Dependence

God commanded Joshua to circumcise the children of Isras!. God has made a covenant with Abraham and his seed after him and said, “This is my covenant which ye shall keep........ every man child among you shaft be circumcised” (Gen. 17:10), Atthe same time God had renewed His promise to Abraham that He would surely give him as on and multiply him exceedingly and give him-the land of Canaan for an inheritance. Abraham was at that time ninety-nine years old.. And Sarah his wife was eighty-nine years old. Humanly speaking they had no hope of their bodies being capable enough to produce a son. God had asked Abraham to circumcise every male child, to impress upon them that they did not get as on through their own strength or energy, but through God's own life, and power of resurrection alone, they had become fruitful. [nthe same way Joshua and the children of Israel had to keep in mind that they could enjoy their inheritance, not by their own might or cleverness, but through God‘s Spirit, might and power.

We find the same message being conveyed to Zerubbabel in Zech. 4:6. “‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts’. Zerubbabal was full of doubts and questions as to how the temple at Jerusalem would be rebuilt. He knew that according to the prophecy of Jeremiah the children of Israel! would be in captivity In Babylon for 70 years. Ha saw the walls of Jerusalem that had been broken down and the gates that had been burnt with fire. People of Israel who were with Zerubbabel were few in number with little money and little help. Under these circumstances the Word of the Lord came unto Zerubbabe!, that God's work would be done not by human might or by human power but by His Spirit. We cannot do any service for the Lord in our own stength and cannot possess and enjoy our inheritance by our own efforts. We must learn to depend upon the Spirit of God and must bring ourselves under His full subjection.

By ignoring God’s leading and disobeying His commands we will become spiritually blind. Today we find many people have lost their vision concerning the things of God because of disobedience or because of partial obedience.

For example, king Saul obeyed God partially and as a result of it he was rejected by God, David also fell into the temptation of numbering his grate army and thus. took pride in his strength (2 Sam. 24:2,3).. He knew fully well that all his victories were won by God and not by his own strength of army. He did not defeat Goliath by his own might or cleverness. He fought against Goliath in the Name of the Lord God and so defeated him (1 Sam. 17:45,50). Yetin his old age‘he yielded to the temptation of counting the number of his army. Joab, the commander of his army tried to save him from this mistake but David’s determination prevailed, It revealed the fact that David,s eyes were upon the large number of his people and not upon God. That is why God brought him upon his face ona threshing floor. in this way David had to learn to put his trust only on the Lord.

This kind of temptation comes to all ofus. We ara tempted to depend upon our own will power, ability or knowledge to overcome our temptations or to do God's service. Many people depend upon their cameras, buildings and properties. They think by having ali these things they will have more fruit and see good results.

For fruitful ministry, we have to cast ourselves upon the Lord for every situation. Even preachers, if they - depend up on their past blessings and achievements, they will.cut away the chance of seeing much fruit. Day after day we need to ask God our Lord to touch our lips, tongues and throats and give us His own message far ’ His people. Only then will our ministry ba loaded with full life and freshness. Some clever house-wives add salt, pepper. tamarind and other spices to stale and dried, up food and fry it to make it look and taste fresh, Some preachers go on using the same old massages in much the seme way. That will not give us God’s blessing and bring fruit te our efforts. It is imperative that we should go on our knees and ask the Lord to anoint us and give us His massage day by day. We should never _ depend upon our own cleverness, ability or energy for preparing massages as it will not lead to a triumphant - and useful life.

In order to teach all this, God asked Joshua to. circumcise the people. He reminded them that they would able ta conquer the saven great nations and:. occupy the land of Canaan only by depending upon the a strength of the Lord and not by depending upon their a own weapons of war or large size of army or their own cleverness or schaming.