Speaker and author Rev. Lynndey Reid teaches others in a way that propels them into a deeper relationship with God. Her testimony, is one of a radically changed life by passionately pursuing God in the secret place. Her desire is to inspire those who feel overwhelmed by the world, disempowered, or lost, to know God through His word and experience the same freedom she has. Lynndey and her husband Chris of twenty-one years live in the Nashville area with their children. Lynndey, is the co-host of The Springs + Roots Podcast, conversations about life and faith and one of the founding members of Free Hearts Collective. She earned her Bachelor of Theology from Christian Life School of Theology, and enjoys the apostolic fellowship of Maranatha Ministerial Fellowship International. Website: freeheartscollective.com
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God is Looking For a Joshua Generation A Word by Rev. Lynndey Reid
Rev. Lynndey Reid
Email: [email protected]
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come. (2 Timothy 3:1)
Paul instructed his son in the faith that in the last days perilous times would come. Are we in the last days? According to the scripture, we have been since the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, about 2,000 years ago. As a world (how often can you include the whole world in a statement) we are facing the unknown dangers associated with catching the virus, COVID-19. Though many are recovering well from the sickness, some are dying. The peril we face is…. if we catch it which group will we find ourselves, recovered or dead? Yes, it’s a sobering time.
Many are comparing this pandemic to being at war and indeed in many ways, it feels like we are at war. Except this war is not with an enemy we can see with our natural eyes. Our enemy could be near us, on us, or right next to us, and we would never know it until we are sick! War is also normally defined by an actual engagement of the enemy, but to win this war, we’ve been told to stay in our homes, stay home from work, and for our kids to stop going to school. We’ve been told to stand at least six feet away from anyone we may encounter. In many aspects, we’ve been told to STOP what we call normal life! Yes, this war is different indeed.
Simultaneous to the war we are facing with the virus, I sense another battle rising in its wake, a war with the spirit of fear. Attempting to blanket the whole earth at this time, fear’s desire is to smother us with it’s dread. Yes, friends, we are engaged in a battle on two fronts with enemies unseen, but whose effects we can feel and see all around us every day.
Many have had a hard time relating to the wars the Old Testament contains, but now more than ever I see how relevant they are to our everyday lives. The wars God’s people fought over the land of Israel parallel the spiritual battles we face today. The promised land, described as the land flowing with milk and honey, represents the abundant life Jesus said we could have. That abundant life includes peace, wholeness, safety, abundance, and healing…the opposite of what fear longs for us to experience, which is torment.
When God led His children out of Egypt and brought them to the edge of their inheritance, the first generation faltered and refused to possess their promises. At a report of giants in the land, the people said they would rather go back to the bondage of Egypt than face their fears. They were God’s children, but instead of allowing God to lead them, they let fear bully them. Fear had done its work and so they spent the remainder of their lives aimlessly wandering in the wilderness until their deaths. If we think fear is not an enemy, we are only kidding ourselves. The point of fear is to keep you OUT of God’s best for your life, to keep you doing circles in the wilderness!
God brought the second generation back around 40 years later under the leadership of Joshua to give their children an opportunity to face their fears and possess the promises of God, their inheritance. What we leave unfaced in our generation, WILL be left for the next.
As the prophetic once again began to take its place in the church in the 1990’s it was prophesied that God was raising up a “Joshua generation.” The Joshua generation would be people who would face not only their fears but courageously lead others to do the same. The Joshua generation was to be a people that would wholeheartedly pursue God’s will to see His Kingdom advance in the earth, by taking territory long held in the enemies’ hands. This battle courageous generation would also possess the tender heart of Joshua, who even when Moses left the Tent of Meeting, continued to linger in the Lord’s presence. I’m convinced for all who heard and received that mandate, the seeds were firmly planted, ready to be harvested at a later time. Could now be the time for the Joshua’s to arise, as fear has turned into a giant as we’ve never seen before?
Just like Joshua, before the battle of Jericho, I see the church standing just outside their inheritance. We are asking the same questions to God he must have been. “How do we navigate this season?” “How should we position my heart?” ”What is the word of the Lord for this hour?“ “How will we defeat the giant of fear that is trying to capture our hearts?” The Father’s answer to Joshua was the same answer for us today, “Be strong and of good courage, for to these people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them, Only be strong, and very courageous.” Jos.1: 6-7a
Strength and courage are what is needed today, tomorrow, and for our future. In a time where our minds could run away in the midst of a 24-hour news cycle, we must strengthen ourselves in God. Strength is defined as the ability to withstand great force or pressure. As the force of fear is spreading, through a virus, we as the church must stand in the strength and surety of our God as we look fear in the face, and declare, “You are not greater than my God!”
Psalm 73:26 says, My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.
Found within the strength of our God each one of us will know how to go forward to possess the promises of God and lead others to do the same, even now, even today, even in the middle of a crisis.
After God’s encouragement of strength and courage to Joshua, He told him how to win the battle. Joshua was to give the command to put the ark of the covenant first, in other words, put God’s presence before you to gain the victory. The priests picked up the ark, and carried it, stopping at the banks of the flooding Jordan. The waters stopped allowing God’s people to cross over on the dry ground. Then again, at the walls of Jericho, the ark was positioned in front of the army leading the procession around the walls of Jericho as the priests sounded the trumpet.
When we don’t know what’s ahead, or how to get there, we must make a place for The Holy Spirit, or God’s presence to speak to us, to lead us. God told Joshua, let the ark lead “that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before.” Joshua 3:4 As the church, as a people, we haven’t passed this way before. Never in the lives of 99.99% of the people alive today, have we seen anything like we are experiencing with the COVID-19 outbreak. But now is the time to lean into God’s character and His presence. His presence we will know our God and be the Joshua generation He is looking for. We will lead others into the hope, joy, and peace that our inheritance contains. We will face our fears and triumph over them. Now is the time to rejoice in the victory that God has already won on behalf of mankind, and walk in the fullness of it, right in the middle of the storm!
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