Analyse This

Joshua is at the end of his journey, he has done whatever God had asked him to do. There is still more land to take(Joshua 13:1), however God has instructed Joshua to divide the land and the territories be given to individual tribes(Joshua 14:5). However for now, Israel and the land have peace with its enemies. In the next book (Judges) we'll see why capturing of many lands wasn't completed in Joshua's time.Right now, Joshua is quite old and is "about to go the way of all the earth"(Joshua 23:14). Within Joshua chapters 12-23 , we see how the land was divided between the various tribes. Now Joshua gives his farewell speech in Joshua 23

Here's what I found in Joshua's farewell message

1. Hope for the future-"The LORD your God himself will drive them out of your way. He will push them out before you, and you will take possession of their land, as the LORD your God promised you"(Joshua 23:5)
2. Encouragement to build that future-"The LORD has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. 10 One of you routs a thousand, because the LORD your God fights for you, just as he promised." (Joshua 23:9-10)
3. Command to follow the Lord-"Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left. 7 Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not serve them or bow down to them. 8 But you are to hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have until now." (Joshua 23:6-8)
4. Warning for disobedience-"But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them, 13 then you may be sure that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the LORD your God has given you" (Joshua 23:12-13)
5. Remembrance of what the Lord has done-" You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed." Joshua 23:14

In short, Joshua was giving them the secret of the successes he had in all the battles. He analysed his life in those verses, of how things went with him. Many times we fail to understand God's work in our lives, because we fail to analyse our lives and see how we came, from where we were. More often than not, I find encouragement by seeing whats happening in my life. Our life itself teaches us lessons. We learn through our experiences . Experience is the best teacher.
There is a popular saying, "A burnt child dreads fire", now, if the burnt child forgets the lesson he learnt from getting burnt, he will get burnt again, because he does not analyse how fire burnt him and what consequences he faced. So also, when we fail to analyse our lives of how God worked, during our obedience and our disobedience-times of glory, times of shame we'll start failing too. Life's lessons teach us every day, what to do what not to do. Let's analyse our lives, we and somebody else may a learn a lot from it.

God Bless.

PUSH (Pray Until Something Happens)

Background:Once the northern and southern kings came to know of the way the Israelites had defeated the 5 kings. They all joined forces and planned to destroy the Israelites
(Joshua 11:4-5 4All these kings responded by mobilizing their warriors and uniting to fight against Israel. Their combined armies, along with a vast array of horses and chariots, covered the landscape like the sand on the seashore. 5They established their camp around the water near Merom to fight against Israel),
but the Lord was with the Israelites and they won over them.

Just after a battle the Israelites won against the 5 kings who wanted to destroy the Gibeonites, more kings heard about it and went against the Israelites to destroy them. What a life!!!

I remember this little illustration from a pilot turned preacher. Getting onto the Word of God is quite like flying a plane.Especially the jet ones.When starting, the engine roars, the wheels face friction when they start, then they take off, but they haven't reached their full speed yet. There is something called a threshold velocity beyond which the plane travels smoothly, as if still. However, until that velocity is reached the plane rattles and shudders as if it would fall apart if pressed a little further. But you know what, the most jitters and rattling happen when the plane is just about to cross the threshold velocity, after which it is smooth, it doesn't even feel the noise of the engines any more. Its quiet, its steady, there is no wind turbulence because it has gone way higher than where the winds blow. They've gone way beyond that level.

Its the same with a Christian walk, while you're about to 'take off' trusting God's Word, just when you're break through is about to happen. The more the resistance, the more we PUSH through. (PUSH-Pray Until Something Happens). Until we're so sure of our Lord's promise that nothing can shake us, for we know that we know that we know, that He Who called us is faithful.

Conclusion: I encourage you, if you're waiting to see a change, PUSH on, if you're waiting for God's miracle, PUSH on, stay on the Word of God, do whatever it takes, maybe it needs a change inside of you, than the outside. Lets make that change and move on. Oh how important it is to stick close to the Word of God and in prayer. Don't give up yet. Go on.Keep trusting .

Isaiah 40:31
" but those who hope in the LORD

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint."

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

Word-Faith-Rewards

I see something now beginning to appear from all the accounts I've read so far from the lives of people in the Bible, till Joshua.

Word-God gave His people, His Word, a Promise about a future event regarding their life.
Faith-People believing that God is able to do what He has promised and willing to wait or to do whatever required of them in the meanwhile and trust God with their lives, no matter how long the wait would be.No matter how tough the situations would be
Rewards-That faith then producing results in the lives of the people who believed God for His Word.

Lets see some examples from Joshua's life since this is the latest I have written about.

• Crossing Jordan: WORD- Joshua 3:7-8"7The LORD told Joshua, "Today I will begin to make you great in the eyes of all the Israelites. Now they will know that I am with you, just as I was with Moses. 8Give these instructions to the priests who are carrying the Ark of the Covenant: `When you reach the banks of the Jordan River, take a few steps into the river and stop.' " FAITH-Joshua 3:13-By Faith Joshua tells the Israelites what the Lord would do.Now let's also remember the fact that, river Jordan was in flood during this season and Joshua asked the leaders to step out into the water. Can you imagine someone asking people to step out into the flood waters? REWARD-Joshua 3:15-16 " Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge, 16 the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away.... "
• Conquering Jericho:WORD-Joshua 6:2 " Then the LORD said to Joshua, "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men." FAITH-Joshua 6- We see Joshua instructing the army and marching around the city (the weirdest battle ever) with trumpets all the seven days. REWARDS-Joshua 6:24-27 The Lord honoured Joshua and they won the battle there.

Lesson: I see a pattern here, between the time God promised something and by the time it really happened, there was a time, sometimes to wait, sometimes to do something. However at the end of the time when they lived their faith the reward was exactly as God promised.

In our lives too, God would have promised us something regarding our lives, now its on our part to trust God with His promise, because as is written in 1 Corinthians 1:9 "God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful." With the way the world is going, there is no value of someone's words anymore. We cannot trust anyone, but its not so with God.

In the time when we are waiting for God's promises to be fulfilled in our lives, maybe for a job, maybe for healing, maybe for marriage, maybe for the salvation of our loved ones. God has promised us through His Word and He is able. While we wait, are we willing to continue to trust him like Abraham did for over 25 yrs until he got his very own son or like Joseph did for 13yrs till he became the prime minister. God is able. If someone had to write the testimonies of the many believers around the world right now, who trusted God's Word for various issues and were blessed in their waiting period, it would surely be the largest book. Lets have Faith in the Word of promise our God has given us regarding whatever we're facing in life, for in due time we will reap the Rewards.

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.

Deception for the Dangerous

Background: After brilliant victory at Ai, Joshua and the Israelites got together and gave glory to the Lord with sacrifices and read the entire commandments God had given Moses(Joshua 8:30-34), thereby renewing their covenant with the Lord, kind of remembering what God had done. Soon after this, in Joshua 9 we see they encountered a strange situation. Deceived by the Gibeonites.
Gibeonites were their neighbours, who had heard about the marvelous things the Lord had done for the Israelites and were afraid(Joshua 9:24-25). Hence they decided to cheat them.

I was browsing through some blogs yesterday and came across one which said "Dear Lord protect me from your followers" I wondered why was a follower of God so feared.

I think its because of the amazing team God and His children, who listen to His voice and obey Him, make. The enemy never wants God's children to win for they are sure we will win if we obey our God's voice. Here's what went wrong with Joshua and the Israelites Joshua 9:14 (Amp Bible) says "So the [Israelite] men partook of their food and did not consult the Lord."

Lesson: How important it is for a believer to listen to the Lord in the midst of battle and enemy territory. We as Christians are in constant battle against the principalities and darkness. Ephesians 6:12 says "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" In the manner the Israelites battled their enemies, we are also in battle, only that our battle is spiritual. It makes it all the more difficult, because we cannot physically see our enemies. When we become absolutely obedient to God's plan for our life, we become dangerous to our enemies. The more dangerous we become to our enemies the more we should stick closer to God, to listen to every strategy, every plan God would have us fulfil so we will never be deceived or defeated. Let's become dangerous, spiritually. Let's become daring in prayer. Let's become daring in preaching the Word of our Living God. Let's become daring to live like Jesus.

Ai Destroyed

Background: Joshua and the Israelites had lost the battle with Ai the first time, but in Joshua 8 we see a totally different picture than the one we saw in Joshua 7. Joshua and the Israelites had repented of their sin and got themselves reconnected to God. They made sure no sin remained. What I mean by sin-as I have seen while reading upto this chapter, it is not "what you do", but its more of disobedience. Let me show you-- earlier, the Israelites had fallen in disobedience when they took the spoils of the battle, but its not about taking the spoils, because in Joshua 8:2 God tells the Israelites-"You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the city."
Many would have thought, right, God wants all the money for Himself (if they read the previous chapters in Joshua), but its not about that, what can we give God in gold and silver Haggai 2:8 "'The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the LORD Almighty." God was showing them obedience. We've got to follow what our Lord says about the situations in our life very carefully.

What I see here is that, people have often misunderstood God, in what He was trying to show. God is not an unjust God. In my life, God had shown me a way to win my brother to the Lord and God blessed me in that. My brother now lives for Jesus (Praise God). I am now in another situation, very similar to the one I faced with my brother, I had been applying the same principles here, but it did not work. Its the same I see with Joshua, he sent out spies (like before), he sent his men for war(like before), but they were defeated. So Joshua asked God and won the battle in an amazing manner and so, I asked God too , then God showed me that this battle I am on , though similar from my point of view(winning a sould for Jesus), needs a different strategy to win. The strongholds here are different, the king of this new place is different, the city is different, the type of soldiers in this city are different. God showed Joshua that they needed to set an ambush behind the city this time, not go around it like they did in Jericho and Joshua won and so will I and you, if we learn the lesson here.

Lesson: Though the mission was the same-"Winning the battle"- the strategy was different. Joshua would not have won if he would not have called out to God. So , are we using a strategy from a previous battle or are we looking to God to show us the right way.God can see way beyond what we can, about anything in our life- Isaiah 55:9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. " So lets run to God for any situation we're facing, He is able. He is willing to help. He knows the strategy we need for any struggle we're in. He cares (1 Peter 5:7) "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you". Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

After Jericho- Ai

Background- Joshua and the Israelites have just won the battle of Jericho with a battle strategy, no one could have ever imagined. Now they move on to take Ai. Spies have been sent out.(Joshua 7:2)

I found it amazing, that soon after a valiant victory, Joshua and the Israelites face bitter defeat at the battle of Ai, such that they were totally shattered -"At this the hearts of the people melted and became like water. "(Joshua 7:5). The reason for their defeat was, disobedience. Achan had disobeyed and kept the spoils from the previous battle (Joshua 7:1). Joshua cried out to God after this defeat and God told him it was due to disobedience.

Lesson:I am assessing this in my own life, times of my defeat have been times when I was being disobedient to God. However , we have a forgiving God who takes away our sins the moment we confess them and refrain from repeating it. No matter how big the sin is, God is willing to forgive. He wants us to be continually under His protection and guidance and be forever victorious. Its like a mother telling her child, "don't play with the knife, you'll get hurt". If we don't listen and do get cut, a good mother will never throw her child away, but will lovingly bind up the wounds and put balms for healing the cut.

Our Father in Heaven says

in Isaiah 49:15

"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast

and have no compassion on the child she has borne?

Though she may forget, I will not forget you!"

Such is our Father, so lets go to Him and not run away from Him, in bitterness or rage over our own fruit of disobedience. Lets run to our Daddy and ask Him what to do. He waits to hear us.

Conquering Jericho

Joshua has now been able to spy the land that God has asked him to capture. (Joshua 6:2) Jericho is terrified, no one inside the city went out or came in. Now God has also given them instructions regarding the battle.

• The priests with trumpets went for the battle
• They carried the ark of the Lord
• The armed guard went ahead of the priest and the rear guard behind the ark.
• The army was to be very quiet.

Now those were some pretty weird rules for a battle, I'd say this must have taken real faith to obey. Who in their right mind send priest carrying trumpets to war? As human beings, we seldom do something we feel is not logical, not right as per our understanding though we might think of this as a great quality, it could be a hindrance when it comes to our relationship with God.

With God nothing is impossible, that word 'impossible' does not exist in God's dictionary, so how do we -limited, finite, with more possibilties to encounter impossibilities of various kinds, how do we know the impossible for us is possible with God, well as Joshua demonstrates it-its with "Obedience". When God's power over impossiblities, in our lives, meets an obedient heart to God...together it makes the impossible possible in what we might think, the most unusual way.

Lesson: Obedience to God's Word and trusting God in every situation can turn any impossible situation around. This Lesson when read backwards also means- disobedience to God's Word, prevents God's power over impossibilites from working in our lives. Mathematically rendered it would read as below

Obedience to God + God's power => Impossible == All things are possible

Disobedience to God + (no God's power : nothing to work on) =>Impossible == Failure and more impossibilities.

+ - Added to

=> - Applied to

== - Results in

Hope for Everyone-Lesson from Rahab's Life

In the account of Joshua's life, we come across a special person, when they won their famous war at Jericho.

Background(Joshua 2):Rahab an inhabitant of Jericho, had her house on the Jericho wall. She was prostitute and as per their customs, was not allowed to have a house among the common people of the country. She was made to live on the city wall.
In those days the city wall was not a feet or two thick like we have. They were walls to fortify the city from enemy attacks. Some were made in concentric circles around the city. Some were about 12feet wide. Thats the kind of wall Joshua and Israelites broke through with their praise and shouting.

Situation:(Joshua 2:1 [ Rahab and the Spies ] Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. "Go, look over the land," he said, "especially Jericho." So they went and entered the house of a prostitute [ Or possibly an innkeeper ] named Rahab and stayed there.)When Joshua sent spies to Jericho, the easiest place they could sneak in without any suspicion was into Rahab's house. She was in the danger of being caught by her own authorities if they found out that the spies were there or otherwise if the Israelites attacked, her house would be the 1st to get hit.

Rahab's Action:

• She hid them on the roof (Joshua 2:4-6)
• Gave them place to stay (Joshua 2:8)
• Advised them on how to escape the Jericho soldiers (Joshua 2:16)

Why did she do all this? -The Bible says-Its because the whole city of Jericho had heard of the God of Israel and how He had rescued His people and the Red Sea crossing and about all that had happened to the kings who tried to attack the Israelites(Joshua 2:11). She knew that with a God like the One the Israelites had there was no winning against Israel. Indirectly, I find that she honoured the power of the Living God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. She had heard and now was her chance to act on what she believed, she took the side of the Living God.She wanted to take shelter with a group of people who believed and were guided by a Living God.

What she got in return? -Joshua 6:25 But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho—and she lives among the Israelites to this day. Not only was her family spared but now she got a chance to live among people, unlike the way she had been living on the wall in Jericho. Knowing society for the first time, knowing to be a part of a larger community, not being looked at as someone who deserves no respect, but as a hero I'd say. I imagine, the Israelites must have spoken about her as a woman of courage to have dared to keep the spies in her house which was probably surrounded most of the time with the soldiers in Jericho on account of it being on the city wall.

Her returns did not end there-

• Her name finds mention in the geneology of our Lord Jesus Christ-(Matthew 1:5 (Whole Chapter) Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse,6and Jesse the father of King David )
• Her name mentioned in the book of Hebrews, "Hall of Faith"(Hebrews 11:31 (Whole Chapter) By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient)

As I see it, she had an impact not only in the lives of the Israelites then but also on us who are children by faith, showing us an example of faith. From another angle, I see that those who run to the Living Lord Jesus for whatever it be, they are never turned down and reap eternal benefits.

Lesson: Rahab's life shows us the blessings, of a person willing to go with the Living God. Rahab shows us that she did not lose anything from trusting in the power of the Living God (which she heard about) but was blessed beyond what she could ever imagine. Many people have heard about Jesus, but do not want to have a relationship with God. Whatever situation we're in, maybe we're sitting on our own wall, not accepted by people we thought would accept us, Rahab's life teaches us God Cares not matter who you are. There is hope for everyone, if only we turned to the Lord.

Obedience to God is a Serious Thing

Its amazing how people try to defend themselves to try to stay away from God. They would even go to the extent of denying that God exists, so that they can have their own way. Some turn to disobedience, testing God's patience, harming other people and themselves.

The Bible says in Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in [ Or through] Christ Jesus our Lord".

While the Israelites were traveling in the wilderness, under the guidance of Moses, learning to obey God, learning to forget about their old ways and the Egyptian gods and their egyptian lifestyle, some learnt to obey God, some did not want to. The people who did not want to learn obedience to God, were lost in the wilderness and died and they never saw the Promised Land. (Joshua 5:6)"The Israelites had moved about in the desert forty years until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed the LORD. For the LORD had sworn to them that they would not see the land that he had solemnly promised their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey."

I see such a similarity here, with the way the world is going. God is being patient with all the people in the world that they may get a chance to hear and listen to His Word and come to Him. Matthew 24:14 "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. " God has given every nation in the whole world to have a chance to listen to the Word of God and then the end will come.Those who have listened and stay in God's Word will enter into the Promised Land (John 14:2 (Whole Chapter) In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.)

Why is it so critical to obey God-its because there is a continuous battle between God and Satan, for our lives. (I so like the way it is represented in the Chronicles of Narnia-The Lion the witch and the wardrobe).
God knows that all His children belong to Him, but then there are some who would not want to obey God, they'd rather do what they want and care less about their lives later.

Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you and your household will be saved.(Acts 16:31 )

Crossing the Jordan

As I read the account of the crossing of Jordan river. I see God and Joshua working like partners. Joshua is no longer an assistant to Moses, he's now having his own experience with God. I have read in Joshua more than once now, God encouraging Joshua time and time again."Be strong and courageous...be strong and courageous". I was wondering what was it, that could have made Joshua feel weak or discouraged.

I wonder

• Was it because all this while he was having a mentor and now he's on his own
• Was it because he felt inadequate, since he had seen Moses work with God and perform amazing miracles and he might have thought, "I don't think I can be as good as Moses"
• Could it be that he was afraid that the Israelites would not listen to him.
• Or be overwhelmed by the number of people he had to lead

We all feel burdened by a lot of negatives when it comes to doing something for the Lord. However when I read Joshua's triumphs and how he worked, I find that he slowly learnt that when God chooses someone for His work, He also equips them with the power to do it.

In the crossing of Jordan, God demonstrates His mighty power while Joshua is leading the Israelites. It is written in Joshua 3:7 "And the LORD said to Joshua, "Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses." God encouraged Joshua.

Then I found something similar that we have received as a promise- When Jesus sent out the disciples to spread the gospel of Good News to all the world "Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."(Matthew 28:16-20)

Just as Jesus gave His disciples strength to spread the Good News, He is with us too when we live for Jesus. Let's find strength in our Lord Jesus as we go forth, live the life God called us to live, do what God called us to do and lets be a blessing and encouragement to someone through our lives.

Joshua-Learning Courage from Life

"Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go" (Joshua 1:7).

When you look back over your past, do you see a single conglomeration of events, or do you notice a few clear, definable points of decision that make up the framework of your existence? Most likely, you immediately think of one or two key moments involving critical decisions that shaped your life into what it is now. When we consider the life of Joshua, whom God appointed to lead Israel into the Promised Land, two definite landmark moments are instantly prominent. To understand this man, we must first understand these two life-changing events.

(Excerpt copyright of InTouch Ministries)

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We can't go on like this

Background: Moses has now passed away(Exodus 34) and God has given Joshua charge of the Israelites(Joshua 1), to lead them into the Promised Land.

There is a beautiful thing I learnt, from reading the way in which God leads Joshua, after Moses is gone. It is amazing.The 2 things I learnt are below yet they both come down to the same meaning daily fellowship with God.

1. We cannot fight today's battles with yesterday's strength-Joshua was with Moses for most of Moses' meetings with God(Exodus 17:9,Exodus 24:13). It was not enough that Joshua be a part of the miracles he saw in Moses time. He had to work towards his own and "every day". I have experienced this in my life too. Many a times, I have tried to fight my battles with what I have known God work in my life in the past, but they haven't worked. Now I know its because, I need new spiritual strength for today. God commands Joshua "This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good [b]success."(Exodus 1:8). We read further in Joshua 3 the account of the Israelites crossing the Jordan (under Joshua's leadership). The method of this miracle is different from what God did with Moses even though the result is the same, crossing a river/sea. If Joshua would have thought -"Hey Ive been with Moses, I know, I just need to raise my staff, would that have worked???" I don't think so. God wanted Joshua to be connected to Him through this all the time. He would have completely missed his opportunity to see a miracle. So also, we should get connected to our Lord for our situations, "EVERY single DAY".
2. We cannot have a working faith in God, simply based on someone else's experience with God:Only our own Personal Experience and relationship with God can build up that kind of faith.-Another aspect I see here in the same passages as above is that, God is a personal God, He wanted Joshua to trust Him in all of his endeavours with the Lord. What God did for Moses, He did for Joshua too. However from Moses and Joshua's point of view, they are unique situations. Joshua could not have had faith in God based on Moses' faith on God. Joshua had to trust God on his own and God had different instructions for Joshua, even though the event(crossing a sea/river) was the same.This would be Joshua's own experience with God, his very own. A personal relationship costs time and effort. God appreciates meeting His children personally as well as in a group. He has a unique relationship with all His children.

Lesson from Life:If you were going through trouble and I say one of the following to you which one would "really" exhort you.

• Mrs X also had the same problem and God worked for her, so I guess God will work for you too.
• I have been through this in my life, and God did amazing things for me, during all that pain and suffering I went through, and I believe "There is no partiality with God" He will do for you what He did for me.

Which one of the above do you think would give you lasting encouragement and strengthen your faith in God? Making time to meet God, letting go of what we've used as a method from somewhere else. Meet God first so He can meet your needs in the best way suited to bless you "Entirely" not just in one aspect and not just for you but so that you can be a blessing to many.

Success !!

Its easy to loose focus when what you see becomes bigger than what you believe in. Throughout the Bible, we see God picking out people with problems and turning them into miracles, and changing failures into successes. Not just marginal success, but huge successes.
The good thing about this, getting successful thing, is not 1-2-3 but needs waiting, patience, building character too. While God ushers us into success, he also needs to build up our inner man, to be honest, of good and strong character, of good works, of love, of a sound mind, of perseverance, of patience and the likes.

We like the part about being successful, but we would not want to go through the building up of the inner man. Would we be able to wait like Abraham for 25 yrs for God's promise to be fulfilled in our lives? Sounds difficult right.Or like Joseph, to go through prison, and cheating and still staying honest and true to God AND waiting for 13 yrs for God's promise to complete. Or, like Moses, to be right in the middle of unbelief(Israelites not believing and grumbling about God) and yet keep believing God to guide them to the promised land. Or, like Joshua, trusting God's power to give them the promised land, in the midst of people who accompanied him to check out the promised land.

We can become successful the way we want, or the way God wants and make life beautiful, not only for us, but also be a blessing to all who come in contact with us.

• Abraham became a blessing to all who have faith in God
• Joseph became a blessing to Egypt as a country as well as to his family and other Israelites in a time of need
• Moses became a blessing and guided people upto the promised land, even training Joshua under his leadership
• Joshua became a wonderful leader and led Israelites into the promised land

There are more people mentioned in the Bible whom, God blessed in the inner man as well as in their material possessions.They had impact in the lives beyond their scope of life on earth. Imagine that.

Ponder on: "Proverbs 10:22 (Whole Chapter) The blessing of the Lord--it makes [truly] rich, and He adds no sorrow with it [neither does toiling increase it]. "