DON’T ALTER THE LORD’S INSTRUCTION

MEMORY VERSE: And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams' horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. Joshua 6:4

BIBLE READING: Numbers 34-36

One of the secrets of success is studying successful people and doing what they did. If you want the kind of success Steve Jobs (Apple founder) had, get his autobiography, study what he did and do the same. Some years back, Elon Musk (founder of PayPal, Tesla Motors, Space X, etc.) in an interview mentioned that he read the autobiography of Steve Jobs and learnt a lot from it. If you want the kind of Daniel’s success, third-in-command to an emperor who ruled the world ( Daniel 6:1-2), or Joseph’s, a man who created economic and business models that sustained the economy of Egypt (the greatest economy at that time) when currency failed, read their autobiographies which are documented in the Holy Scriptures and do what they did. As for me, I want all so I read everything; viz.,the Bible, autobiographies, memoirs, etc.

Let us briefly look at two of many secrets of Joshua’s success. Firstly, Joshua did well because Moses laid hands on him. Deuteronomy 34:9 says: “And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses.” Moses laid hands on Joshua and transferred the grace and anointing he carried to Joshua. Also, Moses literally laid hands on him as in mentor him. Secondly, Joshua did well in ministry because he followed (divine) instructions to the letter. Many of us find it hard to follow basic instructions. The doctor says, “take two tablets three times daily." What do we do? We take three tablets four times daily. That’s drug abuse and no child of God should abuse drugs. Joshua followed God’s instruction to the letter. The Lord’s instruction to Joshua was “….And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams' horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets… ( Joshua 6:4)”. What did he do? He ensured that the priests used trumpets of ram’s horns not goat’s horns. Joshua 6:6 says: “And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD.” Again, the Lord told him to pick seven men i.e. priests and he did that. Some would have picked six men and a woman because they want to be politically correct.

NOTE: The Lord is the wiser than the wisest. He knows why He chose ram’s horn over goat’s horn. Learn to follow His instructions to the letter.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world.