Morning by Morning, May 14 - God's Supernatural Power, Our Natural Obedience
Good morning, Lord Jesus. O Lord, my God-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit-You are majestic and mighty, worthy of all glory, honor, and praise. I give You my full attention and my first attention, here in these first moments at the foundation of my day. ...
"Now Jericho was shut up inside and out because of the Israelites; no one came out and no one went in. The Lord said to Joshua, 'See, I have handed Jericho over to you, along with its king and soldiers. You shall march around the city, all the warriors circling the city once. Thus you shall do for six days, with seven priest bearing seven trumpets of rams' hors before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, the priests blowing the trumpets. When they make a long blast with the ram's horn as soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, they all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat and all the people shall charge straight ahead" (Joshua 6:1-5).
On the first day of the first battle to take possession of their inheritance in the promised land, You were teaching Israel and their leader, Joshua, the power and necessity of humility and faith, to willingly choose to be desperately dependent upon God alone. You were teaching them their victories would be supernatural victories by supernatural means, but would also require, at the same time, their active participation by natural means, in obedience to Your timing and Your ways.
City walls don't naturally come down "with a great shout"-no matter how many times you march around them blowing trumpets. They come down when God says they'll come down. Yet, at the same time, would those walls have come down if the priests and warriors would not have obeyed Your command to march around the city with the ark, to blow the trumpets, and to shout together at the time You said? Your will required their participation. Your supernatural power was made manifest through their natural obedience.
And You told Joshua and the people You had already handed the city over to them. You had already given them this land as their inheritance, already determining that everywhere they would set the soles of their feet would be their possession (Joshua 1:3). It was finished, accomplished, complete, all according to Your word and Your will. But at the same time, would they have possessed the land and received their inheritance if they would not have obeyed Your command to cross over and physically possess the land? Your will required their participation. Your supernatural power was made manifest through their natural obedience.
Lord Jesus, You taught us to pray to our Father in heaven, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Luke 11:2-3). Though Your will and Your promises are established forever in heaven, our part is to actively participate through prayer and obedience, with humility and faith, to see Your kingdom come and Your will be done, here on earth as it is in heaven.
We have a great inheritance, confirmed by astounding promises through our identity and destiny in Christ. It's available to us through Your supernatural power, but it only becomes ours through our natural obedience-all by Your grace, all in Your time, and all in Your way. In Jesus' name I pray Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
My Friend, I pray you will embrace the spiritual principles of humility and faith, with natural obedience in alignment with the Lord's supernatural power and perfect will, to embrace and live out the fullness of your inheritance in Christ. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257
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