Pastor Bell's Words To Live By

One of the most important things about those who carry the Blessing of the Lord is the need to live in covenant with God.
For the Joshua generation this meant renewing the covenant before they possessed the Land of Promise. Joshua knew about the promises that the Lord had made to Abraham and how they would possess their own land and govern themselves one day. He also knew that Abraham carried the Blessing and bequeathed it to Isaac who passed it onto Jacob who in turn passed it unto his twelve sons including Joseph. He understood the power of a covenant and the fact that: if God makes a covenant with you, he will fulfil it. It was well document how God had called Abraham (Gen. 12) and how he had blessed him and made him the richest man in the East (Gen 13). He also knew that God had cut a covenant with Abraham and promised to give the land of Canaan to his off-springs. He knew that he was he recipient of that covenant. So to receive the covenant promises Joshua knew what he ought to do. He had to keep the covenant as written in the book of the law (the Pentateuch) by Moses. After the whole nation had crossed the Jordon river on dry land [this was Joshua’s first miracle on his own], Joshua gathered them together at Gilgal and circumcised all the fighting men. These were the ones who were born in the wilderness and who had not known or seen the miracles of the Lord on their exit from Egypt.  Circumcision signifies a binding agreement between the people and the Lord. It was here at Gilgal that the reproach of slavery in Egypt had been rolled away for the Israelites. This was a training camp where soldiers were trained to fight and wounded soldiers were healed before they were allowed to go back into battle.  And nearly 1000 years later, the eternal covenant was enacted on the cross at Calvary when the reproach of the heart [disobedience to God] was rolled away from the whole of humanity at Golgotha which is derived from Gilgal. And so the old has become new again and wounded people, sick people, those who were outcasts can be trained, healed and restored at Gilgal [Calvary]. A good leader then must be a covenant person whose heart has been circumcised and the flesh that is prone to cause endless trouble is cut away once and for all. The promises of God are tied to the blessing of the Lord. Once we learn to keep the promises we will then activate the Blessing. Read Joshua 5&6.