Obedience For Victory

This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture that reject fear and promote faith in God. It explains that fear is a spiritual force used by Satan to keep people down. The book of Joshua is discussed, explaining that the nations being conquered were descendants of Noah who turned away from God. The transcription emphasizes that God gave these nations many chances to repent before they were conquered. It also relates these teachings to present-day victory over sickness and disease through faith in Jesus. The importance of building faith and overcoming unbelief is highlighted, and the role of doctors in the healing process is acknowledged. The transcription encourages readers to trust in God, stay in the Word, and never give up in their pursuit of victory and blessings. Welcome to Fear No Fear. Grace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit embrace you today. This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture. We reject fear in any and all forms. Fear is a spiritual force, the currency of darkness and ignorance. It's what we inherited when Adam gave up his faith and Satan uses it to keep people down. His only weapon is words. If he can get you believing or looking at words of fear, he's got you. Instead, we champion faith as an allegiance to God, as a belief and trust and loyalty to the Lord God Almighty. We accept the evidence of his word as unvarnished truth, as is, just as it's written. We get close to his perfect love through the word, and perfect love casts out fear. 1 John 4.18 All scripture is taken from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Visit eBible.org Joshua 11.6 Yahweh said to Joshua, Don't be afraid because of them. For tomorrow at this time I will deliver up all slain before Israel. You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire. When God gives a victory, he really gives a victory. Chariots were the tanks of Joshua's day. Not only was the Lord going to destroy the fighting force coming against them, they were also going to destroy the ability of these people to effectively wage war later. That is total victory. That said, right about now you may be wondering, as many have, about all the death killing. It's a major criticism of the book of Joshua, full of violence, the sheer bloodshed at odds with the beginning of the book that deals with promised lands and bounty and happy field-goodedness. God didn't pick the land of Canaan out of a hat and decide to eliminate those nations. These were all peoples descended directly from Noah, the righteous man saved from the flood. One of his sons, Ham, had sons who eventually settled in areas and turned into nations. The Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Amorites, the Hivites, the Archites, the Philistines and the Canaanites. All these nations and several more got their start in Ham, son of Noah. Their roots were in the worship of Yahweh God. They knew about Him and they turned from Him. In fact, God tells to the Israelites that these nations were losing their land because of their wickedness, Deuteronomy 9, 4-6. And not to feel prideful about the conquest, because the Israelites weren't always the sweetest dates in the basket either. Amos 9-7 shows us that the Lord had direct interactions with the Philistines and the Syrians. These people, being driven out of Canaan, had hundreds, maybe thousands of years to get right with God. They did not. They chose to forget their reverence for the Lord. They chose to walk away. They lost. The same thing happens to the Amorites. In Genesis 15-16, Yahweh tells Abram that the iniquity, or sin, of the Amorite is not yet full. In Leviticus 18, 24-29, Yahweh explains that He is serious about these things and that the people in the land got vomited out by the land itself for their wickedness. In Deuteronomy 20, 16-18, Yahweh tells the Israelites what they need to accomplish with these people who defiled the land and became land vomit. But not until Joshua 24-8 is it fully accomplished. Between Genesis 15 and Joshua 24 is about 400 years. For those 400 years, God was talking to the Amorites, trying to get them to change their ways. How do we know? Well, first of all, God desires all people to be saved, 1 Timothy 2, 3-4. Second, God is merciful and full of loving kindness, Psalm 136, 1-3, and Exodus 34, 6-7. And He does not impute sin where there is no knowledge of it, Romans 5-13. Third, the Israelites sought to avoid them altogether until one of their kings forced their hand in a piece of the Amorite lands, Numbers 21, 21-25. And fourth, using the Israelites as a guide, God warns of consequences over and over and gives chances over and over. The books of Judges, Kings, and Chronicles, just to start with. These people had chances after chances. Even when King Sidon was killed for attacking the Israelites who asked to peacefully pass through his land, staying on the main road and not even drinking their water, the rest of the Amorite nation did not turn back to Yahweh. God gave all of these people a chance to repent. They did not take it, and they paid the price. Fast forward to today. We're now dealing with purely the spiritual side of things, since Jesus was victorious over death, the price of sin. He did it on the cross, Romans 8, 1-4. So what does God say to us today? Do not fear because I have handed them to you. Jesus did that all on the cross 2,000 plus years ago. So what spiritual things are coming against us? Are you sick? He healed you by his bruises, Matthew 8, 16-17, and 1 Peter 2-24. Believe it. Read the word until it gets inside you and you explode with revelation knowledge. Believe and be healed. Our faith heals us. Matthew 9-22, Mark 10-52, Luke 7-50, and 17-19. When Jesus died on the cross, he paid the price of sin and defeated all sickness and disease for all of time. It's done and gone. The Lord doesn't deal with the done and gone. He cannot and will not put it on you, keep it on you, want it for you, or teach you with it. Nothing but goodness comes from the Lord. Nothing but goodness has ever come from the Lord. So we can be healed of our sickness if we have the faith to believe and do not allow unbelief to get a hold on us. Genesis 15-6. Are you struggling with unbelief? Well, Jesus says in Matthew 17-21 that unbelief doesn't go out except by prayer and fasting. Look at the whole section, verses 20-21. The whole lesson on faith and spiritual truth that you only need a little of it provided your unbelief is not blocking you. And if you have faith in the words of Jesus, then you can dwell in Him. John 15, 4-11. If you're dwelling in Him, that means you're fellowshipping with Him daily. You can also walk in supernatural health, unable to get sick. Psalm 91. And that's one example of present-day victory. Not only of a thing, sickness, but of robbing that thing's ability to wage war against us in the future. Supernatural health. I know you might not believe me. That's okay. I'm not the one saying it. I'm only saying what God said about it. Look it up. Study it. It's in the Word. It's possible. Do A, get B. It's simple. We just need to choose to believe and have faith by grace. That's the easy part. Kill our unbelief and dwell in Him. That's our daily work. It takes dedication, but it's doable. 100%. Now, there's a provision to this. We are healed by our faith. Jesus says that again and again in the miracles He performs. Your faith has healed you. Your faith has healed you. Your faith has healed you. Faith comes by being in the Word. It comes by hearing it. Reading, memorizing, meditating on it. Unbelief is killed by being in the Lord, by praying and fasting. That takes time. This is all truth. You know what else is truth? Doctors aren't evil. Vaccines aren't all evil. In fact, they can be morally responsible to your community, but that's how we kill smallpox. Be led by the Lord in every decision you do. He will never lead you wrong. There's nothing wrong with going to the doctor and getting help. Why? Building faith and shrinking unbelief takes time, but it works. A doctor can help you while you build your faith, but faith works, Hebrews 11, 8-19. Sometimes we're just too human. We're too much in the flesh, and we just can't believe for a miraculous healing. But we can believe for a successful operation. Unbelief can hinder God's best, because we have free will, Proverbs 18-21. But you know what? God meets us where we are, and we don't understand everything. And it's also truth that God has used doctors instead of healing. Why? Well, why not? One thing doesn't have anything to do with the other. You can live in supernatural health. A doctor can help you. They're not mutually exclusive things. Maybe the doctor got saved later in their life because of something you said during your time with them. Who knows? And what does it matter? The fact is that doctors only push back sickness and disease. A cure in the natural is only a cure until something else happens. It's like how the Old Testament dealt with sin. Sacrifice pushed it back. It took a sacrifice of innocent, righteous, sinless blood, Jesus, to pay for sin. It takes acceptance of Jesus' same sacrifice to end sickness. Seek God. Listen, and go to the doctor if he doesn't tell you not to. Go to the doctor if he tells you to. Don't go if he says, Don't go, I'm going to do this. It won't hurt to be helped in the natural if you can't believe for the supernatural. Thank the doctor. Thank God for giving the doctor their ability to help. In the best case, the doctor helps. In the worst case, you'll have the name of the sickness you're coming against. Doctors helping doesn't mean God doesn't heal miraculously, instantly, and continuously all over the world today. Where is your unbelief at? That is going to be the biggest marker of what method your health travels, or anything else having to do with faith in the Word. And never, ever criticize anyone else for which path they choose to trod. Don't stop building your faith or seeking the crucifixion of your unbelief. Hebrews 11.6 Choose to believe God. Stay in the Word. It's a wonderful place to be. Abiding in the Word, abiding in God, will give you benefits that are supernatural. Exodus 15.26 You will experience the blessings of God, and the Lord doesn't have to operate in our understanding. Trust that He can do it. All of it, the Word says He can. Expend the effort. Meditate day and night on it, day after day, as long as it takes, and then do it because it's better than anything else. Never give up. Victory is abiding in God. Jesus has already achieved it. He did it all on the cross. He extends us His spirit of righteousness so that we can achieve it too. Now, a lot of people don't like hearing this. They think it is a bunch of false promises, a feel-good gospel. But it isn't. They are God's promises, and He always keeps His promises. Joshua 23.14 The thing is, though, that God doesn't promise just to bless us. God promises because we are in covenant with Him. We enter into it daily as we choose Him over the world. We enter it through communion. We enter into it when we believe He is the Lord and confess it. We enter into it when we are baptized into His death and resurrection to life again. We enter into covenant with Him. Remember in Deuteronomy, where Moses told the Israelites not to be full of themselves, that they weren't getting the land because of their righteousness? It is therefore implied that they were getting the land because of the inhabitants' lack of righteousness. And God doesn't leave us confused. He loves clarity. Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? But to fear, reverence, the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, to keep the Lord's commandments and statutes which I command you today for your good? Behold, to the Lord your God belongs heaven, the heaven of heavens, and the earth with all that is therein. Deuteronomy 10, 12-14 It gets clearer a few verses later when in verse 20-21 He says, You shall fear, reverence, the Lord your God. You shall serve Him. You shall cling to Him. And you shall swear by His name. He is your praise, and He is your God who has done for you these great and awesome things which your eyes have seen. You want total victory? You want to walk in all that the Lord has promised? Great! Walk in obedience. Walk in reverence. Walk praising Him. This isn't scary because Jesus said, Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. Matthew 11, 28-30 But Jesus also referred to it as taking up our cross. Luke 9-23 This means this is not an easy process. Jesus went through the same thing. People wanted to make Him a king, and He went away to pray. John 6-15 Now that would have been tempting for anyone, much less the man who would come to be a king. Why not be a king without the hassle of suffering? But Jesus walked away from the temptation and entered prayer. He praised His Father. He did not succumb to temptation. He sought to walk in obedience and achieved it. We can achieve the same obedience and the same victory if we do the same thing. It is easy to understand. It is simple. But it takes effort. Not works. Not earning it. Being broken. Admitting that it is only by and through Jesus that we can do it. Taking all of our baggage and all of the pleasures of this world that are not in line with the Word and nailing them to the cross. Daily. Seeking Him and His will. Every day. All day. First and before all else. Letting nothing stand in the way. Nothing get in the way. Walking from temptation by entering into praise and prayer to the Father. Can we do it? In Jesus we can. That is why He came. To restore us. To mediate for us. To lead us. To shepherd us. To get us to where God wants us. In Him we move and have our being. In Him we have victory. In Him we have all that we have been promised. But it takes obedience. Narrow is the door that leads to life. Matthew 7, 13-14. But it is abundant life through that door. It is worth the effort of staying dead to the flesh. It is worth the effort of abiding in Jesus. It is worth the effort and the choice of obedience. Yahweh Elohim will give us the victory because Jesus won the war. He will prevent the enemy from waging war against us again. That is His idea of victory. Nahum 1.9. Total. Absolute. And for all time. Hebrews 13.8. Here we are. And there we will be. Obedient children. Abiding in Jesus and walking in His ways. Start today and don't you ever stop. Embrace obedience. Gain total victory through Christ who does and is all things. Amen. Our daily affirmation of God's love is Psalm 139, 1-18. Well, really the whole Psalm is good. God loves us. You might say that He could never love you. Not with who you are, how you are, or what you've done. You listen to me. He was beside you the whole time. Not there as a vengeful God. Not there helpless. Not there letting you go through it. He was there weeping for you. Broken for you. Hurting for you. Jesus is always there calling out to us. Desperate to save us. To lead us to His pasture. His place. To have rest, restoration, wholeness, and peace. He never leaves us. He is aware of everything that we do. Every moment. Every day. You can't get away from God and you can't get away from His love. He knows you better than you know you and He still loves you. Completely, totally, and without judgment. He doesn't want you wandering. He doesn't want you lost. He wants you in a love covenant with Him. A covenant where loving each other is the most important thing. A covenant where because of our love we find ourselves not only obeying but striving to obey. Choosing what pleases Him because of our love. Which lets Him love on us in a blessing way. To use His eager love to unleash His creative power over us. To make us into Him. To sanctify us and lead us and love on us in ways we can hardly comprehend. Go see Him. You'll get a hug, not a lecture. A feast, not a list of don'ts. It will change your life. It will bring you the abundant spiritual life that is your inheritance. He is life and He is love. Make your covenant with Him today and renew it every day. It's a blessing. As we close, remember that you have earth. You are precious and valuable. Declare this. Today, God loves that I... Now you fill in the blank. Was it a meal you made? A smile you gave? Did you get out of bed? Read? Put on socks? There's no wrong answers here. There is no end to God's love. And no end to the things about you that He loves each and every day. Pick one. And remember, the Lord loves you. Just because you're you. 1 John 4, 9-10 tells us, By this, God's love was revealed in us. That God has sent His only born Son into the world. That we might live through Him. And this is love. Not that we loved God. But that He loved us. And sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. His perfect love turned away God's wrath because of sin. And it casts out our fear too. See verses 18 and 19. We love because He first loved us. He just loves us. Can't get enough of us. And that is wonderful. See you next time.