1 - Introduction - Living like a real Christian SELF CONTROL | Page 10

SATURDAY
Joshua 1 v 1 – 9
Today I would like to talk about the OFFENSIVE aspect of the plan of self-control. My
point of reference will be the Jordan River, as per our reading above. Moses had led the
children of Israel up to the point of this river, had pointed to the other side of this river
and referred to it as being the “Promised Land”. Some of his final words to the people
were based upon the phrase, “Go and take the land!” What he was saying was that this
land of promise had enemies in it and God had instructed the people of Israel to take the
land by destroying one enemy at a time. The story that unfolds, in the book of Joshua, is
a remarkable story of how the children of Israel did what God had told them to do. It
was an aggressive plan and it involved continual battles with the enemies that inhabited
the Promised Land. I do not want to sound naïve or facetious when I say that I believe
that there are many of us that should get righteously angry with the enemies that
inhabit our lives. The Promised Land, in the story of Joshua, is a picture of the Promised
Land of your mind; your mind is the scene of many battles that have taken place and will
over the course of time be the scene for many more. When we deal with some of the
issues like pride and unforgiveness, and lust and arrogance, we realise that these battles
need not be fought necessarily in any other place other than in the battlefield of your
mind. In order to win the battles against these named enemies, you will need to take an
aggressive stance by first recognising who the enemy is, and then declaring war upon it.
When I think of some of the bad habits and thought patterns that prevail in our minds, I
realise that we are faced with some huge challenges, but my prayer for us is that we will
be courageous enough to fight a good fight with these enemies and, even though we
may lose some battles along the way, I know that as we use the weapons of godly warfare
that God has given us that we will ultimately win the war.
This is an enormous subject and I know that I will not be able to fully cover it in these
devotions, but I will encourage you to buy the book “Battlefield of the Mind” by Joyce
Meyers; read it, apply it, live out these principles and then, as days turn into weeks,
weeks turn into months and months turn into years, you will, I know, experience the
long term benefit of implementing the aggressive self-control plan.
God bless you as you seek to do this and remember it is only for those with a courageous
spirit that will embark upon this plan.
Prayer Thought: When you think of the battles that you will need to fight in the future,
many will take a “wimpish” stance by declaring themselves to be too weak to fight those
things. Many will look back over a period of a time and be ableto recount the failures of the
past, but today, as you pray, won’t you rededicate yourself to the battle knowing full well