The Fellowship - August 2nd, 2005

One of the other people who come to the prayer meeting was reading Joshua that morning. Joshua 1 is just so relevant to us and to this ministry at this time. We are entering our "Ppromised Land" in a sense. And we need to remember God's promises to never leave or forsake us, as well as, God' commands to remain strong and courageous, and to keep His Word in our hearts. But, it is really Joshua 3, specifically verse 5, that formed the crux of our prayer this morning. It reads:

"Joshua told the people, 'Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you.'"

Other translations use words such as "sanctify" or "purify". It essentially means to seperate yourself for a special purpose, most often relating to some purpose of God. In essence, it is speaking of holiness, or in other words a higher, godly standard.

There is no way we can succeed and move forward with God without a higher level of holiness. It is even more true when it comes to leadership, starting a new ministry, or your own destiny. The great thing is that we don't really do anything, except for trusting in God's grace, Word, and strength.

Two thoughts came to me as we were praying. The first had to do with circumsicion. Part of what the Israelites had to do to be sanctified was to be circumcised. Of course, God is not necessarily asking the men in this college-aged ministry to get circumcised physically, but rather to have our hearts circumcised, as Paul mentions in Romans 2:29.

The second thought was based on John 15, the parable of the vine and the branches, specifically about the Father, the gardener or vinedresser, who prunes His vines and branches. Sometimes, holiness has to do with pruning even some good things from our lives, so that our energy and strength can go to producing the best fruit God has planned for us. If we are spread too thin, we will only produce little fruit.

Ultimately, holiness, circumcision of the heart, pruning, all has to do with our heart attitude. Are we ready to follow God anywhere? Are we willing to do anything for God? Are we willing to possibly look stupid for God? Are we willing to lay down our lives? Are we willing to pick up our crosses?

Another thought that came from the Joshua reading was that God's victory and His ways are often illogical to our way of thinking. I truly believe that this ministry will defy our standard way of thinking about youth and college ministries. It will be a miracle-laced ministry that will astound everyone... even the leadership :) ... actually, especially the leadership.

Our prayer then turned to praying about our tools and weapons for completing this task. We will put our hands to the plow and we will not look back (Luke 9:62). We do have the tools and the weapons. We are not empty handed! (2 Corinthians 6:7, 2 Corinthians 10:4, Hebrews 4:12, Ephesians 6:10-20) . We are also never alone!!! (Deuteronomy 31:6, 8, Joshua 1:5, Psalm 9:10, Psalm 94:14, Hebrews 13:5)

We also prayed for revelation and vision for this fall (i.e. what will we do? details). We even prayed for revelation for those who are to be part of this vision and ministry, but are not even aware of it yet. I believe there are people who already have dreams and vision that fit into this ministry, and a fire will be set aflame in them as soon as they hear about it.

YOUR Will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Your Will! God's Will!

Amen!