LSM SUNDAY MESSAGE 1-21-2018
THEME: DIVINE FOCUS AND MIRACULOUS TURN-AROUND
TOPIC: God is not slack
TEXT: 2Peter 3:9; Joshua 6
INTRODUCTION: To be slack means to be loose, less active, slow, sluggish, without care or diligence, be without work or activity, not held tightly or holding well to a position. In the way some men apply this term to God, they feel that God is not holding up or acting according to His promises in their lives when things fail to happen as they expect. Are you here this morning and you have been having this type of feeling about the God of the universe? I want to admonish you this day that the ways of the Lord of the universe are past finding out. Rom 11 :33 states this clearly “ O how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand His decisions and His ways. Job 11: 7 states Can you discover the depths of God? Can you discover the limits of the almighty? God is not slack concerning His promises. If He said it, He will bring it to pass. What is that hindrance, Jericho or obstacle preventing you from entering the fullness of your promised blessings? Look unto God, have faith in Him and He will bring it to pass in His timing.
- SEE HIS PROMISE WITH THE EYES OF FAITH:
Israelites had the promise of God made to them for over four hundred years when they left Egypt and for 40 years they refused to enter the land because their eye of faith was blinded by unbelief. Without faith it is impossible to please God. This why the first statement God made to Joshua was for him to see with the eye of faith. See, I have given you the king of Jericho, the city and its men of valor. No king goes to war without counting the cost. Joshua had been and was still a notable general. He had sat looking at how to conquer Jericho but there seemed to be very limited chance of victory, considering his untrained army and lack of necessary tools that could bring Jericho walls down for them to enter. Jericho was a strategic spot and without conquering it and Ai which were elevated portions, it would be impossible to overrun the Land of Canaan. Are you in this sort of situation today, thinking there is no solution? What is that Jericho? God is telling you that there is the way of faith in His words. He has blessed you with all spiritual blessings in Christ. The question is are you ready to appropriate it by taking the substance and claiming the evidence? Failing to appropriate the blessings of God cannot be taken as the slackness of God but yours. You need to ask God to open your eyes of faith so you can see His promises as He sees it. Abraham saw with the eyes of faith and traveled this earth as a stranger but looking for the city whose foundation and builder is God.
- SET YOURSELF IN ALIGNMENT WITH HIS INSTRUCTIONS: The promises of God are yea and Amen if instructions are followed. The bible records that the word of God is forever settled in heaven. Anyone who wants positive miraculous turn-around needs to have instruction from God. Going to battle without instruction from one who knows all things could be disastrous. God made a covenant with Abraham which He consummated by Himself and He was going to finish by Himself without the help of any man. All that the soldiers of Israel had to do was march around 13 times around the city with ram’s horn blowing before the presence of God and they marching voiceless. God’s ways are perfect and are beyond finding out. Sometimes when we tamper with God’s perfect plan, it makes it more difficult to bring down our Jericho walls. The marching around was God testing the faith of His people in His words and making sure they align with His perfect plan. How the Canaanites must have been laughing at the stupidity of God’s plan and at His foolish people? However, at the instance of God on the 13th time, God commanded the horns to be blown and for them to shout. God is not slack concerning His promises as man thinks. His patience had run out after over 400 years the Canaanites had been taunting Him with idolatry. It was time they had to be ejected from the Land. Without any military scheme or tools but with just the blowing of the horns and a shout from Israeli soldiers aligning themselves with the plan of God, Jericho walls came crashing down. Are you in alignment with God’s plan or you are doing your own thing trying to help God? Stop. Be still and know that God is God.
- SUBMIT IN OBEDIENCE TO HIS LEADING: The Israelites did not murmur, complain but fully complied with all that Joshua commanded them. A people that had been disobedient since leaving Egypt, had become obedient and trusting God to see them through. The bible declares in James 4: 7 “submit yourself to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you”. God will only punish disobedience when obedience is complete (2Cor. 10:6). He could not punish the Canaanites while His own people were disobedient. This is usually what makes men wrongly assume that God is slack concerning His promises. The question is, is He? The obvious answer is NO. Obedience is always better than sacrifice. Saul lost the kingdom for sacrificing instead of obeying the instruction to wait for Samuel. Israel overcame because they obeyed the instructions of God though it looked foolish and made it seem as if God was slack in delivering His promise of giving Jericho, its king and its men of valor to Joshua. Where is your obedience in the situation you are in right now? Begin to work on it to ensure it is complete and your Jericho walls will crumble. The first step of obedience is to accept God’s sacrifice for sin, Jesus. This will justify you before God and make you open to the fulfillment of His promises in your life