God and not on personal prowess. He was never going to win the promised land with a rag-bag collection of farmers. He was only going to succeed with God's strength. And to get God's blessing, he had to get ready spiritually.

Surely the same is true in our lives. When we face challenges we pray about it. But how much more effective would our prayers be if we had a spiritual purge first and put ourselves in order?

James says "Come near to God and He will come near to you" (James 4:8). There is the principle here of man making the first move, and then God responding. Surely

There are times in our lives where we want to smarten up our act. This could arise from personal dissatisfaction. More likely there are times where we want to get ready for the coming of a person or event, where we feel dissatisfied with how we are.

At home we will do this for visitors. We are content to live in a relatively untidy state. However, we are conscious that visitors would prefer not to see our mess and may judge us negatively by seeing it. So we tidy up. The more important the visitor the more the domestic panic.

If you are like us, you welcome those who are late (and those on time - of course!). This provides us with more last minutes in which to get straight. The more last minutes the more ready we are.

Somehow we are never really ready.

We get to know those who are right on time or early. While we admire those who are on time, they catch us unready. We wonder what such folks think of us.

Big events and big people require big preparation. We may even think ahead and may do extras to smarten up.

What about the big events in our lives, for which we pray for guidance and blessing? Are we ready for those?

Joshua faced the biggest event of his life. Stuck in the foothills of Moab, he gazed at the imposing mountains of Canaan. There below were the massive walls of Jericho, the leading city of the area. Joshua led a band of peasant shepherds and was about to pick a fight with professional armies. Israel's camp, with their women and children, was unwalled, easy prey for raiding parties. This situation would be called a "challenge" by business today and "madness" by the man in the street.

How do you prepare for such an event?

You would prepare your armies. Those with swords and knives would sharpen them. Archers would practice. Military management would be set in place. The unfit needed fitness, the scouts needed horses, the military commanders needed a plan.

Joshua prepared in a different way.

When they had crossed the Jordan, he had all his men eligible to fight circumcised. They were grounded for 3 days. In the pain of it all they kept the Passover. Then finally he told the people to wash. Note that they would have refrained from sexual relations (as they did in Exodus 19).

All this was not an obvious thing to do! Joshua's victory relied on God and not on personal prowess. He was never going to win the promised land with a rag-bag collection of farmers. He was only going to succeed with God's strength. And to get God's blessing, he had to get ready spiritually.

Surely the same is true in our lives. When we face challenges we pray about it. But how much more effective would our prayers be if we had a spiritual purge first and put ourselves in order?

James says "Come near to God and He will come near to you" (James 4:8). There is the principle here of man making the first move, and then God responding. Surely

ate (and those on time - of course!). This provides us with more last minutes in which to get straight. The more last minutes the more ready we are.

Somehow we are never really ready.

We get to know those who are right on time or early. While we admire those who are on time, they catch us unready. We wonder what such folks think of us.

Big events and big people require big preparation. We may even think ahead and may do extras to smarten up.

What about the big events in our lives, for which we pray for guidance and blessing? Are we ready for those?

Joshua faced the biggest event of his life. Stuck in the foothills of Moab, he gazed at the imposing mountains of Canaan. There below were the massive walls of Jericho, the leading city of the area. Joshua led a band of peasant shepherds and was about to pick a fight with professional armies. Israel's camp, with their women and children, was unwalled, easy prey for raiding parties. This situation would be called a "challenge" by business today and "madness" by the man in the street.

How do you prepare for such an event?

You would prepare your armies. Those with swords and knives would sharpen them. Archers would practice. Military management would be set in place. The unfit needed fitness, the scouts needed horses, the military commanders needed a plan.

Joshua prepared in a different way.

When they had crossed the Jordan, he had all his men eligible to fight circumcised. They were grounded for 3 days. In the pain of it all they kept the Passover. Then finally he told the people to wash. Note that they would have refrained from sexual relations (as they did in Exodus 19).

All this was not an obvious thing to do! Joshua's victory relied on God and not on personal prowess. He was never going to win the promised land with a rag-bag collection of farmers. He was only going to succeed with God's strength. And to get God's blessing, he had to get ready spiritually.

Surely the same is true in our lives. When we face challenges we pray about it. But how much more effective would our prayers be if we had a spiritual purge first and put ourselves in order?

James says "Come near to God and He will come near to you" (James 4:8). There is the principle here of man making the first move, and then God responding. Surely

a faced the biggest event of his life. Stuck in the foothills of Moab, he gazed at the imposing mountains of Canaan. There below were the massive walls of Jericho, the leading city of the area. Joshua led a band of peasant shepherds and was about to pick a fight with professional armies. Israel's camp, with their women and children, was unwalled, easy prey for raiding parties. This situation would be called a "challenge" by business today and "madness" by the man in the street.

How do you prepare for such an event?

You would prepare your armies. Those with swords and knives would sharpen them. Archers would practice. Military management would be set in place. The unfit needed fitness, the scouts needed horses, the military commanders needed a plan.

Joshua prepared in a different way.

When they had crossed the Jordan, he had all his men eligible to fight circumcised. They were grounded for 3 days. In the pain of it all they kept the Passover. Then finally he told the people to wash. Note that they would have refrained from sexual relations (as they did in Exodus 19).

All this was not an obvious thing to do! Joshua's victory relied on God and not on personal prowess. He was never going to win the promised land with a rag-bag collection of farmers. He was only going to succeed with God's strength. And to get God's blessing, he had to get ready spiritually.

Surely the same is true in our lives. When we face challenges we pray about it. But how much more effective would our prayers be if we had a spiritual purge first and put ourselves in order?

James says "Come near to God and He will come near to you" (James 4:8). There is the principle here of man making the first move, and then God responding. Surely

es would sharpen them. Archers would practice. Military management would be set in place. The unfit needed fitness, the scouts needed horses, the military commanders needed a plan.

Joshua prepared in a different way.

When they had crossed the Jordan, he had all his men eligible to fight circumcised. They were grounded for 3 days. In the pain of it all they kept the Passover. Then finally he told the people to wash. Note that they would have refrained from sexual relations (as they did in Exodus 19).

All this was not an obvious thing to do! Joshua's victory relied on God and not on personal prowess. He was never going to win the promised land with a rag-bag collection of farmers. He was only going to succeed with God's strength. And to get God's blessing, he had to get ready spiritually.

Surely the same is true in our lives. When we face challenges we pray about it. But how much more effective would our prayers be if we had a spiritual purge first and put ourselves in order?

James says "Come near to God and He will come near to you" (James 4:8). There is the principle here of man making the first move, and then God responding. Surely

God and not on personal prowess. He was never going to win the promised land with a rag-bag collection of farmers. He was only going to succeed with God's strength. And to get God's blessing, he had to get ready spiritually.

Surely the same is true in our lives. When we face challenges we pray about it. But how much more effective would our prayers be if we had a spiritual purge first and put ourselves in order?

James says "Come near to God and He will come near to you" (James 4:8). There is the principle here of man making the first move, and then God responding. Surely this also applies to our requests to God. The man or woman who takes a step closer to God will get a reciprocal response from God.

Jesus said "Seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you". Isn't this also suggesting that a spiritual tidy up should be carried out first?

Now the ultimate event in our lives is our death and the ultimate person we will meet is Jesus. Are we ready for this occasion?

We know how we have to start - sorting ourselves out spiritually. That is the only way we can fight this enemy and win. It would be impossible for us to win the promised land without the help of our God. No amount of cosmetic sword-sharpening and manly activity will help us in this battle.

We are in the hands of our Maker. It is His blessing we must have to face this last great battle. This will come if we consecrate ourselves and clean ourselves up spiritually. We must deal with the legacy of our own histories and the life we now lead.

We must restrain the flesh and its desires - not other peoples flesh - which are only phantom enemies - but our own flesh. We must even cut off the flesh as best we can, symbolically acting out circumcision that God's army performed.

And so, spiritually prepared, taking off our shoes and prostrating ourselves before our master, we are on holy ground. Are we on God's side or not? Are we to be an earthly extension of God's heavenly armies? Or are we part of the world that will be swept aside by the greater Joshua's righteous arm?

It sometimes seems as if the new Joshua's intervention is a long way off. Yet this timing provides us with many last minutes. We can drift through each day only to face a panic when the door bell goes. Or we have the opportunity to put ourselves in order, ready for the angelic call.