The Berlin Wall separated East and West Berlin for 30 years. The east side wanted to build a socialist state, and the west side was a free capitalist state. What does a socialist or communist government bring? Many restrictions are put on the people, and the country experiences extreme poverty and despair. More than 100,000 people tried to escape and there were 200 reported deaths of people who died trying to escape.

In 1987, President Ronald Reagan went to West Berlin, where he gave his famous speech Tear Down This Wall, where he said freedom was necessary for all Germans.

In that same year, two independent pastors began prayer meetings and held a few freedom meetings. In the spring of 1989, the movement began to gain strength. After just a few months, there were 100,000 people peacefully marching, then 300,000, then 500,000. The main government officials resigned and in one day all the restrictions were lifted and people were released. Soon the main officials of the socialist government resigned and finally the dictatorship fell. Once this state failed, the citizens were the ones who began to destroy the wall.

When I heard that these pastors were the ones who started the movement, I realized it had not been something natural but that it had been the move of the hand of God.

Joshua also faced a great wall

After Moses’ death, God chose Joshua to be Israel’s leader. They were finally entering into the Promised Land, and this was going to be Israel’s great conquest.

This is what God told Joshua:

“Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in. 2 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. 3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. 5 When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.” (Joshua 6:1-5 NIV)

The enemy fears God’s plans

The gates were tightly shut. Jericho had heard what God had done through Joshua, and they were panicking. God parted the Jordan River in two, and walked with His people in a cloud during the day and a pillar of fire in the night.

I know that God has given you promises, I know that God has worked miracles in your life, and the enemy has heard all about it. The enemy knows that our God keeps His promises. He is the God of the impossible.

I loved hearing Isabel’s testimony last week at our church’s baptisms. The day after her encounter, the doctors diagnosed her with cancer. This was a battle that lasted several weeks, but she stood firm on the promises of God. Four weeks later, she went in for her medical check-up and to her surprise they found absolutely no trace of cancer. She had to fight her Jericho for several days. She had to stand firm in her faith and decide if she was going to listen to the doctor’s voice or God’s.

What is your Jericho?

David had his Goliath.
Elijah had his Jezebel.
John has his Roman Empire.
Joshua had his Jericho.

Just like Joshua saw his Jericho, you can also see yours, you can feel it, you know that you are going to have to face that adversity. Maybe it’s your boss who yells at you all the time and doesn’t value you. Maybe your classmates make fun of you and your faith. I remember when I was in High School there was a moment I felt very pressured by my classmates. I felt I didn’t fit in. I called my parents that day crying, “Mom, I’m very pressured in this school and I feel like I can’t find my place here.”

Everyone faces their own Jericho. It may be the environment in your school or workplace, it may be a disease, or maybe you feel stuck and without a purpose.

I have good news for you:

GOD HAS MADE YOU A WARRIOR

I love how Bill Hamon teaches us that Jesus is a warrior. Before Joshua went into battle, Jesus appeared to him as a soldier.

This commander in chief was Jesus. He had the sword in His hand, which is the most powerful weapon there is.

“Is not My word like a fire?” says the Lord, “And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” (Jeremiah 23:29 NKJV)

TRUMPETS

God told them to use trumpets, and when the Bible references trumpets it mean war.
There are a lot of people who say they don’t want anymore war, they just want peace.
God wants to make you a warrior. Imagine if Joshua would have had the “love and peace” mindset, or politely asked, “Excuse me, would it be alright if you let us in?”. If this had been the case, there would’ve never been a conquest.

It’s absolutely necessary that you have a winning attitude!

“His power needs to be defeated. We cannot settle and say we want to live at peace with the enemy. We fight or we die. Evil will overtake us if we don’t overtake it first.” Charles Spurgeon

You need to rebuke the spirit of passivity that has dominated your life for too many years. Declare war on the enemy.

The most powerful weapon the believer has is the power of the blood of Jesus. You need to declare that through the blood of Jesus you have overcome the enemy.

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” (Revelation 12:11)

God’s strategy

If we’re honest, the strategy God gave Joshua didn’t make much sense, the truth is God wanted all the glory. Every time I read this I am shocked at this God-given strategy. Joshua and the people had to march in silence for six days, once a day.The seventh day, they were to march seven times and end with a war cry. This doesn’t make any sense, but God wanted to have all the glory and do something crazy.

The war cry

The war cry is a very powerful spiritual weapon. Does it make sense to shout in front of a wall? No. But God used that shout for the walls to fall.

Last year, Bishop Bill Hamon visited our church in Bogota for a prophetic seminar. After speaking about spiritual warfare and the war cry for about four days, we gave our shout…for almost an hour. This happened days before the presidential elections in Colombia, and that day we truly felt freedom come and God extend His protection on Colombia.

“When we let the God in us wake up through our shout, He assures us that our enemies are going to be dispersed.” Bill Hamon

We give our war cry in faith and through it we declare that we are entering the Promised Land.

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