GOD’S COMMISSION TO JOSHUA
1 AFTER THE DEATH OF MOSES THE SERVANT OF THE LORD, IT CAME TO PASS THAT THE LORD SPOKE TO JOSHUA THE SON OF NUN, MOSES’ ASSISTANT, SAYING: 2 “MOSES MY SERVANT IS DEAD. NOW THEREFORE, ARISE, GO OVER THIS JORDAN, YOU AND ALL THIS PEOPLE, TO THE LAND WHICH I AM GIVING TO THEM—THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. 3 EVERY PLACE THAT THE SOLE OF YOUR FOOT WILL TREAD UPON I HAVE GIVEN YOU, AS I SAID TO MOSES. 4 FROM THE WILDERNESS AND THIS LEBANON AS FAR AS THE GREAT RIVER, THE RIVER EUPHRATES, ALL THE LAND OF THE HITTITES, AND TO THE GREAT SEA TOWARD THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN, SHALL BE YOUR TERRITORY. 5 NO MAN SHALL BE ABLE TO STAND BEFORE YOU ALL THE DAYS OF YOUR LIFE; AS I WAS WITH MOSES, SO I WILL BE WITH YOU. I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU. 6 BE STRONG AND OF GOOD COURAGE, FOR TO THIS PEOPLE YOU SHALL DIVIDE AS AN INHERITANCE THE LAND WHICH I SWORE TO THEIR FATHERS TO GIVE THEM. 7 ONLY BE STRONG AND VERY COURAGEOUS, THAT YOU MAY OBSERVE TO DO ACCORDING TO ALL THE LAW WHICH MOSES MY SERVANT COMMANDED YOU; DO NOT TURN FROM IT TO THE RIGHT HAND OR TO THE LEFT, THAT YOU MAY PROSPER WHEREVER YOU GO. 8 THIS BOOK OF THE LAW SHALL NOT DEPART FROM YOUR MOUTH, BUT YOU SHALL MEDITATE IN IT DAY AND NIGHT, THAT YOU MAY OBSERVE TO DO ACCORDING TO ALL THAT IS WRITTEN IN IT. FOR THEN YOU WILL MAKE YOUR WAY PROSPEROUS, AND THEN YOU WILL HAVE GOOD SUCCESS. 9 HAVE I NOT COMMANDED YOU? BE STRONG AND OF GOOD COURAGE; DO NOT BE AFRAID, NOR BE DISMAYED, FOR THE LORD YOUR GOD IS WITH YOU WHEREVER YOU GO.”Little Round Top is the smaller of two rocky hills south of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania—the companion to the adjacent, taller hill named Big Round Top. It was the site of an unsuccessful assault by Confederate troops against the Union left flank on July 2, 1863, the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg.
Considered by some historians to be the key point in the Union Army's defensive line that day, Little Round Top was defended successfully by the brigade of Col. Strong Vincent. The 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment, commanded by Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, fought the most famous engagement there, culminating in a dramatic downhill bayonet charge that is one of the most well-known actions at Gettysburg and in the American Civil War.
What God asks of us is faith and courage...He will take care of the rest.
1 CORINTHIANS 9:24-27
STRIVING FOR A CROWN
24 DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT THOSE WHO RUN IN A RACE ALL RUN, BUT ONE RECEIVES THE PRIZE? RUN IN SUCH A WAY THAT YOU MAY OBTAIN IT. 25 AND EVERYONE WHO COMPETES FOR THE PRIZE IS TEMPERATE IN ALL THINGS. NOW THEY DO IT TO OBTAIN A PERISHABLE CROWN, BUT WE FOR AN IMPERISHABLE CROWN. 26 THEREFORE I RUN THUS: NOT WITH UNCERTAINTY. THUS I FIGHT: NOT AS ONE WHO BEATS THE AIR. 27 BUT I DISCIPLINE MY BODY AND BRING IT INTO SUBJECTION, LEST, WHEN I HAVE PREACHED TO OTHERS, I MYSELF SHOULD BECOME DISQUALIFIED
JOHN 12:27
JESUS PREDICTS HIS DEATH ON THE CROSS
27 “NOW MY SOUL IS TROUBLED, AND WHAT SHALL I SAY? ‘FATHER, SAVE ME FROM THIS HOUR’? BUT FOR THIS PURPOSE I CAME TO THIS HOUR.
Too many of God’s people don’t know or understand what they are fighting for, or even why they must fight! Many of us die on the wrong battlefields…the errand is plain…take the land for Jesus Christ! It’s not about our own agenda, it’s not about proving a point – it’s about Jesus and Him crucified!We cannot afford to be thrown off course. We must stick to what God has commanded.
HEBREWS 12:1-3
THE RACE OF FAITH
12 THEREFORE WE ALSO, SINCE WE ARE SURROUNDED BY SO GREAT A CLOUD OF WITNESSES, LET US LAY ASIDE EVERY WEIGHT, AND THE SIN WHICH SO EASILY ENSNARES US, AND LET US RUN WITH ENDURANCE THE RACE THAT IS SET BEFORE US, 2 LOOKING UNTO JESUS, THE AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF OUR FAITH, WHO FOR THE JOY THAT WAS SET BEFORE HIM ENDURED THE CROSS, DESPISING THE SHAME, AND HAS SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE THRONE OF GOD.
What I love about the battle of Little Round Top is…the Union was out of ammunition, they were short of soldiers, and many of them were wounded…the Colonel decided to charge!
They had a border / flank, to protect and retreating was NOT an option!
The same is true for you and me in the Kingdom. We have a church to protect, we have a community to protect, a city to save…retreat is NOT an option…when the enemy is on the pursuit, rather than react to what he’s doing – attack!!
ISA. 59: 19 – ‘WHEN THE ENEMY COMES IN LIKE A FLOOD, I WILL LIFT UP A STANDARD AGAINST HIM…’
A standard is not a shield or a barrier…it’s a flag bearing the colors of my armed forces…in other words, when the enemy charges, we’re going to tell him who we are, and then FIGHT BACK!
Not only will we be engaged in the fight, SO WILL THE LORD! He will fight with us and FOR us!!
DEUTERONOMY 1:29-31
29 “THEN I SAID TO YOU, ‘DO NOT BE TERRIFIED, OR AFRAID OF THEM. 30 THE LORD YOUR GOD, WHO GOES BEFORE YOU, HE WILL FIGHT FOR YOU, ACCORDING TO ALL HE DID FOR YOU IN EGYPT BEFORE YOUR EYES, 31 AND IN THE WILDERNESS WHERE YOU SAW HOW THE LORD YOUR GOD CARRIED YOU, AS A MAN CARRIES HIS SON, IN ALL THE WAY THAT YOU WENT UNTIL YOU CAME TO THIS PLACE.’
How do we fight?
- Prayer
- Devotion
- Worship
- Evangelism
- Holiness
- Liberality
- Fasting
2 CORINTHIANS 10:3-6
3 FOR THOUGH WE WALK IN THE FLESH, WE DO NOT WAR ACCORDING TO THE FLESH. 4 FOR THE WEAPONS OF OUR WARFARE ARE NOT CARNAL BUT MIGHTY IN GOD FOR PULLING DOWN STRONGHOLDS, 5 CASTING DOWN ARGUMENTS AND EVERY HIGH THING THAT EXALTS ITSELF AGAINST THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, BRINGING EVERY THOUGHT INTO CAPTIVITY TO THE OBEDIENCE OF CHRIST, 6 AND BEING READY TO PUNISH ALL DISOBEDIENCE WHEN YOUR OBEDIENCE IS FULFILLED.
