December 28 2018

Shout for the Lord has given you the city!


Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in. The LORD said to Joshua: “See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor. “You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. “And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.“It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him.” Joshua 6:1-5

 So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. Joshua 6:20
The gates of the enemy are severely shut up because of you, even now.  
The enemy knows that you are already victorious; that the Lord has already given you your Jericho.  All you have to do is walk in the obedience he has called you to.  
There won’t be a great battle and fireworks to achieve the defeat.  
Your Jericho, like the Biblical Jericho will require obedience, willingness to look a little silly and absolute faith in the Lord. 
The battle is not yours, it is the Lord’s!  
The Lord is working behind the scenes to win the victory.  
He has asked you to walk around your city, blow your trumpet and shout out your victory!  
What does your Jericho look like?  
What obedience has the Lord called you to?  
Perhaps it is time to sit with Him as the year draws to an end to listen to His heart for you, to get some direction and some clarification, so you can begin to prepare for the victory He has for you in this New Year.  
Your seventh day is coming and when it comes your only direction will be: Shout for the Lord has given you the city!

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December 27 2018

Why Should the Work Cease?


Now it happened when Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall, and that there were no breaks left in it (though at that time I had not hung the doors in the gates), that Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together among the villages in the plain of Ono.” But they thought to do me harm. So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?” But they sent me this message four times, and I answered them in the same manner. Nehemiah 6:1-4

Nehemiah was not deterred by the voices around him because he was focused on the Voice of the Lord that gave Him his original direction. 
We are approaching the end of 2018, but there is still time left.  
What did the Lord give you for 2018?  
Has it been accomplished?  
There is still time.  
Don’t focus on the voices around you that are telling you that the year is over and your chance to accomplish those things you have set out to is past. 
The Lord has given you a direction; stay focused and keep moving. 
Why should the work cease because the voices around you are speaking?  
The Lord has given you your directions………keep building!

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December 26 2018

Memorial Stones

Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho.  And those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal. Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying: “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ “then you shall let your children know, saying, ‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land’; “for the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over, “that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.” Joshua 4:19-24

The children of Israel were crossing over into the Promised Land.  
When they crossed the Jordan (while the waters were held off for them) they took 12 stones up from the bottom of the Jordan and carried them out and across with them.  
Joshua took those 12 stones and set them up in Gilgal as a memorial, a remembrance for the future, of what the Lord has done for them in drying up the waters until they had crossed over.  
It was an important turning point in their history and as such was important to mark for remembrance.  
We all have had turning points in our lives; times when things changed, times when the Hand of the Lord reached out and turned a situation around and in doing so changed the course of our journey. 
It is, therefore, important for us as well, to set up marks of remembrance so we are able to look back remember and acknowledge the Hand of the Lord at that point in our journey.  
How do you make marks of remembrance?  
Is it a note or a picture, a journal entry, a blog posting, an important “something” that you hold on to? Not only will it serve as a reminder for us, but it will also open up opportunities for us to share with others who are curious about our “memorial.”   
As we approach the end of one year and the first days of another, it is a good time to reflect on the year behind and consider some of those moments that we want to mark for the future!

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