06/03/2024
Devotion 365 “Facing Jericho”
Scripture:
Joshua 5:13-15 (AMP)
13 Now when Joshua was by Jericho, he looked up, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his drawn sword in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?” 14 He said, “No; rather I have come now as captain of the army of the LORD.” Then Joshua fell with his face toward the earth and bowed down, and said to him, “What does my lord have to say to his servant?” 15 The captain of the LORD’S army said to Joshua, “Remove your sandals from your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy (set apart to the LORD).” And Joshua did so.
After Crossing the Jordan River, the Israelites FIRST BATTLE is with Jericho. The city of Jericho was built thousands of years before Joshua was born. It was one of the oldest cities in the world and in some places it had fortified walls up to 25 feet high and 20 feet thick. Soldiers standing guard on top of the walls could see for miles, Jericho was as symbol of military power and strength, and the Canaanites considered it invincible.
God chose this as their first fight after entering into the promised land. God wanted Israel to know first and foremost that the BATTLE IS THE LORD’S! There are so many lessons here that it would take days to cover them all! Our focus is going to be to relate what it means for us today to FACE JERICHO!
Look at what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies tells Joshua:
Joshua 6:1-2 (AMP)
1 Now Jericho [a fortified city with high walls] was tightly closed because [of the people’s fear] of the sons of Israel; no one went out or came in.
2 The LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the mighty warriors.
God told Joshua that Jericho was already delivered into his hands, the enemy was already defeated! So here is the setting and the how we are relating it to the church today:
Just as God had chosen Moses (the Pastor) God is telling Joshua by recreating the same imagery as He did with Moses at the burning bush, that God has CHOSEN Joshua! TODAY, you need to understand that God has CHOSEN YOU! (John 15:16 KJV) (1 Peter 2:9 KJV)
The Victory has all ready been won! All Joshua and the children of Israel have to do is what the LORD commands them to do! TODAY, the VICTORY is all ready WON! Death is defeated and we are born into VICTORY!
All we have to DO is OBEY the word of God! The Great Commission when you take all the versions of what Jesus said to His disciples is summed up in Acts 1:8 GO and BE MY WITNESSES, teaching people everywhere to OBSERVE all things that I have commanded you, for I AM giving you POWER to do GREATER THINGS in my NAME! Everywhere you go, you will HAVE/POSSESS my power and authority! (Joshua 1:3 KJV) [Re-read what God said to Joshua in Joshua 1:1-9 KJV and look at (v7) to DO according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you!]
IF WE WILL LISTEN to our Pastor! He is giving US direction as a CHURCH to TAKE the word of God, the testimony of Jesus Christ and share with those in the world around us!
GOD HAS ORCHESTRATED A BATTLE where the odds are tipped in our favor! Where the VICTORY IS ALL READY WON!
When we look at JERICHO in the New Testament we find the Heart of what GOD wants from His people!
I first noticed as I began to read in the NT gospel of Luke that Jesus was passing through Jericho where He encountered a man named Zaccheus, a tax collector who was HATED by the Jewish community!
Luke 19:1-2 (AMP)
1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And there was a man called Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector [a superintendent to whom others reported], and he was rich.
Then Jesus says to Zaccheus who was trying to see Jesus and does something totally unexpected, because He was so overweight and short, He climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus!
Luke 19:5 (AMP)
When Jesus reached the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”
Can you IMAGINE what the people must have thought?! Jesus is going to the HOUSE of a tax collector! People today in the church get upset when we try to reach out and connect with lost people! IMAGINE if you will the most despicable and despised person you can and THEN you will understand WHO Jesus was reaching out to and HOW MUCH it displeased them ALL! Yes the scripture says “they ALL began muttering…”
Luke 19:7 (AMP)
When the people saw it, they all began muttering [in discontent], “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a [notorious] sinner.”
THEN Jesus reveals HIS PURPOSE: Luke 19:9 (AMP) Jesus said to him, “TODAY SALVATION HAS COME TO THIS HOUSEHOLD, because he, too, is a [spiritual] son of Abraham;
Luke 19:10 (AMP) FOR THE SON OF MAN HAS COME: TO SEEK AND TO SAVE that which was LOST.”
As Jesus was in JERICHO he REVEALS what HIS purpose was by coming to earth, to seek and to save those who were lost! AFTER WHICH He ADDS a parable on stewardship!
[It is important to note that the man who the people viewed (as a traitor and cheater) as beyond redemption and forgiveness, Zaccheus first response is to begin the process of repentance! I say the process because he uses the word “IF” I have cheated. LOL. The change is immediate.]
Luke 19:11-13 (KJV) 11 And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. 12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. 13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.
Not to long ago the Lord spoke to me and I shared a message on CROSSING THE THRESHOLD OF VICTORY. Where the LORD impressed upon me the phrase: OCCUPY UNTIL I COME! I immediately made the connection to Joshua’s generation to whom the Lord said He was giving the children of Israel a land to occupy!
The message is consistent throughout scripture:
Deuteronomy 6:18-19 (NLT) 18 DO WHAT IS RIGHT AND GOOD in the LORD’s sight, so all will go well with you. Then you will enter and occupy the good land that the LORD swore to give your ancestors. 19 You will drive out all the enemies living in the land, just as the LORD said you would.
God has given the church OCCUPATIONAL AUTHORITY to exercise His power over all the power of the enemy! He told Joshua NO MAN will be able to stand before you to oppose you ALL the days of his life! (Joshua 1:5 NLT)
The Apostle Paul gives us another revelation in 1 Corinthians 10:1-11 where he summarizes that God wanted us (the church today) to learn from Israel’s mistakes! The main problem that the people of God had was that they just could not believe the Lord. Read Hebrews 3:12-19
Hebrews 3:19 (NLT) So we see that because of their UNBELIEF they were not able to enter his rest.
Jesus in His Great commission said THE CHURCH TODAY has the power to affect CHANGE!
Acts 1:4-8 (NLT)
4 Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. 5 John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” 6 So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?” 7 He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere--in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Look at the connections here as relates to the church today. Jesus is saying YOU are going to receive the PROMISE which was the GIFT of the Holy Spirit living IN US just as He said by the prophets and during His earthly ministry. (John 7:37-39 KJV) Then Jesus explains, I am not restoring Israel’s power over the Romans but rather I AM giving you power over all the power of the enemy so that not even the gates of hell shall be able to prevail! Don’t get caught up on WHEN will the LORD return, FOCUS on BEING MY WITNESS in the earth UNTIL I RETURN!
REACH FOR THE ENTIRE WORLD! ~ HOW?! BY REACHING THE WORLD AROUND YOU! Just as I (Christ) went about doing GOOD (Acts 10:38 KJV), NOW I am authorizing and anointing YOU to GO and teach and baptize those in the world around you! TEACHING them to observe and do what I have commanded them to do! (Matthew 28:18-20 KJV) and (Luke 24:44-49 KJV)
It was in the parable in Matthew 25:31-46 that the Lord tells that the people ALL AROUND us are not there by accident! He proceeds the parable of Judgement by telling them the parable of the talents! All of us have received GIFTS from the Lord and we are to use them to build on what HE gave us! For Jesus told us WE ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD! And light when placed in the darkness cannot pretend it is not light! For the purpose of the light is to DRIVE OUT the darkness!
God has called us minister and help the people in the world around us! For WHEN we minister to THEM, we are really ministering to HIM! (Matthew 25:40)
Recently the LORD reminded me:
THE GREATEST HINDERANCE TO CHURCH GROWTH TODAY IS: PEOPLE BLINDNESS.
FACING JERICHO is all about God showing us that GOD CAN USE YOU AND ME to change the world by NOT overlooking the people that have been there ALL ALONG! I recently said in a previous devotion that Peter had walked by the man at the gate called Beautiful his ENTIRE life! BUT AFTER he received the Holy Ghost and Power, Peter did not see a beggar or a grifter, HE SAW a man in NEED of the GIFT that God gave to Peter! It’s not a coincidence that the FIRST MIRACLE of the NT church was bring healing to the oppressed by the Hand of God’s chosen through the NAME OF JESUS!
The problem we are FACING TODAY is people blindness. In Luke 10:25-37 Jesus shares a shocking TRUTH:
Luke 10:25-37 (NLT)
25 One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?” 27 The man answered, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 28 “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!”
29 The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus replied with a story [a PARABLE]: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road. 31 “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. 32 A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side. 33 “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. 34 Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. 35 The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’ 36 “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked. 37 The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”
In the parable of the GOOD SAMARITAN the Lord shares a story of a Jewish man who goes from Jerusalem down to JERICHO! Where he is violently attacked and left for dead! The Lord says “by chance” a PRIEST and a LEVITE people who have been called to the ministry AVOID or IGNORE a man from their own country! THEN a man who should have hated him LOOKED on him with compassion! He did not SEE an enemy, HE SAW a man in NEED!
There is the SHOCKING TRUTH when FACED the real needs of real people we ACT LIKE they do not really exist, or we think someone else will help them, when it wasn’t by CHANCE but rather by the WILL OF GOD that we SHOW the same kind of MERCY that the LORD has given to us! JESUS said GO AND DO THE SAME!
TAKE THE TIME AND THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO GOOD WHILE YOU CAN!
Ephesians 5:14-17 (NLT) 14 for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” 15 So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. 16 Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. 17 Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.
2 Corinthians 5:16-21 (NLT)
16 So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
GOD made you a light, so that you AWAKEN to His purpose for pulling you out of darkness is so that you can lead others to the light! Not seeing them as from a “human perspective” like they are somebody else’s responsibility, but from a “God perspective” knowing that God chose all of us to reach the people in the world around us with this LIFE CHANGING MESSAGE that has changed us.
May the Lord help us to recognize and SEE the needs that are all around us, FOR TRUE LOVE or GREATER LOVE is WHEN we are willing to lay down the busyness of our lives and our selfish agendas to minister and to help one another. (John 15:13)
