Posts Tagged ‘Submission’

Hey RiverStone and friends,

I’m still thinking about Jericho and the crazy battle strategy that God led Joshua to carry out.  Walk around the walls with Worship Instruments leading the way?  Expose yourself to the enemy 7 days in a row with no element of surprise? Don’t make a sound until the 7th day? Shout and the walls will come down?  With our voices instead of our weapons?  Did I hear you right, God, I’d be asking?  Are you certain about this God?

So here’s my question.  How did Joshua go forward with this seemingly crazy battle plan from God?

He was submitted.  He couldn’t launch forward to Jericho with God’s plan without first being “heart-tested.”  Are you being “heart-tested” right now?  What’s a “heart-test?”  It’s a test from God that allow us to feel the condition of our submission.  Is God leading you to something that may be hard, uncomfortable, risky, daring, unknown?  If so, how do you carry forward in obedience?  Be submitted.

Joshua was.  He fell on the ground, face first, when confronted with the army of the Lord’s commander.  He worshipped.  He took off his sandals.  He humbled himself to the Lord’s instruction.  He asked what the Lord’s message was first – he craved hearing from God more than God hearing from him.

Wow!

Let’s do that today – as believers, as churches, as families, as individuals, as organizations in business.  Let’s worship and be all about what God wants to say to us first, and what we want to say to God second.

I enjoyed our time together in worship as we walked through Joy in relation to our growth in Christ.  So in light of Paul saying to us in Philippians 2:12, “…continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling…”, let’s commit together to be with one another to understand and employ what this teaching means.  So what does it mean to work our your salvation?  To earn our salvation?  Nope.  To earn God’s favor and good standing with God?  Nope.  It simply means to develop the gift of salvation that God gave to us by maturing in our fellowship with God.  That is our responsibility…to pull in close to Christ.  How do we pull in closer to Christ?  How am I doing at pulling in closer to Christ?

1. Give myself TOTALLY to Christ – all of my life…don’t compartmentalize, but treasure him by giving him all.
2. Give myself  THE WORD of God – The Word informs our lives, not our lives informing the Word.
3. Give myself to PASSIONATE PRAYER – talk to God.  Simple.  Talk to him with honesty, reverence, seriousness.
4. Give myself to CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY – relationships with other believers.

So let’s ask ourselves these questions, and give honest answers to them this week:  How am I doing in these areas?  What do I need to work on?  What am I doing the best with?  What other areas will serve as good soil for Christian growth?

Let’s take responsibility in maturation with Christ.