Pastor Mike Impact Ministries Michael L Grooms

Yesterday we discussed how the underlying cause of the
humiliating defeat and failure of Israel at Ai was pride. Pride which led to
carelessness, that led to prayerlessness, that led to presumptuousness. Israel
thought they could defeat little Ai without getting specific instructions from
the Lord! It seems we can conquer the mountains, but we stumble over the
molehills! We can’t afford to take a spiritual vacation from our time with the
Lord each morning, seeking His face and Word for our strength and wisdom for
the day, any more than our hearts can take a vacation from beating and pumping
blood through our veins, or our lungs can take a vacation from breathing!

 

Carelessness was the national sin of Israel, but what about
the personal sin of Achan, what was the cause of his sin? It was not looking,
it was coveting! Achan confessed this in Joshua 7:21; why did he covet these things? What is covetousness? Covetousness is an
inordinate desire for things that are not rightfully ours, things that we have
no right to. God wants to supply and give to us everything that we need and
everything that we have a right to, but the tenth commandment in Exodus 20:17
says, "Thou shalt not covet...".

 

Covetousness is like an octopus that just wraps itself
around the human soul and cannot be satisfied and cannot be shaken off apart
from the Lord our God. Another word for covetousness is worldliness. Achan was in
love with the world. He coveted the “beautiful Babylonian garment” so he
could look like the world. He coveted the silver and the gold so he could live
like the world. We need to remember what the Bible says in 1 John 2:15 in the
New Living Translation; “Do not love this world nor the things it offers
you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in
you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for
everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not
from the Father, but are from this world.”

 

But, Achan's real problem wasn't the love of the world, his
real, deeper problem was that "... the love of the Father is not in
him" (1 John 2:15). Now, you see, the love of the world is symptomatic
of the fact that the love of the Father is not in you. It wasn't that he loved
the world too much. He didn't love God enough. Think about that! It wasn't that
he loved the world enough. He didn't love God enough.
John 2:15). The love of the world is a symptom that the love of God is not in
you.

 

Suppose you're driving your automobile down the road and
the red light comes on the dashboard, which means there's no oil in the
crankcase. Well, now, would you take a hammer and break that light and say,
"Well, I've fixed that"? You haven't really fixed it. The red light
on the dashboard is simply a warning, an indicator, a symptom there's no oil in
the crankcase. "... If any man love the world, the love of the Father
is not in him", the love of the world is the red light that tells us
that the love of the Father is not in us (1 John 2:15).

 

The way to handle the covetousness and the lack of
satisfaction, and happiness and the worldliness and sin in our life is to get
the love of God in our hearts. If you're sinning, if there's secret sin in your
life and covetousness that is warping, and ruining your life, rather than
trying to fight that sin, why don't you just load up on Jesus Christ? Why don't
you just let the love of God flow in your heart, and fill your heart, and soul
until you're satisfied with Jesus?

 

Remember when Jesus was restoring Peter in John 21:15-17,
He asked him three times, “Peter, do you love me.” Jesus says to all of
us in John 14:21; “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who
loves Me…”. Our real issue is our love relationship with Jesus!

 

Today, like the old hymn says, “Turn your eyes upon
Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow
strangely dim in the light

The people had experienced a great victory by faith over Jericho. It was a
victory that really only God could be given credit for. Joshua sought the LORD,
and the LORD gave him the instructions, and as strange as they were, Joshua and
the people obeyed them. God miraculously made the great walls fall flat and all
the people had to do was claim what God had promised as they marched forward
into the city.

How often we might experience a great spiritual victory in
our lives and churches only to be overtaken with a great defeat shortly
afterwards! It is so easy for pride to sneak into our hearts, and we take
credit for the victory. What was Israel's sin? The sin of Israel was the sin of
carelessness, marked first of all by pride (v. 3).  They thought they could defeat little Ai,
because they had defeated Jericho. You see, they forgot that Jericho wasn't
their victory, Jericho was God's victory, God's victory. But somehow in their
mind they had the idea that they had done it.

 

Pride is the mother of all sins. Pride gives birth to every
sin in our lives, and in the human race for that matter.

Pride leads us to become careless. Carelessness leads to
prayerlessness! You know why we don’t pray? Because we don’t think we need to
pray! We can do it ourselves without the Lord’s help! Maybe if Joshua had
prayed before he sent the spies out, God would have told him then about the
“sin in the camp”. Pride always leads to presumption and that is we think we
can do it without God’s help.

 

We first should be encouraged to know that there is no
stronghold of Satan, there is no power of sin that the child of God cannot
overcome in the strength of the Holy Spirit. Isn't that wonderful? No power of
Satan is so great that can stand against you. There is no Jericho of sin that
can withstand you when you are filled with the Holy Spirit. That's
encouragement. There is no power or sin so great you cannot overcome it. (1
Corinthians 10:13). But, there is no power of Satan so small that you can
overcome it in the strength of your flesh. And, that's exactly where God has
put you. Nothing can stand before you in the power of the Holy Spirit, but
there's nothing that you can overcome in the strength of your flesh. Israel
overcame Jericho in the power of the Lord, but they failed at little Ai in the
strength of their flesh. They presumed that God would be with them.

 

It's not the Jericho’s that defeat the average Christian,
it's the Ai’s. It's not the big things, it's the little foxes that spoil the
vine. It's the things we think, "We can handle that, to take care of Ai,
we can handle that. Oh, don't send everybody up to take care of Ai, after all,
aren't we known as the great military warriors and victors?"

The sin of pride, and the child of pride is presumption,
and the grandchild of pride is prayerlessness because once we presume we can do
it then we don't pray any more. Pride, presumption, prayerlessness, Joshua
wasn't praying.

 

Do you know what we do? We wait until we make a mess of
things and then we come to God in prayer. Prayer needs to be our first thought,
not our last resort. We need to wake up in the morning and put on the whole
armor of God through prayer. All of our failures are really prayer failures
that root in our presumption that roots in our pride. We can’t afford to get
careless in our prayer life and our Bible study, or any spiritual discipline.

 

Today we should not forget these verses in Proverbs
16:18-20, “Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a
fall. Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, Than to divide the spoil
with the proud. He who heeds the word wisely will find good, And whoever trusts
in the LORD, happy is he.”

 

God bless!

20 And Achan answered Joshua and said, "Indeed I have
sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and this is what I have done:

21 "When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian
garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty
shekels, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth
in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it."

22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and
there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver under it.

 

The path of sin will always take you further than you want
to go. Jesus called the path of sin “the broad way” (Matthew 7:13), and because
it appears to be the easy way, many chose it. In Joshua 7, Achan chose this
path and caused great defeat and even death for others and his family. The
first step in the wrong direction will always lead to the second step!

 

Achan heard his commander give the order that all the
spoils in Jericho were to be devoted to the Lord and were to go into His
treasury (6:17-21, 24). Since Jericho was Israel's first victory in Canaan, the
firstfruits of the spoils belonged to the Lord (Prov. 3:9). But Achan disobeyed
and took the hazardous steps that lead to sin and death (James 1:13-15): "I
saw...I coveted...and I took" (Josh. 7:21). Eve did the same thing
when she listened to the devil (Gen. 3:5), and so did David when he yielded to
the flesh (2 Sam. 11:1-4). Since Achan also coveted the things of the world, he
brought defeat to Israel and death to himself and his family.

 

Achan's first mistake was to look at these spoils a second
time. He probably couldn't help seeing them the first time, but he should never
have looked again and considered taking them. A man's first glance at a woman
may say to him, "She's attractive!" But it's that second glance that
gets the imagination working and leads to sin (Matt. 6:27-30). If we keep God's
Word before our eyes, we won't start looking in the wrong direction and doing
the wrong things (Prov. 4:20-25).

 

His second mistake was to reclassify those treasures and
call them "the spoils" (Josh. 7:21). They were not "the
spoils"; they were a part of the Lord's treasury and wholly dedicated to
Him. They didn't belong to Achan, or even to Israel; they belonged to God. When
God identifies something in a special way, we have no right to change it. In
our world today, including the religious world, people are rewriting God's
dictionary! "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put
darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and
sweet for bitter!" (Isa. 5:20). If God says something is wrong, then
it's wrong; and that's the end of the debate.

 

Achan's third mistake was to covet. "But each one
is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed" (James
1:14). Instead of singing praises in his heart for the great victory God had
given, Achan was imagining in his heart what it would be like to own all that
treasure. The imagination is the "womb" in which desire is conceived
and from which sin and death are eventually born.

 

Achan’s fourth mistake was to think that he could get away
with his sin by hiding the loot. Adam and Eve tried to cover their sin and run
away and hide, but the Lord discovered them (Gen. 3:7). "Be sure your
sin will find you out" was originally said to the people of God, not
to the lost (Num. 32:23); and so was "The Lord shall judge His
people" (Deut. 32:36; Heb. 10:30). How foolish of Achan to think that
God couldn't see what he was doing, when "all things are naked and open
to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account" (Heb. 4:13).

 

Today, may the Lord by His grace give us wisdom and strength
to take the path of righteousness instead of the path of sin! And if you are on
the path of sin today, thank the Lord for Romans 5:8, John 3:16, and 1 John
1:9!

 

God bless!

12 Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before
their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they have
become doomed to destruction. Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you
destroy the accursed from among you.

13 Get up, sanctify the people, and say, 'Sanctify
yourselves for tomorrow, because thus says the LORD God of Israel: "There
is an accursed thing in your midst, O Israel; you cannot stand before your
enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you."

 

As I have been studying Joshua 7, I couldn’t help but think
that an appropriate title for this chapter would be, “The Terrible Consequences
of Sin”. Or even, “Our Choices Have Consequences”. Sin is a word that you don’t
hear much about today in our culture and even in our churches. When was the
last time you heard a media commentator or anchor say the word “sin”. Just
because we deny it, or try to hide it, doesn't mean it is any less terrible. It
was sin that got Adam and Eve kicked out of paradise and brought all the pain,
suffering, chaos, and death into our world.

 

The Bible tells us that “sin is the transgression of the
Law” (1 John 3:4). Sin is also called, missing the mark, (Romans 3:23), badness,
rebellion, iniquity, going astray, wickedness, wandering, ungodliness, crime,
lawlessness, transgression, ignorance, and a falling away. No matter how you
define it or what you call it, we should never forget how terrible sin is in
the sight of a holy God. Habakkuk said it succinctly: “Thine eyes are too
pure to approve evil, and Thou canst not look on wickedness with favor” (Hab.
1:13). And sin is so damaging that only the death of God’s Son can take it away
(John 1:29).

 

Sin is also deceitful! It always hides its true character.
The devil always makes sure of this. Sin first blinds us, then it binds us. Sin
thrills us, then it kills us. Sin fascinates us, then it assassinate us. James
put it this way in James 1:14-16, “But every man is tempted, when he is
drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust has conceived, it
brings forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death. Do not be
deceived, my beloved brethren.”

 

In Joshua 7, Achan is a man who basically had everything a
man should want! A wife, children, a home, a people, a country, and a covenant
with a personal God. But he thought he wanted more. And he thought he could get
it by violating the instructions of the Lord concerning the silver and gold in
the city of Jericho that had been dedicated or set aside for the Lord. What was
meant to be a blessing to all of God’s people becomes an “accursed” thing if
you take it for yourself.

 

There are so many applications to this great truth, room
would fail me to list them here. But here is one that we should never forget!
Jesus said it this way in Mark 8:34-37, "Whoever desires to come after
Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever
desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake
and the gospel's will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the
whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for
his soul?”

 

We can either be a blessing or we can be a curse to others
and even to ourselves. When we yield our lives and our possessions to the Lord
and His kingdom, God is honored and glorified and our family and others are blessed.
When we save them for ourselves, we become the loser, and usually cause great
pain and suffering and loss for others around us.

 

Our choices today have consequences for tomorrow and
eternity! What is your choice today? Jesus or self?

 

God bless!

The is nothing that breeds failure like success! That’s the
story line in Joshua 7! In Joshua 1, we meet God’s man for the hour, Joshua. He
is a prepared man to take the place of Moses to lead the people of Israel into
the Promise Land! He is a servant, a soldier, and a man of faith. In these
first chapters of the book, leads the people miraculously across the Jordan
River and conquers a tremendous fortress, the City of Jericho. In Joshua 2, we
met Rahab the harlot! She is a pagan Canaanite, who put her faith in the God of
Israel, hides the spies, and saves herself and her family from the destruction
of Jericho.

 

Now in Joshua 7, we meet another man by the name of Achan.
No doubt he is one of the soldiers of the army of Israel. He grew up in the
wilderness under the leadership of Moses and experienced God’s provisions every
day; manna from heaven, water miraculously come out of rocks, great victories
over power kings like Sihon and Og, and more recently the transfer of
leadership from Moses to Joshua. He must have heard and maybe even participated
in proclaiming with the men of Israel in Joshua 1:16-18, “So they answered
Joshua, saying, "All that you command us we will do, and wherever you send
us we will go. Just as we heeded Moses in all things, so we will heed you. Only
the LORD your God be with you, as He was with Moses. Whoever rebels against
your command and does not heed your words, in all that you command him, shall
be put to death. Only be strong and of good courage."

 

Achan watched the Jordan River miraculously part and dry up
as they entered the Promise land just a few weeks earlier. He marched around
the walls of Jericho and saw them fall flat and the city destroyed. And he also
must have heard the instructions that Joshua gave all the people in Joshua
6:18-19, “And you, by all means abstain from the accursed things, lest you
become accursed when you take of the accursed things, and make the camp of
Israel a curse, and trouble it. But all the silver and gold, and vessels of
bronze and iron, are consecrated to the LORD; they shall come into the treasury
of the LORD." 

 

Achan was indeed a very blessed man! He was of the seed of
Abraham, an Israelite, God’s chosen people. He was from the tribe of Judah,
which would produce the Messiah. He had a wife and precious children. He had a
nice tent to live in. But! That is how chapter 7 of Joshua begins. Did you
notice how Joshua 6 ended? After the great victory over Jericho we read, “So,
the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout all the country” (Joshua
6:27). Great success! Joshua is on the front page of all the newspapers in
Canaan. He leads the evening news broadcast! And most of all, he has the
testimony that the LORD was with him.

 

Great victory, but there was sin in the camp of Israel that
changed everything. One translation of verse 1 reads,

“But Israel violated the instructions about the things set
apart for the LORD. A man named Achan had stolen some of these dedicated
things, so the LORD was very angry with the Israelites….”.  Remember the instructions in Joshua 6:18-19. Achan
is known in Bible history as the man who troubled Israel (Josh. 7:25). Because
of Achan's disobedience, Israel was defeated at Ai, and the enemy killed
thirty-six Jewish soldiers. It was Israel's first and only military defeat in
Canaan, a defeat that is forever associated with Achan's name.

 

We should never underestimate the amount of damage one
person can do outside the will of God. Over the next few days, we might need to
ask the Lord what are we hiding in our secret closets that is causing defeat in
our families and church!

 

God bless!

The book of Joshua is teaching us that we conquer by faith.
All of us are on a faith journey. Everyone puts their faith in something or
someone every day. As believers we should place our faith and trust in the Lord
Jesus Christ and His Word, the Bible. Others place their faith in a person or
in a religion. Some put their faith in themselves. But the only faith that
never fails to bring joy, contentment, satisfaction, and genuine rest, is a
faith that believes and trust in the true and living God through His Son Jesus
Christ!

 

A genuine faith is evidenced by obedience to God’s Word.
James used these first chapters in Joshua to make this point in James 2:25-26: “Likewise,
was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the
messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is
dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

 

The Holy Spirit also directed the writer of the Epistle to
the Hebrews to use this event as one of the "by faith" examples in
Hebrews 11. The fall of Jericho is an encouragement to God's people to trust
the Lord's promises and obey His instructions, no matter how impossible the
situation may appear to be. You and I may not capture a city as Joshua did, but
in our everyday lives we face enemies and high walls that challenge us.

 

The only way to grow in faith is to accept new challenges
and trust God to give you victory. "Do not pray for easy lives," said
Phillips Brooks; "pray to be better men and women. Do not pray for tasks
equal to your powers; pray for power equal to your tasks."

 

Moses in his closing words to the twelve tribes made this
statement in Deuteronomy 33:25, “…as your days, so shall your strength be.” He
did not say, “As your strength is, so shall your days be”. We often make
excuses for not obeying the Lord and claiming His promises because we don’t
feel like we have the strength to do what He is asking us to do. Like simply
getting out of bed early to read our Bible and spend some time in prayer before
we leave for work. But an amazing thing takes place when we obey. God’s Holy
Spirit empowers us with His supernatural energy to do whatever He has asked us
to do.

 

Actually, it is when we feel the weakest that we experience
the power of God working in our lives for the journey we are facing that moment
and that day. Paul had a problem he felt was hindering him and prayed for it to
be taken away. But instead, God responded with: "My grace is sufficient
for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." So Paul went on to
say: “Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the
power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in
reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For
when I am weak, then I am strong.”  (2
Corinthians 12:9-10).

 

God doesn’t promise strength for tomorrow, but for today.
That is why He taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread….”. We
can only live one day at a time. We can’t live tomorrow! Jesus reminded us in Matthew
6:30-34: “Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and
tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of
little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What
shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For after all these things the
Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things
shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will
worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

 

If God tells you to simply walk around the city walls, by
faith obey Him! He will give you strength and courage for each step! Yes, He
will give you strength for the journey!

 

God bless!