11 - Living in the Land | Lessons of Faith from Joshua

By changing the identity in our hearts, we automatically trust and believe in people instead of God. The false identity “I am God” makes our lives difficult. Our salvation lies in training our minds to trust in God in order to understand and believe His Word correctly. It is about conscious faith against the error of the heart.

This reflection is about the end of the division of the land. The land of Canaan is a picture of the new earth. But before we reach our homeland, we must come to our inner place of rest. And the battle to get there takes place not outside, but inside. The external enemy uses the internal enemy to cause us to harm ourselves.

What does the altar at the Jordan in Joshua 22:11-12 mean? Outwardly, it looked like idolatry – and thus it was about prejudice. Our biggest problem is prejudice. It originates in the idea that “I am God”: people rely on themselves and form their own judgments. Prejudice arises unconsciously and emerges as soon as it is provoked. As a result, we humans immediately and involuntarily assign people to certain categories.

The consequences of prejudice are: fear, belittling others, complaining about others, and accusing them. Those who complain believe they are right. We feel responsible for the behavior of others, which is not in our control. Complaining and accusing are always wrong – the first and only accuser is Satan. We can also accuse ourselves and feel remorse. Over time, prejudice and guilt always lead to illness.

We must recognize prejudices and their consequences in order to eliminate their cause through faith. In our minds, we recognize the deception, in our will, we turn to God to understand its origin and crucify the prejudice through faith. When we give it up, the Holy Spirit fills the void and reconnects us with God. This process must grow day by day.

Judging others does not make us better than the accusers. We should let others be free and not judge or accuse ourselves either. And anyone who judges or accuses us does not harm us, but God. Every accusation, every prejudice, every bad word spoken about a person remains deception. That is what the eleventh part of the series “Lessons of Faith from Joshua” is about.