00:00Welcome back to the reading and reflection of Joshua's book. My name is Victor Martinez, pastor of Crossroads en Español, and today we are experiencing a victory, and it is time to celebrate, it is time to reflect on what leads us to this victory, or at least what leads Joshua to experience this victory. So today, as we read, we can understand some aspects of how God wants to give us a victory, and what are the things that he values to be able to bless us. However, I want to start with a contrast of the reading of the previous day. When we reflect on chapter 7, we see that Joshua and the people of Israel had experienced a defeat based on the disobedience of Achan. However, today we see a slightly different story. Today, the chapter begins with God telling Joshua not to fear, not to faint, that he will be with them. And as they are in that conversation, God reveals to him a little of the strategy that would allow Joshua and the people of Israel to experience victory. Now, God shares only enough so that Joshua could use his strategic skills as a military leader to conquer victory. And the reading of chapter 8, I recommend that you invest time in reading it, because it is very interesting, very fascinating, and there are some things that I want us to pay attention to, because I think they are applicable to you and to me. Number 1, we see how, unlike the reading of the previous day, we see how here there is a different posture, there is a posture of obedience instead of a posture of disobedience. Joshua is going to attack the city of Ai, but this time he does it because God has told him to go and do it. So number 1, application for us is that when we are trying, thinking about battling something in our lives, or when we are going to face something, let's start with the posture of obedience and submission to God. Number 2, God allows us to use our skills as strategies to achieve and conquer something in our lives. He has given us the abilities to use them. It reminds me of the story of this person who is drowning in the middle of the sea, and for a moment they send him a boat and tell him, we are here to rescue you. He says, no, no, no, God, I am waiting for God to rescue me. And the boat leaves. Then they send him a helicopter and tell him, here we are here to rescue you. And then the person ends up drowning. And when he goes to heaven, he asks God, God, I was praying, why didn't you rescue me? And he says, well, I sent you a boat, I sent you a helicopter. So God wants us to use our skills in the same way that in that case he had sent a provision. After they fulfill the battle, after they win, observe at the end what happens in the last part of the chapter. We see how at the moment they build an altar, they build an altar to worship God.
03:07Here they make sure to give victory to God and to celebrate what he has done. And that also seems to me to be something very relevant for the posture that God wants us to have. It is that if we go and face something and experience victory, it is that we take a moment to thank God for what he has achieved and what he has allowed us to achieve. Many times when we are going to face a difficulty in our lives, I have seen many followers, including me, on many occasions, how they use prayer as if it were a lever to make God fulfill what we want. And prayer does not necessarily work that way. God assigns us the victory most of the time, more so because of the posture of our heart, the posture of humility with which we go to God. Not so much because we want him to do something for us. So if you are in the middle of a battle or you are simply ready to face something in your life, I am going to invite you to take time, talk to God, that God will encourage you and tell you, do not faint. I am the almighty God and I am here for you. And maybe God will give you an idea or at least begin to help you think about how to go and face that situation. And finally, do not forget to thank and celebrate God because God is more interested in our connection with him than anything else. And he will do whatever it takes to make you and I get closer to him and experience what it means to be in his victory and under his power. So may God bless you and we will talk soon.