Daily Devotional
Word of the Day
Robbed of the Power of God
Pastor Scott
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
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"Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you."
(Joshua 7:10)
He that loves silver will not be satisfied with silver--abundance, increase. Our father Adam had that problem; didn't he? Everything else was his; he just couldn't have that one tree. If Adam and Eve went down in that perfect environment without sin in their members, what are we contending with today? Thank God the Spirit of God that indwells us. Thank God that sin no longer has dominion over us. Although we are not prisoners to our lusts and appetites, they are in us. It is an every day confrontation that doesn't go away when you get older. Every day we put on the full armor of God and walk in the spirit that we do not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Godliness with contentment makes us the richest people on the earth. Do we believe that? Are we really living our doctrine? If we're not, instead of walking in power of the Holy Spirit, we're becoming more and more impotent on a daily basis.
In the book of Joshua, Israel was going into the Promised Land. The battle plan was to march around the city until on the seventh day, they would compass the city seven times, the priests would blow the trumpets, and they would shout a great shout--a shout of worship, praise and honor to God--and the walls came down. But when they went up before the people of Ai, they fled and their hearts became as water. Joshua falls on his face before the ark, praying, "What's wrong?" We're always told to pray, but here God said, "Get up; stop praying. Praying is not doing you any good." Many of us are praying, but what good is prayer if there is covetousness in the camp? What good is prayer if each of us individually is out trying to sneak a wedge of gold? Get off up your face. You can't stand because there is sin in the camp; there is an accursed thing in your midst. You can be cursed of God if you defy God or steal from God what is His--the love and the dependence that He deserves as a loving heavenly Father. You do this by saying, "God doesn't care, so I'll get it for myself."
Look at the power of this statement: "Neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you" (Josh. 7:10). The people came before the Lord, and God revealed the household. Achan answered, "Indeed I have sinned against the LORD...I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold...[and] I coveted them, and took them; [and] hid them in the earth" (7:20-21). The people of God couldn't even function. What do you think covetousness is doing to your household? What do you think this spirit is doing to hinder your children from walking in the spirit? There is nothing that will rob the power of God from this war that we are involved in any quicker than covetousness. Why don't we spend a little less time praying and a little more time getting the covetousness out of our houses and see the power of God?
Father, we know that You have put us here in Sodom, but we need Your grace to live. Father, we are like every other man. We can't make it here without You. Our children won't make it without You. Are we content with Your love for us? Or do we think that we need just a little more so we can be comfortable and without pressure? Faith doesn't know pressure. Rest doesn't know pressure. Contentment doesn't know pressure. It's not what we have or don't have; it's in Whom we believe. Make us strong, Father, we ask in Jesus' name.