“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Shout of Faith.

     (First note- if your new to my blog I would suggest you go back and skim the past 2 blogs! You'll appreciate this one more.)
    
     This morning as I was reviewing my last blog to see where I left off I realized that we aren't done with chapter 5! I left out some interesting stuff! From Joshua 1-5 we understand the importance of obedience, taking authority, faith, stepping into out Jordan, and change. Yep, I said it... change. The thing I left out is so key to this last point. After the Israelites crossed the Jordan, Joshua was commanded to circumcise at Gilgal. The reason why?
     "Joshua 5:4-6 Now this is why he did so: All those ho came out of Egypt- all the ment of military age - died in the desert on the way after leaving Egypt. All the people that came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the desert during the journey from Egypt had not. The Israelites had moved about in the desert forty years until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt died, since they had not obeyed the Lord....."
     After they obeyed the Lord- He removed the reproach of Egypt from them. Hallelujah. The Israelites are camped at Gilgal and they celebrated Passover. The day after- the manna stopped. This is where change comes in. The Israelites were used to the manna, everyday they knew they were going to eat it. It was regular, scheduled, normal. Then.... manna stopped. It doesn't go into any detail on their reaction to the manna stopping, but I can only imagine. Think of how we react to change and I'm sure that their reactions had some similarity. It was time for a new thing. The Lord was about to take them from something they were in and move them into something greater. When you are in the midst of change, letting go is neccesary. Letting go is not always a bad thing, it can lead you into greater and better things. Our relationship with Christ should be a constant moving forward. With this constant "more of You Jesus" attitude we will go through change. It is inevitable. And it is good. Dr. Phil Brassfield said this statement this past weekend at a Destiny Ministries Conference at Promiseland Metro, "The role of a leader is to manage the motion of change while moving in advancing IN the Kingdom." Good stuff huh? If you are a leader- then get your boots ready- because your gonna be changing. The manna stops, change is coming, the Lord provided. 
     Fall of Jericho..... here we go! :) The Commander of the Lord's army visited Joshua- Joshua fell face down (act of humility and reverence) and the Commander said- this is Holy Ground. Joshua was moving into the will of God- he was stepping into Holy Ground. When we obey the Lord and step into the things He is calling us to- we are also stepping on to Holy Ground. 
     Israelites are moving toward Jericho. Jericho is tightly shut up. Noone is entering or leaving. Walls are bound. The Lord instructs the Israelites to march. March around city with all armed men for 6 days. On the 7th day, march 7 times. There was lots of other "rules" that were given. And what did the Israelites do? Complete obedience. Did exactly as the Lord commanded. Which impresses me, because if the Lord told me to walk around a city 7 times in one day.... I would laugh. (Just saying.) So they marched.... in silence (that would make me laugh too). And on the 7th day, 7th time around, after the long blast..... the Shout of Faith occurred! They let out a shout as the Lord commanded them and the walls fell. Notice that the walls didn't fall after they walked forever. The walls fell when in faith they shouted that those walls were going to fall. And what did the walls do? Fell. Funny how God does what He says He will do. ;) Hehe. 
     The Lord also warned them that when the walls did fall- that they were to be careful to stay away from the devoted things and to spare Rahab and her household. Whenever we receive our breakthrough we still have to be on guard for the "devoted things". The city was burned down so that nothing tempting would be there. Sometimes- our obedience is radical. And thats how it's supposed to be. We have to do whatever we have to do to obey. The last verse in Chapter 6 says "So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame spread thoughout the land." Hallelujah!

     My challenge.... what is our Jericho? What do we need to have a shout of faith for? What are the things that we need to burn down so we aren't tempted anymore? Will we embrace the change that will come with it?  My tip? Complete obedience. Complete faith. Radical faith. Shout it out. Shout it down. And live in freedom with the Lord. 

<3B. 

1 comment:

Chelsea Gaddis said...

Awesome post sister. This relates to my new journey so much! Thanks for the encouragement.