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Who's Holding You Up:

"You have given to me the shield of your deliverance, and your right hand holds me up; your gentleness made me great. You make a broad place for my steps, so my feet won’t slip."
(Psalm 18: 35-36)

In World War II, General Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright led a gallant, but vain fight that led him to become a prisoner of war. For months, the Japanese mocked him and beat him. Then one day, the news arrived that the Allied Forces had won. The prison guards thought Wainwright hadn’t heard the news, so they approached him to inflict their daily habit of abuse. Though Wainwright had grown frail and weak, he stood up straight and tall and said, “From now on, I’m giving the orders around here.”

The devil doesn’t want you to know the Good News that Jesus has won the victory, either. But you must resist him (the devil) and live in the power of Jesus Christ in your life.

Where do you think you’d be if Psalm 18:35-36 said, “I have saved myself. My hand has held me up. My gentleness has made me great. I made a broad place for my steps, so my feet won't slip?" (It's a big ?)

Praise God that your salvation is from Him! There’s a wonderful; verse in Isaiah you need to memorize. It will strengthen you time and time again:

"Don’t be afraid, because I’m with you; don’t be anxious, because I am your God. I keep on strengthening you; I’m truly helping you. I’m surely upholding you with my victorious right hand.”
(Isaiah 41: 10)

Truth and Nothing But the Truth

"...Because we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead, will not die again. Death no longer rules over Him. For in light of the fact that He died, He died to sin once for all; but in light of the fact that He lives, He lives to God."
(Romans 6: 9-10)

The best news this old world has ever heard came from a graveside just outside Jerusalem: He is risen! On that day, life and death met in a tomb in mortal combat. Life won, and Death died. In that tomb, Jesus won the victory over death.

There is no more timeless truth than this: Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. That’s a truth science cannot explain, history cannot repeat, and time cannot erode away. It is the Truth of all truths. It’s the Truth that proves Jesus is the Son of God. Romans 1:3-4 declares it to be so:

"Concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.”

What’s the proof Jesus is God’s Son? Romans says, Here’s your proof:
"God raised Him from the dead.!"

Someone has said, “If Jesus Christ is still in that grave, nothing matters. But if He came out of the grave, that really matters!" Be aware as you go about your day today that in Jesus Christ, you serve not a dead prophet or philosopher; but a risen Saviour and Lord. Jesus is alive; King of kings; and Lord of lords.

"But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you."
(Romans 8: 11)

You Need To Believe & to Belong:

"God’s family is the Church of the living God, the Pillar and Foundation of the Truth” (1 Timothy 3:15)

You are called to believe and belong.

Even in the perfect, sinless environment of Eden before the fall, God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18)

We are created for community, fashioned for fellowship, and formed for a family, and none of us can fulfill God’s purposes by ourselves. The Bible knows nothing of solitary saints or spiritual lone ranger.

While your relationship to Christ is personal, God never intends it to be private. In God’s family you are connected to every other believer. The Bible says, “In Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others” (Romans 12:5)

Following Christ includes believing, and belonging. British author and theologian C.S. Lewis noted that the word membership is of Christian origin, but the world has emptied it of its original meaning. Stores offer discounts to “members,” and advertisers use member names to create mailing lists. In churches, membership is often reduced to simply adding your name to a list, with no requirements or expectations.

To Paul, being a “member” of the church meant being a vital organ of a living body, an indispensable, interconnected part of the body of Christ. We need to recover and practice the biblical meaning of membership. The church is a body, not a building, and an organism, not an organization, truths we encounter in such Scriptures as Romans 12:4-5, 1 Corinthians 6:15, and 1 Corinthians 12:12-27.

"Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another." (Romans 12: 4-5)

Overcoming the Obstacles in your life:

"But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord!
(James 1: 6-7)

Joshua had an encounter with the pre-incarnate Christ in the Old Testament near Jericho (Joshua 5). His first words to Him were, “Are You for us, or for our enemies?” (v.13).

Joshua was scouting out Jericho because it was a formidable city standing between the children of Israel and the land of promise. It looks like there was no way Israel could take Jericho as far as their condition is concerned.

In each of our lives, the devil has placed an obstacle, seemingly overcoming us, an impossible barrier between us and what God wants for us, between us and our dreams & ambitions; between us and the will of God, between us and the desire of our hearts for God's glory. This obstacle (like Jericho) says, “You would have made it, but I'm here to keep you from entering your promised land.”

The obstacle (your Jericho) may be an unhealthy body, an unhappy marriage, a sin that keeps on troubling you, lack of education, past defeats; something insurmountable. You can take one decision from possibilities, 1. Turn around, go back, and live a defeated life in the wilderness of unbelief. Or, 2. As Joshua did, face that obstacle by faith and conquer it.

Notice the Lord’s answer to Joshua: "But as Captain of the Host of the Lord am have now come” (v.14) He came to take over.

Jesus is the Captain of the Host of Heaven. This Conqueror with the drawn sword came to give Joshua a message of victory.

The victory of Jericho was a VICTORY of FAITH.

The lesson in all the book of Joshua can be found in one sentence: Victory is not achieved by fighting; it is received by faith. You will never know victory until you lay your own might & sword at His feet, bow yourself before His Mighty Throne, and worship Him. Jesus will fight your fight; and will surely conquer whatever hinders your life, all for His glory's sake.

BBCA BATANGAS
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JUNE 16, 2018
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