“…There are devoted things among you, Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them.”
Have you ever felt as if everything you are doing just will not work? Maybe you have been trying and trying to achieve a goal at work or a fitness goal and it seems as if there is a lid to your progress. You say to yourself, “this is not suppose to be this hard”.
The Lord told the Israelites to bring all the precious articles of spoil from Jericho to the house of Lord for they will be devoted to the Lord. Well, a guy named Achan disobeyed the command and kept some silver, gold, and other precious items from Jericho and buried them near his tent. Not knowing this, Joshua sent some spy’s to Ai, the next town, to gauge how large of city it was and to view how tough they might be. The spy’s came back and said it was a small city and to only send a portion of the army to take the city. 3000 men went to take the city and they were routed by the men of Ai.
Joshua hears of this, falls to the ground, and prays to God wondering what happened. The Lord reveals that someone has taken things devoted to the Lord for themselves. Verse 13 reads “you cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them.” Achan gave in to greed and chose to disobey the Lord that day. He took some things the Lord told Israel to give to Him. Things devoted to the Lord.
Maybe you are “all in” with God. You go to church, you are even in the army of God on some outreach program, or in the worship band and maybe going to church is a regular thing for you. It was also a regular thing for Achan. Jericho was the first city to conquer for the Israelites and it can be said it was God’s tithe or the first fruits of the land flowing with milk and honey. Malachi 3:8-12 tells us to we should be tithing and giving offerings to the Lord at your local church or some other ministry that is feeding your life from the Word. It also tells us that the Lord will prevent pests from devouring your crops, livelihood, and your vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe. In other words, the Lord will stand against your enemies when you follow through with tithing and offerings showing the Lord He is takes first place even in your finances. But that’s not all.
Today, start giving God the first fruits of your life. Give the first of your day, the first of your efforts, the first of your thoughts. The house of God does not need your money, He owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10), or your efforts, God only desires your heart. When you get your heart right before the Lord everything from money to time will be a pleasure to serve the Lord with. Achan was too worried about his own pockets and it derailed him and the nation of Israel until what was devote to God was removed from his tent. If you want to overcome the strongholds in your life, bring to God the first of everything and do not let the Word of God be far from your lips.
Prayer: Father, in Jesus name we give you the first fruits of everything we have. The truth is that you own it all and we are just given a portion to manage while we are here on this planet. I pray we manage that precious resource you have given us, whether that be our time, money, talents, or leadership I give it all to you Lord. I pray that we follow through and give even our finances to you as well as our time, our day, our lives Lord. I pray that we are happy to be in the house of the Lord and give to you all we have. (Mark 12:41-44) In Jesus name.
Let It Go 
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