By Pastor Lazarus Muoka

Joshua 3: 9-10 says, “And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the LORD your God. 10 And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites”

When the Children of Israel left Egypt to the Promised Land, they encountered many challenges on their way. Some of these challenges were considered insurmountable but God being on their side, those assumed impossibilities were seamlessly overcame.

During that journey, the Scripture says that Pharaoh and his armies constituted one of the toughest opposition at the Red Sea, yet he was defeated.

The kings of Og and Bashan and many other nations who jealously felt intimidated also opposed their migration and were all defeated and subdued.

In all, despite the strength of the oppositions God proved that He is the Almighty and a living God.

And having understanding of what God could do, Joshua boasted of God and declared to the Israelites that no matter how thorny the path before them maybe the Almighty God has the capacity to help them overcome it.

I don’t know the challenges that seemed insurmountable in your life and you are pondering how to deal with the situation, I want to let you know that if God says anything concerning you, no matter the known or unseen opposition, same God will bring it to pass.

There is no power that can scuttle the plan of God for you. Maybe you are at your cross road and disillusioned, and people who thought that God has abandoned you are asking proof of the fact you are serving a Living God. I want to let you know that today because you are reading this message, you shall know the Living God is among us.

They may be asking where your God is, why all these things are happening to you, why you should be living in abject poverty when you have God, and suffering from diseases and disappointment when you boast that God can do all things.

‘If you say you are serving God why are all these things happening to you’, they queried. Consequent to the above and inability to understand the mind of God, you are now asking as the Psalmist where that your God is.

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Ps 42: 3, 9 and 10 says, “My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?” ..9. I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? 10 As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?”

It may be that you are crying like the Psalmist because of the challenges you are passing through and people are asking, where is your God. I want to assure you that God who proved Himself in the life of the Psalmist will prove Himself to you today in a dimension never envisaged. Today you will know that the Living God is among us.

No matter what you are going through, my assurance is that whether it is like the challenges posed by River Jordan or Red Sea, it shall give way.

If they are gathering against you, I am assuring you they will scatter and you shall excel in Jesus name.

Whatever they are saying concerning you shall neither stand nor come to pass. I am very sure God will give you victory.

Ps. 115: 1-3 says, “Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake. 2 Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God? 3 But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased”.

The enemies are always ready to blaspheme the Children of God. When they see the godly down trodden while they themselves live at ease, they speak as if they had triumphed over God, or as if God had altogether left the field of action and deserted His Children. When the prayers and tears of the godly seem to be disregarded, and their miseries increased rather than assuaged, the wicked will multiply their taunts and jeers, and even argue that their own wretched irreligion is better than the faith of Christians.

They mocked the Children of God whenever it seemed their condition is so much preferable to that of the Children of God.

And, this is the very thing that distressed the chosen of God, when they see the veracity of the Lord questioned, and the name of God profaned because of their sufferings. If they had known that good result would come out of their suffering, they would endure it with patience; but because they are unable to perceive what God has in store for His people, they ask where there God is. I want you to know that God is not ignorant of your situation and has no history of abandoning His people. At the time appointed, He will visit and deliver you.

One thing that is certain is that Satan has been stripped of all powers, and whatever power he is manifesting now is not real. Any power under the heaven and earth is under the custody of our Lord Jesus Christ who has given it to His Chosen people.
Lk 10: 19 says, “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you”.

God has empowered us to overcome the wickedness of men in the likeness of serpents and scorpions without being harmed by anything. We should therefore not be bereft of the knowledge of the fact that no matter the challenges created by the devil and his agents, we shall always triumph over it and go scot free. Devil will always manifest his resentment toward the Children of God which may result to sorrow but God will eventually turn their sorrow to joy.

Jn 10: 10 says, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly”

The devil’s stock in trade is to plunder and destroy our joy in the Lord. He doesn’t want anybody to believe God, thus he goes about countering the doings of the Lord. However, we are all witnesses to what God is doing in our midst in the present generation and also we have read about what He did in the Bible days.

He delivered His people from the bondage of Pharaoh and his soldiers, divided the Red Sea, gave them victory over their enemies, healed the sick, made the blind to see, deaf and dumb to hear and speak; the lame walk and the insane have their sanity restored. Above all, the fact that you are alive is as a result of His mercy.

Many of us have testified of the goodness of God. But the devil has not relented in trying to make us believe at any given time that our current challenges are bigger than what God has done previously. It is an irony for a believer to easily forget all that God has done for him in the time past because of his present problem.

This was the case of the Israelites after God delivered them from the bondage of the Egyptians. God also gave them victory at the Red Sea, but when they were opposed at River Jordan they cried and murmured against God who has being delivering them all the while.

Exodus 14: 10-11 says, “And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD. 11 And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?”

From the context above, you can see how the Children of God easily forgot what God has done for them in the past instead cried and murmured against God because of a challenge that was not even equal to the one they had previously and yet God delivered them. It is very important that we should know that whatever challenges presently disturbing us can still be dealt with by same God who is our Deliverer.

He has done it before and never changes. So instead of crying why not put your trust in Him because He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Our Lord Jesus Christ says, “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them” (Jn 13: 17).

And today if you can believe that He is able to deliver you from that ugly situation I am very assure you will testify of the fact that the living God is among us.

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