Joshua: Soldier's Manual Lesson 8

                                    A disciplined will 

Hi everyone. Today I want to talk to you about another spiritual weapon in Joshua's arsenal, one that is often overlooked but I think it is important. So let me begin with three scriptures. 

Joshua 3:1 And Joshua rose early in the morning and came to Jordan...

Joshua 6:12 "And Joshua rose early in the morning...

Joshua 8:10 And Joshua rose up early in the morning...

Usually when I teach this point to my students, I ask them "What do these 3 scriptures have in common?" The normal response is, "They teach us Joshua was a morning-person." Chuckles.

Yes, that is true, but it goes a little deeper than that. It shows us that Joshua had a soldier's sharpness upon his life. At any moment in his life he was ready to break camp and move with God. Morning, noon or night, at any given time he was ready to pull up stakes and follow the Lord's leading. 

I truly believe this speaks of a life of spiritual discipline. 

You see, there is a measure of discipline we must have in our spiritual walk or our flesh will dictate when we are going to be spiritual and when we are not. Our flesh will determine when we are going to pray and when we are not. Our flesh will decide when we are going to obey and when we are not. The flesh will run our life without a measure of discipline in our walk with God. 

I often tell my students, "How many of you know the flesh doesn't always feel like praying or reading the bible? In fact, if we only prayed when our flesh felt like it, we would have a shallow prayer-life. Being a man or woman of prayer has nothing to do with feelings; it is about commitment. I am a man of prayer because I am committed to having a prayer-life with God. And commitment requires a measure of discipline through the power of God's grace in our lives. It is not by human strength and effort; it is by the power of God's grace in my life." 

1 Corinthians 15:10 I am what I am by the grace of God, and his grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly that they all, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 

Here is what I want us to recognize: God isn't demanding discipline, He cultivates discipline in our lives. 

At the bible school I teach at the students are strongly encouraged to get up at 6:00 a.m. for morning devotions. I often tell the students, "When you are instructed to be up at 6:00 a.m. to have quiet time with the Lord, this is God nurturing spiritual discipline in your life. So when your alarm clock goes off and your flesh begins to whine, give that flesh a good kick and tell it, 'We are not going to hit the snooze button. Flesh, we are going to get up and seek God.' When we do this, we find discipline becoming a way of life in our walk with the Lord."