FAITH, WORKS, VICTORY – PART FOUR
Thursday – May 31, 2018, Sivan 17, 5778
This Word of God is absolutely wonderful, it is the secrets of life revealed by God for His Covenant people to find prosperity and success in every area of their spiritual and physical lives. I do not want to make it sound like our spiritual and physical lives are somehow separate lives, they are absolutely the same life with spiritual health manifesting in the physical realm. When people say that so and so is a strong Christian with lots of faith and we plainly see that their life is a mess, is that a true statement? Of course not! Of course, the testimony of a person is not a snapshot but a life over time. It has never been the will of God for any Covenant child of His to be broke or sick, never, at any time. Before I go off on a rant let’s read our primary Bible text from the Book of Hebrews aloud.
Hebrews 11:30-32 (KJV)
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.
31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.
32 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:
I am continuing the teaching concerning Joshua and the obedience (love of God-Covenant in action) which allowed God to bring down the walls of Jericho. That is a single verse in Hebrews but as we are seeing the underpinning of that victory goes way beyond the instructions given concerning the physical activity of the Israelites. Just as the Israelites encircled (compassed) the city of Jericho so do we compass about our situations with the Word of God. Now, let’s pick up with our Scripture in Joshua.
Joshua 1:7-9 (KJV)
7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.
8 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.
9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
As I pointed out yesterday the ninth verse above is very similar to the seventh verse but with three vital additions. Seven is the number of spiritual completeness and nine is the number of Divine completeness or perfection brought by the Lord. When we are in total compliance with verse seven, verse nine will be spiritually natural for us. When we are doing the full will of God we are making our way prosperous. Now, there is something very important for us to understand here and that is that the Lord cannot release the Blessing in our lives with anything short of obedience to the Word (love). So, just as Jesus said that He could do nothing of Himself, it was the Father that does the works so it is here and in our lives. When Jesus did the will of the Father which He did without exception there was a flow of the supernatural. So is God saying the same thing to Joshua, your walking around Jericho can never bring those walls down but in your obedience to Me I will bring those walls down.
Looking at verse seven we see that prosperity (all areas of life, natural and spiritual) comes when we are strong, courageous, reading Scripture, doing Scripture, and not mixing other things by going to the right or the left. Now look at verse nine. Again, we are told to be strong, to be courageous, but we are also told not to be afraid, or dismayed, for God is always with us. Fear obliterates love and faith and takes us into destruction, fear is to be avoided at all costs. That is not that we will never feel fear, but we are to give it no place in our thoughts, words, or actions. To be dismayed is to be confused. The thing that brings confusion is the introduction of words which are not Gods’ Words. It means we have turned to the right or to the left, we have given ear to the Serpent just as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden. In that moment, destruction is at the door. You do not have to feel God to know He is ever present. He said so, to question that is to question God, and means we are in unbelief and again destruction has access to our life. Lord willing, tomorrow we will end the week with the actual coming down of the walls of Jericho. They did not come down just because they walked, they came down because of the foundational Truths I have laid out from the Word of God over these last few days.
Until our next publication, I speak this Scriptural prayer for your life right now, receive it in the name of Jesus, confess it, and walk it out with thanksgiving.
3 John 1:2 (AMP)
2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way and [that your body] may keep well, even as [I know] your soul keeps well and prospers.
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
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