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682 | The Walls Fall · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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  Hello, friends, and welcome back to the Woman at the Well Ministries podcast.
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  With Kimberly Miller, where we believe that every man, woman,
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  boy, and girl must come to Jesus just like the woman at the well in John chapter 4.
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  Our highest priority is helping you experience the reality of God in your everyday life.
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  Whether you're listening in our app, on your favorite podcast platform,
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  are on our website at watwm.org.
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  We invite you to sit down with us as we open the scriptures to learn more about
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  who God is and to strengthen your daily walk.
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  The story of the walls of Jericho falling down, recorded in Joshua 6,
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  1 through 27, is one that vividly demonstrates the miraculous power of God.
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  The children of Israel had faith, they obeyed, and the walls of Jericho fell
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  by faith after they were circled for seven straight days.
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  Join us in this podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries as Kim takes us on a
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  journey through the scriptures, revealing the amazing lessons of God's grace
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  and our salvation that we learn from the utter destruction of Jericho.
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  Hello, and thank you for joining us in this podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries.
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  It's a familiar account in scripture we find in Joshua chapter 6.
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  Most of us who went to vacation Bible schools or Sunday schools,
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  we know the song about Jericho fit the battle.
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  And we know that the walls come
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  tumbling down. We know that with a trumpet sound and a shout, they fail.
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  And all of those are true.
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  But I'm telling you, it is deeper and richer than all of that.
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  It is a place where we see with no questions that victory comes through trusting and obeying God's word.
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  It gives us a full-on account and picture of the power of trusting in God's word.
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  They show us the results of our absolute blessings when God gives a command and we obey.
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  See, faith obeys even when God's plan is hard to understand.
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  Or looks a little weird. God brings the victory the way he wants to bring the victory.
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  And most of the time, the way God brings the victory...
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  Makes it abundantly clear that it was he who brought the victory and not anything
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  to do with mankind or human strength. Let's pray.
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  Our kind and most gracious, dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we ask that your presence
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  would feel this message.
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  We pray, Lord, that you would remove any distractions, that you would open our
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  hearts and our minds to hear exactly what you have to say.
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  In this wonderful account of your power and glory and the benefits that come
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  to each of us when we trust you fully, as you record in Joshua chapter six.
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  Lord, I pray that you would remove me from the message. I pray,
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  Lord, that my lips would say exactly what you give me, nothing more and nothing less.
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  And I pray, Lord, that when we conclude this message, that all of us have committed
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  in our hearts to more faithfully obey your commands and your word.
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  And in Jesus' name we pray, amen.
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  When we get to Joshua 6, here's where we are.
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  The people of Israel had just crossed over the Jordan River into the land of Canaan.
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  And this was the land of the milk and honey that God had promised to Abraham
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  over 500 years earlier. And we read that in Deuteronomy 6.3.
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  And after spending 40 difficult, tumultuous, pretty much awful years wandering
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  in the desert, the people of Israel are now on the banks of the Jordan.
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  And here they are. They have this challenge. The challenge to take the land
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  of Canaan, the promised land.
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  However there was an obstacle between that promised land they were going to take.
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  And where they were. And it's the city of Jericho.
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  This city was seemingly unconquerable. It was a walled city,
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  and it was virtually impenetrable.
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  It was a fortified city that was impossible to conquer by any human means.
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  The gates were shut because Israel was on the outside no one was coming in and no one was going out,
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  but I want you to hear me in Joshua 6 1 and 2 what God says he says now Jericho
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  was straightly shut up because of the children of Israel none went out and none came in listen to verse 2,
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  And the Lord said unto Joshua, See,
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  I have given unto thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valor.
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  They have not even really got themselves set to overtake this city of Jericho,
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  this city that is basically inconquerable.
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  And God has laid out before Joshua, I have given you the city,
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  the king, and everybody in there before anything has taken place.
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  This battle was going to be won, not by Israel and their strength,
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  but by faith in God's promise and obedience to his instruction.
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  This gives us a really kind of quick glimpse in our mind back to another very
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  familiar passage of Scripture where David defeats the giant not by his own strength,
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  but by the power and might of the Lord.
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  And in 1 Samuel chapter 17 and verse 47, David says to us, the battle's not
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  mine, it belongs to the Lord.
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  Well, here we are in Joshua chapter 6 and in verse 2, we read that God had spoken
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  to Joshua and said, the city is yours.
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  Now, there's something very interesting about how God speaks to Joshua.
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  As you continue through this, as we're going to in our reading,
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  I want you to see what God is telling Joshua. He starts out with, I've given you the city.
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  And then he goes, And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war,
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  and go round about the city once.
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  Thus shalt thou do six days.
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  And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of ram's horns
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  and the seventh day you shall compass the city seven times and the priest shall
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  blow with the trumpets and it shall come to pass that when they make a long
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  blast with the ram's horn and when you hear the sound of the trumpet
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  and all the people shall shout with a great shout and the wall of the city shall fall flat
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  and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.
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  All right. Joshua has now heard two pretty, incredibly interesting things.
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  He's just been told by God that I've given you the city. The battle's won.
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  I've already won it. It's yours.
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  And then he gives him the plan of how this city is going to end up in Joshua's hands.
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  Now, Joshua was a mighty warrior.
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  And there are two very distinct things about how God tells Joshua how Jericho is going to fall.
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  The first is that the entire strategy was laid out by God himself.
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  It wasn't a military strategy.
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  It wasn't something that a bunch of guys got in a room and worked together and
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  tried to figure out how to do it.
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  No, God laid out the plan perfectly.
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  And then the second unique thing about it was it seemed to be a foolish plan.
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  God simply told Joshua to have the people to march silently around Jericho for six days.
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  And then after the seventh day, they would do it seven times on the seventh
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  day. And then they would shout.
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  And that was going to give them the victory. That's the information that Joshua is given.
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  So let's put ourselves in Joshua's place right now.
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  He's leading these people into the land of promise.
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  He's following some pretty heavy footsteps he's following moses,
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  and god has told him here's your strategy here's your city,
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  and when he looks at the city he it seems impenetrable and he hasn't got it
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  yet so that must be are you sure kind of moment,
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  and then he looks at what god tells him to do and that had to be you gotta be kidding me.
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  Now this is important that we grasp how joshua responds and what joshua is responding to
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  because in your life and in my life every single day we face things that seem
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  difficult that are difficult,
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  and sometimes we have situations and issues that arise in our lives and in the
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  lives of our family and those that we love,
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  that seem impossible to overcome.
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  Maybe it's an illness.
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  Maybe it's a financial crisis. Maybe it's a child who has just gotten themselves
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  into an incredible mess.
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  Maybe it's you that's gotten yourself into a mess.
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  Maybe you're addicted to drugs or alcohol or illicit things.
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  Perhaps it's the impending crisis.
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  Loss of a job where a company is going under or downsizing.
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  But whatever it is, you're standing on the edge and it seems like there's no
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  way to get through it or to win it and that this victory is surely going to take you down.
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  But if you watch what Joshua does, it's going to give you a whole new perspective,
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  and it's going to help us to understand what we have in every battle.
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  Is God's word, God's promise, his word to never leave us or forsake us,
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  his promise to supply everything we need.
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  That doesn't change because of circumstances.
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  God's word is forever truth.
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  But sometimes what's required of us is to really test our faith.
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  I'm not saying that he's testing our faith as much as I'm saying what's required tests our faith.
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  You gotta believe.
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  But I want you to walk through this account in Joshua 6 with me.
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  And I want you to watch what's happening. When Joshua is at the foot of the
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  battle, he's told already that he's won.
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  Friends, I've read the back of the book. We've won.
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  I know he won't leave me. I know that he has gone to prepare a place for me
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  that where he is, I may be also.
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  I know that he said, let not your heart be troubled. if you believe in me,
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  believe also in God. And in my father's house are many mansions.
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  And I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am you may be also.
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  I know that he was the fourth man in the fire for the three Hebrew children.
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  I know he shut the lion's mouth for Daniel.
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  I understand that he fed the 5,000 with a few fish and a little bit of bread.
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  I know that he safely harbored Noah in the ark.
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  I'm aware that he fed the widow woman forever during a drought with just a little
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  bit of oil and a little bit of flour.
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  I know that the widow's mite was counted as much more than all the other offerings.
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  I remember that he waited at the well for the woman to come so that he could
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  give her something that would cause her to never thirst again.
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  He waited for her though it put him in danger he waited for her though she was
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  not living as he would command he waited for her because he loved her,
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  i remember her that he healed the woman with the issue of blood she just was
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  in his proximity and touched the hem of his garment.
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  I know he said he loved me. And I know that he said when he went away,
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  he would send the comforter to live in me, to comfort me and to direct me and
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  to lead me and to guide me.
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  This is what I need you to remember as you look at Joshua 6.
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  As we look at Joshua 6, 1 through 2, and we read that God gives victory before
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  the battle even begins, I want you to really realize, though,
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  that the obstacle is real.
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  It wasn't a figment of anyone's imagination that those walls were fortified and inconquerable.
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  But I want you to know that Joshua, when he hears these words from God,
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  realizes that God's promise is greater than the problem.
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  And that's what I want you to hold on to today.
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  God's promise to take care of you. God's legacy of never failing,
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  His faithful grace and mercy and love
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  that He always bestows upon us, His unending love, His unconditional love,
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  His presence with you whenever you will receive Him as He's knocking on your heart's door.
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  These are the promises that will never fail.
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  And His power is greater than any storm or issue that you are facing.
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  But you must focus on God's word. See, faith believes God is greater than the obstacles.
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  You have to filter circumstances that you are going through,
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  through God's promises, rather than filter God's promises through your circumstances. Get that.
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  Your circumstances do not affect God. God is God in your circumstances.
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  So you filter your circumstances through God's promises rather than filter God's
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  promises through your circumstances.
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  When God has spoken, the apparent impossibility does not cancel God's divine certainty.
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  God will produce always what God says.
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  Because God is truth and he cannot lie.
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  And his promise is that he will never leave you or forsake you.
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  He's not just in your company.
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  He's there fighting your battles. He's there leading you and guiding you.
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  He's there comforting you and teaching you.
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  He's there loving you.
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  He's more than just a presence.
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  He's a provider. He is a protector.
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  His prominence in your life will lead you to the abundant life that he promised us in John 10.10.
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  But I want you to see what Joshua does. God requires obedience to his plan,
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  even if it doesn't make sense.
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  You don't get to change it or modify it or make it into something that makes more sense.
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  That will destroy God's plan. God loves you.
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  And he invites you to come to him in prayer and to lay out your requests with
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  thanksgiving and the peace of God will fill your hearts.
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  But he's not depending on you to tell him what to do. And he's no puppet on a string.
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  He's a God that wants you to ask him because you show your faith in him.
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  He's a God that wants you to depend on him because he loves you and wants what's
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  best for you and knows what's best for you.
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  And he wants you to submit and yield to him so that you can live the life he has planned for you.
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  So God gives Joshua very specific instructions in Joshua 6 verses 3 through 5.
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  Here's what he says. He says, march around the city once each day for six days.
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  Have seven priests carry seven trumpets of ram's horn before the ark.
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  March around the city seven times on the seventh day.
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  Have the priests blow the trumpets, shout when Joshua gives the command.
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  That's basically what he says.
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  This plan, when Joshua heard it from God, had to seem a little strange.
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  And maybe where you are right now at the bottom of your mountain,
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  at the edge of the city that is fortified, that you need to conquer to get to
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  the blessing God has for you, maybe what God is asking you to do is difficult.
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  It may be as simple as he says, be still and wait, like he did in Psalm 46.10.
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  But it no doubt is a little bit disconcerting to Joshua.
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  And as he hears the plan unfold, as God gives it to him, this is going to require quite a bit of patience.
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  See, faithfulness is really only demonstrated when it involves continuing when
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  nothing seems to be changing.
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  Holding the course, staying steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.
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  Because you know who he is, you believe in who he is, and you understand his character.
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  So when we're in that situation where battle is about to begin,
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  we have to practice patience for a couple reasons.
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  One, if not, we'll get ahead of God and then we've ruined the plan and we will surely suffer for it.
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  But two, patience builds character.
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  And as we wait on the Lord, we are continually demonstrating this is in your hands, God.
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  You're the only one that can do this. So I'm going to wait patiently while you tell me what to do.
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  And to wait patiently, we must have trust.
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  See, God's plans, they don't need to make any sense or have to be approved by
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  us to be what needs to be done. God said it. That's it.
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  There used to be a saying when I was growing up that was so erroneous.
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  It would say, God said it, I believe it. So that's what it is.
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  God said it, that's what it is. I don't have anything in it.
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  But if I want God's blessings in my life, if I want the victory God has set
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  up for me, if I want to live in the abundance that God has for me,
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  I need to walk all the way through the journey in the center of his will.
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  And I need to be patient when things look like they're not going my way or nothing's changing.
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  And I need to be patient, and I need to trust in who God is.
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  See, the victory in our lives always comes from obedience.
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  And as we watch this account in Joshua 6 unfold, we see it probably more vividly
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  in this particular account in the Bible than in any I've spoken of in the last little bit.
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  Victory comes through obedience, not through us trying to improve or modify.
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  God's will for our lives.
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  God may lead his people, us, you, me, whatever, in ways that absolutely make
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  no sense, but his word is always right.
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  He is forever faithful, and he is trustworthy.
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  So this is the time at the edge of the battle, right when it's getting ready
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  to begin, at the foot of the mountain, at the edge of the city.
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  This is when we have to trust and wait on God, because you have to follow God's
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  command in the way he gives it.
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  Now, think about it. Six days, you'll walk around one time, and later on,
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  you're going to see God tells him to do it in silence.
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  But for six days, well, day three, nothing looked any different than day one.
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  If they were anything like me, I'd have been starting to look for cracks in the wall.
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  By day five, I would have thought there would have been big hump chunks falling out.
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  And from day one through day six, not a thing changed.
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  Nothing, including the trust and faith that the Israelites had.
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  They kept doing what God said. In Joshua 6, when you start around verse 6 through
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  14, you begin to see Joshua obey God's command. And we're going to read that
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  in your hearing because it's important.
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  And Joshua the son of Nun called the priest and said unto them
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  here he is, he's giving the information to the people as God gave it to them
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  and these people are going to have to hear what God's man has said and they're
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  going to have to believe this,
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  and it came to pass when Joshua had spoken unto the people that the seven priests
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  bearing the seven trumpets of ram's horn passed on before the Lord and blew
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  the trumpets and the ark of the covenant of the Lord followed them.
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  And the armed men went before the priest that blew with the trumpets and the
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  reward came after the ark, the priest going on and blowing with the trumpets.
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  And Joshua had commanded the people saying, listen, you shall not shout nor
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  make any noise with your voice.
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  Neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth until the day I bid you shout.
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  Then shall you shout. so the ark of the lord compassed the city going about it once,
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  and they came into the camp and lodged in the camp and joshua rose early in the morning
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  and the priests took up the ark of the lord and seven priests bearing seven
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  trumpets of rams horns before the ark of the lord went on continually and blew
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  with the trumpets and the armed men went before them
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  but the re-reward came after the ark of the lord the priests going on and blowing
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  with the trumpets and the second day they compassed the city
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  once and returned into the camp.
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  So did they six days. They're the same thing.
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  Holiness and spiritual leadership, they begin with hearing God and faithfully declaring his word.
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  Faithfully declaring it with their lives. See, Hebrews 12, 14 says,
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  follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.
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  1 Peter 2, 9 says, but ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood,
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  a holy nation, a peculiar people,
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  that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of the
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  darkness into his marvelous light. You're different.
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  So when you sit at the foot of the mountain, or you're set at the edge of the
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  city, you should not feel overwhelmed.
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  You should not feel as if you are all alone.
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  You definitely shouldn't feel defeated because the power of God is in you.
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  And according to Ephesians 3.20, he'll do exceeding abundantly above all that
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  we ask according to the power that works in us.
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  So when you're sitting at the edge of battle, you got a front row seat to see God do his thing.
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  Just like he took the giant down for David. The giant fell forward when he hit the rock.
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  That was not the force of the rock.
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  The force of the rock would have put him backwards, But he fell forward.
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  It was God that took down the giant in his life.
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  And it's God who will take down the giant in your life and mine.
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  And it's the God that we see in Joshua 6 that is getting ready to destroy the walls of Jericho.
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  Because of the faith of the people, he had already given them the victory.
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  See, in this entire process between God speaking to Joshua and Joshua speaking
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  to his people and the walls coming down,
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  God remained central.
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  See, that ark represented the presence and covenant of God, and it was the central part.
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  See, Israel's confidence wasn't in their marching formation or in the trumpets
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  they were going to blow, but it was in the Lord who went before them. Remember?
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  The Ark of the Covenant went before them. There were some armed guards.
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  There was the Ark of the Covenant.
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  See, the people, they marched in this unity. They did exactly what Joshua told
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  them, and Joshua told them exactly what God had told them, and God prevails and delivers.
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  The priests carried the trumpets. The armed men went before the ark.
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  The rearward followed. And the people obeyed together.
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  The people obeyed together.
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  Hey, we're all part of the family of God. We're all supposed to be going to the same place.
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  And if we have received Jesus as our Savior and we're following him, we are.
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  There needs to be unity among his people.
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  In a nation so divided, the children of God could show an example.
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  We could be at least united with each other.
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  The churches on every corner could work together for the community they are
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  serving, for the God they love.
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  See, God's word is advanced when his people are united, and they're submitting
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  to his word, doing what he says them to do.
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  But as you read further into this, we see that, and we saw it here in this verse
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  6 through 14, these verses in Joshua 6, that part of the process was they were
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  required to remain silent.
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  Just think about that discipline.
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  See, silence demonstrated the discipline to heed to what God said.
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  Israel was commanded to not shout prematurely. It was all going to happen on that seventh day.
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  And if they'd have done anything beforehand, then they would have shown some disbelief.
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  See, Israel had to control its voice until God said to speak.
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  There was a time to be silent and a time to shout. God has given us what we need.
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  In fact, we're told that he's given us everything we need pertaining to godliness and holiness.
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  In this demonstrated power of God as the walls are ready to come down what we
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  see is we need to follow God's word immediately and we need to be still,
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  and know that he is God see Israel did not argue with the command their silence
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  showed that they were waiting on God they were waiting on God,
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  they weren't going to get ahead of God they weren't going to let God lead for
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  a little bit and then and say, I'm tired of this. I'm moving on.
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  I got the idea. Let's do it. You don't have the idea.
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  The only idea that you should have and the only idea that you should foster
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  and the only idea that you should grow is that you follow the Lord God Almighty. That's it.
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  Take up your cross daily, deny yourself and what follow,
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  they were waiting on god to do what god said when god,
• 29:49
  appointed it to be done here we are the bottom of our mountain the middle of
• 29:55
  our storm the edge of our city,
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  and days have passed.
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  And your knees are hurting you've prayed so hard your eyes are swollen you've
• 30:06
  cried you've begged the lord,
• 30:10
  and by the way earnest prayer is effective we don't have to beg god we just
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  have to request with an earnest heart,
• 30:20
  and we've asked the lord to intervene in the situation And just like for these
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  Israelites going around the city of Jericho,
• 30:30
  one day has passed, two days has passed, three days has passed,
• 30:32
  two months has passed, nothing's changed.
• 30:36
  See, Isaiah 40, 31 says, But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their
• 30:40
  strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be
• 30:44
  weary, and they shall walk and not faint.
• 30:47
  On day six, these Israelites were as committed as they were on day one.
• 30:54
  See, getting ahead of God would have expressed unbelief. What are we doing in
• 30:58
  our life that shows unbelief?
• 31:02
  See, obedience includes not only doing what God says, but doing it when God says it.
• 31:07
  That's what it means see partial obedience is full disobedience you don't get
• 31:14
  to pick and choose what parts of god's word you're going to follow,
• 31:20
  maybe they were okay with marching around the city but they didn't really care for being quiet,
• 31:26
  or maybe they were lazier and they were okay for being quiet and they weren't
• 31:29
  okay for marching around the
• 31:31
  city it didn't matter god said what to do and they were going to do it.
• 31:36
  And any one of them messing that silence thing up was going to cause a problem.
• 31:41
  People are affected by your disobedience, whether you see it or not.
• 31:47
  And it goes more than just your
• 31:49
  immediate family. People are watching you that you have no idea about.
• 31:54
  And you may be the only Bible they ever read. So live it as it's written.
• 32:01
  Don't add to it and don't take away.
• 32:05
  Going to see that when you live that way, God honors that kind of obedience.
• 32:12
  They didn't stop short of God's instruction.
• 32:16
  Their shout came after their obedience because it was before the walls came down. Get the timing.
• 32:26
  They obeyed. They walked their six times around. They went there seven times.
• 32:30
  They blew their horns on the seventh day, and they shouted at Joshua's command.
• 32:38
  And then the walls fell.
• 32:42
  Are you praising God in the middle of your situation?
• 32:47
  Is God who you serve, or your results are what dictate whether you're serving him or not?
• 32:57
  You're going to choose which thing gives you what you want. What you want may not be what you need.
• 33:04
  Life has been filled with many desires that I wanted.
• 33:10
  None more than being a professional tennis player.
• 33:14
  Had God granted that sincere prayer, I know that I know I would have never walked
• 33:22
  with him as I walk with him today.
• 33:24
  Sin is not what tennis would have brought.
• 33:29
  The lifestyle would have chosen things that were not conducive to me spending
• 33:36
  my time in prayer and spending my time reading his word,
• 33:40
  i would have been preoccupied with something that really was my little god.
• 33:47
  But hear me tennis isn't sinful it's what we do with it that can't be and for
• 33:53
  me that would not have worked.
• 33:56
  So that was something I wanted that God didn't give me.
• 34:01
  But I could have figured out how to try to do it. But God was clear.
• 34:07
  And for me, it took an injury.
• 34:11
  I pray that as you are sitting at the edge of the battle, you hear his word
• 34:15
  more clearly and heed it more faithfully so the injury doesn't have to come.
• 34:22
  These people were on the edge of their of their mountain they were at the edge of the city,
• 34:29
  they shouted the walls were still standing when they shouted something happened
• 34:35
  after their shout but their shout,
• 34:38
  was an expression of their confidence in god their faith in what he would do
• 34:42
  their faith in what he said to do and the fact that he had already promised, the victory.
• 34:50
  So that entire strategy had to seem pointless and foolish.
• 34:55
  Joshua followed God's instructions to the letter.
• 34:59
  What's God telling you to do right now?
• 35:04
  What's he asking you to step out on faith to do? That makes zero sense.
• 35:10
  Where is he telling you to go? What is he telling you to do?
• 35:15
  What do you feel like you're enduring?
• 35:18
  Remember the story in Joshua 6.
• 35:24
  It was pointless and foolish what he was told to do, I'm sure,
• 35:28
  the way Joshua perceived it.
• 35:30
  But it didn't change the fact that he followed it to the letter.
• 35:33
  The walls fell by god's power in joshua 6 20 here's what we read,
• 35:40
  so the people shouted when the priest blew with the trumpets and it came to
• 35:45
  pass when the people heard the sound of the trumpet and the people shouted with
• 35:49
  a great shout that the wall fell down flat,
• 35:54
  so that the people went up into the city,
• 35:57
  every man straight before him and they took the city,
• 36:01
  the walls fell when the people of god by faith followed the commands of god,
• 36:06
  the walls of jericho fell down the impenetrable city the unconquerable land.
• 36:15
  Do nothing to refute the power of god the victory was supernatural israel's
• 36:22
  responsibility was simply to be obedient to obey,
• 36:26
  and god kept his responsibility which was the outcome you got to do what god
• 36:33
  commands and leave the results to his hands you're not god.
• 36:38
  You do what he says you preach the word you spread the light you be his hands
• 36:44
  and feet and if nobody around you seems to be changing that's his,
• 36:50
  responsibility and plan yours is to do what he says,
• 36:54
  but as we read a little bit further in joshua chapter 6 we come to something
• 37:01
  that this is what separates the children of god from the imposters.
• 37:08
  We read in joshua 6 verses 17 through 19 that god demands,
• 37:15
  separation from sin in 17 he says and the city shall be accursed even it and
• 37:22
  all that are therein to the lord only rahab the harlot shall live,
• 37:28
  she and all that are with her in her house because she hid the messengers that we sent,
• 37:35
  and ye and any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing lest ye make yourselves
• 37:40
  accursed when you take of the accursed thing and make the camp of israel curse and trouble it,
• 37:48
  but all the silver and gold and vessels of brass and iron are consecrated unto
• 37:52
  the lord they shall come into the treasury of the lord don't touch,
• 37:57
  the unclean things don't take away from God the things that he has built and claimed as his.
• 38:06
  You stop for a second on that moment.
• 38:09
  Just sit there for a minute.
• 38:12
  Are his you are created in his image what are you doing with what he's given you,
• 38:19
  as we continue to look at this a little bit further let's step back again,
• 38:24
  to his demand that his people separate from sin
• 38:30
  titus 2 3 13 through 14 says looking for that blessed hope and the glorious
• 38:35
  appearing of the great god and our savior jesus christ who gave himself for
• 38:40
  us that he might redeem us from all iniquity,
• 38:45
  and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works.
• 38:51
  He redeemed us from all iniquity and he purifies us.
• 38:55
  You might want to consider your life and make sure you've submitted to him,
• 39:00
  which is the requirement for salvation.
• 39:03
  And if so, he will purify and he will cleanse. See, Jericho was a city that
• 39:10
  was marked for destruction.
• 39:12
  The city and its contents and everything in it were under God's judgment.
• 39:16
  And Israel was warned not to take anything that had been devoted to the Lord.
• 39:22
  And if they did, that disobedience would have touched everyone, not just themselves.
• 39:27
  The victory they had did not give them the permission to disregard God's holiness.
• 39:34
  In fact in my opinion the more god gives the more we should give because he
• 39:38
  says to whom much is given of much is required,
• 39:42
  god's people were to remain separate from the corruption of jericho in leviticus
• 39:48
  20 verse 7 we read sanctify yourselves therefore and be holy for i am holy i am the lord your god,
• 39:56
  be holy for i am holy,
• 39:59
  i am the lord your god,
• 40:01
  that's a command Thank you.
• 40:03
  A command that is just as viable as the one he gave to Joshua that said march
• 40:09
  six times around the city once and on the seventh day seven times and blow the horn and shout.
• 40:17
  You don't get a pick and choose. I don't get a pick and choose.
• 40:22
  God demands separation from sin.
• 40:26
  As we read in your We're hearing what
• 40:28
  God claims as his can't be common or stolen to be used as our own use.
• 40:34
  God claims you as a child when you are born again.
• 40:39
  Behold, all things are passed away and all things are become new in 2 Corinthians 5.17.
• 40:44
  What he's given you is his. Your voice, your talent, your intelligence,
• 40:50
  your knowledge, your being, your personality.
• 40:53
  You are born to serve an almighty God who loves you.
• 40:58
  Never cease to amaze me that he lets me be part of his story.
• 41:02
  But he's got a plan for you to prosper you to give you a hope.
• 41:05
  And part of that plan, my friend, is to go into the whole world and preach and teach the gospel,
• 41:11
  not to hide your light under a bushel, but to put it on a candlestick so that
• 41:15
  all the world can see that you would let your light so shine before men that
• 41:19
  they may see your good works and glorify your father, which is in heaven.
• 41:23
  You can't seek God's power while deliberately holding on to what God has forbidden. You hear me?
• 41:31
  You've been born for great things.
• 41:33
  You've been commissioned for great work.
• 41:37
  You've got great things God intends for you to do, but you'll not have any of
• 41:42
  God's power while walking around, enjoying the pleasures of sin for a season.
• 41:50
  You can't hold on to what he forbids and expect to reach your heights.
• 41:54
  It will be a weight that easily besets you. It will hold you down.
• 42:00
  But praise be to God. In 1 John 1, 9, we are told if we confess our sins,
• 42:05
  he is faithful and just to remember our sins against us no more because he's
• 42:10
  faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
• 42:15
  And he doesn't even miss this beat in Joshua 6 to tell us.
• 42:20
  Because remember, in the midst of all of this war and chaos,
• 42:28
  God remembers mercy in the midst of his judgment. Remember Rahab?
• 42:34
  She believed the testimony of God and her faith absolutely positively demonstrated it.
• 42:42
  So when the spies came to check out the city, Rahab hid them.
• 42:47
  And God gave her a promise that if you do this and you take care of my spies,
• 42:52
  when we come and take out Jericho, because that was way back then,
• 42:56
  God had already said he was taking out Jericho. Did you catch that?
• 43:00
  And then he tells us at the beginning of Joshua 6, and then he takes Jericho
• 43:05
  out by Joshua and the Israelites' faith in Joshua 6.
• 43:12
  But way back in Rahab, he said, when we come and destroy the city,
• 43:17
  we'll spare you and your household.
• 43:20
  And so Joshua commands the spies to go get Rahab and her family.
• 43:26
  And he brings them out because faith brings deliverance.
• 43:32
  Rahab believed the word of God. And she put herself in danger and she did the
• 43:38
  commandment of the Lord because she trusted God would take care of her.
• 43:41
  What are you not trusting God with that seems that may cause harm to you or
• 43:46
  it may not give you what you think you need or want? What is it that's holding you back?
• 43:53
  What is it?
• 43:55
  Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.
• 44:00
  Faith will always bring deliverance because he is the great I am.
• 44:06
  He is your exit to your chaos. He's your peace in your storm.
• 44:12
  He's your deliverer, your strongholder, your provider, and your protector.
• 44:17
  Rahab was surrounded by a doomed city, yet she was saved. Her past did not prevent God's mercy.
• 44:24
  Rahab was a harlot, but she became part of the people of God because when he
• 44:30
  forgives, he forgives completely, and all he requires is faith in him and who he is.
• 44:37
  God was with Joshua during this whole thing, and Joshua's success came from
• 44:43
  the presence of the Lord that was with him, not anything else.
• 44:46
  It came from his obedience to the word of God.
• 44:50
  See, true spiritual success and influence comes from the presence of God in your life.
• 44:57
  It's not your human skills and it's not your reputation.
• 45:01
  All that you are and all that you have and all that you will ever do is the
• 45:05
  power of God working through you.
• 45:08
  We have to live a life that opens the gates for him to flow through.
• 45:14
  We got to get rid of the blocks and the walls in our own lives.
• 45:20
  That impede the flow of his power.
• 45:23
  Got to get rid of self-reliance and cling to the one true living God.
• 45:29
  See, Joshua 6 teaches us a whole lot of things, and here are just a few.
• 45:35
  He teaches us that his promises are greater than our obstacles.
• 45:40
  The one that I think always glaringly sticks out in my mind is that my ways
• 45:44
  are vastly different than his ways.
• 45:48
  And I've got to understand that his ways are right. We must never question God's
• 45:53
  purpose or instructions for our life.
• 45:56
  God's methods may be unusual, but his instructions are trustworthy,
• 46:00
  powerful, and victorious.
• 46:03
  Trusting God is the answer to every question and every situation.
• 46:11
  You got to believe that God is who he says he is and that God will do what he says he will do.
• 46:17
  And he says without faith it is impossible to please him.
• 46:20
  And you must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
• 46:25
  And faith obeys patiently and completely.
• 46:30
  And don't forget what he teaches us. Perhaps the hardest for some of us is his
• 46:36
  people, the blessed of God, the used of God.
• 46:41
  They're the ones that remain separate from sin.
• 46:46
  We are committed to be holy for he is holy.
• 46:50
  Friends, what we learn from Joshua and the Israelites and their complete and
• 46:59
  faithful obedience to God's word,
• 47:03
  is that when we are faced with seemingly unsurmountable odds.
• 47:08
  We must learn that our Jericho victories are won only when our faithful obedience to God is complete.
• 47:18
  1 John 2, 3, he says, and hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments.
• 47:24
  In 1 John 5, 3, he says, for this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments
• 47:29
  and his commandments are not grievous.
• 47:34
  Today, where's your life in comparison to what God is asking it to be?
• 47:40
  Are you left of the center of his will? Are you right of the center of his will?
• 47:43
  And that is no political reference.
• 47:46
  Or are you in the center of his will? Are you completely outside of him?
• 47:53
  Not of his love, because nothing will separate you from his love.
• 47:56
  Not of his will for what he wants for you. But where's your life?
• 48:01
  Have you committed everything to him because he said what's his is his?
• 48:07
  What he claims is to be used for him.
• 48:11
  And finally, I ask you this. what wall is standing before you today,
• 48:19
  what seemingly insurmountable conquest is in your path,
• 48:27
  because all things are possible to him that believeth according to mark 9 23,
• 48:32
  and according to luke 1 37 with god all things are possible,
• 48:37
  trust and obey remember you are loved Jesus loves you.
• 48:45
  You for joining us for today's podcast. You can find quotes and scripture references
• 48:50
  from this episode in the show notes.
• 48:53
  We pray today's message has been a blessing. If it has, please consider leaving
• 48:57
  a rating or review on your podcast platform.
• 49:01
  Your feedback helps others discover the truth of God's Word.
• 49:05
  You can connect with Women at the Well Ministries through our app at watwm.org
• 49:11
  and on Facebook and Instagram.
• 49:13
  While you're there, learn more about Bible Bits Kim's daily devotional delivered
• 49:17
  Monday through Friday by text message and the Bible bit podcast.
• 49:22
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