Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in. And the Lord said to Joshua: “See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor. You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him (Joshua 6:1-5)
Obedience creates an atmosphere for miracles! Sometimes the Father asks us to do things that seem outlandish to the mind. Here He told Joshua that He had given Jericho into his hands while the walls were still up. Then the instructions seemed to take a strange twist. March around the city once a day for six days. They may have wondered, so what good is that going to do? Then the Lord instructed Joshua to have the Israelites march around the walls on the seventh day and while they marched to let the priests blow their trumpets.
I’m sure to their minds this seemed ridiculous. But the Israelites and Joshua knew that God’s ways are higher than ours and that obedience and faith combined open circumstances to the power of the Almighty! The walls fell down flat! It was unlikely, but it happened!
Elijah told a widow to bake him some bread from her last morsel of flour and last drop of oil and her flour and oil supply would not run out during a severe famine. It happened! Elisha told the captain of the Syrian army to go bath in the dirty water of the Jordan River seven times and he would be healed of leprosy. It was such a foolish command that he didn’t want to do it. But after being convinced that it was worth a try by his servants, he took the seven baths and was totally healed!
Moses held a stick over the Red Sea and it parted. He struck a rock with a stick and water came out of it. Jesus fed thousands with a little boy’s lunch. The fisherman Peter defied fisherman logic and at Jesus’ request threw His nets into the water in a place that he thought had no fish and he caught a net breaking amount! Jesus rubbed mud in a man’s eyes and his sight was restored.
Obedience creates the atmosphere for miracles. So go ahead and obey God’s Word! Love the unlovable. Do good to them that hate you. Pray for those that use you to their advantage, giving you nothing in return. Reward good for evil. Bring your tithes and offerings into the storehouse. Give and it will be given to you. Take the lowest place. Believe that you receive answered prayer while nothing seems to change. Lay hands on the sick.
When you obediently practice the Word, it opens your life up to the power of God! What He’s done before, He can do again. He’s not partial. He watches over His Word to make it good!
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