Walk Each Step With the Spirit
Read Joshua 6-8.
In Joshua 6, God gave Joshua a plan and strategy to take the city of Jericho. How many of us want to take our cities for the Lord. He has a strategy, if we will seek Him.
Basically the strategy that worked with Jericho was this:
- Send spies to see the city
- March around the city for 7 days
- Shout
- Attack
- Consecrate all the treasure to the Lord
After that victory, Joshua gets ready to attack the next city and he uses a similar strategy. After all, the Lord promised them the land. But what Joshua wasn’t aware of is that certain members had sinned by keeping some of the treasure for themselves.
And without seeking the Lord, Joshua planned to use the same strategy that worked on the second city.
- He sent spies
- The city was small so the spies recommended a smaller army be sent
- They went to battle
- They were defeated
So Joshua falls face down before the ark of the Lord. He’s humbled himself before the presence of God and He’s crying out why. He even goes into the complaining that he heard from his people all throughout his life.
And I love how the Lord tells him to “Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face?” Basically the Lord is saying, what are you doing?
The Lord tells him why they failed and gives him a strategy to take the city. So Joshua consecrates the people and the Lord brings the victory by his strategy.
This is a season to walk each step with the Lord.
We can’t rely on what has worked in the past because we will find that it doesn’t work the same.
Some things never change. We must still be a holy people. We must still consecrate ourselves. But the strategies of the Lord for each day and each battle will change.
Read Joshua 9 and see what happened again when Joshua didn’t seek the Lord and once again lived by sight and not by faith.
We desire to learn from those mistakes and lessons of the past. So let’s commit to walk each step with the Lord. Take each day to the Lord. Perhaps most days you will not get clear directions. That’s the Lord’s trust in you to make your own decisions.
Other days the Lord will give you a specific strategy or ask you to do a specific task. That’s where obedience to the Lord needs to take over. When we don’t understand, we walk by faith.
Why march around the city for 7 days? Because we’re obeying the voice of the Lord.
Why split your army in two? Because we’re obeying the voice of the Lord.
Why change what’s working? Simply because the Lord has given us a new strategy.
The winds of change are blowing. Do you hear the sound of it? Then set sail according to the blowing of the Spirit.
Blessings,
Pastor Arlen
