Today's Passage - Joshua 8:3-8

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Joshua 8:3-8   So Joshua and the whole army moved out to attack Ai. He chose thirty thousand of his best fighting men and sent them out at night with these orders: "Listen carefully. You are to set an ambush behind the city. Don't go very far from it. All of you be on the alert. I and all those with me will advance on the city, and when the men come out against us, as they did before, we will flee from them. They will pursue us until we have lured them away from the city, for they will say, 'They are running away from us as they did before.' So when we flee from them, you are to rise up from ambush and take the city. The Lord your God will give it into your hand. When you have taken the city, set it on fire. Do what the Lord has commanded. See to it; you have my orders."     The key of winning a battle is God, isn't it? He even revealed a strategy to the Israelites. The way to attack Ai is different from last time. It wasn't with the way of attacking Jericho, which was to circle around it, or like the first time they attacked Ai, which is to attack with a small elite squad. This time they were going to draw the enemy out at the frontline and then launch an attack from behind them. This is why we need to consult God every step in the way when we are engaged in spiritual warfare.   Back in the time of judges, Gideon was getting ready to fight the Midianites with more than thirty thousand soldiers, but God only allowed him to fight with three hundred people, and they overwhelmingly defeated the enemy. This is a good example of defeating an enemy that outnumbers you. In the time of Jonathan, he together with his young armor-bearer killed twenty Philistines at once, and the army of Philistines totally collapsed. It was a strategy from God which had two of them fought side by side. In the time of David, he alone killed Goliath. When you see all these different strategies, you'd see that God doesn't just use one way to fight. In the same manner, in 2 Samuel, David fought the Philistines twice, and the key to victory both times is to ask God before they go to battle. First time was in 2 Samuel 5:19, when Philistines came up to attack, David pleaded God to send him. God said yes, and they won the battle. The Philistines came up again, and David, instead of depending on his past experience, asked God again. God told him not to engage them directly, but to go around them and attack from behind. They again won the battle.   Asking God in everything that we do is the key to a victorious life. Our failures are usual result of us depending on our past experience. Indeed, we can do things according to our experience, but it's not necessary how God wants us to do it. In fact, formalism and legalism are the most effective way to stifle spiritual vitality. The key to break their damaging impact is to ask God in everything that we do, each time we do it! Brothers and sisters, are you willing to start developing such discipline today?   Pray with Pastor Tong       Lord, I thank you because you are the general of the army of Jehovah, and you can lead us to proclaim victory in Christ every day! May the Lord teach us to seek your guidance; may you speak to us so that we can continuously experience victory in our lives. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!