Good day to you...
And Thank You for stopping by. Armed with the knowledge of the Antecedents and the three lessons we dug up from them as discussed in our last newsletter, we shall without further ado, delve into today's portion:
Meet the Subsequent
1. Gilgal is a Place for Fresh starts and of Divine ideas (Josh.5v9-15)
When Gilgal comes after total obedience, slavery and all that go with it: shame, disgrace, poverty, hunger, nakedness, sickness, disease and death; is past. There is NOW the reality of a fresh start in all areas. Divine ideas are now available in abundance so that there is much growth at many fronts simultaneously.
Not just normal growth but accelerated growth. It is super recovery! It is speeded restoration. When God initiates with you the Gilgal experience, you shall not only catch up with your peers that left you behind before in their wake, you shall be empowered to pass them many times over. At Gilgal, God says to His own, "I have rolled away reproach from you." Amen.
Divine ideas did not mean the Israelites would not fight battles. Ideas came that they might fight well. Instead of fighting for victory, they were fighting from a victory. The idea on how to handle his first conquest came direct from Christ unto Joshua. For you it may be how to get admission for first degree studies, or how to land you first job/contract, or how to make your first investment.
No matter what it may be, a person at Gilgal gets divine ideas for fresh starts; and anything that starts from 'fresh' is always a 'first'. It is fresh because God completely takes over the management of your situation. Your case may not demand God's physical appearance as in the case of Joshua; if you would listen, you shall hear God speak. And when He speaks, even when He tells you to wait here, you trust and obey.
Talking about ideas, do you know what one divine idea can do to your life and those around you? It has the potential to change your life forever such that you become an alien to things that are negative. Some illustrations may do justice to this point. One idea from God to Joseph unto Pharaoh changed his position forever. It impacted not only him and his family, it saved the known world then from famine and destruction. Was Israel not preserved?
See Daniel. One idea from God to him unto Nebuchadnezzar was sufficient to place him above his peers. Was he not promoted? Did he not become influential enough to demand that his three friends be promoted? Were the so called wise men of Babylon not spared from the king's death decree? When Joshua followed the precise instructions of the Lord concerning Jericho, he acquired victory effortlessly and without stress.
2. Gilgal is a Place for Fortification and of Defense (Josh.10v6-15, 43)
After the Lord initiated the Gilgal experience with Joshua and the people that he led, this wise General obeyed an important spiritual principle. He fortified his position, he built upon his experience.
He turned that point of divine encounter into a base of operations. As long as they stayed in purity and obedience; if the enemy meets him there, it is that they are coming to negotiate for peace and servitude; if he leaves there to combat the enemy, it is to totally destroy them.
Why many of us have had very few substantial victories is because we have refused to fortify on our spiritual experiences; that is why we don't grow in the Lord. You don't leave ever the Gilgal experience behind! Gilgal indentifies the point at which Elisha was launched into ministry (see 2.Kg.4v38); do you know that is where he used as his headquarters?
Lessons From The Subsequent
Lesson Number One: At Gilgal, Gods own must look up! While for many that the Lord has carried across Jordan; the challenge is letting go, the issue is surrendering all. Even after surrendering, there is still something that you must do- put all your trust in God. It is very difficult to trust God when you haven't totally obeyed Him. When Joshua surrendered all, he was able to look up (Josh.5v13).
It appears to me that why many of us cannot yet fully look up is because we have placed portions of our trust in other things. David said in Ps.121v1, "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord…" To properly look up you must have nothing else to look down upon.
When Joshua was close to Jericho, his present obstacle, he looked up. He didn't look to his problems, if he did then Jericho would have been bigger than his God; Jericho would have prevailed upon his perception and he would either not have heard God speak, or he would not have heard God clearly.
While there is the need for us to always pray that God increase our spiritual sensitivity, it is worthy to note that our readiness to always obey and trust God, clears the spiritual channels.
Lesson Number Two: At Gilgal, God's own must prioritize! No time for rhetoric. No time for arguments. Not time for babblings. Introspection was done at the time of circumcision, and understanding of God's will became specific. So from that point henceforth, only things and people relevant to the vision are necessary, every other thing is unnecessary baggage.
Even when the Lord appeared, Joshua still asked Him to identify himself. It was still necessary for Joshua to ask the greatest Commander in the universe, "Are you a friend or a foe?" Anything contrary to what God has already revealed is a foe?
If that young prophet (see 1 Kings 13) that God sent to Jeroboam had learnt this lesson, he would have easily recognized that the old prophet and his message were foes to his destiny. Paul proudly declares, "...forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are in front, I press toward the..."
If a person is not identified to be from God's army, he is unnecessary baggage. If a thing misaligns with the first revelation from God, it is unnecessary baggage. Many of us still carry around unnecessary baggage in the form of beliefs, friends and what have you; that is why many have not enjoyed the blessings of Gilgal, and some others have been derailed from Gilgal. Christ said to Martha in Lk.10v41-42, "...thou art careful and troubled about many things. But ONE thing is needful..."
Lesson Number Three: At Gilgal, God's own must learn the essence of their transplanting. A cocoa plant that never leaves the nursery will never fulfill destiny. If it must, then it has to be transplanted. This is not a matter of PLACE, it is a matter of SOURCE.
At Gilgal, before victory over obstacles must come, God desires that we not only prioritize, we must evaluate wholesomely our source. He told Joshua, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy."
Sandals were used by Paul to represent the gospel of peace. What is gospel? It is simply a message or a report. If God has spoken to you about you, if He has shown you partially or fully His plans for your life, then He has given you a message-- your message. Whatever He has shown or given you represent your sandals.
Because God knows how easy it is for us to so cling to a revelation that we forget the God behind the message; He also says to His own at Gilgal, "Believe the vision, yet stay connected to Me for I am your Source."
Lesson Number Four: At Gilgal, God's own must learn the value of godly fear. This is because God never intends to bring His own to Gilgal only for them to lose out from reaping the dividends of the experience continually.
The fear of God is simply holy reverence. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. If we fear the Lord then our obedience to Him shall remain permanent without it being usurped by human pride. Then we shall always want to put God first, we shall always want to accomplish His desires.
If this godly fear keeps us always in obedience then we can continue to reap the dividends of Gilgal. Then we can always be instant in season and out of season because of the wisdom that is readily available unto us. The Bible tells us that Joshua fell with his face to the ground in reverence. "I am at your command."
On his knees, Joshua asked the Lord of his destiny, "What do you want your servant to do?" This godly fear will enable us to perpetually be at the feet of the Master. It is at His feet we conquer and dominate. He said of Mary at His feet, "But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her."
In the third and last part of this series, we shall look at the Consequents. Don't forget to share this newsletter with your friends. Your comments and feedback are welcome and appreciated.
God bless you. Shalom!
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