FAITH AND SUCCESS.

FAITH AND SUCCESS By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days (Hebrews 11:30). Joshua was one of the greatest leaders in Bible history. He succeeded Moses and led the Israelites to the Promised Land. Just like our leaders today, Joshua too wasn't perfect all the time. He had his own faults and failures but he was always ready to humble himself to acknowledge his sins and ask God for forgiveness. Another wonderful character that he possessed was that He never lost his faith and trust in God. He allowed God to do great things for him. He was also a man of prayer. Through his life, we learn that "The secret of success is the union of divine power with human effort. Those who achieve the greatest results are those who rely most implicitly upon the Almighty Arm. The man who commanded, "Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon," is the man who for hours lay prostrate upon the earth in prayer in the camp of Gilgal. The men of prayer are the men of power" (PP 509.1) The fall of Jericho is just but one example of how great Joshua's faith in God was. If Joshua didn't have faith, he would not have circled the city seven times. But because he believed in God's command and acted upon it, he and the people of Israel achieved great success. The Lord accompanied them and was always with them in all their battles. Beloved, if only we could also put our trust in God and not rely on our own strength and efforts; if only we would always obey God's command and learn to pray fervently as Joshua prayed, the Lord will also be with us and help us in all our undertakings. He will make us overcomers and successful in all that we do. "God will do great things for those who trust in Him. The reason why His professed people have no greater strength is that they trust so much to their own wisdom, and do not give the Lord an opportunity to reveal His power in their behalf. He will help His believing children in every emergency if they will place their entire confidence in Him and faithfully obey Him" (PP 493.2) It is my fervent prayer that the Lord will help us to keep our faith in Him so He can accomplish great things through us. Amen