9/23/2009 8:18 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: A new strategy
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Joshua 8:3-13
Message of the verses: “3 ¶
So Joshua rose with all the people of war to go up to Ai; and Joshua
chose 30,000 men, valiant warriors, and sent them out at night. 4 He commanded them, saying, "See, you are
going to ambush the city from behind it. Do not go very far from the city, but
all of you be ready. 5 "Then I and
all the people who are with me will approach the city. And when they come out
to meet us as at the first, we will flee before them. 6 "They will come out after us until we
have drawn them away from the city, for they will say, ‘They are fleeing before
us as at the first.’ So we will flee before them. 7 "And you shall rise from your ambush and
take possession of the city, for
the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand. 8 "Then it will be when you have seized
the city, that you shall set the city on fire. You shall do it according to the
word of the LORD. See, I have commanded you." 9 So Joshua sent them away, and they went to
the place of ambush and remained between Bethel
and Ai, on the west side of Ai; but Joshua spent that night among the people.
10 Now Joshua rose early in the morning
and mustered the people, and he went up with the elders of Israel before
the people to Ai. 11 Then all the people
of war who were with him went up and drew near and arrived in front of the
city, and camped on the north side of Ai. Now there was a valley between him
and Ai. 12 And he took about 5,000 men
and set them in ambush between Bethel
and Ai, on the west side of the city. 13
So they stationed the people, all the army that was on the north side of
the city, and its rear guard on the west side of the city, and Joshua spent
that night in the midst of the valley.”
Joshua was
following the directions of the Lord whenever he laid out this plan to defeat
Ai and he was using almost the exact opposite battle plan than was used at Jericho. Joshua would split up his army into three
parts and he would lead the part that would run from the enemy so that the
other part of his army would go into the city and burn it while those running
would be able to turn and attach the army of Ai and have them in the middle and
thus defeat them. This was the strategy
and I will see how it works out in the next SD.
The word “strategy” comes from two Greek words that together means “to
lead an army.”
Here are
some quotes from Dr. Wiersbe’s “Be Strong” a commentary on Joshua: “It’s important that we seek God’s will for each undertaking so that we don’t
depend on past victories as we plan for the future.
“The work
of the Lord requires strategy, and Christian leaders must seek the mind of the
Lord in their planning. Like Joshua, we
must get the facts and weigh them carefully as we seek the will of God. Too often, the work of the Lord only drifts
along the tide of time, without any rudder or compass to give directions; and
the results are disappointing.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: God does not change but the methods that He
uses in my life sometimes do. As I seek
to do the Lord’s will in my life I need to pray about what He wants me to do
and not depend on the ways that He has done things in my life before. This is true for our church and many people
in our church want to depend on things that we did in the past and are against
the things that are going on now, things that are change from before. As long as the leadership of our church are
seeking the Lord with each change and are confident that He is leading them in
the direction that they are going in then that is fine by me.
My Steps of Faith for
Today:
- I want to remember to pray to the Lord and ask Him to guide my path.
- Continue to learn contentment.
- Put on the spiritual armor to be protected in the battle today: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, take up the shield of faith, put on the helmet of salvation, and strap on the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.
9/23/2009 9:19 AM
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