”From Joshua to Jesus” | Pastor John Tilley Jr | Sun AM | Joshua 1

Joshua chapter 1. I want to preach the

Joshua 1 · chapter mention

first

sermon in a series that is probably

going to take us several months. I I

would estimate through the summer at

least. And uh we're going to preach

through the entire book of Joshua,

chapter by chapter, verse by verse. And

so this is the first message. And my my

assignment this morning is simply to

introduce us to Joshua. And I'm going to

do that through this message that I've

titled from Joshua to Jesus. From Joshua

to Jesus.

I want you to know from the very

beginning, from the outset of this

series, that you can live the Christian

life in victory.

You can live a victorious Christian

life.

The devil has done a very good job of

convincing Christians that fill up

churches just like ours this morning

that they have no hope of living the

Christian life in victory. Now, what I

do not mean by victory is sinless

perfection. I hope you understand that

until we get to heaven, we're going to

we're going to deal with the flesh.

We're going to fall and we're going to

falter. But you do not have to be held

in bondage by the things of this world.

You can have freedom from the things of

this world. You can have victory over

the things of this world. You may not be

perfect, but you can fight the battles

and you can fight the things of this

evil world. And you can win through the

blood and the name and the person of

Jesus Christ.

Excuse

me. My throat is trying to go completely

out

and I really want to preach this

morning. So, somebody pray for me that

this would leave and we can preach. The

devil has done a great job of convincing

Christians that they have no hope of

victory. Let me give you some examples.

You'll never have victory. Here's what

the devil says. You will never have

victory over that sin in your life. Paul

talked about it. He said that besetting

sin that so easily besets us that that

constantly we find ourselves battling

with that that sin and and you have one.

I have one. The devil whispers in your

ear, "You'll never have victory over

that." The devil whispers that you will

never have victory over that addiction

in your life. You'll never have victory

over that bad relationship with your

children. You'll never have victory over

the anger issue in your life. You'll

never have victory over the foul

language that you use. You'll never have

victory in your marriage. You'll never

have victory in your church. You'll

never have victory in your home.

And if we're not careful, we begin to

believe him.

And I want to report to you this morning

based on the authority of God's word

that the devil is still a liar. He's

been lying since the moment he got

booted out of heaven and kicked down to

the earth. He went to Adam and Eve in

the garden and he lied to them. And from

that moment until present day, he has

done nothing but lie, lie, lie. And in

fact, he's called the father of lies.

So what he is whispering in your ear

that you cannot have victory, that

you'll never you'll never overcome,

you'll never be better than your past,

you'll never be better than than than

what you have left behind, is a lie of

the devil. And here's why he tells it to

you. Because if he can get you to

believe the lie that you cannot win the

fight, then he just might be able to get

you to quit fighting. He might just be

able to get you out of the fight. And

that's what he wants. He wants God's

people to quit fighting the evilness of

this world. He wants churches like ours

to just sit back in the shadows and let

whatever happens happens and not take a

stand for truth and not fight against

our flesh and not fight against the

evilness of our world. He wants us just

to say, "Well, I guess we'll never win."

And so, we take a back seat and we don't

fight at all.

But if you'll focus your attention on

Jesus and you'll find your strength in

Jesus, then I believe this morning that

you can live the Christian life in

victory.

And so, that's what we've put the the

book of Joshua, that's what I framed it

with. So, the book of Joshua is going to

teach us through the narrative of God's

people claiming God's promises. It's

going to teach us, you and I, this

morning and for the next several months,

how we can live a life of victory. And

my prayer and my desire for our church

as we go through this is that we would

be able as church and as individuals to

rise above the sin, to rise above the

confusion, to rise above the evilness.

And yes, there are battles. We're going

to talk about a lot of battles in this

study. There's a lot of fighting to be

done.

But may we be willing to go to war with

King Jesus.

There's a lot of battles, but there's a

lot of blessings in the promised land.

And that's what we want to talk about.

Let me give you a couple of things

before we look into the book of Joshua

that are important by way of context. We

have to frame the book a certain way.

Otherwise, we're going to misunderstand

everything in the book.

And you have heard songs talk about

this, and I hate to burst your bubble,

but they're theologically incorrect. No

matter how good they sound, the promised

land is not a picture of heaven. It's a

picture of the Christian life.

Canaan is not heaven. Canaan is the

Christian life. And I'll prove it to you

with one simple truth. There there's

probably other ways to prove it, but

this one is I don't I can't find an

argument against this. Okay? So, let me

just prove it based on the Bible. When

you go into the land of Canaan, when

Joshua is getting ready to lead the

nation of Israel into the promised land,

the first thing they do when they get

into the promised land is they start

fighting.

We're studying Revelation on Wednesday

nights. And everything I have studied

about revelation, everything that I have

studied about heaven, everything I can

learn about what happens when we leave

this world and we go into the gates of

pearl and we enter that celestial city

and we sit at the feet of Jesus is that

the fighting and the battles are over

when we get to heaven. So to say that

Canaan is a picture of heaven, it it

doesn't work, I I can't make it match in

my mind. It has to be a picture of

something else because heaven is

perfect. There are no battles, only

blessings in heaven. But on this earth,

there are battles, but there can also be

great blessings. So, as we go into the

book, we're going to come at it from

that angle. We're not looking at this as

we're as the promised land is heaven.

There are greater blessings for the

believer. When we get to heaven, there

are even greater blessings. But I

believe that the blessings we find in

the land of Canaan are a picture of the

blessings that God has for his people

right now.

And so, it's not a picture of heaven.

It's a picture of the Christian life.

And so you can live a life of victory.

Let me give you some context here. Moses

has led the nation of Israel around in

the wilderness for 40 years. We talked

about this last Sunday. We we talked

about the wilderness last Sunday as we

kind of laid the foundation and the

context for this series. They've

wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.

An entire generation lacked the faith to

go into the promised land. And there are

a lot of Christians, by the way, who are

still wandering in the wilderness

spiritually. God has great blessings for

them, but they are afraid to fight the

battles and therefore they miss the

blessings.

We've got to be willing to stand up and

be courageous and do and go where God

wants us to go to take steps of faith to

be obedient to his will. And if we do

that, then we can enter into the

victorious Christian life. So, one

generation has died. And Moses now has

died and there is a transition of

leadership that takes place. Moses has

served God faithfully. He's brought

God's people now to the edge of the

Jordan River where they will cross over

into the promised land. And Moses

Moses dies and God raises up a new

leader. This man by the name of Joshua.

Look at Joshua chapter 1. Let's read

Joshua 1 · chapter mention

just the first two verses. Get our feet

wet this morning and then I'm going to

give you a little outline about Joshua

and then we're going to end with Jesus.

Okay. Chapter 1, verse one.

Now the death of Moses, the servant of

the Lord, it came to pass. So Moses has

died. Who was Moses? He was the servant

of the Lord. He was a faithful servant.

After the death of Moses, the servant of

the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord

spake unto Joshua the son of Nun,

Moses's minister, saying, Moses, my

servant, is dead. Now therefore arise,

go over this Jordan, thou and all this

people under the land which I do give to

them, even to the children of Israel.

Let's notice a few things about Joshua

this morning. Write down number one,

Joshua the man.

Joshua the man. His name is stated

clearly for us at the beginning of the

book. In fact, the book carries his name

as its title, the book of Joshua. And

there in verse number one, we are

introduced to him at by that name, the

name Joshua. Do you know what the name

Joshua means? His name means Yahweh

saves or Jehovah saves. Or or maybe we

could say it this way. Salvation is of

the Lord. This is the definition of his

name. God saves. That's what the name

Joshua means. If you transliterate this

the name in Hebrew into Greek, do you

know the name that you get in Greek?

It's the name Jesus.

It's the name of our savior.

So Joshua with every every time that

Joshua hears his name, he hears, "The

Lord is our salvation. The Lord is our

salvation. God saves. God can bring

victory. God is capable." That's what he

hears every time that he hears his name.

By the way, you and I carry the name of

Christ with us too.

In the book of Acts, they're place

called they they were first called

Christians in Antioch. You know the

passage. You and I still bear the name

that was given in Antioch. We still bear

the name Christian. You know what

Christian means? It means a little

Christ. It means Christlike. We look

like Jesus. So you and I, just the same

as Joshua, you and I bear the name of

our savior. Whenever somebody calls you

a Christian, it ought to remind you,

Jesus saves. Jesus saves. Jesus saves.

So we see his name. But then notice his

character.

Joshua lived a life in such a way that

when it came time for Israel to replace

their leader, God chose Joshua. Of all

the hundreds of thousands of men who

were Israelites at the time, God

handpicked Joshua. Why do you suppose

that is? Well, Joshua was a man of good

character.

Let me give you two examples of his

character that we find in the book of

Exodus prior to his becoming leader in

Exodus chapter 24 and verse 13. and

Exodus 24 · chapter mention

Moses rose up and his minister Joshua

and Moses went up into the mount of God.

In Exodus chapter 24, God is giving

Exodus 24 · chapter mention

Moses uh the commandments there on Mount

Si and Moses brings Joshua with him.

Now, Joshua was not able to go all the

way to the top, but he went as far as he

could. He went as far as he could go

with God's man. He had good character.

But then there's another example that I

think speaks even more highly of

Joshua's character, of his heart. God

looks at the heart. In Exodus 33 and

verse number 11, Joshua refuses to leave

the temple. Notice what the Bible says.

And the Lord spake unto Moses face to

face as a man speaketh unto his friend.

And he turned again into the camp. Moses

left and went into the camp. But his

servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young

man, departed not out of the tabernacle.

Here's Moses and Joshua, and they're in

the tabernacle together. God speaks with

Moses. Moses departs. Joshua said, "I

ain't leaving. I want more. I want to

stay in the presence of the Lord." And

the Bible even specifies he's a young

man at this time. Joshua had a desire to

know his savior. He had a character to

desire to be in the presence of the

Lord. What Joshua wanted more than

anything was the blessing and the

presence of God on his life. A man of

great character. It would do a lot of

Christians who bear the name that Jesus

saves. It would do a lot of us good to

have the same attitude and character as

Joshua. That not only do we bear the

name that Jesus saved, but we desire to

spend time in the presence of our

savior. This is Joshua, the man. This is

his heart. This is who he was. Why did

God choose Joshua? I believe he chose

Joshua because God saw the heart of

Joshua. And he saw a young man who was

full of courage. But more than courage,

more than boldness, more than a warrior,

Joshua was a man who had a tender heart

for God. It would do us well to follow

his example, have a tender heart, that

desired the presence of the Lord. This

was Joshua, the man.

But I want you to write down number two,

Joshua, the minister. We see his name.

The Lord spake unto Joshua. But then it

gives us a just a little description of

him in verse one says Joshua the son of

Nun Moses's minister. You see the word

that word means servant.

Joshua was a servant of Moses. Here's

what Joshua did. He served the man of

God. Now I am not going to preach long

here but I think it's worth noting that

Joshua served the man of God.

And I think it's a proper example for

the church today. I'm not calling you to

be my servants. That's not at all what

I'm saying. But God has placed people in

positions of spiritual authority. And it

would do us well in the church to submit

to God's design of authority

and serve the people who God has placed

to spiritually lead us. Can I give you

just a very practical example and I'm

done here.

Pastor, what would you like me to do?

Pastor, how can I serve the church? Is

there a need? Is there a need that I can

help fill? Can can you use my gifts or

my talents anywhere, pastor?

He served the man of God. But then

Joshua also served to the people of God.

He was there as Moses minister. What was

Moses doing? But Moses was uh we see

Moses's uh life and ministry all through

the book of Exodus and Deuteronomy as

Moses ministered to the people. So his

assistant therefore is going to be

ministering to the people. So Joshua is

walking through the camp and no doubt

encouraging people and and helping

people and being a biblical example for

people as he ministers to the people of

God. And and I think it would again do

our churches very well to follow the

example and minister to one another,

right?

We come into church far too often. We

come into our churches looking to be

ministered to. Well, I hope somebody

shakes my hand this morning. I hope

somebody speaks to me this morning. I

really need a hug this morning. I hope

somebody gives me a hug. And then if

they don't, we walk out the door and far

too often we say silly things like, "I

can't believe that pastor didn't shake

my hand this morning. I can't believe

that they walked right past me and they

didn't speak to me this morning."

Instead of coming to church seeking to

be ministered to, why don't we come to

church seeking to minister? I want to

serve somebody this morning. I I will

promise you this. You will get a greater

blessing out of being in church if you

come ready to serve than if you come

looking to be served. You come looking

to be served, you will leave

disappointed nine times out of 10. But

if you come looking to serve, God will

open a door. You will bless somebody's

spirit and you will receive the greater

blessing through that. So Joshua the

minister, he serves the man of God. He

serves the people of God. Write down

number three. Joshua the major, the

military general,

major Joshua.

God tells him in verse number two, he

said, "Moses, my servant, is dead. Now,

therefore, arise, Joshua, there's a work

for you to do. Arise and go over this

Jordan, thou and all this people."

Joshua, it's time for you to step into

the role that I have been preparing you

for. Joshua was an established,

welaccomplished military general. In

fact, to my knowledge, the first time

that we see Joshua in the Bible, he's in

the middle of a battle. He's fighting

with the Amalachites. You remember the

story, they they had to hold up Moses's

arms because as long as Moses's hands

were in the air, then Joshua and his men

were winning the battle. But when Moses'

hands got tired and he put them down to

rest, then the Amalachites begin to

overtake Joshua and his men. And you

remember they held up Moses' hands and

God gave them a great victory over the

Amalachites.

This was Joshua, the military general.

This was Joshua, the man who God had

prepared to lead them into battle.

There's many battles that we're going to

see as we go into the book of Joshua.

And and I'll just mention a couple of

them. We see the battle of uh the

Amalachites in Exodus 17. Then battle of

Jericho in Joshua 6. We'll see the

battle of Ai in Joshua 7 and 8. And then

there's many, many others that we're

going to look at over the next few

months as Joshua and the nation of

Israel go to war for God.

And who better to go out and claim the

promised land than someone who knows how

to fight.

And this morning, God may have some

promises for you. God may have some

blessings for you. God may have a

blessing for your life for this specific

year.

And who else to better to claim the

blessing and the promises of God than

someone who knows how to fight. I don't

mean fight like put them up. I mean you

know how to take the word of God.

And when that devil comes knocking on

your heart's door and saying you ain't

never going to have victory. You aren't

ever going to amount to anything. Why

are you still going to that church? Why

are you still trying to sing those

songs? Why are you still trying to have

a good marriage? Why are you still

trying to reach your children? You know

how to take the word of God and fight

the enemy with truth?

I believe if we do that, if we learn how

to do that in our Christian life, then

we will begin to see the blessings of

God, the spiritual blessings of God.

Yes, there are battles, but there are

great blessings. And so, we see Joshua

the Major.

Now, this is the message. This is where

I've been trying to get to. Number four,

write this down. Joshua, the model.

The model.

Joshua is an Old Testament character who

provides for us a picture

of Jesus.

Now, admittedly, Joshua is is not Jesus,

though they bear the same name. Joshua

in Hebrew is Jesus in Greek. They they

carry the same name, but but they're

Joshua is not Jesus. He's just an

incomplete human representation of some

of the things that Jesus was going to do

perfectly and fulfill. Can I show you

some of those things? Notice, first of

all, Jesus as a man.

Let me give you some verses. John 1 and

verse 14. And the word was made flesh

and dwelt among us.

Philippians chapter 2 7 and 8. I love

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

these verses. Some of my favorite verses

in all of the Bible. Jesus made himself

of no reputation, but took upon him the

form of a servant, and was made in the

likeness of men, and being found in

fashion as a man, he humbled himself,

and became obedient unto death, even the

death of the cross. Jesus Christ

embodies what we call in theology the

hyposatic union. That's a big word, but

it simply means one thing, one simple

truth that Jesus was fully God, 100%

God, and he was 100% man. He was he he

combined all God with all man. How is

that possible? Well, quite honestly, I

don't know. I don't get paid enough to

know that. Okay? I'm not sure how God

did it, but he did it. He was fully God.

He was fully man. Jesus Christ did come

to earth. He lived on this earth as one

of you and I. He became a man. And that

ought to encourage us that we have a

savior. We read the verses this morning

who he he's not a high priest who cannot

be touched with the feelings of our

infirmities. But Jesus is a high priest

who can be touched. Part of that

fulfillment is that he lived where you

live. He walked on the same world that

you walk on. He experienced the same

weather changes that you experience. He

understands now. He created it. He

understands anyways.

But it brings you an eye comfort to know

that he's been here and he's walked

where we're walking. Jesus was a man.

Joshua exemplified a good character. And

Joshua wasn't perfect. Joshua made

mistakes, but he exemplified a good

character. Jesus embodied a perfect

character. There was no sin in Jesus.

There was no mistake in Jesus. Joshua

exemplified some good courage. Jesus

embodied perfect courage when he went to

Calvary for you and I. So we see Jesus

as a man, but then notice Jesus as

minister.

I I'll remind you again of Philippians

Philippians 2:7

2:7 and 8 being and Jesus himself had

made himself of no reputation but took

upon him the form of a do you know the

next word? The form of a what? Of a

servant.

Jesus takes on himself the form of a

servant and was made in the likeness of

men. Who was Jesus? He was a minister.

Can I give you another verse? Matthew

Matthew 20 · chapter mention

chapter 20 and verse 28. Even as the son

of man came not to be ministered unto

but to minister and give his life a

ransom for many. Jesus did not come to

be served but to serve humanity. If we

could wrap our mind around what is

taking place when Jesus comes to this

earth and takes on himself the form of a

man.

My my goodness.

The King of Kings, the Lord of Lords,

the creator of the universe, the one who

knows the stars by name, the one who

knows how many hairs you have on your

head. God the Almighty

becomes a man. And why did he become a

man? Well, Matthew chapter 20 tells us

Matthew 20 · chapter mention

not to be ministered unto,

but to minister. He came to serve

rotten, wicked humanity.

He did not come just to serve humanity,

but he came to be the sacrifice for

humanity.

He said, "It did not come to be

ministered unto, but to minister." And

then, did you catch the last part? and

to give his life a ransom for many.

He came and he served people his whole

life

and then he gave his life for the sins

of the world. He took your sin and my

sin on himself and he paid the penalty

for all of eternity.

Jesus came to minister. What an example.

If Jesus,

if Jesus can humble himself and come to

this earth and serve

sinful man,

why in the world do we have such a hard

time getting people to serve

>> one another

>> and the church?

If Jesus, the King of Kings, could come

to the earth, humble himself, and begin

to serve one another. He washed the feet

of his disciples, and we can't even get

someone to serve in a nursery

or or or to to help in an event or or to

to be a greeter at the door or to go

visit someone who's sick.

Jesus, the King of Kings, the creator of

the world, comes to this earth, makes

himself a servant, humbles himself to

the form of man, not to be served, but

to serve to the point of death in that

he gave his very life for wicked,

sinful, rotten people like you and me.

>> And we come into church, and I'm running

a rabbit. I know that. I'm going to get

where I'm going. Just hold on.

We come into our churches today. Well, I

could never do that for them. Do you see

the kind of person they are?

I could never do that.

We we we get paired up from time to time

in church and just the nature of church

things and and we get paired up and

working with different people, right?

And then people complain, I don't think

I can work with them.

Oh, that just irks me. Can I say that

you can't work with them? What do you

think Jesus thought? The king of the

world walking among sinful humanity,

serving sinful humanity. You don't think

people did him wrong? What did he do? He

just kept on serving until they killed

him for it. He gave everything he had.

And this isn't the message, but I'm I'm

stuck here for some reason. So, we're

just going to keep plowing.

God, help us to have some church people

who will take on the spirit of Jesus

Christ and just serve

and minister and do what needs to be

done and jump in where they need to be

so that the church of Jesus Christ can

go forward.

Let me show you one more thing. You can

come get ready and start playing. I'm

almost done, but I want to show you one

more thing about Jesus. And that is

Jesus as major or military general.

And we talked about Joshua and all that

he had done and all of his military

success, but you know, he is actually a

picture of Jesus and that Jesus was

going to have military success.

It it is Jesus who leads us into battle.

The battles that we fight in this life,

we cannot win them outside of Jesus

Christ. It is Jesus who is our military

general who leads us forward into battle

against evil. You realize Satan, he is

not more powerful than God, but he is

more powerful than you. You can't defeat

him. You can't win against him unless

you have Jesus on your side. It is King

Jesus that leads us into battle. Just as

Jesus led the nation of Israel into

battle in the book of Joshua, so he

leads you and I into battle. Can I show

you how? Just one example and I hope

this will encourage you. Lord, help me

now.

It's King Jesus who leads us into

battle. When he came to earth, was born

as a baby, was placed in a manger. He

did not come to be in that manger to be

a cute little baby, but he came as a

warrior king. And that little baby was

so much more than a baby. It was the

king of the world. And he was leading a

righteous army against the foe, Satan

himself, and against all of the evilness

of the world. He lived and he walked on

this beautiful world not to be defeated

but to be victorious. He served and he

ministered to people with one goal in

mind that he would defeat forever

evilness and wicked. He served and he

ministered for three and 1/2 years. At

the end of those three and 1/2 years,

Judas betrayed him. The Pharisees mocked

him. The Jews yelled to crucify him.

Soldiers beat him. Pilate condemned him.

Thieves scolded him. People mocked him.

Romans pierced his side. And Satan

rejoiced because he thought that the

King of Kings

had been defeated.

The King of Kings had died. The Lord of

Lords had been defeated. How could Jesus

now leave a lead a victorious army

against Satan's foe? Why could How could

now Jesus lead his army and defeat

Satan? Jesus was dead.

And they took Jesus off of the cross and

they placed him in a tomb and they

rolled that stone across the mouth of

that tomb and they sealed it with a ste

seal so that it could not be moved and

the soldiers waited and the devils

danced and Satan Satan rejoiced and the

demons sang because they thought they

had won. It was over. It was finished.

King Jesus, the one who had come to

rescue a world from sin, could do no

rescuing now. for he was locked away

inside a borrowed tomb.

Day one

and day two, there was no change. The

soldiers become impatient. The party uh

between the devil and his demons began

to ramp up.

It's over and it's finished. We have won

the victory. Death has won the victory.

Sin has won the victory. It's all

finished now. But on that third and

glorious day, the sun begins to rise and

the beams of light come across that sun

and they touch that stone and that seal

breaks free. The stone rose to the side.

The soldiers faint from the light. And

we begin to see inside of a tomb that

Jesus is no longer in. But he has risen

victorious. When the devil thought he'd

won, he won nothing because King Jesus

all along was leading a righteous army

against the foe Satan. And at the end of

it all, Jesus won. He defeated death. He

defeated hell. He defeated the grave. He

rose victorious. And you and I today

have victory. Not because we are

something. You and I have victory. Not

because we're special, not because we

know how to dress up, not because we

come into a church house like this, not

because we sing songs, but we have

victory because of what happened on that

glorious third morning when Jesus broke

the seal. The stone rolled aside and

victory was won for all eternity. And

now today, you and I face battles, do we

not?

But there are great blessings.

You can't fight it on your own. You

can't win it on your own.

But if you will fall in love with Jesus,

say, "Lead the way.

I'll serve wherever you want me to

serve. I'll go wherever you want me to

go. I'LL MINISTER HOWEVER YOU WANT ME.

I'LL GO THROUGH WHATEVER YOU I'LL FIGHT

THE BATTLES, but I'm only going to fight

them if you're with me. Because that's

the only way we win this thing.

There's a world that is lost and dying

and on their way to hell outside these

walls.

And they desperately need to understand

that without Jesus,

they lose.

And they spend eternity separated from

God in a very real place called hell.

But with Jesus,

oh, if they will place their faith and

trust in the finished work of Jesus

Christ, there is victory.

There's no drug addict too far gone.

There's no marriage too far gone.

There's no child too far gone.

There's no situation that is too big.

There's no giant that is too strong.

Victory was won that day in in that

garden.

Jesus had won it all.

Let me tell you something right now. The

devil is walking about as a roaring

lion,

but he's walking about on a leash. He

knows he's lost. He knows his time is

short.

So, yeah, he's going to fight. He's

fighting with everything he can right

now to bring you down. He wants to

discourage you. He wants to get you out

of the fight. He wants to make you think

it's all over. He wants to make you give

up. He wants to make you quit on God.

And I came this morning to remind

somebody, don't give up. There's more

fighting to be done. There's more

victories to be won. There's more

blessings to be enjoyed. God is on your

side. And if the Lord before us, who can

be against us? Somebody help me give God

praise this morning that we have

victory.

Let's stand to our feet all over the

auditorium today.

What battle are you fighting right now?

It's different than mine. I'm probably

sure of that.

But we all have a battle, don't we?

While she plays,

why don't we just make good use of our

time here?

And come to that friend who sticks

closer than a brother and say, "Lord,

here's my battle. I'm fighting, but I

don't want to fight without you.

Convict me where I need convicted. Lead

me where I need leading. Move me in the

direction you want me to go. Help me to

accept where you have placed me.

I give it to you, Lord. I want to fight

with you. She's going to play.

Why don't you come

bow a knee in humility and say, "God,

today I want to fight with you." If

you'd like me to pray with you, I'm

happy to do that this morning. Let's

mind the Lord.