RUSSELL SANDERS

10-29-2025

THE LIFE OF JOSHUA – LESSON 12 OF 12

CONCLUSION

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Joshua Chapter 11 tells how he waged war victoriously over much of Canaan. From Jericho to his last battle was a period of seven years. He defeated many kings who each ruled over a city with it surrounding villages.

He also destroyed most of the Anakim, the giants. He cut off the giants from Hebron, Debir, the mountains of Judah, and the mountains throughout Canaan, except for three places. The Anakim remained in Gath, Gaza, and Ashdod. It was over 400 years later that King David finally got rid of the giants where Goliath and his relatives lived.

There were also pockets of pagans unconquered in various parts of Canaan. After Joshua died at age 110, the Book of Judges tells how the tribes of Judah and Simeon had to continue fighting them. Joshua had left the conquest of Canaan incomplete. This failure, from the careless league with Gibeon to the unconquered tribes, became a huge stumbling block to Israel for centuries to come.

Yes, Joshua’s heart was unto God. He loved the LORD. He was blessed by God with military victories for seven long years. But his men had grown battle weary and longed to get back to their families and to the inheritance of land that Joshua had given them. Joshua sent them home and retired from war.

Was that a failure? He did not complete the charge given to him by Moses who had received it from God. Christians always speak high praises about Joshua. How much better would things have been if he had completed the task?

What about you? What has God asked of you? Whatever it is, please be sure to do it to the fullest degree. God rewards obedience.

If you are unsure of what He asks of you, read the gospel account of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. That will tell you what you are to do or how you are to be if you’ve had no other specific leading.

Don’t be a Joshua by failing to live out what God has asked of you through to the end. Joshua was a godly and righteous man, but he didn’t see it through to the end.

HELEN SANDERS

10-29-2025

YOU ARE NOT A MISTAKE

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I have met so many people that were wounded by words from their father or mother. The words brought such deep hurt that they do not see themselves ever as being wanted. Often, they feel that they were “a mistake.”

This is a lie from the adversary, the devil, and is not the way that God sees you. You are not a mistake. Jeremiah chapter 1 verse 5 says, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”

Just like Jeremiah, God is the one that forms us in the belly.  You may have been the result of a rape, or unplanned pregnancy, but that is not the way God saw and sees you. You were his creation, and he delighted in making you!

Just like Jeremiah, God has a plan for you that is good. You may be a mother, a father, a teacher, a minister of the gospel, a maintenance man, a doctor, or anything else, but you were created by God for a divine purpose.

Wherever you find yourself in life, be the best of the best. Give excellence to what you do. Don’t focus on what others are. Focus on the life God gave you and thank him for giving you life. 

Remember, you are not and never have been a mistake! Don’t listen to words that say the contrary. God has the final say over your life. Listen to His word and what it says about you and walk in victory.