Fbcj Solid Youth

Looking at the nation of Israel and their preparation for the battle we can learn many things that will help us in our daily Christian walk.

From Joshua chapter 13-24 Israel subdues the land, divides out their inheritance, settles in, and sets up the kingdom under God’s rule and authority. All along the way, the enemies of God continue to counter God’s plans and purposes, and they will never stop. Salvation, entering into our land, and seeing major victories are only the beginning of our walk with the Lord! We need to heed these final take-aways to stay on-guard and on the offensive in the daily spiritual warfare around us.

When confronted with the truth of the Word of God, it can be easy to acknowledge that what God says is true and that the wisdom that comes from the Bible is what we need to hear. The hard part is humbling ourselves and allowing what God says to practically change us from the inside out. A changed life that lines up more and more with God’s Word is proof that we are walking in obedience to the Lord. If you are willing to become obedient to the Lord, the following principles will help you live out the biblical guidelines we have discussed.

The Bible places great importance on physical purity (1 Cor. 6:18-20; Prov. 6:24-29; Job 31:9-12). It is not only a sin against God that defiles the picture of the gospel that he desires to display through your life, but it is a sin against your body that was made in the image of God! When it comes to dating always remember, if they are not concerned about protecting your purity, they do not care about protecting their own… and they are definitely not concerned about what the Lord thinks! (Prov. 16:6; 23:17; Phil. 2:3-4)

Now that Joshua and Israel are walking in step with God and gained massive victories in Jericho and Ai, the other enemies of the land respond to the people of God. When God is at work and the word of God is declared, there is always a division among the people (Lk. 12:51-53; Jn. 7:43; 9:16; 10:19-21; Acts 28:24). The enemy of God will never rest as we allow God to lead us into major victories, but God end up using the enemy’s response to open up new doors for even more victories when we continue to follow his lead!

The emotional part of a person is referring to what kind of person they are like. It can be surface-level things like their interests and annoyances, or deeper things like their character, values, and overall personality. These characteristics are likely to change over time, especially as the spiritual part of a person grows and matures. The best way one can mature in this area of life is by learning to let the truth rather than emotions lead the decision-making process. (1 Cor. 8:3; 14:33; Jas. 3:16; Ps. 51:6; 119:30).

After a stunning defeat in Ai due to Achan’s sin of taking the accursed thing, the people of Israel are feeling the pangs of defeat and demotivation. Where do they go from here? There is still a mission from God to take their land… but what are they to do? They must turn to the Lord to get instruction and get back into the battle. Joshua hears from God and leads the people back into the mission. The grace of God runs deep when we are willing to truthfully and thoroughly deal with sin.

In this lesson, Bobby goes through what the Bible says about having a ministry-minded marriage and examples of success found in the Scripture.

This is part 2 of Rick's lesson on the assurance of salvation...

In this lesson, Rick discusses the topic of the assurance of salvation that was prompted by a real-life circumstance. This is part 1 of 2.

Going back to the very beginning, and most important part of this series, our relationship with God must be our top priority. Our personal relationship with God impacts every other relationship in our life. When our relationship with God is not right, no other relationship will be right, and especially when it comes to dating! As we walk with God daily, we will find ourselves glorifying Him by being in the center of His will, actively taking ownership in His work, and being faithful in every area of our life... not because it is our duty, but because we love Him (1 John 4:19, 9-10)! When you live this kind of life, the love for God and His work becomes such a focus that you consistently pursue the Lord in all aspects of your life. This focus shapes your character, values, habits, behaviour, and decisions... and ESPECIALLY your future career and potential spouse. In fact, you may be so busy pursuing God that you will not even be looking for your future spouse... He will have to be the one to introduce you two

Based on how things went tonight we had an impromptu Q&A!

VICTORY!! God gave his people an amazing victory over Jericho. Israel was totally and utterly obedient to every word of the Lord every step of the way and God gave them the victory! But then we see the first word of chapter 7: “BUT...” “But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing...” In the midst of victory, when their guard was down, sin crept in, defiled the whole nation, and resulted in casualties. This trespass needed to be dealt with or else they will never be victorious again in the mission God gave them. We must take heed to the lessons God is teaching us in these chapters if we are going to overcome our weaknesses and faults to truly glorify our Lord.

Often our emotions get in the way I making sound decisions. This is especially true when it comes to dating! We need wisdom from the word of God...

In this lesson we lay the groundwork for dating biblically by going back to reinforce the first principles of biblical relationships and seeing how that practically works out in the dating world.

Now that God’s people are fully prepared inside and out, it’s time for their first battle – Jericho. This is the day they’ve been waiting for as a nation since they left Egypt. God’s battle plan seems to be very unconventional, but we will see that the people are obedient to whatever God says and the Lord is able to work wonders in and through them! Consider your own heart, life, and mission field as we go through this chapter. What has God asked you to do? Are you willing to do anything God asks of you?

Outside of Jesus Christ every single person is flawed by their sin, sin nature, and sinful flesh, so it is inevitable for relationships among each other to be plagued with problems. What truly matters is what we do about it. No normal human likes conflict, but having peace among each other is truly priceless! Let’s choose to have a humble heart and learn what we need to do to deal with relationship difficulties the right way.

God has taken his people on a journey of transition from the leadership of Moses to Joshua, established proper leadership, gave them a mission with inspiring words of encouragement, had them spy out the land of their inheritance in preparation, and led them miraculously across the Jordan River with Jericho in their view. The children of Israel are about to head into their first battle... but before they can fight they must prepare personally and corporately from the heart. If you and I are going to fight for our promised land(s), heart preparation is required!

Outside of the family unit the next most influential relationship are your friendships. Those that we make close bonds with often shape who we are and what kind of person we will become. Many times we don’t even realize how they change us. Friendships are made through common interests, similar goals, and shared values (Prov. 13:20; Ps. 119:63; Mal. 3:16; Heb. 10:24). Consequently, your closest friends reveal the true pursuit of your heart, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matt. 6:21).

This is message 2 of 2 concerning our transition as a church to Faith Promise Giving.