Tuesday, October 21, 2014

DETOX: Flint Knives and Foreskins

DETOX



INTRO:
We are in week #5 of DETOX
In week one, we taught you about the value of truth in your life.
Sometimes we need an intervention to wake us up and bring healing
in our lives by turning to God.
In week 2, we saw that being aware of the truth is only half the battle…
It’s application of the truth that sets us free.
On week 3, we spoke about the value of detoxifying our hearts, by giving
our time, talent and treasure fully to Him.
Last week, we learned how our minds can help us overcome the toxic
culture around us.


Blessing comes when you accept responsibility for the truth God reveals! Curses are the result of ignoring the truth.


This is the last installment of our DETOX message series as we follow the story of the children of Israel in the wilderness!!


Turn to Joshua 3…


The children of Israel have been delivered from Egypt to the bank of the Jordan River after 40 years in the wilderness.


SCRIPTURE:
Early the next morning Joshua and all the Israelites left Acacia Grove and arrived at the banks of the Jordan River, where they camped before crossing. Three days later the Israelite officers went through the camp, giving these instructions to the people: “When you see the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD your God, move out from your positions and follow them. Since you have never traveled this way before, they will guide you. Stay about a half mile behind them, keeping a clear distance between you and the Ark. Make sure you don’t come any closer.” Then Joshua told the people, “Purify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do great wonders among you.” (Joshua 3:1-5 NLT)


PRAY


Today I want to give you three phases on the road to recovery.


Phase #1- Leave your Shittim Behind!
The name of the Acacia Grove was "Shittim"


Turn to Philippians, chapter 3...
12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
Philippians 3:12-14


If we never leave where we are, we will never go where He leads.
They might have sat there forever overwhelmed
by what was in front of them.


“The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself.”
~Mark Caine


Confession and repentance is a first step to your best days!


The beginning of the final step of purification started when they left their Shittim behind…


Now turn a couple pages to chapter 5 as we pick the story up again on the other side of the Jordan.


FAST FORWARD the story through the crossing of the Jordan and the memorial stones to the re-establishment of the covenant and circumcision.


At that time the LORD told Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise this second generation of Israelites. ” So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the entire male population of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth. Joshua had to circumcise them because all the men who were old enough to fight in battle when they left Egypt had died in the wilderness. Those who left Egypt had all been circumcised, but none of those born after the Exodus, during the years in the wilderness, had been circumcised. The Israelites had traveled in the wilderness for forty years until all the men who were old enough to fight in battle when they left Egypt had died. For they had disobeyed the LORD, and the LORD vowed he would not let them enter the land he had sworn to give us—a land flowing with milk and honey. So Joshua circumcised their sons—those who had grown up to take their fathers’ places—for they had not been circumcised on the way to the Promised Land. After all the males had been circumcised, they rested in the camp until they were healed. Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the shame of your slavery in Egypt.” So that place has been called Gilgal to this day. While the Israelites were camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they celebrated Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month. (Joshua 5:2-10 NLT)


Phase #2- Flint Knives and Foreskins
This is where the obedience factor comes into play.

Things didn't get easier for them when they crossed over to their promised land, they got harder, but God was re-establishing relationship with a whole new generation of Israelites who didn't know what it meant to be set apart, holy and detoxified when it comes to the world around them!


Follow-through with the things God says to you, even if they are painful!

We aren't required to circumcise our physical bodies because of Christ's new Covenant, but our hearts must be "circumcised" to God's purposes, just the same.

What do you need to follow through on? What has God asked you to do that is still undone?



Phase #3- Say goodbye to Shame


Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the shame of your slavery in Egypt.” So that place has been called Gilgal to this day. (Joshua 5:9 NLT)
Galal means "to roll upon God..."

It's not enough just to roll our shame away, we need to roll our shame onto Christ, the Lamb of God.

When they obeyed God in this final phase, He rolled away their old, shameful identity as slaves and identified them as His own.

Where are you still identifying yourself as a slave, when God has made you free?

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