FBCJ SOLID Youth

In this lesson, we lay the groundwork for the future weeks. In order to understand spiritual gifts properly in our own lives, we must be willing to truly and honestly know ourselves.

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...