Joshua's Winning Ways

JOSHUA’S WINNING WAYS

Joshua 5:13 -15

God doesn't take sides, He is the side. Get on God’s side

How to know if you’re on God’s side

I. RECOGNIZE THE LORD OF OUR LIFE: vs 14

[as] captain of the host of the LORD am I now come

A Theophany Jesus in human form 1400 years before His birth

At first glance Joshua may not have recognized the "Man" who stood

before him as being "the Lord" but when He answered him,

there was no doubt in Joshua’s mind.

Who or what is the Lord of you life?

May seem like an odd question but it’s a necessary one.

Because most people don’t know

Jesus said in Matt 6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your

heart be also.

What have you spent the most time with this week, outside of work?

Once you recognize Him

II. WORSHIP THE LORD OF YOUR LIFE! Vs 14 fell on his face

John 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers

shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father

seeketh such to worship him.

Ps 150:6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye

the LORD.

Praise ye the lord, Hallelujah

As you worship Him

III. ACCEPT GOD’S WILL FOR YOUR LIFE: vs 14

and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?

George W. Truett said: "To know the will of God is the greatest knowledge!

To do the will of God is the greatest achievement!"

1 Thess 4:3 For this is the will of God, [even] your sanctification, that

ye should abstain from fornication: 4 That every one of

you should know how to possess his vessel in

sanctification and honour;

after you accept God’s will

IV. OBEY GOD’S WILL FOR YOUR LIFE! Vs 15

accept= to take or receive (something offered); receive with approval

or favor: To agree or consent to;

obey= to comply with or follow the commands, restrictions, wishes

or the instructions of:

I accept that there is a speed limit, I just don’t obey it very often

Conclusion

The unbeatable was beaten. The city that couldn’t be taken was taken

Josh 6:2 And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine

hand Jericho, and the king thereof, [and] the mighty men of valour

Josh 6:27 So the LORD was with Joshua; and his fame was [noised]

throughout all the country.

Maturity is recognizing that the choices we make carry consequences. a teacher found a great way to make students pay for their crimes. Troublemakers at Riverside Brookfield High in Chicago are being forced to serve after school sentences in the Frank Sinatra Detention Club. There, for 30 minutes, they must sit still- no talking, no homework, no snoozing- and listen to Frank Sinatra songs. “The kids hate it. They’re miserable,” reports teacher Bruce Janu, a Sinatra fan who devised the club as a way to make detention more fun for him, and less so for the kids. “It just got to where I couldn’t stand it,” said one senior. “It so boring.” Janu isn’t totally heartless, though. He lets students sing along if they want- but nobody does.

WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH

When Lawrence of Arabia was in Paris with some of his Arab friends after World War I, he took them to see the sights of the city. His friends showed little interest in the Louvre, the Arch of Triumph, or Napoleon’s tomb. The thing that really interested them was the faucet in their bathtub. They spent much time turning it on and off; they thought it was wonderful. All they had to do was turn the handle and they could get all the water they wanted.

When they were leaving Paris, Lawrence found them in the bathroom with wrenches, trying to get the faucet off so they could take it with them. You see, they said, it is very dry in Arabia. What we need are faucets. If we have them, we will have all the water we want. Lawrence had to explain to them that the effectiveness of the faucet depended on the water system to which it was attached.

Our study of worship reminds us that the effectiveness of all that we do in the church is not to be found in outward activity or service, but in the One who stands behind it.

A preacher was driving to speak at a church in another county and he was running late. He was driving about 20 miles over the speed limit, when suddenly he remembered he had a Christian bumper sticker on his car. his conscience started giving him fits, saying, "What do these people think about you when you whip past them doing 20 miles over the speed limit?" So he faced this moral dilemma, and knew what he had to do. He pulled off the road, ripped off bumper sticker, jumped back in and kept speeding. By the way, you may have noticed I don’t have a Christian bumper sticker on my car!