November 12, 2024

We Are Not Finished

In the early portion of Joshua’s campaign to take the promised land, he made two critical mistakes. The first occurred in Joshua 7, when Israel lost the battle at Ai, a small, insignificant town. This was the battle immediately following the great victory at Jericho. The defeat occurred because a man named Achan had violated the Lord’s instructions to put all the spoils of Jericho into the national treasury. The spoils were the “tithe” of the coming conquest, and would be used to support God’s future plans for Israel. Achan stole some of this provision for himself. This sin had not yet been revealed, however, when Israel fought this battle at Ai, and they were soundly defeated because of their disobedience. 

When Joshua complained to the Lord regarding this humiliating defeat – yep, he did so (Joshua 7:7-9) – Yahweh was quick to enlighten him as to why it occurred. Obviously, the Lord would have been willing to alert Joshua to Achan’s sin BEFORE Israel went into this battle and suffered defeat had he simply taken the time to ask for God’s plan and strategy.

Why didn’t Joshua ask for this? Sadly, it was due to self-confidence. Pride. Joshua’s recon team had told him only a small group was needed to fight Ai, for “they are but few” (7:3). Think about it: this thinking was only relevant if Israel believed it was THEIR strength and ability giving them victory. However, if it were God’s strength and power that produced victory at Jericho, He would also be needed at Ai and in all future battles. We need God’s help for the “small” battles just as much as for the “big” ones! Yahweh must always be our source of victory, and therefore, we must always ask for His strategy and help. 

The second major mistake Joshua made wasn’t regarding a physical battle, but a forbidden covenant he entered into with a place called Gibeon (Joshua 9). An envoy from there acted “wilily” (“craftily” - NASB, verse 1), pretending to be from a far country. The Gibeonites spoke highly of the Lord (verse 9) and asked Joshua to make a covenant of peace with them. Just as at Ai, Joshua “asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord” (verse 14) and entered into this forbidden covenant. Lesson unlearned!

So pathetically human!

After a victory or two, we humans often forget our need for God’s wisdom, strategy, and strength. WE are “on a roll.” WE are “more than conquerors…overcomers.” And WE forget the “through Him” portion of the promises. When this occurs, the “crafty” one (Genesis 3:1) moves in. Self-confidence, which is a form of pride, is all that is needed to open a door to defeat. 

Applying the Lesson

Why this history lesson? Because we who want to see America’s government turn from sin and corruption are now set up for this. Trump is not our savior, and “we” are not turning our nation around; God is. We must NOT transfer our hope and faith to a man, or fall prey to an arrogant mindset that smugly says, “We got this!” The past election may have been a “Jericho,” but beware of Ai and Gibeon!

I’m hearing numerous warnings from individuals that the left is “working” through the vote counting for remaining House seats. Several states, including AZ, NV, AK, CA, and HI, are still counting votes. If conservatives don’t maintain control of the House it will seriously affect the level of change that can be implemented at this time. We must continue to pray for a fair election. If not, this situation could be our Ai. 

Also, the position of Senate Majority Leader will now be transferred to the Republicans. This position is incredibly important because this person controls much of what happens in the Senate. He alone could stall a lot of what President Trump wants to accomplish. Mitch McConnell has been the Republican leader for several years (Minority Leader of the Senate for the past few) and has compromised on many important issues; he is stepping down. It is VITAL that the right person replace him to now lead the Republicans and the entire Senate. John Thune, John Cornyn, and Rick Scott are running for this position. Many believe Scott is the most conservative, myself included, and the one most committed to the changes we conservatives want to see. The country voted for total change, a complete turnaround, and that is exactly what we need. We must not allow “crafty” politics to decide this position; it could be our Gibeon. Please pray regarding this. Ask God to expose, intervene, and allow only His choice to fill this position. 

Obviously, I am not endorsing Scott - you and I don’t have a vote - only Republican Senators do. But we can and must pray, asking for God’s intervention. We can ask that “deals” be exposed, that all motives and past decisions of those running come into the light, and that Holy Spirit move on the minds and hearts of the Republican Senators, influencing their votes. 

I leave you with one more passage of Scripture. In 2 Samuel 5, through God’s instructions (verse 19), David won a great victory at the valley of Rephaim. As often occurred in that time, he renamed the place with a name representing this victory, calling it Baal-perazim, “the Lord of the breakthrough.” (Baal was not just the name of the false god, Baal; the word simply means “lord or master.”)

Almost immediately, David’s enemies regrouped and came against him again. Same enemy, same place. BUT rather than assume he should fight the SAME enemy, in the SAME place, with the SAME strategy, David inquired of the Lord again. “No,” the Lord said, “do it differently this time” (verses 23-24). David obeyed and won an even greater victory. 

We cannot assume we know enough to defeat satan and his plans. And we must never assume our strength alone has given us victory. God has great breakthroughs for us during this season, but only as we honor and follow Him. 

Pray with me:

Father, we are confident that You who have begun a good work in our land intend to finish it. You birthed America as a harvesting nation, and the greatest of all harvests is at hand.  We are confident that You are working to prepare our nation, even as You ripen this harvest. You do not intend to allow the “crafty one” to spoil Your plans. We are asking for Your help, Your direction, and we are relying on Your strength to fully turn our government and nation. Just as David was told to listen for a certain sound before striking, we are listening to You, the God of Breakthrough. 

We ask that any and all unrighteous election activity be exposed and thwarted. Allow only those who truly won the most legal votes into the House. And give us Your choice for Senate Majority Leader. As we frequently do, we honor Your instructions to the Ekklesia in Matthew 6:10 and 16:18-19, binding every demonic effort to steal House seats and influence this decision of the Senate. We command Your will to be done in these two situations, agreeing with Your word. 

We continue to ask for divine protection over President Trump, his family, and team. We also ask this for all others in our government. Place Your protective hand on them. 

And in closing, Sir, we thank You for the reports that keep rolling in of revival breaking out on our campuses. You are doing it! THANK YOU!!!

In the Holy name of Jesus – which means in His authority – we pray this. Amen. 

Our decree:

We decree that we, the Ekklesia, will not fail to persevere in our prayers for turnaround in America.

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