Walls Fall Down: God s Unusual Plan for Victory 7 Day Bible Reading Plan

Transcription

1 Day 1 Walls Fall Down: God s Unusual Plan for Victory 7 Day Plan SHRINKING THE WALL What is standing in the way of your victory? Is it a spiritual, financial, or health issue? Or perhaps a difficult relationship or a nagging habit you can t seem to break. For Joshua and the Israelites, it was the walls of Jericho. This prosperous and heavily fortified city was the gateway to the Promised Land. After wandering around the wilderness for 40 years because of sin, the Israelites were finally on the doorstep of the plentiful land God had promised their forefathers. It would be a new beginning and a place to call their own at last but first they had to defeat Jericho. To defeat a kingdom that was surrounded by two sets of massive walls with securely barred gates must have seemed like an impossible task. Joshua and the Israelites probably felt like tiny ants standing next to those walls. Yet they followed God s precise instructions, and what resulted was one of the most epic victories ever recorded! You can draw seven principles from this story to obtain victory over your present battles. The first is to focus on the greatness of God rather than on the size of your problem. If you concentrate on the trial, burden, or battle you are facing today, your problem will appear insurmountable. However, if you focus on the greatness of God, that problem immediately shrinks. When we look to God s Word, we are reminded how magnificent and capable our Lord truly is. Isaiah 40:12 (NLT) says, Who else has held the oceans in his hand? Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers? Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale? Verses like the one above give us perspective. Unfortunately, perspective is exactly what we lack in the midst of life s troubles. We tend to lose sight of everything else and all we see are the huge obstacles standing in our way. This causes us to feel helpless, hopeless, and defeated. The right perspective is acknowledging that God is exponentially greater than any wall we may be facing. God reveals His greatness through the Bible, creation, and answered prayers. We see His greatness whenever we ponder the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. Ask God to reveal His greatness to you, and He will! You ll be reminded of God s power and His ability to demolish every wall standing in your way. Joshua 6:1-3 Psalms 19: Peter 5:7

2 Day 2 AN UNCONVENTIONAL PLAN God had a very specific plan for Joshua and the Israelites to conquer the city of Jericho. It was an unusual and unconventional plan. And it probably didn t make very much sense to His people. They were to walk around the walls of Jericho once a day for six days. On the seventh day, they were to walk around the walls seven times. After the seventh circuit around the walls, the priests were to sound the trumpets and the entire army was to give a shout. Though Joshua and the Israelites may not have understood, they still followed the Lord s instructions and they were victorious as a result. At the end of the seven days, everything God promised them came to pass. The Lord said in Isaiah 55:8, My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. God could have brought those walls down with a snap of His finger, but He chose a different way. Throughout the Bible, we see many strange requests. God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, his only son, after promising to make him a great nation through his offspring (Genesis 12:2 and Genesis 22:2). God told Namaan the leper to dip in a river seven times in order to be cleansed (2 Kings 5). Before a critical battle, He basically told Gideon, You have too many men! Cut them down to 300 (Judges 7). And Jesus told the disciples to leave everything and follow Him (Matthew 4:19). God wants to see what s in your heart. He wants to know if you ll trust Him no matter what! Romans 8:28 give us this assurance: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him. If you know that God has your best interest at heart, then it s easy to trust Him and to follow His instructions even in impossible situations. Whatever battle you are facing, turn to the Lord and ask Him for wisdom. Ask Him for the plan that will lead to victory. Whatever He tells you to do (through His Word, the Holy Spirit, or wise and godly counsel), obey that plan no matter how strange it might seem. Yes, your friends might laugh at you. Yes, your family might turn against you. But follow God s plan anyway and know that you will be well on your way to victory. Joshua 6:4-7 Jeremiah 29:11-13 Romans 8:28

3 Day 3 MAKE IT A HOLY EXERCISE We don t hear a lot about holiness these days. Many people strive to be happy, but how many people strive to be holy? We learn from the story of Joshua and the battle of Jericho that holiness is an essential key to victory. In whatever battle you are facing today, you can make it a holy exercise by bringing God into the equation. In Joshua 6:6, God instructed the priests to carry the holy ark of the covenant as they walked with the soldiers around the walls of Jericho. The ark of the covenant was an ornate wooden box that housed the stone tablets of the covenant, Aaron s staff, and a gold jar filled with manna. It represented the very presence of God! So while the Israelites were simply walking around the walls of Jericho, they had brought the Lord into the center of an otherwise mundane task. Today, you might feel as though God is a million miles away. You might be trying to handle your problems on your own. But there is a much better way. Invite Christ into your heart, and put your trust in Him. God will give you His Spirit to lead and guide you (John 16:13). Instead of going through life on your own and trying to be victorious in your own strength, bring God into the equation. It changes everything. God becomes a part of everything you do. The Israelites were up against the double fortified walls of Jericho. On their own, they didn t stand a chance. But God was with them, and He will be with you. When Christ lives in your heart, He s with you wherever you go. In Joshua s time, the presence of God dwelled within the ark of the covenant. But now, God s Spirit lives within His people. As 1 Corinthians 3:16 affirms, Don t you know that you yourselves are God s temple and that God s Spirit dwells in your midst? So whatever walls you are up against, make it a holy exercise by inviting the Lord into your heart. Surrender your life to Jesus. Be baptized if you ve never been baptized. Join a local church if you are not regularly attending. Start reading God s Word daily and seeking His will for your life. He will place His Spirit inside of you. You will never be alone. He will fight your battles for you and cause the walls to come tumbling down. Joshua 6:8-9 Isaiah 6:1-7 1 Peter 1:14-16

4 Day 4 A CULTURE OF LIKE-MINDED PEOPLE Have you ever witnessed a person on a team who complained constantly, tore others down, or didn t contribute? If so, you know how damaging one contrary person can be to the overall goals and mission of the team. This kind of negativity spreads quickly, and it doesn t take long for the entire team to fall apart. On the flip side, when everyone on the team is likeminded, possessing the same kind of spirit, nothing will be impossible for that team! The same is true for you in your current battle. If you surround yourself with likeminded individuals who can encourage and strengthen you, it will make all the difference in the world. At the battle of Jericho, God selected men who were united in mindset and mission to march around the walls of the city. Besides a few priests, the men who walked around the fortified city were soldiers they were mighty men who were prepared to fight shoulder-to-shoulder and sword-to-sword. Forty years of discipline in the wilderness had weeded out all the defectors, complainers, and troublemakers. Only the faithful were left. We were created for community to be surrounded by other kindred spirits in the faith. Our Lord Jesus Christ began his ministry by forming a community of followers called The Twelve Disciples. He spent the next three years teaching them to love and care for one another. Jesus said in John 13:34-35, A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. This scripture, along with many others throughout the Bible, teaches us that we need our brothers and sisters in Christ. This is true especially in troubled times. We need other Christians to pray, encourage, and walk alongside us when we are facing obstacles. It is then we realize we are not alone. We have a God who is with us always, and we have a Church family that cares for us. Whatever you are struggling with today, find a support group of Christian believers who will listen, pray for you, help you, mentor you, and hold you accountable. Immerse yourself in a culture of like-minded people. Joshua 6:10-11 Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 Hebrews 10:24-25

5 Day 5 THE DISCIPLINE OF CONSISTENCY Though it takes great discipline, one of the most important keys to success is consistency. The Israelites had been walking in the desert for 40 years. That s 14,600 days of putting one foot in front of the other. They finally arrive at Jericho, which was on the edge of their Promised Land, and God tells them to walk for seven more days. This is such a powerful picture to us of trust, obedience, perseverance, and consistency. At the battle of Jericho, Joshua and his men had to do the same task every day for one week. God told them to march around the walls for seven days. Through this simple exercise, God is building up the faith of His people. Put yourself in the Israelites sandals for a moment. They are standing in the shadow of a huge obstacle the double fortified walls of Jericho with a battle plan that didn t make any sense. The first few days were probably okay, but what if by the fifth or sixth day, a few soldiers grew tired of walking and said, This is ridiculous. Nothing is happening. Let s stop this nonsense. There always comes a point in the journey where it s tempting to quit, but Joshua and the Israelites kept marching. Every day, step after step, they put their trust in God. The task may have sounded boring and the instructions may have seemed trivial. But the secret to most successes is doing the right thing and doing it each and every day. For believers, this means having a quiet time every morning to read your Bible, pray, and seek the Lord. It means attending church every weekend. It means living out the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), putting on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6), loving others (1 Corinthians 13), and letting your light shine (Matthew 5:14-16). Not just some days, but each and every day. As you march around the walls that represent your own personal Jericho, don t grow weary. Don t lose heart. You must keep pressing forward. You have to persevere. And you have to be consistent. Chip away at the walls piece-by-piece and step-by-step, and you will eventually see those walls fall down. Joshua 6:12-14 Hebrews 12:1-3 James 1:12

6 Day 6 OBEDIENCE BRINGS THE BLESSINGS Obedience has been called the lifelong lesson because it takes many of us our entire lives to master this one virtue. The other day, a friend of mine told me how she had asked her fiveyear-old son to wash his hands. She asks him to do this several times a day, reminding him to scrub with soap and water and to dry his hands completely. Her son went into the bathroom, and in a flash he was back out. Noticing his hands were still wet, my friend told her son to go back to the bathroom and dry them. Not knowing his mother was watching him, the lad walked into the bathroom, put his hands up to the wall without actually touching the towel, and walk out once again. My friend was shocked by the clever disobedience of her child. He went through the motions, but he didn t really obey what she had asked him to do. In actuality, this is not at all surprising. All of us, from the time we were very young, have been inclined to disobey the countless rules we encounter on a daily basis. But God is looking for people who will obey Him, and He promises blessings for faithful obedience (Deuteronomy 28:1-14). God said to Joshua and the Israelites, See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in (Joshua 6:2-5). It was pretty simple: If God s people obeyed His instructions no matter how strange or simple those instructions might have seemed they would conquer their enemies. Then they would receive the blessing of inheriting the Promised Land. God doesn t always give us a detailed explanation of why He s asking us to do something. He simply expects us to trust His wisdom and obey His commands. Whenever God leads you and wherever God leads you, just obey Him. And watch as He ushers you into your own Promised Land. Joshua 6:15-19 Deuteronomy 28:1-14 John 14:23

7 Day 7 THE PERFECT NUMBER We see the number seven many times throughout the Bible. It s the number of divine perfection. It s a number of purpose. And in the battle of Jericho, it s a number that represents God s blessing. God told the Israelites to walk around the walls of Jericho for seven days led by seven priests. On the seventh day, they were to march around the walls seven times. God promised that at the end of their seventh circuit around Jericho on the seventh day, the walls would collapse. The Israelites believed in the Lord s greatness and His plan for victory. They remained united, like-minded, holy, consistent, and obedient. And on the seventh day, they conquered the unconquerable and took possession of the Promised Land. Seven was the number God gave to Israel, but He may have a different number or timeframe for you. It could be seven weeks, months, or years or longer but rest assured that the Lord knows your number. In His sovereignty, He knows the precise time your victory is coming. Psalm 139:16 reveals that God had all your days written down in His book before one of them came to be. Your job is to have faith. Don t compare your journey to anyone else s, but know the Lord is preparing you for victory by shaping you in the difficult times. Jesus endured a season of suffering as He submitted to God s plan. He experienced betrayal, naysayers, doubters, haters, and excruciating pain as He hung upon the cross. He went through this great trial for what must have seemed like an eternity because of His great love for us. Hebrews 12:1-3 says that Christ was able to see the glory and joy set before Him. He is our supreme example that there is hope even during our trials and great reward awaiting us. During your walk around the walls of your personal Jericho, you may experience pain and uncertainty. But if you are faithful and follow God s plan, you will see the walls fall down in God s perfect timing. And just as the Israelites shouted and sounded the trumpets at the end of their journey, you too will celebrate your victory. That very moment is worth all the pain and strife that preceded it. God s power and His love for you are greater than any obstacle you may be facing today. Trust in the unfailing character of the Lord. Follow His plan, and see the walls fall down. Joshua 6:20-27 Psalms 139:1-16 Hebrews 12:2 Plan Reproduced via See Walls Fall Down: God s Unusual Plan for Victory for more information or visit