In a recent sermon, I heard Steven Furtick give an interesting twist on the familiar story of the battle of Jericho. If you are unfamiliar with the story, you can read about it in Joshua, the sixth book in the Bible, in chapter six. The quick summary of the story is that Joshua marched the troops of Israel around the fortified city of Jericho in silence once a day for six straight days. On the seventh day, they marched seven times around the city and then blew their trumpets and gave a great shout. At that, the walls of the city came crumbling down. Pastor Furtick noticed that the Scriptures say that God told Joshua the plan, but they do not say if Joshua then laid out the whole plan for his army. It only says he told them to start marching.
Joshua
Right Now
I turn forty-five later this week and it occurred to me that I’m probably about half-way through my life. I’m in good health, decent shape, and I take care of myself. It would seem that living to the age of ninety would not be too much of a stretch. But what if I’m wrong? What if I only have thirty years remaining? What about twenty, or ten? What if my life should unexpectedly end next week? As Jesus said, none of us have any guarantee of tomorrow (Luke 12:16-20). Any of us could find that our next breath is actually our last. That should affect the way we live. Knowing tomorrow could be our last day on earth should have radical implications on how we live today.
Thankful
It’s a holiday here in the United States, and I struggled considering whether or not to write about being thankful on Thanksgiving. It seemed just a little too easy and far too cliché. At the same time, I have been learning the importance of reflection, so I know it’s important to take the time to pause and consider how much God has done for us. Holidays are ideal for this sort of activity. They are markers along the road of our lives. Just as Joshua set up a pillar of stones to mark the passage into the Promised Land and as a reminder of where they had been (Joshua 4), days like Thanksgiving can serve to remind us of all that Christ has done for us.
God is not Small
At what point in our relationship with God did we begin to shrink Him down into a more manageable size? Remember when you first came to know Christ and recognized what a beautiful, awesome and powerful Creator He was? Remember when you prayed bold prayers and fully expected to see them come to fruition? There was a time when you cast all your worries and concerns on Him and left them there because you knew God was far greater than any of your problems. But somewhere along the way we stopped believing all of that. Oh, we still say that we believe He is all powerful and capable of anything because that’s what Christians are supposed to say. Deep down though, I wonder if you still believe it to be true.
Bold Prayers
In a recent message, Pastor Craig Groeschel asked a brilliant question: “If God had answered all of your prayers last week, how would the world be different?” His point was that most of us pray small and selfish prayers so that even if they were all to be answered the way we wanted them to be, the world would hardly notice. Our lives might be a little better, but the rest of the planet would go on as usual. From my own experience and observation, I sadly have to agree with him. Take a look back over the past week and see how many prayers you prayed that would, if answered in the way you desired, have had a kingdom impact on the world.