But if that's what it takes to praise You Jesus...

Story...
In this passage, Israel goes to Ai and get defeated...and why? because God was not with them in battle. God was no longer with them because of the sin of Achan.

"Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings. 12 Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. [1] I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you. 13 Get up! Consecrate the people and say, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the Lord, God of Israel, “There are devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you.”

We need God....
See that's what happens when we are trying to do things on our own. When we try to do things on our own, without relying on God, it ends in our destruction. That goes for everything. If you are trying to get people to think you are cool, it won't work. If you are trying to get a job, it won't work. But most importantly, it works with salvation. If you are trying to work your way into Heaven. It will not work. It will not work unless you rely on God. Put faith in Jesus. Faith in Jesus alone.

Sin...
Our sin is soo bad, only God can save us. How bad is sin? There is punishment..Just look at what happened to Achan. He got stoned. Israel got destroyed. God was no longer with them. God is that holy, He can't tolerate sin. And why, sin is a belittling of God. Saying, "You know God, I don't need you, I can do it on my own. I won't trust in you because I just don't." That's a belittling of God. That is not relying on God. God can't save you? God can't take care of you? Watch out...

Faith...
Does this mean then we need to follow all these rules in order for God to be on our side? No, but it does show how HOLY God is. God says, "Consecrate yourselves" So we need to be be clean, consecrated to God. But how can we be consecrated, the power of Christ working in us. We need to rely on God for this. Only through true faith in Jesus can we be saved. Only through true genuine faith in Jesus can we be justified. Only through true genuine faith in Jesus can we be sanctified.

Reliance on God...
Where do we get that faith from? Through God working in us, we can't force ourselves to love God. But God can work in us. So see it's total dependence on God.

What can we learn from Joshua 7?
1. God is HOLY - basis comes from the fact that when Israel sinned, God was no longer with them. So God commanded them to consecrate themselves. They need to be clean and holy, that's the only way we can be in God's presence. And to further emphasize that, God had to purge evil and destroy sin, which is observed through the stoning of Achan.
2. Sin is when we belittle God and when we do not give Him the glory that He is due - basis comes from when Achan did what he wanted by stealing and lying
3. Without God, we are nothing, we are devoted for destruction - basis when Israel was defeated at Ai
4. We find rest and peace in the complete work of Christ. Full reliance on God, full reliance on the work of Jesus (faith), and full reliance for the ability of having faith in Jesus.

Joshua 6
The Fall of Jericho

Now Jericho was shut up inside and outside because of the people of Israel. None went out, and none came in. 2 And the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor. 3 You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days. 4 Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. 5 And when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat, [1] and the people shall go up, everyone straight before him.”

I thought that this was interesting. It seems as thought that God always has a plan, and then he commands His people. In this case, the Israelites already defeated Jericho, in God's perspective. Then God tells Israel to go through this process..and when they do go through it and obey, then Jericho gets destroyed.

HOW DOES JERICHO GET DESTROYED? IT IS TOTALLY OBVIOUS THAT IT IS THE WORK OF GOD!!

We all know that anything happens because of God. But how about when I worked so hard and studied for my exam? Then I did well? It kinda seems that I played some part in it doesn't it...but we know for sure that it was God, it was because of Him. Yet it isn't so obvious in that case is it?
But how about this part with Jericho? The Israelites march around, blow horns, and shout and Jericho falls. Now that's pretty obvious that it was a work of God right?

Don't you agree?

I think it is like that with our salvation.

In God's perspective, Jericho was already defeated// In God's perspective we are justified.

God commanded the Israelites and they obey despite the difficulties and trials that may come// God commands us to obey and
repent and we obey and repent despite the difficulties and trials that may come

The Israelites have faith and total reliance on the Words of God// We have faith and total reliance on the Jesus Christ

Jericho falls and it is a work of God not of the Israelites...obviously...// We are saved and justified and it is a complete work of Christ....obviously...obviously? yes...saved by grace through faith.

What do you guys think?

Success in life...

Where is the emphasis?

Some Christians think that God will bless them (grant them success in life) in any aspect that they set their heart to.

Since it says in the Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart."

"If I want to be a good business leader, then God will bless me (grant me success). As long as I include God in my plans, then everything will be alright. Alright with God on my side. Who can be against me if I got God on my side?"

VS

"If God wants me to be a good business leader, then God will bless me. Even if I go try to be a business leader and I fail, God allowed it to happen, and I will praise Him because God was magnified in that situation. To Him I give glory. It's all about God and His glory. God is sovereign. It's not about the things that I want to do, it's about doing the will of the Father and being included in His plans. I want to be on God's side and I want to be included in His plans"