Look Who's Fighting for you

Background: The 5 kings from Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon were upset that the Gibeonites had made a peace treaty with the Israelites and wanted to attack them(Joshua 10:5 ). The Gibeonites appealed to Joshua for help in this battle(Joshua 10:6). Joshua agrees to protect them, since they had a treaty with them and God grants them great victory.

Sometimes life can become overwhelming with too many troubles happening all at once. Too many things to worry about, too many things to take care of. How could we possibly deal with so many at once. This account from Joshua's life tells us - yes we can.

• 5 kings joining forces to destroy them, but in (Joshua 10:8) "The LORD said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you."
• The Lord threw the enemy into confusion-"The LORD threw them into confusion before Israel, who defeated them in a great victory at Gibeon."(Joshua 10:10)
• More died from hailstones than from the battle-(Joshua10:11)"As they fled before Israel on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, the LORD hurled large hailstones down on them from the sky, and more of them died from the hailstones than were killed by the swords of the Israelites. "
• Joshua stills the sun-(Joshua 10:12-14) "..Joshua said to the LORD in the presence of Israel:"O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon." ....The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. 14 There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the LORD listened to a man. Surely the LORD was fighting for Israel! "

Its true that 5 kings were against them, but look what the Lord did with them.

We may have a lot going on in our life, than we can handle, it may seem impossible to us to ever get out of it but the Word of God says -in Matthew 19:26 "Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." What is it that steals our joy, our peace, our health, our mind, occupies our thought and makes us worry day and night? Burdening us with its pressures, attacking us to the point of making us unfruitful as believers. Lets give it to God because our Lord says in Matthew 11:28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. "

Above all what I found in the next 2 points I brought out above is that-more died because of hailstones than with the Israelites' sword, why, because God was fighting the battle for them. That revelation encouraged me a lot. When in trouble we tend to think, God is far away, God's not helping, God's not there, but Joshua's life teaches us that God was right in the middle of it and did more damage to the army than Joshua and the Israelites did. God was fighting for them. Take heart my friend, you are not alone, you are not forsaken, God loves you so dearly that, anything that troubles you troubles Him. He is interested in the intricate issues of our life. If only we will take strength in knowing He's the ever present help in the times of trouble.

Just when we think , how am I going to fight it, how will I overcome this attack, how will I ever get out of this problem in our lives- Romans 12:19 says "Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," [ Deut. 32:35] says the Lord. " God is so possessive about His children, that anything bothering us bothers Him. I always wonder at the way some mothers can feel the pain their child feels, even when they are miles apart. How much more can our God feel for us?

You know what God says about His children

That child is mine,

I have paid the price for my child with my blood.

I have taken up his infirmities.

I have carried his sorrows away.

I was pierced for his sins,

I have taken his punishment so that my child can enjoy peace.

I was wounded for my child, so that they will enjoy healing.

(Isaiah 53:4-5)

If only we'd trust our Lord our Father, for whether someone else cares or not, God does and surely the Lord fights for you

Realising Our Potential in Jesus

I get amazed every time I read about the battles God's people fought in the Bible.

Background: Gibeons who deceptively have made peace with the Israelites, are living near them. 5 other kings come to hear about it, now round up their forces to fight the Gibeonites for joining forces with the Israelites. Gibeonites asked the Israelites for help in this battle, since these 5 kings had joined forces. God gives them victory over all the kings who fought against the Gibeonites, through Joshua.

There is one thing I notice here, in Joshua 9:24 when Joshua asked the Gibeonites why they deceived them " They answered Joshua, "Your servants were clearly told how the LORD your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you the whole land and to wipe out all its inhabitants from before you. So we feared for our lives because of you, and that is why we did this."

Now in Joshua 10:1,2 we come to know more about these Gibeonites "Now Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had taken Ai and totally destroyed [a] it, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and that the people of Gibeon had made a treaty of peace with Israel and were living near them. 2 He and his people were very much alarmed at this, because Gibeon was an important city, like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were good fighters." These were the people who were scared of the Israelites. Imagine that.

When God's with you, no one can stand before you. The Israelites had damaged only a small city compared to the Gibeon's yet the Gibeonites were afraid.

Lesson: We may not know the power we have through our obedience to God. The bible defines this power of a believer, in Ephesians 1:19-25 as ".. his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,21far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way."
By ourselves, we are mere humans, but in the hands of God we become a mighty tool. Knees knelt down in prayer to the Almighty Living God has brought about many a revolution in the lives of people and turned their hearts to Jesus. People obeying the Word of God and living out their Christian Life as God intended them to live, have won many into the Kingdom of our Lord. If we read accounts of the greatest outreach ministries, we'll find that deep within, there would be someone who was praying, someone who knew God's power that was at work within them, someone who realised that power and decided to ask God to help them use it for God's glory.

No matter what the situation we're in, all that we will ever need to come out of it, is already within us, when you know Jesus you're Redeemer.Its up to us to realise our potential and use it for God's glory. Who knows that this realisation may bring about another spiritual revolution and so many we see lost, will turn to the Living God and we will see our Lord's mighty hand bring more and more of His children back to Him.So let's live like Victors and not as Victims.