I've been reading about the life of Joshua over the past couple of weeks. We learn about Joshua from the sixth book of the Old Testament that bears his name. Joshua was the chosen leader of God's people following the death of Moses. It was the end of a period in history known as the bronze age (1550 - 1200 B.C) when Joshua led the Israelites on an amazing season of conquest into the "Promised Land". Joshua was courageous and he trusted God like crazy. In the famous conquest of Jericho (Joshua 5:13 - 6:27), Joshua executed God's unusual plan and the mighty wall that fortified the city collapsed before him. It wasn't that God fought their battle for them, it was that God chose them to fight his battle. If you've never read the book of Joshua, the violent warfare will surprise you. The life of Joshua not only foreshadows the ultimate conquest of Jesus Christ, it symbolizes the the type of life we are called to lead.
Today, we too are called to be courageous, to trust God no matter what and to execute his plans. Our battles are different than Joshua's and most of them are actually internal battles of the heart. The advancement of the gospel of Jesus will always involve struggles. The cool part is that it also involves many small victories along the way that point to the ultimate victory of Jesus. God knocks down walls for us at opportune moments if we trust in him and live courageously. I'm very encouraged by a recent small victory for Longleaf Church. We have found an exciting space to meet and grow into over the next phase of our church planting journey! It's the Galleria Conference Center located in the Galleria Mall (formerly Goody's). We're going to give it a trial run this weekend with UpStreet and Waumba Land!!
