Yahweh said to Joshua, "Get up! Why have you fallen on your face like that? Joshua 7:10 WEB.

The first town the Israelites came to when they entered the promised land was Jericho. They marched around it seven times, shouted, and the city walls crumbled. God was working with them, and He gave them an incredible victory. They were instructed to put all the loot from the first city into the Lord's treasury. In essence, it was tithing. He allowed them to keep the rest of the cities for themselves, but not the first fruits (Exodus 23:19).

A man named Achan stole part of the loot from Jericho and kept it for himself. Because of this, the Lord withdrew His help from Israel. The next city they came to was the small town of Ai. The Israelites had taken the great walled city of Jericho almost without a fight. But the tiny village of Ai beat them back and made them retreat.

After the defeat, Joshua lay on his face before the Lord and prayed for direction. Israel had lost the battle. That wasn't supposed to happen. When the Lord answered Joshua, it was basically: "Get up, make it right, and let's go forward!" God gave Joshua no time to lay there and dwell on past mistakes and events. They first dealt with Achan, then went and took the city of Ai.

Many times in my life, I have stumbled, turned back, and wandered away from God. Each time I returned to Him, lay on the carpet, and prayed, it was exactly like this: "Now get up and let's go forward!"

God is always calling you into your future, into your destiny. The devil is continually calling you into your past, reminding you of your mistakes, giving you feelings of shame, and wanting you to return to your old ways.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life, and God still has a plan for you, a destiny to fulfill. Don't live in your past mistakes, meditating on how much time has been wasted. When you dwell on those, you are siding with the enemy. Your past is gone, so let it go. Let this sink in: God talks about your future. It is the enemy that talks about your history.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I thank You for all You do for me. Please draw my heart to You and give me the will to get up when I stumble. Thank You for Your mercy. Lead me into all that You have for me. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!

Note: As many of you know, RHM has been going through a lot of changes with our emails and website. We had to make the changes rather suddenly without much in the way of announcements. If you are interested in finding out more about that, here is a new RHM Newsletter with details! Also, ladies, today is Thankful Thursday at the "Ladies in Distress" group (our RHM women's group)! You are welcome to join in our weekly sharing of thankfulness for the Lord's presence and any blessings you may have experienced, big or small! Until we get our small group areas up again, Thankful Thursday will take place at the home page at RHM! As always, Finally, if you have a prayer need, we are here for you! We and the prayer team are ready to lift you up at our private prayer page: RHM Prayer Network