My fingers are tingling with excitement just thinking about Joshua and what I learned about this warrior and about what God did through him and is more than able to do through each and every one of us.
First and foremost, have a listen to this song...let me know if it doesn’t just give you goose bumps.
Who would ever have thought that Lecrae and Tait could pull of such an awesome collaboration?
From the very first beat of the song it’s almost as if you are walking through desert with Joshua and the Israelites. For me this song represents a story of a people who finally get to see God’s promise coming to pass. It’s about seeing that promise actually unfolding before your very eyes.
This morning after listening to this song I went back and read the Book of Joshua...well, most of it anyway and it’s really just action packed from the get go. So, God had made this huge promise to the Israelites. They waited years for its fulfillment and when the time comes, Joshua is chosen to lead them into it, that made me think there must have been something in Joshua that God saw and knew He could use. The promise was not being handed over on a silver platter, they had to fight for it and so most of the book of Joshua is about him leading them to war. Nation after nation, kingdom after kingdom until they had possessed what God had promised. This was not going to be an easy task, it’s no wonder God was constantly telling him to be Strong and Courageous. Joshua proves to be the warrior that God knew him to be.
A couple of things the bible writes about Joshua;
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.
14 That day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they stood in awe of him all the days of his life, just as they had stood in awe of Moses.
''Joshua said to the LORD in the presence of Israel...''...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 human being...
Two things stand out for me in the story of Joshua... (FYI, the one thing that Joshua has over David is that he has an entire book named after him), anyway...the two things...Joshua’s ability to listen to God, and secondly his ability to obey God. I love it when I read the bible and I see how mere human beings talk to God... he listens, He talks back and they listen. It’s a reminder of how personal God intends his relationship to be with each and every one of us. The other aspect, really just fell on the Joshua’s shoulders and that was the ability to follow through with what God had told him. It was especially important that he does this because; this very issue is what had cost Moses the Promised Land. The ability to obey the voice of God even when it seems utterly ludicrous... that is real faith. Take for example the battle of Jericho.
This is the picture I get when I read about the Israelites going round the walls of Jericho. Seven times the bible says. The Israelites must have thought Joshua a mad man. They were ready with their weaponry and all the war energy charging up within them just waiting to burst out. The people of Jericho must have thought this act not only foolish but also harmless. I mean how do you wage war by walking around the city walls? This is where you realize that this war was not being fought in the physical but rather in the spiritual. This was the first war that the Israelites fought under Joshua and God was just showing them in whom their trust should be placed. Not in Joshua, not their armies but rather in the Lion of Judah; the Lord almighty.
So…lesson learnt. You have heard Gods word concerning you. You know the promise that He has spoken over your life. You have been waiting for it to come to pass. The Israelites waited for 40years and when the time came they had to fight for it. And not with their weapons, not with the strength of their armies but by simple obedience to the authority of God and little did they know that they were shaking things up in the heavenly realms. So should you, perhaps the only thing between you and the promise of God lies in your obedience to God.
Get on your knees and bring down every wall that is separating you from the promise.
I suggest to you that God has already placed within us the capacity to hear and to obey his voice just like Joshua did. I challenge you that the capacity to do the things that Joshua did (including asking God to hold the sun... making the day longer... who would even think of making such a request?) is found in the place of prayer. Joshua had to fight physical battles with armies, but today, the bible tells us that:
... Our fight 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.
This kind of war is waged on our knees.
‘’…as we stomp around a seventh time I anticipate a taste of what He says is mine. Cry; cry until you see it fall… until you look beyond the wall and you see it all...’’ Lecrae- Bring us Home
Onward Christian soldier!!!.
