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Get Up from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

Moses appointed Joshua to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land when he passed away. Moses was a deliverer who brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. Yet, because he struck a rock with his staff when he should have spoken to it, he was not allowed to enter the Promised Land (Numbers 20:12). So the Lord took Moses home, and Joshua became the new leader.

Miracles began to follow Joshua just as they did Moses. When they crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land, the water backed up like at the Red Sea, and they crossed an overflowing river by walking across on dry ground (Joshua 3:17). The Israelites were unstoppable as they advanced, but there was a catch. 

When they entered the land promised to Abraham four hundred years before, Jericho was the first city they would come to. It was a large walled city with a spring and an oasis, also known as the "City of the Palm Trees." The Lord instructed them that all the silver, gold, bronze, and iron from this city would be put into the Lord's treasury (Joshua 6:19). They were to take care of His house first and foremost, a first-fruit offering. 

The Lord was with them, and Jericho was an effortless battle. On the last day, they marched around the walls seven times, shouted, and the walls protecting Jericho collapsed. They took the city. Everything was going great for the Israelites. Joshua was on top of the world, but as usual, a man's greed intervened. A man named Achan stole some silver and gold and hid it in his tent, thinking no one would notice. Wrong!

The next city they came to in the Promised Land was a very small city called Ai. Their victory at Jericho had been so profound that the Israelites didn't even see Ai as a threat. Wrong again. Ai kicked their behinds as the Israelites fled before them, with the inhabitants chasing them down the hill back to Joshua. 

Joshua was shocked and fell on his face before the Lord in prayer. He had no idea what had happened and why they were defeated so easily. Then the Lord spoke to Joshua and told him this:

(Joshua 7:10–12 NKJV)  So the LORD said to Joshua: “Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face? Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff. Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they have become doomed to destruction. Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you.

What seemed like a very small thing to a man turned out to be a big thing to the Lord. A game-changing thing. The Lord had told them to give, but they decided to keep it and thought He wouldn't notice. Because of that, the Lord would no longer be with them, and they couldn't stand before their enemies. 

Taking Easy Street into the Promised Land was now a dead end for them. Where they previously had no worries, they certainly had some now. The Lord told Joshua to "Get up!" and make things right. They did this by burning Achan, his family, his tent, and his stolen loot. 

Today, you repent and do what He told you to do. In short, if you want to be blessed, stop stealing from God and believing He won't notice. He absolutely will. 

(Malachi 3:8–11 NKJV)  “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the LORD of hosts;

That is both a wonderful promise and an awful curse. Typically people that don't want to fast don't believe in fasting. People that don't want to tithe will find a reason not to believe in tithing. But it is the willing and obedient that eat the good of the land (Isaiah 1:19). If you try and be stingy towards the Lord, He will be stingy towards you:

(2 Corinthians 9:6 NKJV)  But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

God is wonderful, trustworthy, and rich beyond our imagination. He created gold. The streets in heaven are paved with pure gold. Peter got tax money from a fish's mouth. The Lord has no shortage of funds, but our stingy attitude chokes His blessing in our lives. 

(Haggai 1:9 NKJV)  “You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?” says the LORD of hosts. “Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house.

Be faithful. Don't touch what isn't yours. Take His challenge and give His tithe first and not last. Adjust things accordingly. Also, count on the enemy to come and test your faithfulness and to try and scare you to make you give up. When you first start tithing, you will be tested, and it will seem like all hell is breaking loose. But blessings will soon begin to flow if you see it through, and things will quiet down. It has happened to all of us. Everyone is tested, and the enemy can tell a hard no from a maybe... 

You can pray this with me if you like: 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You so much for all You do for me. Please open my mind to the Scriptures as you did with the disciples. Help me understand and get in tune with what You are doing on Earth today. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!