This scripture tells us that depression is actually a symptom of something deeper, which is, anxiety. According to Anxiety UK, at present 40% of disability worldwide is due to depression and anxiety. Anxiety and depression is a problem that affects both believers and non-believers alike however as believers we know we are called to be overcomers. As believers, how can we then overcome anxiety?
Do not worry about the future
Jesus repeatedly warns us in the Scriptures that we must not worry about the future. When we are anxious, it’s often because we are worried about the future because we cannot see the end. However our Lord tells us to:
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7 (NKJV)
Take one day at a time
When you take one day at a time, you feel liberated because you do not feel the need to know everything about the future. When you trust in the Lord to take care of your future it will liberate you from worry:
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:34 (NIV)
Seek first the Kingdom of God
Jesus said that if we seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, all the things we desire shall be given unto us:
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Matthew 6:33 (KJV)
Prayer
Dear Lord, please help me to seek first your Kingdom and righteousness so that all the things I want shall be added unto me in Jesus name.
So she seduced him with her pretty speech and enticed him with her flattery. He followed her at once, like an ox going to the slaughter. He was like a stag caught in a trap, awaiting the arrow that would pierce its heart. He was like a bird flying into a snare, little knowing it would cost him his life.
Proverbs 7: 21-23 (NLT)
Happy New Year!
A new year provides an opportunity for us to start afresh and, it’s a time when we take stock of the lessons we learned from last year and think about what we would like to achieve in the year ahead.
Just as God has good plans for our lives, we can be certain that the enemy of our souls also has bad plans for us. These plans will come in the form of temptations and sinful traps, which can be deadly, as we can see in the scripture above. Since we are not ignorant of Satan’ devises, how can we avoid the sin that would try to seduce us this year?
Listen to the Words of God
Firstly, we must be good listeners of God’s Word, and not listeners only, but doers of His Word. When we do this, we will avoid falling into the traps of sin:
So listen to me, my sons,and pay attention to my words.
Proverbs 7:24 (NLT)
Don’t let your heart follow in sin
Sin begins in the heart as a thought before it is actually committed therefore, we are encouraged not to let our heart stray towards sin.
Remember Jesus said that if a man looks at a woman in the wrong way, he has already sinned in his heart. Therefore, we must guard our heart from anything that will lead us towards the path of sin. The way we do that is to capture the thought as soon as it comes and make it bow down to the obedience of Christ:
Don’t let your hearts stray away toward her.
Don’t wander down her wayward path.
Proverbs 7:25 (NLT)
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)
Simply say no to sin
When we feel so tempted to sin, we must simply say no, and declare we are in the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus and thereby take authority over the sin, so that it does not control us. God told Cain that sin was eager to control him, but he must overcome it and be its master, and you and I can do the same thing:
You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”
Genesis 4:7 (NLT)
Prayer:
Dear Lord, please help me to listen to Your Words and live a life of righteousness in 2018 in Jesus΄ name.
And they did not drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites to this day and have become forced laborers.
Joshua 16:10
You will recall from our previous studies that “Canaanite” means, “lowlands people”. Since the word “land” is related to the concept of “earth” or “ground”, the “lowlands” refer to low earthly passions, or what the Bible calls carnality. Canaanite spirits are the spirits behind addictions and sexual perversions.
The Children of Ephraim could not drive out the Canaanites, and they are still living with them up to this day. This teaches us that as Christians, if steps are not taken, we too will continue to live a carnal life. Why must we therefore take steps to overcome the flesh?
Following the desires of the flesh can lead to eternal separation from God
The Bible tells us that some of the works of the flesh are: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. It goes on to tell us that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21). To not inherit the Kingdom of God is then to be eternally separated from God which is spiritual death.
It prevents us from inheriting the promises of God
When we live according to the desires of the flesh we will not be able to inherit all the promises of God for our lives because the promises of God are obtained by faith. Faith is a fruit of the Spirit therefore to exercise our faith we must live in the Spirit and not in the flesh:
So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe.
Romans 4:16 (NLT)
It is enmity with God
We are told that the flesh is in enmity or conflict against the Spirit and the choice is up to us as to whether we give in to the flesh and fulfil its sinful desires or whether we walk in the Spirit and please God. We cannot do both:
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
Galatians 5:16-17
Prayer
Dear Lord, please help me to walk in the Spirit so that I will not fulfil the desires of the flesh in Jesus name, amen.
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For the past six weeks we have been looking at the meaning behind the names of the seven nations that the Children of Israel were commanded to destroy before they could enter into the Promised Land:
And Joshua said, “By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites:
Joshua 3:10 (NKJV)
These seven nations though they were physical nations now represents seven types of evil spirits that we as believers in Jesus Christ must totally destroy and overcome before we can enter into our spiritual inheritance. In order for us to enter into our spiritual inheritance we must overcome fear, pride, carnality, small thinking, living for earthly pleasures, and rejection.
Today, in our final overcoming series we are going to look at how to overcome the spirits that entice us to focus on the things that can be seen and ignoring the things that cannot be seen.
“Girgashite” means, “clay dweller”, which refers to “dwelling on earthliness”. This type of spirit promotes a focus on earthly, temporal things, and produces a dislike for things that are “spiritual” and eternal. Girgashites or people infected with this type of spirit tend to focus on things that are visible. Whereas the Bible tells us to focus on things that are not seen:
While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:18
How do you overcome focusing on things that are natural and not spiritual?
Be born again
When Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews came by night to speak with Jesus, Jesus told him that unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. Nicodemus being puzzled, asked Jesus how a grown up man can be born again. Jesus replied and said that you must be born of water and the Spirit (John 3:1-5). In other words, you must accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour. When you believe in Jesus you are sealed with His Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13). To be born of water is to go through water baptism which Jesus instructed His disciples to do (Matthew 28:19). When you are born again then, your spiritual senses come alive and you are able to discern things in the spiritual realm which cannot be seen with the naked human eye;
Ask The Lord to open your spiritual eyes so that you can see
We must pray like the Psalmist prayed and ask The Lord to open our spiritual eyes so that we can see wonderful things from His law (Psalm 119:18). You see, as you have natural eyes so you have spiritual eyes so if you are spiritually blind you need to cry out and ask The Lord to open your eyes so that you can see the things that He wants to show you;
Ask The Lord to open your spiritual ears so you may hear
Jesus in His letters to the Seven Churches in Revelation ended his letters by saying “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” In other words, we all have spiritual ears that must come alive if we are to hear things from the Spirit of God. Again if you find that you are spiritually deaf and cannot hear the voice of God, cry out and ask The Lord to awaken your ears so that you can hear as the learned (Isaiah 50:4);
Ask The Lord to give you His Spirit of wisdom and revelation
We must pray like Paul did that God will give us His Spirit of wisdom and revelation, Who will let us know truths about God and help us understand them, so that we will know Him better. It is the same Spirit who will open our minds to see His truth so that we will know the hope that He has chosen us to have (Ephesians 1:17-19);
Fasting
Fasting is a discipline that sharpens our spiritual senses so that we can tap into the divine power of God. Jesus expected His disciples to fast and He said that “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). When we abstain from food and feed on nothing but the Word of God, the Word nourishes, fuels and strengthens our spirits. In so doing we tend to focus less on the natural things that are visible and look at the eternal things that are invisible.
Prayer
Dear Lord, please help me to focus on the things that are eternal that cannot be seen and let me take my eyes off the things that are natural and temporary in Jesus name, amen.
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How to Discover Your Life’s Purpose Through Dreams
All the kings on the west side of the Jordan heard about this, including those in the highlands, the lowlands, and along the entire coast of the Mediterranean Sea toward Lebanon. They were Hittites and Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. They formed an alliance to fight Joshua and Israel.
Joshua 9:1-2 (CEB)
Jebus means “trodden” or a “threshing place” and “bus” means “to trample, loath, tread down, tread under, thread under foot, be polluted”. From these two definitions we can infer that the Jebusite spirit is one that puts people down and makes them feel small and rejected.
In life many things may happen that could make us to feel small and rejected however rejection is not from God. Feelings of rejection can make you to isolate yourself from the very people that God wants to bless through you, therefore rejection is a killer of destiny and we must overcome it in order to achieve the purposes that God has for our lives.
How do you overcome rejection?
Believe that God loves you
The Bible tells us that God so loves the world that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). Even if you feel that nobody loves you, remember that God loves you so much that He sacrificed His only Son for you, and that is what matters;
Believe that God will never leave you or forsake you
Even when your father and mother forsake you, the Bible tells us that God will take care of you (Psalm 27:10). Therefore even if you were abandoned by your father or mother at birth and you grew up an orphan, remember The Lord said that He will be a Father to the fatherless (Psalm 68:5). God is like the Father in the parable of the prodigal son, He is eagerly waiting and ready to embrace you in His arms if only you will come back to Him and ask Him to be your Father;
Forgive those who have hurt you
People may do things or say things which hurt you that could eventually lead to feelings of rejection. However it is important to choose to forgive the people who have hurt you and release them from your heart and mind and ask the Lord to bless them (Luke 6:28). Though this is extremely hard to do, when you do it you will find that the feelings of rejection and hurt will lose their hold and you will finally have peace in your heart;
Remember that nothing shall separate you from the love of Christ
Paul asks “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” In fact, in everything we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us. Paul says He is convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39);
Seek Deliverance
Feelings of rejection can become so entrenched in a person that it can become a stronghold which nothing can shift but the deliverance power of God. If you find that rejection has become a part of you and others reject you wherever you go, the Bible says that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered (Joel 2:32). Therefore call on Jesus and ask Him to remove the spirit of rejection from you. Even if it doesn’t go at first keep calling on the Lord and He will deliver you (Psalm 18:2). Once deliverance takes place you will find it much easier to love people and to be loved by others.
Prayer
Dear Lord, I believe that You will never leave me or forsake me therefore please help me to overcome every form of rejection in my life, in Jesus name.
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How to Discover Your Life’s Purpose Through Dreams
All the kings on the west side of the Jordan heard about this, including those in the highlands, the lowlands, and along the entire coast of the Mediterranean Sea toward Lebanon. They were Hittites and Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. They formed an alliance to fight Joshua and Israel.
Joshua 9:1-2 (CEB)
For the past few weeks, we have been looking at how to overcome fear and pride. Today we will look at carnality or the works of the flesh and how we can overcome them.
Canaanite – spirits of carnality
“Canaanite” means, “lowlands people”. Since the word “land” is related to the concept of “earth” or “ground”, the “lowlands” refer to low earthly passions, or what the Bible calls carnality. Canaanite spirits are the spirits behind addictions and sexual perversions.
The Bible tells us that when we follow the desires of our sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. It goes on to tell us that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21).
How then do we overcome carnality?
The Bible tells us that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to destroy strongholds. Below is a list of some of those weapons we can use to overcome carnality:
Present your body to God daily as a living sacrifice
We are exhorted by Paul to present ourselves to The Lord as a living sacrifice; holy, acceptable to God (Romans 12:1-2). This means that we must daily surrender our lives to Jesus and deny ourselves to our own desires and take up our cross and follow Jesus (Matthew 16:24);
Be transformed by the renewing of your mind
The Word of God has the power to transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. This will happen when you read and meditate on the Word of God so that you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect (Romans 12:2);
Walk in the Spirit so you will not fulfil the lust of the flesh
Ephesians 5:18 tells us to stop getting drunk with wine, which leads to wild living, but keep on being filled with the Spirit. It is important that once we come to Jesus Christ that we let the Holy Spirit guide our lives so that we won’t be doing what our sinful nature craves (Galatians 5:16);
Let the Blood of Jesus cleanse your conscience from dead works
The Blood of Jesus has the power to cleanse us from all unrighteousness therefore we can pray and ask The Lord to cleanse our conscience from dead works of the flesh so that we can serve the living God (Hebrews 9:11-15);
Be crucified with Christ
The Bible says that we must die to self. To die to self is to put to death our sinful nature and desires and deny ourselves of what we want so that we can live by faith through Jesus Christ:
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20
Avoid sexual immorality
1 Corinthians 6:18 tells us to flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit who lives in us and we are not our own therefore we must keep our bodies pure and holy (1 Corinthians 6:19);
Pray and ask God to help you
The works of the flesh are many and we cannot avoid or overcome them without the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit therefore we must simply pray to God and ask Him to lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil (Matthew 6:13).
Prayer
Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
For more information about the Canaanite spirit and how to overcome them, please visit here.
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All the kings on the west side of the Jordan heard about this, including those in the highlands, the lowlands, and along the entire coast of the Mediterranean Sea toward Lebanon. They were Hittites and Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. They formed an alliance to fight Joshua and Israel.
Joshua 9:1-2 (CEB)
Last week, we saw that the first type of emotion that will confront you when God tells you to do something is fear. Once you get over the fear that was holding you back and you begin to succeed in that assignment, the next evil spirit that you will have to confront and defeat is pride.
Amorites – spirits of pride
Amorite means, “mountain dwellers; renowned, publicity, prominence”. Since mountains refer to tall and impressive land masses that dominate over valleys, we can infer that the Amorite spirit is a spirit of self-exaltation. The word for Amorite in Hebrew comes from another Hebrew word, amar, which means, “to utter, say”; this implies that people with Amorite spirits are people who want to be prominent and want their name uttered or mentioned.
Amorites are fame-seekers, seekers of human glory and greatness. Just as mountains tend to dominate over the landscape they are in, Amorites are people who like to dominate and rule over others. They tend to establish an imposing and seemingly immovable presence[1].
Anytime The Lord begins to bless you and gives you success in your area of assignment, you must watch out for pride because it will try to creep in. We need to know how to overcome pride because God is opposed to the proud but He gives grace to the lowly (James 4:6).
How do you overcome pride?
The Bible tells us that the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. Below is a list of some of those weapons we can use to overcome pride:
Do not entertain proud thoughts
Before the fall of Lucifer who became Satan, he said within his heart that he will ascend to the heavens; raise his throne above the stars of God (wanted prominence); and “I will make myself like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:13-14). Therefore he had sinned in his heart even before he carried out his rebellion against God.
Pride begins in the heart therefore we must capture every proud thought that raises itself against what the Word of God says and make it give up and obey Christ (2 Corinthians 10:4-6).
When the thought of pride comes, you must recognise that it is not of God therefore do not entertain it by dwelling on it, but stop it, tell it that it must go in Jesus name and instead focus your mind on thinking thoughts that are true, noble, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8);
Ask God to give you a humble spirit
We must come daily to The Lord in prayer and ask Him to remove the heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26); a heart that is gentle and humble, a heart like Jesus (Matthew 11:29);
Ask The Lord to continuously search you and show you your heart
It’s easy to assume that we are walking in humility however like David we too should ask The Lord daily to search us and know our hearts, try us and know our thoughts and see if there is any wickedness of pride in our hearts and lead us to the right path (Psalm 139:23-24);
Give God all the glory and recognise that you can do nothing without His grace;
We must recognise that it is by the grace of God upon our lives that we are what we are (1 Corinthians 15:10). This should keep us humble knowing that we can do nothing without God and all that we have (being alive, our health, family, gifts, talents, jobs, ministry, business etc.) is by the grace of God that is with us. If we are mindful of this then even when we receive praise from men we would not let it get to our head but would instead give God all the praise and glory for what He has done (Psalm 105:1);
Spend time with wise people
Proverbs 27:17 tells us that iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. To remain humble, it is important to spend time with wise friends and people we can give an account to, who will in a lovely way correct us when we are wrong.
Prayer
Dear Lord, I know You are against the proud, but You are kind to the humble. I recognise that sometimes my heart is proud therefore please give me a new heart and put a new spirit in me; remove from me the heart of pride and give me a gentle and humble heart in Jesus name.
For more suggestions on how to remain humble please see the article by John Piper
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How to Discover Your Life’s Purpose Through Dreams
All the kings on the west side of the Jordan heard about this, including those in the highlands, the lowlands, and along the entire coast of the Mediterranean Sea toward Lebanon. They were Hittites and Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. They formed an alliance to fight Joshua and Israel.
Joshua 9:1-2 (CEB)
When the kings on the west side of Jordan heard about Israel’s successful defeat of Jericho and Ai, they formed an alliance to fight Joshua and Israel.
The Lord knew that this would happen which is why before they entered into the Promised Land, He instructed the Children of Israel to destroy the seven nations that were before them:
“When the Lord your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you
Deuteronomy 7:1 (NKJV)
There is something in this that applies to all followers of Jesus Christ. When you surrender your life to Jesus Christ, there are evil spiritual forces that will try to fight against you, and you too must be able to overcome them before you can enter into your spiritual inheritance.
For the next few weeks, we will be looking at each one of these seven spiritual forces to see how we can overcome them.
The Hittites – spirit of fear
The first group of people who Joshua and the Children of Israel encountered and had to defeat as they entered into the Promised Land were the Hittites. The Hittites were descendants of Heth, whose name means “terror” or “fear”.
Whenever God calls you to do something, the first type of emotion that will try to creep in is fear; and fear can manifest itself in many different forms. It could be the fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of being ridiculed, fear of people, fear of public speaking, fear of the dark, fear of death etc.
God knew that fear will try to grip you and that if you allow it, it will stop you from entering into your spiritual inheritance which is why God encouraged us many times in the Bible to “fear not”:
Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
Isaiah 41:10 (NKJV)
Why should you overcome fear?
Overcoming fear is essential because Jesus tells us that the fearful shall not inherit the Kingdom of God (Revelation 21:8).
How do you overcome fear?
In order to be able to overcome fear, you have to realise that fear is a spirit, this is why the Bible says God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). The Bible also tells us that the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. Below is a list of some of those weapons we can use to overcome fear:
Call on the name of Jesus
The Bible says that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved or delivered (Joel 2:32, Romans 10:13). We know that Jesus is the name of the Lord because we are told that there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved but the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth (Acts 4:10-12). Therefore if you are afraid please call on Jesus to deliver you from the spirit of fear;
Stand on the truth of God’s Word
You can stand on the truth of God’s word and command the spirit of fear to leave you in Jesus name because the Bible says that God has not given you the spirit of fear. Then ask the Lord to give you His Spirit of power, of love and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7);
By the blood of Jesus
Revelation 12:11 assures us that as believers we can overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb and we know the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all unrighteousness, therefore ask the Lord to cleanse you from the spirit of fear with the blood of Jesus Christ;
By the anointing of the Holy Spirit
The spirit of fear will not go away by your own power or by your might but by the Spirit of The Lord (Zechariah 4:6). Therefore ask The Lord to fill you with His Holy Spirit and remove the burden and break the yoke of fear from your life by the anointing of the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 10:27);
Be filled with the love of God
John tells us that there is no fear in love; but perfect love drives out fear: because fear has torment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love (1 John 4:18). Pray and ask The Lord to make you perfect in His love and that the love of Christ should dwell in your heart;
Fasting
Jesus said that certain kinds of spirits can only come out through prayer and fasting (Mark 9:29, Matthew 17:21). In situations where fear has become entrenched and a stronghold in your life, sometimes commanding it to go alone will not do, you will need to fast as well. The kind of fasting that God wants is one that lets the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people such as fear (Isaiah 58:6);
Obedience to God
When King Saul disobeyed God and His Holy Spirit departed from him, an evil spirit entered into him to torment him (1 Samuel 16:14). It is very important as Children of God that we follow and obey Him at all times because obedience is better than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22). However if we do fall, we should quickly confess our sins, because God is faithful to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
Prayer:
Dear Father, Your Word says that perfect love drives out fear. Please drive away the spirit of fear from me and fill me with the love of Christ in Jesus name, amen.
Then you shall rise from the ambush and seize the city, for the Lord your God will deliver it into your hand.
Joshua 8:7 (ERV)
It was only after Joshua, the leader, dealt with sin in the camp, that God told him not to be afraid, but to take all of the people of war with him and go up to Ai because He had already given into his hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land.
In today’s Scripture, Joshua was giving the men of war the battle strategy that God had given him. The strategy was quite simple; some men were to hide behind the city, then Joshua and his men will approach the city and then Joshua and his men would run away as they were being chased by the men of Ai. Once they had come away from the city, the men who were hiding behind were to rise from the ambush and capture the city. Joshua assured them they will have the victory because the Lord has already delivered the city into their hand.
This story teaches us several important lessons about how sin affects our lives:
Sin separates us from God and gives the enemy the upper hand over believers
Isaiah declares that it is our sins that have separated us from God and our sins has hidden God’s face from us so that He will not hear (Isaiah 59:1-2).
Sin also gives the enemy, who is Satan, an upper hand over believers. We can see through the story of Joshua, the High Priest, that Satan was able to stand at his right hand to resists him because he was clothed with filthy garment which represents sin (Zechariah 3:1-5).
Sin also causes sickness and brings grief into the life of the believer. When Jesus was on earth, often times before healing people He would first forgive their sins, and after healing them, He would tell them to go and sin no more, so that a worse thing will not come on them (Matthew 9:2-5, Mark 2:5, Luke 5:20-24, John 5:14, John 8:11).
Once sin is removed from our lives, God will give us the victory
There is only one consequence of sin, which is death:
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 6:23
Under Joshua’s leadership, Achan and his whole family had to pay for the consequence of their sin, which was death. Joshua could not bear their sins for them.
Thank God for Jesus that He came to earth to deal with the problem of sin. He came as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world (John 1:29).
Under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the sinner can come to Jesus, repent of our sins and have all of our sins washed in His own blood so that we can be made righteous before God. Jesus came to destroy the works of the enemy so that Satan can no longer have the upper hand over us:
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:57
Prayer
Dear Father, I come to You now in the name of Jesus and by the Blood of Jesus. Please help me to overcome every secret sin in my life through the power of Your Holy Spirit so that I can have the victory through Jesus Christ my Lord.
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The men from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh obeyed Moses. These men crossed the river in front of the other people. These men were prepared for war. They were going to help the rest of the Israelites take the land God had promised to give them. About 40,000 soldiers, prepared for war, passed before the Lord. They were marching toward the plains of Jericho.
Joshua 4:12-13
In this story we are told that the children of Israel were about to cross the river Jordan to go into Jericho, to take the first city that God had promised them.
Even though the men from the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh had already secured their land on the other side of the river, they did not just sit and wait for their brothers to capture their promised land alone. Instead these men were prepared for war.
As Christians, we also have a promised land ahead of us that we have to reach. Our promised land is not made by human hands, for its architect and builder is God Himself (Hebrews 11:10); it is the New Jerusalem which is coming from heaven down to earth:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had disappeared. Now there was no sea. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It was prepared like a bride dressed for her husband.
I heard a loud voice from the throne. It said, “Now God’s home is with people. He will live with them. They will be his people. God Himself will be with them and will be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, sadness, crying, or pain. All the old ways are gone.”
Revelation 21:1-4
This New Jerusalem, just like the promised land of old, is not easy to attain, we also must be prepared for war in order to reach it. Just like the children of Israel had to destroy the inhabitants of the land before they could possess their land, we too have spiritual giants that we must destroy in order to possess our promised land.
However unlike the Children of Israel who fought a physical fight using natural weapons with their enemies, the Bible tells us that our fight is not against human beings but spiritual forces:
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual host of wickedness in the heavenly places
Ephesians 6:12
What Does It Mean To Be Prepared?
To be prepared is to be ready “standing by,” ready to meet the opportunity (challenge) at hand; ready because the necessary preparations are done (or are sure to happen as needed).
What Is The War About?
War is a conflict between opposing forces.
You will see from the scripture we are about to read that the war is between God and Satan, and the war started in heaven however it has moved down to earth and we human beings are caught in it, whether we like it or not:
And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought,
but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.
So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.
And theyovercame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
Revelation 12:7-12
So, the forces involved in this war are:
Two Kingdoms – the Kingdom of God with Jesus Christ as its King and the kingdom of darkness with the great dragon, that old serpent called the Devil and Satan as its king.
Two opposing Angels – Michael, the Archangel and his angels and Satan and his angels.
The battlefield – the war started in heaven however the battlefield is now the earth and people in the earth.
Battle strategy – Satan is out to deceive as many human beings as he can so that he can drag them down to hell. He continually accuses the children of God day and night. Satan’s strategy is to steal, kill and destroy but Jesus has come that we may have life in its fullness:
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly
John 10:10
God in His love has provided salvation, strength, Kingdom of God and the power of His Christ to all humanity who choose to believe in Jesus Christ His Son:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3:16
How Do We Overcome Satan?
We overcome him by:
The Blood of The Lamb – we apply the blood of Jesus Christ when we accept that we are sinners and ask Him to forgive us and wash us clean with His blood. When we accept Him He becomes our sacrificial lamb (Hebrews 10:10).
The Word of our testimony – we testify when we confess with our mouth and believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead (Romans 10:9).
We do not love our lives to the death – this means that we will be willing to lay down our lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are also encouraged to die daily to our flesh or natural desires (1 Corinthians 15:31).
For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
Matthew 16:25
Next week we’ll be looking at how you can prepare for war.
Prayer:
Dear Lord please help me to be prepared for war as the men from the tribe of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh. Please help me to always be ready to fight the good fight of faith and lay hold on eternal life, in Jesus name.
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