{"id":766,"date":"2021-01-26T00:44:40","date_gmt":"2021-01-26T00:44:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/?p=766"},"modified":"2021-01-25T23:46:20","modified_gmt":"2021-01-25T23:46:20","slug":"day-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/day-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tuesday, January 26 \u2013 Day 2<\/strong><\/p>\n

SURRENDER & SELF-EMPTYING: Josh 6:1,2 \u2013 (SESSION 3)<\/p>\n

Right at the start,\u00a0Joshua 6:1-2 <\/em><\/strong>confounds <\/em>both Joshua and us<\/em> with contradictory logic. \u201cNow Jericho was securely<\/strong>\u00a0shut up\u00a0<\/strong>because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in. And the LORD said unto Joshua SEE<\/strong>,\u00a0I have given Jericho into your hand<\/strong>, its king, and the mighty men of valor.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0As Joshua looked\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>toward the city,\u00a0his eyes could not <\/em><\/strong>have seen it as defeated. But Christians are not <\/em><\/strong>supposed to look\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>with\u00a0physical eyes alone<\/em><\/strong>. Joshua was being\u00a0asked to look with faith<\/em><\/strong>, trusting God\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>to keep His word.\u00a0In the will of God<\/em><\/strong>, the city was as good as\u00a0taken. <\/em><\/strong>All His servant was required to do is \u2018Believe it!\u2019<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Joshua probably had no problem\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>in believing the Lord \u2013 even at this early point. He had seen<\/strong> God work\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>from before the crossing of the Red Sea.\u00a0If God now says\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>that Jericho is defeated<\/em><\/strong>, then it is a defeated city as far as he is concerned.\u00a0But not everyone\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>has that\u00a0same capacity\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>for\u00a0faith<\/em><\/strong>. And that is\u00a0one reason <\/em><\/strong>the Lord leads the human leader.<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0On Monday morning, or whatever the first day was,\u00a0<\/strong>the order was given\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>to the priests to take up the ark and the trumpets. The generals ordered their troops into position and the sound of the horns was heard, with everyone moving out. After a few minutes, the rest of Israel fell into place, keeping as quiet as church mice. Probably\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>the majority\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>of Israel\u00a0truly believed <\/em><\/strong>that Jericho would fall.\u00a0But nothing like that happened\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>even as the sun started to go down over the western ridge, and Israel returned to her camp.<\/p>\n

The next morning\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Joshua issued the same orders, and they were repeated by the high priest and the generals. Again, there was\u00a0high expectation\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>among the people, but\u00a0again nothing happened<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0On day 3\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>everything was repeated, but\u00a0probably a few hearts\u00a0were filling with\u00a0doubt \u2013\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>even\u00a0murmuring<\/em><\/strong>. Based on our knowledge of human beings,\u00a0by mid-week <\/em>some were\u00a0losing their confidence<\/em><\/strong>, their\u00a0faith\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>in the leadership of their pastor. At some point several probably\u00a0began accusing Joshua\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>of self-promotion, misuse of resources and outright foolishness.<\/p>\n

But that was\u00a0as much a part of God\u2019s arrangement\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>as the fall of the wall itself.\u00a0God\u2019s people may\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>have\u00a0faith<\/em><\/strong>, but often that faith is accidentally misapplied<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0Faith in marching<\/em>, in\u00a0knocking on doors<\/em>, in yearly\u00a0revival meetings<\/em>, in\u00a0church programs\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>are\u00a0not <\/em><\/strong>faith in God. <\/em><\/strong>Faith in Joshua\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>or Moses, Paul or the Apostle John is\u00a0not faith in the Lord. <\/em><\/strong>Israel needed to lose the confidence\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>they had in themselves<\/em><\/strong>, their leadership,\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>their\u00a0past victories,\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>and\u00a0current service.<\/em>\u00a0Like Jonah, like Moses, like Elijah and every other great servant of the Lord,\u00a0the nation needed\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>to be stripped bare \u2013 emptied\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>of everything\u00a0but faith\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>in the miracle-working\u00a0God.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Then\u00a0by the end\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>of the\u00a0twelfth trip\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>around the city, many in Israel were\u00a0physically worn out.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0They had to drag\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>some of the kids around the city. Some were\u00a0ready to quit;\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>ready to lynch Joshua\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>and\u00a0elect a man\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>with a\u00a0lower vision. <\/strong><\/em>But Joshua knew\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>that with\u00a0one more circuit<\/em><\/strong>,\u00a0God\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>would step in and\u00a0give\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>them the victory<\/em>. Those were\u00a0seven days of self-emptying.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>And there has\u00a0never been a saint of God\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>who\u00a0did not <\/em><\/strong>need that\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>from time to time \u2013 and some of us need it more often than others.<\/p>\n

So, as we collectively seek God for direction in our lives and in our church, let us engage in self-emptying so that there will be room for HIM to deposit HIS will into our lives.<\/p>\n

WITNESS PROTECTION: Josh 2:1-13 (SESSION 4)<\/p>\n

The world\u00a0has a\u00a0general knowledge\u00a0of our God, and Jericho was no exception. Rahab<\/strong> told the two spies of Israel,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>\u201cWe have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when you came out of Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were on the other side of Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.\u201d\u00a0Ch. 6:1 <\/strong><\/em>says,<\/strong>\u00a0\u201c<\/em>Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>To be more precise,\u00a0the city was shut and barred\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>because the Canaanites had\u00a0heard <\/em><\/strong>what God had done<\/em> through\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>the children of Israel.\u00a0In light\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>of what they had\u00a0heard<\/em><\/strong>, they\u00a0needed to protect themselves.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0And in fact, they\u00a0felt fairly well-protected.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>So, they\u00a0stocked the city\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>with supplies for a long siege. They made\u00a0sure that their wells were in good order. They shut<\/em><\/strong> and secured\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>the city gates and\u00a0stationed warriors <\/em>along the walls with trumpets or other devices to call for back-up.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile Rahab hatched a plan<\/em> to safeguard the men that had been sent to spy out the land. As we learn\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>when reading\u00a0chapter 2,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>the city had some\u00a0suspicions about Rahab\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>\u2013 the harlot.\u00a0The king\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>of Jericho\u00a0demanded\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>that she produce\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>the spies\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>from Israel who had crept into the city before it was shut up and before Israel crossed the Jordan.\u00a0People suspected, but could not prove, that she had\u00a0sympathies toward Israel.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

When Jericho was destroyed, Rahab, the lowly prostitute, was spared. Her actions demonstrated her reverence towards the ones God had sent. Her actions displayed her faith<\/strong>, and God is not a respecter of people, He is a respecter of faith.<\/p>\n

Acts 10:34:35<\/a><\/strong>:<\/strong>\u00a0Then Peter opened his mouth and said: \u201cIn truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But, in every nation, whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.<\/em><\/p>\n

God will always honor faith. It is not important to Him who displays the faith provided it is displayed <\/em>and not misplaced<\/u>. Let us place our confidence in Him. Seek Him and His righteousness and He will lead us in the way He wants us to go.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tuesday, January 26 \u2013 Day 2 SURRENDER & SELF-EMPTYING: Josh 6:1,2 \u2013 (SESSION 3) Right at the start,\u00a0Joshua 6:1-2 confounds both Joshua and us with contradictory logic. \u201cNow Jericho was securely\u00a0shut up\u00a0because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in. And the LORD said unto Joshua SEE,\u00a0I have given Jericho into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":767,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=766"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":768,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766\/revisions\/768"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}