Today's Passage - Joshua 10:8-10

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Joshua 10:8-10    The Lord said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you." After an all-night march from Gilgal, Joshua took them by surprise. The Lord threw them into confusion before Israel, so Joshua and the Israelites defeated them completely at Gibeon. Israel pursued them along the road going up to Beth Horon and cut them down all the way to Azekah and Makkedah.    In order for a miracle to happen, there must be promise of God and obedience of men. God once again promised Joshua: "Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand." That meant Joshua was a little intimidated by the joint force of five kings. He knew that he didn't hold the key to victory in the battlefield. If he held the key to victory, he wouldn't be so afraid. He knew that in the last two battles, the key to victory in both cases was God. Therefore, he was afraid because he didn't know how God would fight this battle. To Joshua, every battle was a humbling experience, because he had to completely depend on God. This once again reminds us that we must seek God's guidance and promise in all things; once we have His promise, God's word becomes our strength, and it will overcome all fear.   Having God's promise, however, is not everything, because there must we must obey after we receive His promise. Because Joshua obeyed, God destroyed the joint force in front of the Israelites. If Joshua didn't obey God, this miracle would not have happened. We often hide God's promises in our head, or put God's promises on our bookshelf, but seldom follow the conditions of His promises. Therefore, we seldom experience God's miraculous work.   One time I was in a meeting where a prophet was ministering. A prophet prayed for me and told me that God will give me the gift of evangelism. When I preached the gospel, I will carry authority to break the bondage of idols. I was surprised to hear it because I seldom led evangelistic meetings; when I was invited to lead evangelistic meetings, I would pray hard before deciding whether to accept. Since that day, many churches have invited me to lead their evangelistic meetings. I used to turn down many invitations, but God's promise was so clear that I could not refuse them. Therefore, I accepted all the invitations to lead evangelistic meetings. I thank God because every time I extend the invitation to accept Lord, God would give the church many new believers. During one of the evangelistic meetings, over thirty people accepted the Lord, which never happened before! I learned an important lesson from this experience - Miracle equals to God's promise plus our obedience. May the Lord help us, teach us the lesson of obedience in our life, so that signs and wonders may be done through us!   Pray with Pastor Tong         Lord, we thank you because you are the God who commands us, and you also accomplish great things for us. May you give us a sensitive heart, help us to understand your promise, and give us an obedient heart so that we can move forward courageously like Joshua did. You will give our enemies into our hands! I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!