Notes
For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.”
Matthew 16:18-19
Eternal life isn’t something we get in the future; it begins the moment we place our faith in Jesus. The enemy puts up walls because he is afraid of the potential we have in Christ and of the Spirit living in us. He’ll put up walls to protect himself and keep us from living out our purpose. Don’t allow the walls to make you waste away. To see the walls fall in our lives, we need to:
1) Unify
Now the gates of Jericho were tightly shut because the people were afraid of the Israelites. No one was allowed to go out or in. But the Lord said to Joshua, “I have given you Jericho, its king, and all its strong warriors. You and your fighting men should march around the town once a day for six days.
Joshua 6:1-3
Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all.
Ephesians 4:3-6
Marching represents being in sync and of one accord. This is what the Church is supposed to be: unified under the mission given to us by our Creator. We are not to be off on our own, doing our own thing, but working together in alignment with who God says we are to be.
2) Prophesy
But the Lord said to Joshua, “I have given you Jericho, its king, and all its strong warriors. You and your fighting men should march around the town once a day for six days. Seven priests will walk ahead of the Ark, each carrying a ram’s horn. On the seventh day you are to march around the town seven times, with the priests blowing the horns. When you hear the priests give one long blast on the rams’ horns, have all the people shout as loud as they can. Then the walls of the town will collapse, and the people can charge straight into the town.”
Joshua 6:2-5
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them ... What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?
Romans 8:28, 31
The generation before Joshua’s trusted God to get them out of Egypt but not to lead them into the Promised Land because they trusted their feelings over what they knew was true about God. It’s easy to only believe our feelings, but feelings can lie to us. Trust in the facts of the faith instead of what your feelings are telling you. In love, speak the truth of what God has already said.
3) Testify
When the people heard the sound of the rams’ horns, they shouted as loud as they could. Suddenly, the walls of Jericho collapsed, and the Israelites charged straight into the town and captured it.
Joshua 6:20
Shouting was a form of praise and of celebration. Shout with the love of Christ! That is how the world will know who we belong to. Invite people to become a part of God’s family. Live in a way that makes them want to join in with what God is doing in the world.
Group Questions
- What are some of the walls the enemy puts up?
- How can we recognize when there is a wall in our life?
- What does it look like to speak God’s truth in love?
- How can we persevere when our feelings say something different from what God is telling us?
Prayer
We are so thankful that you have invited us into your family and given us your Spirit to guide us as we work the walls. Renew our minds with your Word and remind us of the truth you’ve spoken. Help us to live in unity with each other, to prophesy about what you’ve said, and testify about what you have done in our lives.