Joshua 1:1-9
God makes two promises to Joshua.
God promises to be with Joshua v5, 9c
God promises Joshua prosperous and successful and victorious over his enemies v2-5a.
God gives two conditions to Joshua.
He is to be strong and courageous v6-7a, 9a,b. In other words, to be full of faith. To put his faith fully in the presence of God with him.
He is to centre his life upon the Word of the Lord v 7b-8. He is to meditate on it, and he is to obey it.
In verse 7 he is told to be careful to obey... That is, he is to ensure that the Word is guiding him in all he does. He is to realise that the word of the Lord is a manual for living. That its a compass for heaven-bound traveller. That its a spiritual sword to the spiritual men and women who have enlisted in the army of the Lord. That the B I B L E is basic instruction before leaving earth.
He is to be careful to obey! Verse 8c...then you will be prosperous and successful.
Gods word is given to us to preserve us, to protect us and to prosper us.
Our greatest problem lies not in the fact that we have an enemy called satan, but instead it lies in the fact that we are not careful to obey the word of the Lord. And because of this, we allow the enemy to get the upper hand, we allow him to steal from us and rob us of the blessing, prosperity and success God has planned for us.
I'm not talking about salvation this morning, I'm talking about success. God wants you to prosper and to have victory over all of your enemies...over all those things that seek to bind you...that seek to steal blessing from your life...and that seek to oppose the good plan that God has for your life.
To be clear, I am also not talking about getting blessings from God. EPH 1:3 says that we have already been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm in Christ Jesus. You can't get more blessing than that. I'm speaking about accessing the blessing. I'm talking about stepping into and possessing the promises that are yours in Christ.
God says I have given you the land..now go and take possession of the land. I have given you prosperity and blessing and breakthrough...now go and get it!
And to do this, Joshua was to be full of faith...he was to trust God and rely on the presence of the Lord with Him, whether he felt it or not! He was to remember that God is not a man that he should lie...
And he was to be careful to obey the Lord in everything.
One of the areas where we as a church have not been careful to obey the Lord is with regards our coming together for corporate prayer. The word of God commands us to be devoted to prayer...
I don't believe it's simply talking about personal prayer time, which is of paramount importance and which he did encourage and instruct us to do, but only you and Gods knows if you are doing that. I'm talking about corporate prayer and am making a judgment with regards to that, because that's what I will be held accountable for before the Lord. What you do in your personal life in secret is between you and the Lord.
But there's a reason why Jesus said if two or three come together... And if two or three agree upon anything... He was not talking about your personal time with him, he was talking about our corporate time with him.
And if we are not obeying the Lord in prayer as a church, then we allow much room for the enemy to rob us of what God has in store for us. We cannot have successful spiritual warfare without a strategic and supported time of corporate prayer.
EPH 6, that great chapter dealing with spiritual warfare, talks about the armour, then immediately talks about prayer...
The problem is that we often want the success, prosperity and victory, but we are reluctant to pray.....we are reluctant to obey the Word of the Lord. We are lethargic when it comes to prayer. We are not careful enough...
Then we wonder why we are not seeing a harvest of souls coming into the kingdom... And we wonder why the enemy is ensnaring gods people, and why the love of some is growing cold.
Some people are more enthusiastic about celebrations than about saving souls... Some are more excited by entertainment than eternal matters. They say they love God, but they do not obey his word. Jesus said in Jn 14:15 if you love me, you will obey my teaching!
Report on revival... But we are only in revival when we see true repentance and when prayer meetings are well supported. When prayer meetings and Sunday services are indistinguishable.
Psalm 144...
V1,2 spiritual warfare.
V3,4 our dependency on the intervention of God.
V5,6 spiritual warfare and prayer.
V7,8 talks about the things that hinder victory. Lies: things that contradict the Word. Things that tell you it's okay not to obey the word, God loves you, God understands.
V9 he talks about the power of praise in spiritual warfare, praise remember is a form of prayer
V10 he reminds us where our victory comes from
V11 he goes back to the things that hinder success. Whenever we turn away from the word, we open ourselves up to lies and deception.
V12-15 he talks about the blessing of being delivered from lies and deception...
Today make a commitment to obey God. Make a commitment to be careful to obey all that he commands us in his word...so that we can see success and experience prosperity and be overwhelmed by the victory that awaits us in Christ.
Make a decision to obey God even when it's difficult. Make a decision to forgive the people that hurt you.... To forgo a temporary pleasure... And to favour others above your own personal needs.
Make a decision to obey God even when it doesn't seem logical. Give when it seems better to keep. Sow when it seems better to reap. Love when it feels better to hate. Be committed to Christ and his church when the world seems to offer so much more. Invest your life in the kingdom whilst others are investing their lives in worldly pursuits.
Choices are so, so important... And I'm asking you in the name of the Lord to choose today. Your decisions today will determine your destiny tomorrow.
Joshua understood the value of choices.... Of right choices.... Towards the end of his ministry he calls the Israelites together and says choose ye this day...
Make a decision today that your body is truly going to be the temple...... Instruments of righteousness
That you are never going to miss a Sunday meeting.... How about making a decision that you will never miss a prayer meeting by gods grace.
How about making a decision to get involved in the life of the church to lesson the load of others and to build up the body. How about making a decision to help others grow. By discipling others.
There are several areas we need to make decisions about to obey God in in this coming year.
make a decision regarding Him and his kingdom. Matthew 6:33. Paul tells the Corinthians in his first letter, chapter 15 that Christ is returning. In the light of that he says in v 58. Therefore my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.
2) about your heart.... No idolatry
3) about your hands.... Deeds before others. James says cleanse your hands you sinners, purify your hearts you double minded
The Psamist in psalm 24 asks who will ascend the hill...who will stand in his holy presence? He whose has a pure heart and clean hands, who does not lift up his souls to an idol...
Let you good deeds be evident to all....
Let your light shine... Let your hands be occupied with good things...
4) About your head... Be committed to renewing your mind. Be committed to being transformed. Think the thoughts of God. Meditate on what God says you have. On who God says you are.
5) About your home... Let it be a place where God can feel at home. Quit strife....arguments....disorder .... Disobedience... Anger...lies...
Let your home be a loving place...let it start with you.
Let your home be filled with prayer and praise, worship and witness.
Joshua says....Choose ye this day whom you will serve.... As for me and my house...
6) About the harvest.... Lift up your eyes to the harvest....in your home, at your work place....in your community. Ask God for passion....wisdom
7). Make a decision concerning your Help.
the Holy Spirit. Are you going to partner with him...Or are you going to grieve him.
The body of Christ...fellowship....cells....authors(read). SURROUND YOURSELF WITH GOOD COMPANY. PAUL SAYS DONT BE DECEIVED, BROTHERS, BAD COMPANY CORRUPTS GOOD CHARACTER.
The word of God.
Avoid listening to lies...stay away from the parasites...TV, MAGAZINES, NOVELS, GAMES, LEISURE, ENTERTAINMENT
