God Will Roll Away Your Reproach

Then the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” Therefore the name of the place is called Gilgal to this day.

Joshua 5:9 (NKJV)

 The Lord will roll away your reproach.

A reproach is a condition of shame and disgrace. It can be in several forms; sexual (2 Samuel 13:13; Isaiah 47:3; Ezekiel 16:57; Proverbs 6:33); barrenness of womb (Genesis 30:23, Isaiah 4:1, Luke 1:25); widowhood (Isaiah 54:4); hunger (Ezekiel 36:30); disease (Job 19:5), ritual/uncircumcision (Genesis 34:14, Joshua 5:9); or injuries from enemies (Lamentations 3:30; Lamentations 5:1; Nehemiah 1:3; Job 16:10; Daniel 11:18).

When the Children of Israel were about to enter the Promised Land, God told Joshua to circumcise all the males who were born in the wilderness. All the people who came out of Egypt had been circumcised, but the people born in the wilderness, on the way as they came out of Egypt, had not been circumcised.

When they had finished circumcising all the people, The Lord told Joshua that from “This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” Before God took away their reproach, the Children of Israel had wondered in the wilderness for 40 years until all the people who were men of war, who came out of Egypt died, because they did not obey the voice of the Lord.

Before Jesus Christ began His public ministry, He too was tempted by the devil in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights (Matthew 4:1-11). The servant is not greater than his master therefore as followers of Jesus Christ, we too must go through our wilderness experience.

The wilderness is a terrible place where there are “fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water” (Deuteronomy 8:15). The wilderness is a painful experience to go through however it is necessary because it is the place where the Lord humbles us and allows us to suffer hunger to make us to know that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of The Lord (Deuteronomy 8:3).

However just like God removed the reproach from the Children of Israel and allowed them to enter the Promised Land after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness; and just like Jesus returned from the wilderness in the power of the Spirit and began His public ministry after fasting for 40 days and 40 nights, God will also remove our reproach after we have gone through our wilderness experience. We also will enter our Promised Land, which is the New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven (Revelation 21:2).

When going through the wilderness experience and it seems like God has abandoned you, please remember that you are never alone because God said He will never leave you nor forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:6). Secondly please remember to keep your heart right with God because the circumcision that God is looking for is a circumcision of the heart (Romans 2:29). True circumcision is when our heart is right with God which is produced by God’s Spirit living in our hearts.

Today, if you are facing any situation of shame and disgrace, do not despair. You may be presently going through your wilderness experience. Remember that the purpose of the wilderness is to humble you. What God is looking for is to develop your character for you to have a right heart towards Him. After you have passed the test God will take away the reproach you inherited when you were out in the world before you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour.

Prayer:

Dear Lord, I thank You for Your Word today. Please help me to be patient in my wilderness and to remember that You allow me to suffer reproach to humble me and for me to develop my dependency on You. Please help me to keep a good attitude towards You and to trust You even when I do not understand. From today, please roll away the reproach from the world from me and release me to fulfil Your destiny for my life, in Jesus name, Amen.

Listen to the Message

You can also listen to this message on YouTube here:

How Do You Become Saved?

If you have not yet accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour please find out how you can do so here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7xkysPdIOs&list=PLCLJI-sErTh2cA2pfU2tc3aSC6Mh0PPG6

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JC6FLoLirc&list=PLCLJI-sErTh2cA2pfU2tc3aSC6Mh0PPG6&index=2

Healing Prayer / You Are The One

If you are in need of healing, please listen to the healing prayer by Nadia Hinds, who I am blessed to have as one of my Spiritual Life Coaching client’s. She has recently launched her own YouTube channel. Please subscribe to her channel as she will be releasing powerful prayers and sermons through this channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGWQHslA_ed3EIW9QEvnXdQ

Do you know God’s purpose for your life? If not, please download your free book: How to Discover Your Life’s Purpose Through Dreams

God bless,

Blessing

What does every new leader need to know?

What does a new leader who has been commissioned by God to become the leader of a new nation need to know after the death of its great leader?

No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. (Joshua 1:5 NKJV)

Joshua was commissioned by God to take over the leadership of Israel after the death of Moses, Israel’s first great leader. To understand the impact that Moses had made, please take a look at how the Bible describes him:

“Israel never had another prophet like Moses: The Lord knew Moses face to face. The Lord sent Moses to do powerful miracles in the land of Egypt. Pharaoh, all his officers, and all the people in Egypt saw those miracles. No other prophet ever did as many powerful and amazing things as Moses did for the Israelites to see. (Deuteronomy 34:10-12 ERV)

The Lord knew that Joshua had every reason to be intimidated by his new position as a leader following the death of Moses, therefore the Lord gave him an assurance which He is still giving leaders today who have assumed new positions of leadership, whether at Church, in business, in your career, or at home etc.

The Lord wants all new leaders to know the following:

1. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life.

The Lord knew that men would try to rise up against Joshua as the new leader, to stop him from doing what God has called him to do, therefore He reassured him that no man will be able to stand against him.

Every new leader also needs to know that, when God calls you, there will be the naysayers also known as ‘Sanballat’ and ‘Tobiah’ (Nehemiah 2:19) – who will try to stop you, however just remember that the same God who has called and commissioned you will not allow any man to stop you from what He has called you to do:

The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? (Psalm 118:6)

2. As God was with Moses, so He will be with you.

As we can see from the above scripture, Moses was so intimate with God that the Lord knew him face to face. The Lord used him to perform many powerful miracles in Egypt, and the Lord used him to deliver the children of Israel from their slavery in Egypt. That same God also reassured Joshua that He will be with him just like He was with Moses. He did not want Joshua to be intimidated or to think that he had to do the same things that Moses did.

That same God is telling you and I that He will also be with us. Whether He has called you to lead in a ministry, at work, in your business, youth group, in your home etc. that same God who was with Moses is telling you that He will be with you.

Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. (Deuteronomy 31:6)

3. God will not leave you.

The Lord told Joshua that He will not leave him and He is assuring you of this same fact that He will not leave you. Even though God may not be physically here on earth for you to see Him, Jesus told us when He rose again that He was going to be with the Father, but He will not leave us comfortless. He said that He will send His Holy Spirit to be with us and to comfort us:

And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. (John 14:16-18)

4. God will not forsake you.

God told Joshua that He will not forsake or fail him. To forsake or to fail is to neglect or let someone down. As human beings we sometimes let each other down when we are not able to do what the other person expect of us, however God told Joshua that unlike human beings who fail and forsake you, He will do what He promised He will do.

Likewise, God is telling each of us that He will not forsake or fail us. What He said He will do, He will do:

“God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19)

So, what does every new leader need to know?

1. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life.
2. As God was with Moses, so He will be with you.
3. God will not leave you.
4. God will not forsake you.

You can also listen to this message on YouTube here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKaoYOpNkuw

Do you know God’s purpose for your life? If not, please download your free book: How to Discover Your Life’s Purpose Through Dreams

God bless,

Blessing