The deception of the enemy

By Charl Human

Joshua 9:16-27

Ezekiel 44:6-8

Zechariah.14:21

2Sam.21-1-6

1Tim.1:18-20

2cor.11:13-15

Ps.23:5

The deception of the enemy seeks to spoil our spiritual inheritance.

The Gibeonites tricked Joshua into making a covenant with them and breaking God's command. They traded the council of God for the counterfeit of the Gibeonites. When Israel found out, they decided to let the Gibeonites live as servants, even as servants in the tabernacle.  

There are unintended consequences when we compromise on what God says is best. Making a treaty with the Gibeonites and letting them serve in the temple was not God's best plan for Israel. This compromise involved Israel in battles that weren't theirs, and it caused more issues in the future with David and Saul. Later, God had harsh words concerning counterfeit worship and foreigners serving in the temple. Zechariah ends with God's promise that "no Canaanite will be in His house.

As we study the Word of God, the Holy Spirit will reveal the deception squatting in our own lives. If we allow that deception to remain, it will not serve us, it will corrupt us. That corruption will spread to the good parts and threaten to shipwreck our faith and enslave us.

Warriors reject deception when they eat at the table God set before them in the presence of their enemies. 

Challenge:

Memorize Verse: Psalm 23:5

How has deception spoiled your perception of God and His blessings?

How can we avoid deception?

By Charl Human

Mathew 4:1-11

Eph.6:10-17

Heb.4:8-16

Rev.12:11

Ps..23;5

The Word of God is our offensive weapon against the lies of satan.  

By God’s Word, we tear down the strongholds of the deceiver.

How can we avoid deception? How can we identify the counterfeit?  

By studying the real thing - the genuine revelation of God.  

By marinating our heart in the Word of God.  

By following the example of Jesus who used Scripture against the deceiver  

When cultures and societies trade their morals and values for counterfeit, we turn to the Word of God - where real value is found.

Here are satanic deceptions vs. teachings of the Bible

One group is superior to another vs. Everyone is made in the image of God.

Power comes through force vs. Real power comes through serving others.

Peace comes through violence vs. True peace comes through love and sacrifice.

The Bible offers unshakable moral guardrails for our lives. We are either governed by the Word of God, or we are locked in the stronghold of the deceiver. That is why daily Bible study is so important. Today’s Scripture demonstrates how effective the Word of God is against the deceptions of satan.

Challenge:

Memorize Psalm 23:5

How has Bible Study discipline helped you on the Spiritual battlefield? 

The deceivers language is lies

By Charl Human

Gen.25:29-34

John 8:44

Mathew 22:11-14

Rom.13:14

Luke 22:1-6

Gal.5:1

Heb.12:14-17

The deceiver’s language is lies. His currency is counterfeit. He is always looking for a sucker who will trade the spiritual riches of God for his physical rubbish.

Satan wants us to trade: 

The Bread of Life for moldy crumbles

New wineskins for old and cracked counterfeits

Robes of righteousness for worn-out rags

A seat at the table for 30 pieces of silver

Our birthright for a bowl of soup

Freedom in Christ for slavery to sin

And when we do, we allow the deceiver to infiltrate our lives and squat where he does not belong.

Challenge:

Memorize Psalm 23:5

What is the worst trade you have ever made?

Don't neglect God's counsel

By Charl Human

Morning everyone. I pray that you all will have a blessed week and find our strength in Him and Him alone!!!!

Joshua 8:30-35

Ex.34:10-12

Joshua 9:12 -15

Ps.23

High off their victory against Jericho and Ai, Joshua and the Israelites dedicated themselves to the revelation of God - they had barbeque filled with worship, prayer, and Bible study.

During that mountaintop experience, Israel met a tribe that did not belong. Confident in their victories and their renewed knowledge of God’s law, they asked the Gibeonites who they were and where they came from.

They asked the right question to the wrong person.

They studied God’s word but neglected His counsel.

Israel trusted in their head knowledge of God’s law to help them identify the counterfeit instead of directly trusting in God. 

They traded a piece of inheritance for some crumbly bread. 

They exchanged the counsel of God for old wineskins. 

They swore peace to those set aside for destruction.

In our zeal to pursue the disciplines of worship, prayer, and bible study - we must not neglect our daily relationship with God.

Challenge:

Memorize Psalm 23:5

When has your zeal for knowledge surpassed your love for God and His Image-Bearers? 

Satan is the deceiver

By Charl Human 

Gen.3:1-15

Job.1:6-12

2Cor.4:3-4

1Peter5:6-11

Ps.23:5

Satan is the deceiver. He is a belly-crawling homeless father-of-lies who infiltrates creation through deception with one goal in mind: to destroy it and place himself above the throne of God.  

His well-worn method is as old as sin: to deceive and accuse until he becomes a squatter in the hearts of men. From there, he poisons man's perception of God and His Image-Bearers. 

The deceiver's offerings look good on the outside but turn out to be as stale as the Gibeonite bread.

And, just like Joshua - we are fooled by the deceiver when we don't seek and apply the revelation of God to our hearts.

Challenge:

Memorize Psalm 23:5

Pray that the Holy Spirit would reveal and destroy the deceptions you believe.

If you can't beat em, join em

By Charl Human

Joshua 9:6-11

James 2:19

Ps.23:5

“If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”

The Gibeonites heard that Joshua and Israel served a God who fights for them. While the other Canaanite kings formed an alliance to stand against the God of Israel who destroyed Jericho and Ai - the Gibeonites tried a different strategy.

The strategy of the deceiver is infiltration through deception.

The Gibeonites feared God, they heard what He did in Egypt, and they trembled. They believed God’s word that He would destroy the Canaanites and give the land to Israel. But they did not trust God.

Instead, the Gibeonites trusted in deception. Rather than hiding under the wings of God’s mercy, they chose to hide who they were and where they came from.  

We have a similar enemy - a deceiver who believes, fears, and trembles before God - but he does not trust God. His motive is not self-preservation but self-exaltation at your destruction.

Challenge:

Memorize Psalm 23:5

Describe a deception or lie that you think is serving or benefiting you.

The 3 disciplines

By Charl Human

Joshua 9:1-5

Rom.16:17-20

1Tim.4;1-2

Eph.6;12

Jude 1

Ps.23:5

Joshua and the Israelites encountered Jericho, Ai, and the Gibeonites in the Promised Land.  Warriors in God’s army have three spiritual enemies:  the world, the flesh, and the deceiver.

Jesus followers have three disciplines:  worship, prayer, and Bible study.  The book of Joshua shows us how worship overcomes Jericho - the World, and prayer overcomes the city of Ai - the flesh. 

This week we will learn about Joshua’s third enemy - the deceiving Gibeonites.  The discipline of Bible study is our weapon against the deceitful lies of our enemy - satan.  

The Word of God is our weapon against the counterfeit doctrines of the deceiver.

We are more than warriors when we sit at the table of God’s Word in the presence of our enemies.

Challenge:

Memorize Psalm 23:5

How important is Bible study to you?

Overcoming the flesh through prayer

By Charl Human 

Joshua 8:18-29

2 Kings13:15-19

Jer.17:1-14

James 5:16

1john 1:5-10

James 1:14-15

Rom.8:13

We overcome the world by faith, we overcome the flesh by dealing with the sin in our lives. We confess our sin through communication with God. We do this through prayer. 

“Prayer is a strong wall and fortress of the church; it is a goodly Christian weapon.” - Martin Luther

This is an ongoing process. Joshua did not let up until Ai was utterly destroyed. Neither should we let up until that final day when God ultimately destroys the sin in our lives. Today, we will learn from Elisha what happens when we quit early.

As the Holy Spirit purifies our flesh by identifying our sin, we must specifically confess and turn from it immediately.

Sin creates wounds. Wounds must be exposed and cleansed so they can be healed.

Our enemy deceives us into hiding our wounds, but if we say we have no sin, then we are liars, and the truth is not in us. Even worse, hidden sin festers and grows into death.  

There is no shame in going to the doctor for a broken arm. We should not be ashamed to go to God with our sinful wounds.

Confession to others exposes sin, confession to God purifies us.

We Confess. God Purifies.

Challenge:

Memorize Romans 8:13

What sin has the Holy Spirit identified in your life?

Have you confessed it to God and turned from it?

Defeating the flesh Part 2

By Charl Human

“I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” - Exodus 17:14 NASB 

Deut 25;17-19

1 Sam.15

Esther 3:1-6

1 Peter 2:11-12

Heb.4:8

Rom.8:13

The Amalekites remained a thorn in Israel’s side. Over 300 years after the Promised Land conquest, God told Saul to utterly wipe out Agag and the rest of the Amalekites. Saul failed to do so. Over 500 years later, Haman the Agagite, a descendant of Agag an Amalekite, plotted to destroy the remnant of Israel.  

Sinful flesh plays the long game.

Unlike Jericho, God tells His people to go out and fight Amalek. He promises that He will one day wipe out even the memory of Amalek. God promises His people permanent rest from Amalek, rest from the flesh. It hasn’t happened yet.

Challenge:

Memorize Romans 8:13

What does rest from the flesh look like in your life?

How do we defeat the flesh?

By Charl Human

Joshua 8:1-17

Zechariah 4:6

Prov.25:4

1Cor.3:10-16

Rom.8:13

We follow God’s method set out in Joshua Chapter 7:

Pray

Confess

Destroy

We pray that the Holy Spirit reveals our hidden sin to us.

We give God the glory, and confess our sin.

By the Spirit, we put our sinful deeds to death.

We are like a precious metal buried deep in the earth. God draws us out of the darkness and into the light. God baptizes us in the crucible of the Holy Spirit to reveal and draw out our hidden sin. We confess our dross and leave it behind in a continuous purification process.

Similarly, Joshua drew out the hidden warriors of Ai so that the city could be captured and defeated.

Challenge:

Memorize Romans 8:13

Describe a time when God drew out your impurity and you confessed it.

Why do we loose to the flesh?

By Charl Human

Morning everyone very thought provoking piece!!!

Joshua 7:11-26

Acts 5:1-11

Rom.8:9-17

Ps.19

Do you wonder why you keep losing to the flesh? Why you can’t live a “good Christian” life?

Joshua had no idea why Israel lost to Ai. Did God abandon them? No! God told Joshua to deal with Israel’s hidden sin.

Pet sins are hidden idols that cause us to lose the spiritual battles we should be winning. 

Achan describes the method of sin as old as the Garden of Eden:

He saw

He coveted

He took

A similar event took place in the early church when Ananias and Sapphira sought to hide their greed from the Holy Spirit, who quickly revealed and dealt with it.

We can not live the Christian life. We must let the Holy Spirit live it through us.

Hidden sin, like Achan’s treasure, causes us to lose because God won’t fight through us if we are holding on to the very thing He wants to destroy. We must pray for the Holy Spirit to reveal it so we can confess it to God and destroy it.

“For if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” - Romans 8:13

Challenge:

Memorize Romans 8:13

What deeds need to be put to death in your life? 

Warring against our flesh

By Charl Human

Joshua 7:3-10

Rom.7:14-25

Mathew 26:41

Rom.8:13

Ps.60

We learn God’s strength at Jericho. At Ai, we discover our weakness.

Israel, excited by their victory over Jericho, thought they could easily defeat Ai. They overestimated themselves, underestimated their enemy, and they assumed God was with them. When Israel was defeated, Joshua tore his clothes and cried out to God.

How often do we charge into spiritual battle, high from a recent victory, only to be defeated by an enemy we thought we could handle?  

How did we, who have victory over the World, lose to something as weak as the flesh?

We overestimate ourselves 

We underestimate our enemy

We assume God is with us

We use the wrong tactics

We are blind to our inner weakness

This leads to ignorance and unrepentance of hidden sin.

We think we win because we are good warriors. We forget that God wins every battle. Scripture tells us that the flesh is weak. 

Here is how Paul put it:

For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I want to do the good, but I cannot do it. - Romans 7:18 NET

God expects His warriors to fight against the flesh, but it’s a battle we can not win on our own.  

Paul continues:

Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? -Romans 7:24 NET

We cannot live the Christian life. God never asks us to. God wants to live it through us.

Challenge:

Memorize Romans 8:13

How does Paul’s struggle in Romans 7 play out in your life?

The battle against the flesh

By Charl Human

Ex.17:8-16

1 Cor.10:1-13

Rom.8:13

Ps.54

The battle at Ai demonstrates God's method for defeating the flesh. The flesh doesn't stay defeated. It keeps coming back until God ultimately destroys it. Israel had an enemy like that – the Amalekites. They represent the flesh in the Old Testament.

God rescued His people from slavery, baptized them into the Law, and gave them food and water in the wilderness. Then Amalek attacked.   Joshua overcame while Moses prayed for him.

Joshua's first battle wasn't against Jericho - the world. It was against Amalek – the flesh.  

Challenge:

Memorize Romans 8:13

Describe a time when someone else’s prayer helped you overcome.

Find an accountability partner that will lift you up in prayer while you are on the battlefield.