A Leader Cannot Do Everything

Now Joshua was old, advanced in years. And the Lord said to him: “You are old, advanced in years, and there remains very much land yet to be possessed.

Joshua 13:1

Joshua had fought many battles and captured much of the land that God had promised the Children of Israel, however he was not able to do everything. Even when he was old and advanced in years, there was still much land for him to possess. This teaches us a number of important lessons about leadership:

1. A leader cannot do everything

When God gives you a vision, it may be for you to begin and for generations to come to continue. For example when God called Abraham and promised to give him the Promised Land, he began the journey however it was his children 430 years later who finally captured the land. Your job as a leader is to begin whatever assignment that God has given you and then to put systems in place to ensure that it can carry on in your absence.

2. An effective leader will appoint other leaders to carry on their legacy

Because Jesus Christ knew that His time on earth was short, as soon as He began His public ministry He appointed 12 disciples who would carry on His legacy in His absence. Moses knew that he was not going to enter into the Promised Land therefore He asked God to choose a successor. As a leader you must ask God for wisdom about who to appoint to carry on the assignment that God has given you in your absence.

3. An effective leader must learn to delegate

Leadership can be draining both emotionally and physically which is why it’s so important that as a leader you know how to delegate to other people and not to micro-manage everything because you will wear yourself out. That is why the advice of Jethro, Moses’ father in-law is still so relevant today:

So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people: rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. So they judged the people at all times; the hard cases they brought to Moses, but they judged every small case themselves.

Exodus 18:24-26

Prayer

Dear Father, I recognise that I cannot do everything therefore please help me to learn how to delegate and appoint other people to help me with the work You have called me to do in Jesus name.

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How to Generate Multiple Streams of Income Workshop – Friday, September 2, 2016

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Goal Setting Workshop – Friday, November 4, 2016

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How to Discover Your Life’s Purpose Through Dreams

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God bless,

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After war, there is rest

So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord had said to Moses; and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. Then the land rested from war

Joshua 11:23

We have seen from the past few months that Joshua and the Children of Israel did not enter into the Promised Land by sitting around and folding their arms. They had to fight in order to dispossess the land of the former inhabitants whom God had said they should drive out. However after he took the whole land and gave it as an inheritance to Israel, the land rested from war. This teaches us a number of important lessons about our own Christian journey:

1. We will have to fight in order to possess our possessions

The story of Joshua shows us that we must fight in order to possess all the possessions that God has already given us through His Word. We have to fight for our family, health, finances, ministry, businesses, career etc. We are freely given the gift of salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, however in order for us to be able to enjoy all that Jesus Christ died to give us, including eternal life, we have to fight the good fight of faith:

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

1 Timothy 6:12

2. After the war, however there is rest

Joshua and the Children of Israel did not fight forever. Once they took the whole land, the land rested from war. You see, when you obey God, there is a place in Him where you no longer have to fight because when your enemies come against you, God will make them to scatter in seven different ways:

The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.

Deuteronomy 28:7

3. We should strive to enter into the rest of The Lord

The land rested from war because Joshua obeyed God. Let us therefore strive to walk in obedience to the Word of God so that we too can enter into the rest of The Lord:

Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

Hebrews 4:11 (NIV)

Prayer

Dear Father, I know Your Word says there is a time for war and a time for peace. Please give me strength to fight in the time of war so that I can enter into Your rest in Jesus name.

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God bless,

Blessing

How do you overcome focusing on things that are natural and not spiritual?

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? 

1. 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;

2. 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;

3. 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);

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);

5. 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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For more information about the Girgashite spirit and how to overcome them please visit here.

How do you overcome pride?

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:

1. 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);

2. 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);

3. 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);

4. 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);

5. 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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[1] For more information about the Hittite spirit and how to overcome them, please visit http://shamah-elim.info/amorite.htm

Do you ask The Lord for advice?

The men of Israel wanted to know if these men were telling the truth. So they tasted the bread—but they did not ask the Lord what they should do.

Joshua 9:14

After the defeat of Ai, the surrounding cities became understandably very fearful. One such group were people from the city of Gibeon. When they heard about the way Joshua had defeated Jericho and Ai they decided to try to trick the Israelites. This was their plan: They gathered together old wineskins that were cracked and broken. They put these old wineskins on the backs of their animals. They put old pieces of cloth on their animals to look as if they had travelled from far away. The men put old sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. They found some old bread that was dry and mouldy. Then they went to the camp of the Israelites.

The men went to Joshua and told him that they had travelled from a faraway country and they wanted to make a peace agreement with them. The men of Israel were hesitant and said they could not make a peace agreement with them until they knew where they came from.

When Joshua asked where they came from, the men answered that they came from a faraway country and they came because they heard of the great power of the Lord their God.

They said that their journey was so long that the bread which was fresh when they left had now become dry and old and their wineskins which were new and filled with wine were now cracked and old. They showed them their clothes and sandals. They showed that the long journey had almost destroyed the things they were wearing.

The men of Israel wanted to know if these men were telling the truth. So they tasted the bread—but they did not ask the Lord what they should do. Joshua agreed to make peace with them. He agreed to let them live and the leaders of Israel agreed with this promise of Joshua.

Three days later however, the Israelites learned that these men lived very near their camp. So the Israelites went to the place where they lived. On the third day the Israelites came to the cities of Gibeon, but the army of Israel did not try to fight against those cities. They had made a peace agreement with them. They had made a promise to them before the Lord, the God of Israel.

You see these men were the Hivites, and before the Israelites entered the Promised Land, God had warned them not to make an agreement with any of the nations that He will drive out before them, but they were to destroy them completely and not to show them mercy—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites (Deuteronomy 7:1-2).

This agreement that Joshua made solely based on the way things looked teaches us another important lesson about leadership; leaders must ask God for advice.

Isaiah prophesied concerning the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ, that He will not judge with what His eyes can see or with what His ears have heard (Isaiah 11:3). As His followers and leaders in whatever assignment God has given us, The Lord expects us to ask for His advice and direction. He promises in His Word to direct the steps of a good man (Psalm 37:23).

Next week, we will look at leaders who asked the Lord for advice and how we too can seek God’s advice.

Prayer

Dear Father, Like Jesus, please help me not to judge people by the way things look or with what my ears have heard, but help me to always seek Your advice before I take any decision in my family, ministry, business, career, finances and every area of my life in Jesus name, amen.

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God wants our firstfruits offering

Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Don’t be afraid; don’t give up. Lead all your fighting men to Ai. I will help you defeat the king of Ai. I am giving you his people, his city, and his land. You will do to Ai and its king the same thing you did to Jericho and its king. Only this time you can take all the wealth and animals and keep it for yourselves. You will share the wealth with your people. Now, tell some of your soldiers to hide behind the city.”

Joshua 8:1-2 (ERV)

Last week, we learnt that when Achan brought the accursed things from Jericho, it brought a curse into the camp therefore the Children of Israel could not stand up against their enemies because God did not go out to battle with them.

In today’s Scripture, God was instructing Joshua on how to defeat Ai however, His commands this time was different. God told Joshua that this time when they defeat Ai, he was to share the wealth with the people. You will recall that for Jericho God wanted them to give Him everything which is why He instructed them not to keep anything for themselves.

You see, Jericho was the first city that they conquered and God had already instructed the Children of Israel that the first of everything, including their children belongs to Him (Exodus 13:12 / Leviticus 23:9-14). The Bible tells us that we should honour God with the firstfruits, or the best, of all our increase:

Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase; so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.

(Proverbs 3:9-10).

God Himself gave us His very best in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, who became our firstfruits offering when He died and was the first to be raised from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:23).

This story from Joshua shows that God wants us to give Him the very best of everything.

How can we honour God with our firstfruits offering?

We can give God the very best in the following areas:

1. Grateful heart

We can honour God by having a grateful heart and giving Him thanks for all that He has done for us:

Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:20)

2. Time

Time is a precious commodity that we cannot get back once it is lost. We can give God the best part of our time by spending time in His presence. Jesus says He is standing at the door of our heart and is knocking. If we will hear His voice and open the door, He will come in and dine with us (Revelation 3:20). We are also told that those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength (Isaiah 40:31).

3. Prayer

Prayer is basically talking to God and Him talking back to you. It is so powerful that it is described as an incense that goes up to the Throne room of God in Heaven (Psalm 141:2 / Revelation 8:4). We are told to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

Throughout history, men and woman who have been used by God powerfully all understood the power of prayer. Martin Luther, the German theologian whose writings inspired the Protestant Reformation, is quoted as saying:

“I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” – Martin Luther

4. Possessions

We can honour God by giving Him the best of our substance, whatever that may be, whether it is money, cars, houses, clothes, grain harvest etc. What matters is that we give it willingly with a grateful heart:

So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver

(2 Corinthians 9:7)

One way we can give to God is to give to the poor because we are told that when we give to the poor we are lending to God (Proverbs 19:17).

5. Talent

In the parable of the talent, we learn that the servant who was given five talents and doubled it was given the talent of the servant who was only given the one talent who because of fear buried his talent (Matthew 25:14-30). This story shows that it honours God when we use and develop all the talents and gifts that He has given us.

 

Prayer

Dear Father, today I surrender my life to You. I choose to honour You with the best of everything I have. I thank You for the talents and gifts and potential that You have placed inside of me. Dear Lord, please give me wisdom to discover and to use them for Your glory in Jesus name, amen.

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Your views

I would love to hear from you on which other ways we can give God our best. Please share your thoughts.

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Who Cannot Enter The Promised Land?

In the previous blog, we saw that only those whose names have been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life shall enter the promised land which is the New Jerusalem. Today we are going to look at those who the Bible says cannot enter into the promised land:

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death

Revelation 21:8 (KJV)

And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Revelation 21:27

So, who cannot enter into the New Jerusalem?

1. The fearful

This refers to Christians who do not have faith in following Jesus. They are timid and fainthearted (cowardly) and fall short in following Christ as Lord. Being a follower of Christ requires courage and anyone who is cowardly will easily give up in the face of persecution however we know that:

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

2 Timothy 1:7

2. Unbelieving

These are those without faith and trust in God. The unbelieving refers to those who refuse to believe in the resurrection of Jesus, (John 20:27); or those who refuse belief in the gospel, (2 Corinthians 4:4; 2 Corinthians 6:14), or Christians themselves who depart from the true faith, (2 Timothy 2:18), or those without trust in God:

Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.”

Matthew 17:17

3. Abominable

Abomination or abominable is something that is detestable, unlawful or repulsive to God. There are many things that are abominable to God:

These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren

Proverbs 6:16-19

From this list, we can see that the things God detests are very close to us. How many times have we had a proud look or sowed discord and disunity among our brethren?

Click here for a full list of what the Bible says about abomination.

4. Murderers

A Murderer is not just one who kill someone physically. The Bible says that if you hate your brother you are also a murderer:

Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him

1 John 3:15

5. Whoremongers

A whoremonger is a male prostitute or a fornicator, i.e. anyone engaging in sexual immorality. The Bible tells us to flee from sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 6:18):

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (NKJV)

6. Sorcerers

Sorcery is the use of drugs, magic, spells and witchcraft:

There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you.

Deuteronomy 18:10-12 (NKJV)

7. Idolaters

An idolater is a worshipper of false gods. It can be even a Christian who participates in the worship of another god (1 Corinthians 5:11; 1 Corinthians 6:9, 1 Corinthians 10:7). We know that anything we place before God is an idol. A covetous man who is greedy of gain is also an idolater:

For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God:

Ephesians 5:5

8. All liars

Anyone who believes and says things that are false, deceitful, untrue, wicked are all classified as liars. We also saw earlier that lying is an abomination to God:

You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man

Psalm 5:6

9. He that Defileth

Sin is spiritual filth and committing sin is smearing a person’s garments with spiritual filth. When Joshua the High Priest stood before the Angel, Satan stood at his right hand to oppose him because Joshua was clothed with filthy garments which represents iniquity (Zechariah 3:3). God had to command His Angels to take the filthy garments from him and God removed his iniquity and clothed him with rich robes (Zechariah 3:4). As Christians we are told to keep ourselves pure from the defilement of sin:

You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.

Revelation 3:4

So, who cannot enter into the New Jerusalem?

1. The fearful
2. Unbelieving
3. Abominable
4. Murderers
5. Whoremongers
6. Sorcerers
7. Idolaters
8. All liars
9. He that Defileth

Prayer:

Dear Lord, please help me not to do the things that will prevent me from inheriting the Kingdom of God. Please give me courage and faith to serve You. Help me to stay away from things that You detest, and not to hate my brother which is murder in Your eyes. Please help me to avoid sexual immorality and all forms of sorcery. Help me to not place anything before You and to avoid the temptation to lie. Please help me not to defile my conscience or garments with sin but to live in love and purity. All this I ask in Jesus name, amen.

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Who Can Enter The Promised Land?

In the past few weeks we have been studying the book of Joshua and learning about how God used him to lead the children of Israel into their promised land.

We have learned that as followers of Jesus Christ, our promised land is not on this earth, but it is the New Jerusalem which is coming down out of heaven from God.

Today’s scripture tells us those who will enter into the New Jerusalem:

Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Revelation 21:2, 27 (NKJV)

What is the Book of Life?

In the New Testament the Book of Life refers to God’s list of those destined for eternal life. Believers are written in the Book of Life from eternity:

The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is

Revelation 17:8

Who can enter the New Jerusalem?

Only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life can enter the New Jerusalem. The Bible tells us that on the Day of Judgment everyone will stand before God, both great and small and the books will be opened. And another book will be opened, which is the Book of Life. Everyone who is not found written in the Book of Life will be cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:12, 15).

How can we be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life?

We can only be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life when we have washed our robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb:

Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?”

And I said to him, “Sir, you know.” So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb

Revelation 7:13-14

Why must we wear robes?

A robe is a long-fitting gown that is worn as a mark of dignity. A robe is worn by kings (Jonah 3:6), priests, and persons of rank: Mark 12:38; Mark 16:5; Luke 15:22; Luke 20:46; Revelation 6:11; Revelation 7:9, 13, 14. As believers in Jesus the Bible tells us that we are kings and priests before God:

And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen

Revelation 1:5-6

How do we wash our robes in the Blood of The Lamb?

Firstly in order to wash our robes in the Blood of the Lamb, we must believe that while we were yet sinners Jesus Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Before we accepted Jesus, our own righteous acts were like filthy rags before God (Isaiah 64:6). Once we accept Jesus we exchange these filthy rags for the robe of righteousness as we develop a right relationship with God and we become the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour it is His Blood that cleanses us from all sin:

But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin

1 John 1:7

Secondly we must repent from our sins knowing that the Kingdom of God is at hand:

Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.

Matthew 3:2 (NLT)

Why white robes?

White represents purity. When we accept the death of Jesus on the Cross and repent of our sins and follow His way, it makes our garments white because our conscience is clear and our soul becomes pure:

“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool”

Isaiah 1:18

To enter the Promised Land, we must do the following:

1. We must exchange our filthy rags for the robe of righteousness. In other words, we must have a right relationship with God which is through Jesus Christ;
2. We must wash our robes in the Blood of Jesus by believing that Jesus came to die in our place and that Blood cleanses us from all our sin;
3. We must make Jesus the Lord in our lives. Believe alone is not enough, because even the demons believe and tremble (James 2:19), we must completely surrender our lives to Jesus Christ and make Him Lord over our lives (Acts 16:31);
4. We must repent from our sins and turn to God because the Kingdom of God is near (Mark 1:15)

Prayer:

Dear Father, I come to You now in Jesus name. I want to make the New Jerusalem my eternal home. I repent of all of my sins and I know that You are faithful and just to forgive me of all my sins and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Please help me to daily wash my robes and make them white in the Blood of The Lamb. Please write my name in the Book of Life and if there is anything in my life that will prevent me from inheriting eternal life please remove it with the Blood of Jesus, in Jesus name, amen.

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What Are The Hallmarks of A Great Leader?

Joshua, son of Nun, and all the people were camped at Acacia. Joshua sent out two spies. No one knew that Joshua sent out these men. Joshua said to them, “Go and look at the land, especially the city of Jericho.”

So the men went to the city of Jericho and stayed at the house of a prostitute named Rahab.

(Joshua 2:1 ERV)

When Joshua was leading the Children of Israel into the promised land, the first city they had to conquer was Jericho. Joshua, the new leader decided to send out two spies to go and assess the land, to see how best they could capture the city.

Joshua did not broadcast the news to the people that he was sending out the spies. No one knew that he had sent out these men. From this story we can learn several hallmarks about a great leader:

1. A Great Leader Knows When to Speak

There is a time and a season for everything, including a time to speak and a time to be silent (Ecclesiastes 3:7). When an injustice is taking place a great leader knows that they must speak to defend the poor and the needy:

Speak up for people who cannot speak for themselves. Help people who are in trouble. Stand up for what you know is right, and judge all people fairly. Protect the rights of the poor and those who need help.

(Proverbs 31:8-9 ERV)

2. A Great Leader Knows When Not to Speak

A great leader knows that there is a time to be silent. This is especially true when your enemies are mocking you, you don’t always have to defend yourself; a great leader will leave it to God to defend them.

When the Assyrians invaded Judah and Senneacherib king of Assyria sent his commander to go and talk to the three officials from Jerusalem, the commander was mocking the God of Israel and told the people of Judah not to believe Hezekiah when he said that God would deliver them.

But King Hezekiah instructed his officials and the people to be silent and not to say anything, instead they took their troubles to the Lord:

But the people were silent. They did not say a word to the commander, because King Hezekiah had commanded them, “Don’t say anything to him.”

Isaiah 36:21 (ERV)

3. A Great Leader Knows That You Have to Study

A great leader knows that even though God may give you an assignment, you don’t just jump into it straightaway. Like Joshua and Moses before him, you have to spy out the land, or in our modern day parlance, carry out a thorough research. Research will ensure that you know what you are going into so that you can be better prepared to carry out whatever assignment is ahead of you. God tells us to study to increase our skill:

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth

(2 Timothy 2:15 KJV)

So What Are the Hallmarks of a Great Leader?

1. A great leader knows when to speak.
2. A great leader knows when not to speak.
3. A great leader knows that you have to study.

There are other hallmarks of a great leader so watch out for Part 2 as we continue our study in the Book of Joshua.

Prayer:

Dear Lord, please help me to be a great leader. Help me to know when to speak and when to be silent. Please help me to know when to study and when to act in Jesus name, amen.

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Why should we meditate on the Word of God?

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success (Joshua 1:8)

Just like Joshua, God has a promise land that He has placed before all of us to possess, however before we can go in and possess the land and have good success, there are certain principles that God wants us to follow:

What does God want us to do?

1. Keep the Word of the Lord in your mouth

This means that we must speak the Word of God whether circumstances are favourable or not. For example when we are weak the Lord wants us to declare that we are strong (Joel 3:10). This doesn’t deny the fact that we are feeling weak, but we are declaring the outcome that The Lord will make us strong. Speaking the Word of God is important because that is how our faith will increase:

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17)

2. Meditate on the Word of God day and night

According to Strong’s Concordance, to meditate is to “moan, growl, utter, speak and muse”. In other words when you meditate you ponder on and then declare the Word of God. You don’t just do it in the morning but also in the night. When you do this the Bible tells us that you are blessed:

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night (Psalms 1:1-2)

3. Observe and do according to what is written in the Word

To observe means you pay a close attention to what the Word is saying and then you do it:

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves (James 1:22)

Why should we meditate on The Word of God?

1. You shall make your way prosperous

To be prosperous in all your ways refers to well-being, having favour with God and man and being wealthy. It means that when you ponder on and declare the Word of God you will flourish in your spirit, soul, body as well as in your finances, and God take pleasure in making His servants prosperous:

Let them shout for joy and be glad, who favor my righteous cause; and let them say continually, “Let the Lord be magnified, Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant” (Psalm 35:27)

2. You shall have good success

Success is achieving all of what God has ordained for you with excellence. Successful people have wisdom and understanding, and are skilful in what they do. Success comes when we obey the commandments of God:

My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man (Proverbs 3:1-4 ESV)

So in summary, we meditate on the Word of God so that we can be prosperous and have good success. You can also listen to this message on YouTube here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlaxqzd6yq8

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

God bless,

Blessing