Friday, February 26, 2016

February 27, 2016

Your "Jericho" must go if you want to experience your Glory Days!

Everyone has a "Jericho" to overcome. You know what yours is and I am well aware of mine.

One of the great things about the Book of Joshua is how clearly it lays out a strategy for defeating a spiritual stronghold. The first key is to fight in God's power!

The second key is to fight with God's weapons!

So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant of the Lord and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it.” Joshua 6:6

Decades ago, Clara Peller famously asked."Where's the beef?"

You may be asking, "Where's the weapons? I see no weapons in this verse!"

The weapons listed in Joshua 6:6 are in no way conventional weapons. That's probably because this is not a typical battle! Taking on Jericho, like taking on your personal spiritual stronghold requires spiritual weapons. You cannot fight a spiritual battle with the weapons of man. Spiritual battles are fought and won with spiritual weapons like the those mentioned in the verse above. 
  • The Ark of the Covenant
  • Trumpets Made of Rams Horns
  • Priests and Soldiers
Who fights like that?

Well, that was the point! They only needed the weapons God assigned them because they weren't going to fight, God was going to fight FOR them!

If I'm going up against a strong spiritual enemy such as a stronghold I want every spiritual weapon available! Strongholds remain strong and even become stronger when you come against then with weapons of the flesh. Don't do that!

"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds." II Corinthians 10:3-4

Before we discuss the significance of these weapons God told Joshua to take into his encounter with Jericho let's understand what a stronghold is. Paul gives an insight in II Corinthians 10:5 - "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 

A stronghold is a argument or a mindset or a thought process that sets itself up against God's truth. You could say a stronghold is a false premise that you set up in direct opposition to God's promise. Some examples might be:
  • "God can never forgive me" - A stronghold of guilt
  • "I could never forgive" - A stronghold of resentment
  • "Bad things always happen to me." - A stronghold of self-pity
  • "I don't do well if I'm not in charge" - A stronghold of pride
  • "I don't deserve to be loved." - A stronghold of rejection
  • "I'll never get over this." - A stronghold of defeat
  • "I'll never measure up." - A stronghold of legalism
  • "I'll only as good as my appearance." - A stronghold of vanity
  • "I'm only as good as my net worth" - A stronghold of materialism
To bring down a stronghold you must deny these false premises and stand firm on God's promises! That's when these godly weapons come into play!

The weapons:
  • The Ark of the Covenant - which represents God's presence and His power
  • The Ram's Horn Trumpet - this trumpet sounded to signal victory. The silver trumpets where the call to battle but when the ram's horn sounded it signified the end of the battle!
  • The Priests - carried the Ark of the Covenant
  • The Soldiers - walked in front and behind the priests to protect them. That symbolizes the angels God sends to guard His people.
The battle is the Lord's and just like He did with Joshua He will give you the victory over your stronghold when you use His spiritual weapons!