This Time, You Have Complete and Total Victory!

"You will destroy them as you destroyed Jericho and its

king. But this time you may keep the plunder and the
livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the
town." (Josh. 8:2, NLT)
Did you get that? God said in essence, "This time will be
different. You will not be defeated, and you will get the
enemy's plunder." I heard Him say that He's speaking
the same word to you: "This time you will see complete
and total victory. I am giving you a heavenly strategy to
win this battle and take possession of everything that I
promised you and, in addition, the plunder of the
enemy."
God gave Joshua precise instructions to set an ambush
behind the city. Furthermore, He told him to have the
men of war come from the front, even as they had in the
first battle, and to allow the men of Ai to chase them.
The men of Ai thought they were dealing with the same
defeated army as before but what they did not
understand is, this time, they were fighting a purified
people whom God was fighting for.
When Joshua put the plan in motion, everything that
God had spoken came to pass. The men of Ai chased
after Joshua and the men of war, just like before. Yet
this time, God had given the Israelites a plan, and as
soon as the men of Ai chased after the Israelites, the
ambush hit the city. They experienced complete and
total victory. You, too, are about to see your complete
and total victory!
Because of this sin, God said I will be you no more.
Why is God so averse to sin? Because every sin is a
mockery against His holy name. In Habakkuk 1:13 it
says of God “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil”. He
is the God who sits “enthroned on high and looks down
on earth and heaven” (Ps 113:5-6) with the angels
singing “holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty The whole
earth is full of His glory” (Is 6:3). He is the God who
looks down on the rulers of the world who conspire to go
against Him and laughs at them. (Psalm 2:4). This is
who God is therefore any sin is a Mockery of His
majesty.
You should know that God’s attitude towards sin has not
changed. He is still averse to it, He still hates it.
He is not only averse to sin but God cannot allow it to go
unpunished. That is why, every sin needs to be paid for.
And that is exactly how God reacts to the sin of Israel
through Achan. In verse 15 of Joshua 7 the Lord says,
“In the morning therefore you shall be brought near by
your tribes. And the tribe that the Lord takes by lot shall
come near by clans. And the clan that the Lord takes
shall come near by households. And the household that
the Lord takes shall come near man by man. And he
who is taken with the devoted things shall be burned
with fire, he and all that he has, because he has
transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he
has done an outrageous thing in Israel.’””
The Lord knew what was up. He knew that Israel sinned
and He probably knew that it was Achan who did it.
Because God is holy and just, He cannot let stand sin
nor can He let it go unpunished. And the degree of
punishment depends on the kind of sin committed and
against whom it is committed. So, what happened to
Achan? V25 And Joshua said, “Why did you bring
trouble on us? The Lord brings trouble on you today.”
And all Israel stoned him with stones. They burned them
with fire and stoned them with stones.
Like Achan, who hid his sin that led to Israel losing a
battle, in a similar way we can lose our spiritual battles if
we allow sin to be hidden.
There could be a variety of sins like anger, unkind
words, disrespectful conversations, obscene talk,
gossip, indulging in different kinds of sexual immorality,
binge watching pornagrafry over eating, excessive
consumption of alcohol and other vices.
Instead of hiding your sin, bring it to the light. James
5:16 says confess your sins to one another. 1 John 1:9
says if you confess your sins God who is faithful and just
will forgive you.
These are all examples of sinful behaviors we exhibit.
But these sins are just what is seen on the outside,
taking Achan’s example. These sins are a result of a
deep fallenness within us. Inside of us there is work of
lust, bitterness, enny, malice, anxiety, idolatry,
covetousness, and so on and so forth.
These are of greater danger. The reason Achan sinned
was because he coveted the treasures. He didn’t trust in
God’s command, provision, or all sufficiency.
So, you should be on alert about what’s going on in your
heart. What are you thinking about? What are you
saying to yourself? Are you setting your mind on things
that are pure, noble, lovely, praise worthy?
Whatever it is, confess it. Confess to whom? First,
confess to God, in fact pour out your heart before God.
Remember, He doesn’t deal with you according to your
iniquities but with grace, so you can be assured before
God.
Confess also to others. God has given us a body of
believers to help us. Many a time, He works in us
through a brother or sister in Christ. I would say to
anyone who is the listener of such confessions to
reserve judgment, be compassionate, and most
importantly listen more than you talk. Remember how
much the Lord dealt with kindness towards you and
reciprocate that same kindness to the one who is
confessing.
If you’re here and you want to talk, be open about your
sin, or you want to talk about your wandering heart,
we’re here. The pastors are here too. We also have
something called DNA groups which are built for such
kinds of conversations. Leverage these meetings for
your own good.
Preparation Through Purification:
Take note of what that the Lord instructed Joshua. He
told him to get up and command the people to purify
themselves in preparation for the next day. I hear Him
also declaring to you the same thing today, "Purify
yourself for the place where I am taking you. Realize
that there must come first a purification of My people."
Joshua confronted and dealt with Achan's hidden sin.
We, too, must be willing to confront and deal with hidden
sin, if we want to experience God's complete victory in
our lives. The Church is in an hour where God wants
purification and then He will give reward, just as He did
for the Israelites at Ai. (Photo via Pixabay)
This Time, You Have Complete and Total Victory!
"You will destroy them as you destroyed Jericho and its
king. But this time you may keep the plunder and the
livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the
town." (Josh. 8:2, NLT)
D

Get Up, Church! The Spirit of Boldness Is Coming Upon

You!"
The Lord spoke to me the other day and said, "A spirit of
boldness is coming upon My Church. No longer will My
people be locked behind closed doors, hidden behind
locked doors. No! It is time for the demonstration of My
supernatural power on the earth! This is the marked time
for My people to walk in authority. It's the ordained time
for My children to carry My glory and, moreover, to also
release it to the nations.
A Revival of Purity
"In order for My Bride to operate in this power, the flow
must be pure. I am proclaiming a revival of purity. I am
calling My Church to deal with sin in the camp, for I
desire to accomplish My plan for this hour. Do you not
know that the earth is groaning for this movement? I
have heard the cries of those who are entrapped in
captivity and those bound in affliction.
"Hear Me. I have chosen you. Partner with Me, that I
may use you as a vessel of awakening to those who sit
in darkness. Like Esther, your time is now. It is not time
for you to go undercover and hide. Come out! It is the
time for you to arise and shine."
I prophesy that purity is coming back to the Church. It is
the requirement for the next move of God.
What Happens When We Fail?
The Defeat at Ai:
To this point Joshua and the people of Israel had
experienced only victory. Chapter 7 is the story of
defeat. Thirty-six men were dead, and the army was
frightened. No doubt, Joshua was confused and
puzzled. Certainly he expected an unbroken string of
victories, a winning season, as it were.
Of course, that was God's desire, too - for Israel then
and for us today. God provides every avenue to make
victory possible. At the same time, though, He does not
make defeat impossible. We make choices that can lead
to victory or failure. Too often we choose to go our own
way, and sin is the result. But remember, a failing in life
does not make life a failure. When we experience
failure, it does not have to be a lasting defeat.
In Joshua 7, the Israelites were set in place to conquer
Ai. In fact, they were so assured of the total victory to
come, that the men, who were sent to spy out the land,
had returned and declared there was no need to send
all the warriors to battle; instead they said they only
needed two or three thousand men to defeat Ai (Josh.
7:3).
"So approximately 3,000 warriors were sent, but they
were soundly defeated. The men of Ai chased the
Israelites from the town gate as far as the quarries, and
they killed about thirty-six who were retreating down the
slope. The Israelites were paralyzed with fear at this turn
of events, and their courage melted away." (Josh. 7:4-5,
NLT) (Photo via Pxhere)
The Israelites were shocked. This defeat left them
paralyzed with fear. Had God abandoned them? Had
God changed His mind about giving them the Promised
Land? These were the questions that must have
plagued their minds.
"But the Lord said to Joshua, 'Get up! Why are you lying
on your face like this? Israel has sinned and broken My
covenant! They have stolen some of the things that I
commanded must be set apart for Me. And they have
not only stolen them but have lied about it and hidden
the things among their own belongings. That is why the
Israelites are running from their enemies in defeat. For
now Israel itself has been set apart for destruction. I will
not remain with you any longer unless you destroy the
things among you that were set apart for destruction.
"'Get up! Command the people to purify themselves in
preparation for tomorrow. For this is what the Lord, the
God of Israel, says: Hidden among you, O Israel, are
things set apart for the Lord. You will never defeat your
enemies until you remove these things from among
you.'" (Josh. 7:10-13, NLT)
"Get Up!"
God told Joshua, "Get up!" I also hear the Lord saying to
you as well, "Get up. Get up from your brokenness. Get
up from your disappointment. Get up from that betrayal.
Get up from that place of failure. It may be true that you
have failed but know this, you are not a failure! You are
the elect of God. You have been called for such a time
as this. One misstep does not define who I have called
you to be. Get up!"
The First Consequence: Separation from God
So ultimately, the reason for the whole mess was sin.
We can call it in different terms, like covenant breaking,
breaking faith, transgressing the covenant, rebellion, etc.
But it boils down to this one thing: sin.
This sin was a direct transgression of the covenant that
the Israelites had with the Lord God. God always said in
the Old Testament, as long as you obey I will be with
you.
Because of this sin, Israel experienced her first defeat, if
we look at the book of Joshua. The first six chapters
were a display of Israel being on a high. Last week we
heard the miraculous story of Israel and Jericho. The
walls came crashing down just by people marching
around it.
Because of this sin, God said I will be you no more.