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THE WALL

After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, and after Moses’ death, God chose Joshua to bring the Israelites into the Land that He had promised them.   The first great obstacle that the Hebrews encountered after their miraculous crossing of the Jordan River was the city of Jericho.     Jericho was a formidable city with a stone wall that presented a difficult challenge to Joshua and his army.   The city was crucial to the conquest of Canaan in that it defended the central hill country and the other cities of the region.   Joshua had sent spies into the city to survey its defenses and had learned among other things that the people were terrified of the Israelites and their God because of all they had heard that the Lord had done for them.   God spoke to Joshua and told him, "See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour." (Joshua 6:2).   Moreover, the Lord appeared to Joshua in the plain of Jer...
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REFINED BY AFFLICTION

"Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction." (Isaiah 48:10).   "And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness." (Malachi 3:3).   Once a Christian has submitted his/her life to God, the heavenly Father begins a process of purging and purifying, of training and chastening, which is meant to remove from them all self-will, and transform them into the image of Jesus Christ.   There is one word which I think best describes this process and the effect that it has on the individual that is exercised by it, and that word is refined .   The Word of God is full of the history of men and women who, by faith, placed their lives in God's hands and, as a result, went through this process of becoming useful, spiritually mature, children of God.   They accomplished God...
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MANIFESTING THE LIFE OF CHRIST

“For we which live are alway [s] delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.” (2 Corinthians 4:11).   From the beginning of creation it has been in God’s heart to create a race of men who would bear His own image and likeness: “And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness…” (Genesis 1:26).   He accomplished this when He created Adam and Eve: “…in the likeness of God made He him…” (Genesis 5:1); “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.” (Genesis 1:27).   It wasn’t that God wanted man to look like Him in appearance, for the LORD doesn’t see as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart (see 1 Samuel 16:7).   It was man’s character that he was most interested in; it was purity of heart and spirit that He was after.   At first, Adam was that man, but then the serpent t...
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