Trust And Obey PartII

Joshua left the tent of the presence of the Lord dumbfounded by the Lord's command. The Israelite army was to march around the heavily fortified city of Jericho seven times and shout on the final pass. Determined to show no apprehension for God's request, Joshua walked back towards the encampment and was met by a man.

Joshua 5: 13-15, "While Joshua was near Jericho, he suddenly saw a man standing in front of him, holding a sword. Joshua went up to him and asked, 'Are you one of our soldiers, or an enemy?'
'Neither,' the man answered. 'I am here as the commander of the Lord's army.'
Joshua threw himself on the ground in worship and said, 'I am your servant, sir. What do you want me to do?'
And the commander of the Lord's army told him, 'Take your sandals off; you are standing on holy ground.' And Joshua did as he was told."

Joshua had to see the Spirit world that is hidden from the people of the world. He had to understand how the unseen world and our world co-exist for the purpose of helping human beings who were on the side of God. This knowledge would give him the ability to be strong and determined so he could trust and obey God as he began the awesome task of conquering the Promised Land.

An explosion sounded in a tremendous thunder scattering the rock walls of the city into tiny bits. It devastated every armory position, every watch tower, and the heavy gates that once protected Jericho. In one quick attack the army ran towards the city. They destroyed every living, breathing, thing and ignited the city in fire.

Every idol and image of their idols had to be destroyed. Every part of Jericho had to be annihilated so that the Israelites would not be tempted and pulled into their evil lifestyle.

God had to separate the Israelites from evil so they could be a living example to all nations of how to be good in an evil world where Satan is king. The Israelites needed to be the messengers for the foundation of the Laws of Moses that would begin in Israel and spread throughout the entire world.

The surrounding nations needed their illustration so they would turn away from their former practices and follow the powerfully, miracle working God of Israel. A God who was a God of order. A God who would bring in a government of justice. A God who would use any means necessary to grab people from evil and instruct them in truth.

God revealed His greatness when He took the sinful nation of Israel and turned them into Law abiding, obedient servants who would even die in order to get God's message out. People who would face the evil of this world and conquer it by the knowledge given to them by God.

Joshua was given a vision of the supernatural world of spirits so he could see the commander of the unseen army of God. Seeing this world brought him to his knees in fear. Suddenly he realized that there was more to this world. An unseen world of spirits that co-exist along side of man.

Ephesians 6: 11-13, "Put on all the armor that God gives you, so that you will be able to stand up against the Devil's evil tricks. For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age. So put on God's armor now! Then when the evil day comes, you will be able to resist the enemy's attacks; and after fighting to the end, you will still hold your ground."

Joshua realized that he was not fighting against human beings, he was fighting against the wicked spiritual forces of the unseen world. Spirits who could influence the mind of men for good or evil. A heavenly world of rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers who wanted to destroy the lives of men.

The hardest thing I ever did was to completely commit my ways to the supernatural messages God typed to me. His messages became my thoughts and opened up my mind to think and act differently towards the conflicts that surrounded the lives of men.

My trials over the custody of my three children put each message into an illustration of how God uses people to fight against the wicked spiritual forces of the unseen world. Forces that use the word of God for evil. Spirits that influence even church people to fight against the very nature of God.

1John 3:10, "Here is the clear difference between God's children and the Devil's children: anyone who does not do what is right or does not love his brother is not God's child."

An unseen spiritual world of good was beckoning me to see my world in an entirely different perspective. A world where we are chosen to do battle against evil in our human form. A plan set forth by the living God to rally the human troops against the wicked spiritual forces of evil for the side of love.

A world where we are God's heroes battling forces of evil that can't be seen, but are present in the very heart of men. Men who listen to evil and are determined to fight against anyone who is on the side of love.

The courtroom was filled with members of my ex-church. I walked in on crutches determined to fight against the persecutions they were waging against me for loving Tori. Two weeks before my former church pastor and a deacon watched as my ex-husband slammed a car door into my leg over and over again and did nothing to stop him.

God sent me a message telling me to let the people who were not members of this church know just exactly what kind of leadership was teaching their kids. I obeyed and anonymously sent letters off to every parent whose kids were in the Wednesday children's program.

The crowd of Southern Baptist members were there to show there support to Eric and their pastor. They wanted to intimidate me and make me see that my being gay gave them the right to do anything they wanted against me.

That morning I had received another message from God telling me to not go forward in court. He stated that they were only going to make it about me being gay and it could lead to them trying to hurt me even more. He said we had made our point when we sent letters to the parents.

When my lawyer arrived, he looked at the crowd in the courthouse room in bewilderment. He agreed with me that we should let go of the protective order. He looked at Tori and I and understood that this was not about abuse it was about love.

1John 4: 7&8, "Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Whoever loves is a child of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love."

It was years later before I began to understand why these things happened to me. I was part of a bigger plan! My life would be an example for anyone who was willing to see that we are more than human beings trying to live the American Dream. We are players in an unseen Spiritual Game. A game of love fighting against evil.

Joshua went forward to conquer the heavily fortified city of Jericho because he trusted God and he wanted a more just and loving world for his children. God gave him the victory because he obeyed.