Gibeonites could have cost him and the nation everything. But he handled it right. 9:16-22 Joshua confessed that he was deceived. The human lesson here is that our lives are filled with battles, not always physical ones, but spiritual. How do we respond? Do we have the courage to let God control our actions?

It’s a dangerous place to be when your spiritual life is a Kodak moment…’overexposed’ to sin and negative influences, and ‘underdeveloped’ spiritually and emotionally. In fact, consulting Gods plan and will for your life through His word and prayer, are signature marks of a developing relationship with Him.

We all sin, we all fall short. That’s part of the deal. You are going to sin, You are going to leave God out of the equation. At some point you are going to feel like you can’t move forward. Sin ruins people when left on their own. Mistakes rack up and overburden us. Even the very best of Christians.

Sins and mistakes don’t have to ruin us. This story tells me that. It tells me that God listens to our cries…I love that!

When you commit a sin or make a mistake, admit to it. Give it up to God and let Him forgive, let Him guide, let Him heal. We have our own plans, our own pursuits, our own desires….it’s not easy to give that control over to God.

We’ve all got things in the closet. We all trip and fall. We all make the mistake of trying to pick ourselves up occasionally. Proverbs 28:13 says that whoever conceals his sins, will not prosper…but whoever confesses them and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

Forsake ( Hebrew - Azab) to abandon, leave behind, to release. This word can signify a trust, to allow to continue. Get it???


The times in my life when I feel the most weighed down, the most distant from God, the most hopeless about my situation, the most reliant on myself…I realize I am not letting go of so any things!

Everyone has sin they need to let go of. It’s not just the person who looks like they’re struggling. Everyone has something they struggle with, even those are courageous and mighty as Joshua.


There will come times in your life when the Lord will supernaturally intervene in your life and fight the battles for you. There will be other times where you may be allowed to struggle for a while with a situation so God can teach you character. 


Never give up! Never Quit! Embrace Jesus and Expect A Miracle!

God wants to develop you! To mold you into something