Battle Plans

Battle Plans

I was asked a question today, about what the next course of action might be, after a disastrous turn of events. Interestingly my bible reading today was on Joshua 7.

In that piece Achan, a descendant from the tribe of Judah, stole booty from the battle. Jericho was accursed and all that was in it was considered accursed (under a curse by God). God distinctly told the people in this instance not to take the cursed items (clothing, gold and silver), but Achan didn’t listen and he stole what God had specifically said not to.

Judah means praise. The tribe of Judah always went first into battle. In other words; ‘praise’ went first. When we’re in praise, we’re not in fear. That Achan was a descendent from the tribe of Judah is important, for Achan means troublesome. There’s a troublemaker in the tribe of praise. Trouble has to be weeded out.

Judah is the blessed tribe of God, but Achan was ‘trouble’ within that tribe and brought trouble to the tribe, leading to the death of some of the kinsmen. This was the only battle the Israelites lost under Joshua’s leadership. Other battles were lost in Moses’ time, lost also due to disobedience. Moses himself couldn’t enter the promised land due to an anger issue.

When we head into battle, we’re to stay out of fear (always easier said than done). We’re to stay in praise, and not partake anything of which we shouldn’t during the battle. That might be watching the wrong tv shows, reading the wrong books, mixing with the wrong company. Our eye, ear and mouth gates must be as pure as can be. When we stand with God, we have to be all in. We can’t be half hearted.

Under God, we aren’t meant to lose any battles, for His promises are true and He promises us victory in battle. Battles are not won due to our being perfect, because none of us are perfect. To a point, there’s an element of grace, but grace only works when faith stands beside it and we can only be in full faith, when praise goes ahead of us. The first thing Jesus did, was hold the bread up and give thanks to God, before feeding thousands of people. Praise first.

In a losing battle, there’s always something to learn. In a losing battle it’s difficult to remain positive. In future battles it’s difficult to believe God will be there for us next time, since we believe He failed us this time. Faith is a formidable shield, when set in full formation and we have to keep a robust and reliable faith into the future, in spite of the failures of the past. 

Now is the time to look at what we can do to move forward. We replicate the battle in our minds, not to rehash what went wrong, but to plan our course for the next battle, because there will be a next battle; this is how we grow in strength and in faith, for we never start at the top.

Looking at this past battle, what could we change next time, what did we learn that we can do differently/better? Where, if at all, did we go wrong and how do we get it right in the future?

We all learn in increments, a little at a time. When we start something new, we’re never starting from a position of excellence. We build up to it. This is what the battle strategies are; to improve upon, so next time we’ll be better prepared, sharper, more ready and more able.

Joshua sent two spies into the land (Joshua 2), before he went into battle. Spies are also a battle strategy, to prepare us for what’s coming. There’s a verse in the bible (Ecclesiastes 8:4) which says; where the word of the king is, there is power, for who can say ‘what are you doing?’ This verse goes on to say, for he does not know what will happen; so who can say when it will occur?

We cannot predict every battle we’re ever going to face. We do know though, there will be more than one battle and having strategies in place will help us next time. Spies are looking for weak points. This is the reason behind mulling over where we went wrong and what we can improve upon.

Moses sent twelve spies and ten brought fear to the people. Joshua and Caleb were the only two with a good report and it was those two which made all the difference. It doesn’t have to be hard. Remember to keep it simple.

Here are a few of the strategies you might like to choose from (personally, I use all, all of the time), in order to help you win the battle; praise, worship, protection of eye, ear and mouth gates, prayer, thanksgiving, spending time with God, in God’s word, meditating on God’s word day and night, do not doubt His word, memorise biblical verses, to put out the fiery darts of the devil, go up to the mountain (or prayer closet) daily, to aid in forming that all important relationship with God. Pursue Holiness! Decree and declare what you want to see happen in your life, give out love, forgiveness, repentance, tithe, even going to church itself. Patience, obedience (if God says ‘do it,’ then do it), don’t let the sun go down on your anger – they’re all important strategies.

Keep praise to the forefront and thanksgiving to the rear. Jesus was able to take two loaves and one fish, breaking the bread He then blessed it, after which He fed the 5,000. Blessing is a more reverential form of praise. Only one of the ten lepers returned to give thanks and he was the only one made completely whole. If you want to see the supernatural happen in your life, the keys to achieving it are in the written word of God.

You may have lost this battle, but you haven’t lost the war. My suggestion now, is to keep putting one foot ahead of the other. Keep going. Whether you choose to move, or to stay, you’ll feel a peace in the right decision. And that decision doesn’t have to be made today. Give it some time for the dust to settle. God’s not in a hurry. God’s never in a hurry. It will all unfold in due season.

God loves every one of us, more than we know. He sees our heart. He sees our efforts. He wants us all in, never luke-warm. He sent His Son to die in our place. Jesus lay down His life for us, the least we can do is stand up for Him.

 

Sunflower; a Symbol of God’s Love.

Sunflower; a Symbol of God’s Love.

Before heading off to my daughter’s (a twelve hour drive away), I had listened to a you tube clip about watching for the harvest to come in. Quickly, I jotted down a few notes. The clip stated we need to go to church with a harvest mentality. (If what we think about is what we bring about, then yes, we need a harvest mentality.)

I learned a new bible verse a week or so ago; where the word of the King is, there is power (Ecc 8:4). It goes on to say; And a wise man’s heart discerns both time and judgement.

This you tube clip mentioned that we’re going to start moving in time. I don’t know how that will look, but I’m excited. The fact that I had memorised a verse, which lined up with a you tube clip only a short time later, tells me God is speaking, for there is no such thing as a coincidence with God.

Driving to Lizzie’s within a few days of the above, I noticed a tree. It was a dead tree, but the branches and top of the trunk, appeared to look as though they were worshiping the Lord; trunk leaning back, dead arms raised to the heavens and that brought a song to mind; the leaves on the trees will clap their hands.

This got me to thinking how all the plants look skyward, as if worshipping the sun (or looking unto the heavenlies and worshipping what’s above). My thoughts drifted to how we too, should be looking to the heavenlies, while worshipping the Son.

My mind wandered to the sunflower. It always looks to be smiling up at the heavenlies. I love sunflowers. They remind me of sunshine and of God's love, with their beaming happy faces. Sunflowers draw their energy from the sun, to thrive and to grow. We too must fix our eyes on the Son, drawing our strength and joy from Him.

When I got to Lizzie’s, she had a belated birthday present waiting for me and set up in the spare room. A beautiful string of sunflowers, intertwined with twinkling lights. I love the colour yellow. It reminds me of the Father’s smiling face. Sunflowers are one of my favourite flowers for that reason.

I marvelled at how I was thinking of sunflowers, of worship and then received a gift of sunflowers, with lights. For we are meant to be the light of this world, worshipping the Son.

A couple of days later, I walked to church and the talk given that morning was about sunflowers and light. Just amazing! Did you know; a sunflower has between 1,000 and 1,500 seeds? We too should be spreading seed, just as the sunflower does.

I learnt another thing about this beautifully bright flower; sunflowers turn to look at other sunflowers, when the day is dark and dismal. It's a good lesson for all of us. If you're feeling dark and dismal, if you're not feeling the Lord's presence, get yourself to church. When we can’t feel the Son's presence in our life, hang out at church and catch the Glory the congregation radiate, for that will surely lift us out of our despair.

Leaving church after the servce, I walked home again. Due to the brightness of midday, the phone screen was a tad dark and I randomly chose a clip, because I couldn’t see what I was looking at. And what was that clip about? Sunflowers and light. How awesome is God! I could have picked any old thing, but no, sunflowers and light it was.

I do believe God’s trying to tell me something; maybe He has more to tell on this topic, maybe not. Perhaps it’s as simple as this; be the light, worship the Lord and spread the seed of Truth, namely Jesus. Perhaps it is that simple!

I didn’t know until looking it up today (why I’ve never looked this up before, I don’t know), but upon looking it up I found the biblical meaning of sunflower in Christianity, is it’s viewed as a symbol of God’s love, of true faith and loyalty, as well as adoration. It’s a metaphor for abiding in the calm delight of the Lord. (No wonder it's a favourite flower of mine.)

In my notes for this short work, I had penned a little entry, to look up the blessing of Levi and I found out about the ‘service of blessing.’ Deuteronomy 10:8; At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant for the Lord, to stand before the Lord and minister to Him and to bless His name, to this day.

This does tie in to a point, with the writings here. When we are the light, when we worship the Lord and spread the seed of Truth, we are a blessing, not only to God, to also to His people.