If you read through the book of Joshua, you see a compelling story of a Covenant-keeping God on full display as the promises given to Abraham approximately 430 years prior are fulfilled through the warriors God raised up under Joshua.

From Joshua 1 through Joshua 24, we see a pattern for us as children of God who are holding onto the promises of God to:

It takes intercessors and warriors, those weepers and sweepers, partnering with the retainers and maintainers, to enter the fulness of God’s plans, and to release His Kingdom in the earth.

The book of Joshua provides a guideline for how the body of Christ can achieve what God is trying to accomplish.

Let us focus on the first four points for the purpose of this message:

After Joshua’s Commissioning by the Lord in Joshua 1, it was time for the next step—sanctification of a nation. Submission to the sanctification process is key. In Joshua 3, Joshua commands the people to sanctify or consecrate themselves, this involves setting oneself apart for purification—Joshua spent 40 years doing this under the leadership of Moses. 40 years in the desert can compel one to rejoice and celebrate the night before they would see their inheritance. However, Lord was calling them to reflect, to consider why they wandered in the desert for 40 years, the bondage their parents were set free from, the idolatry or reproach of Egypt that the Lord was going to remove from them (Joshua 5:9). He wanted them to reflect on the Law and the Lawgiver, and consider this day, “Whom they would serve”.

This was a lengthy process, a true examination of one’s heart. This was an internal cleansing and preparation for the geographical transition they are about to enter. They are going to transition from wanderers to warriors, they were to be set apart, remember, the reason Abraham did not receive the Covenant land is because the sin of the Amorites had not yet reached its full measure (Genesis 15:16). Today, however, that cup of sin was full in the eyes of the Lord. God was going to wield His Righteous hand of Judgment upon the Amorites through the sword of the Israelites. He would go before them to give them the victory. However, if there was sin in the camp, they could not be wielded by the hand of a Holy God. This time of preparation was critical for their sake.

This was the baptism into the commissioning of God. As they crossed the Jordan, passing by the Ark of the Covenant, they were baptized into God’s Divine plans and purposes. He transitioned them from wanderers to warriors. I saw this in a vision several years ago, it impacted me in ways that are difficult to explain in the time I have tonight, but it changed me. I witnessed how deep this transformation was, it penetrated them down to the cellular level, slicing away the wanderer and inserting the heart of the warrior. I observed the tremendous impact of what God did for those who submitted themselves to His will and His ways. It was pure, it was holy, the old passed away and only the new would remain. As I said, it changed me and left me undone for weeks. You can listen to that message on our website “Wanderers to Warriors”

The third part of this is the call to circumcision. This is the outward reflection of the inward process. This was the evidence that God had cut a covenant with Abram 430 years earlier, and they, his descendants, we part of that covenant. Keep in mind, this was done after the sanctification, after the baptism into His will and purposes as warriors, yet before they went to war. The old man is cut away to make way for the new. They are brought under the covenant, and part of that covenant was to be a righteous sword in the hand of the Lord.

Physical circumcision is a complete abandonment to God. Particularly as an adult, when you are about to go to war. This resulted in extreme weakness for several days. They were at their most vulnerable on the third day where inflammation would be at its peak and fevers ensued, this is when the person is rendered utterly helpless.

The newly transformed warriors, now utterly helpless.

They were 16 miles from the most fortified city in the known world. As archeologists uncover the remains, the sophistication of architecture and fortifications reveal it as the most formidable, impregnatable fortresses of its time. Their soldiers could have arrived at the edge of Israel’s encampment within two hours and destroyed them. Yet the Israelites put their faith and trust in God for His promises to be fulfilled regardless of their current weakness; they had to. They remember how those who lacked faith died in the wilderness, they were entering a new day for a new way on behalf of an entire nation! They had to trust God to cover and keep them under the shelter of His wing in their time of weakness.

To be circumcised requires submission to the will of God. While the male experiences this in his flesh as a sign of the Covenant, the truth is, circumcision means to cut away. To cut a new Covenant involves the heart more than the flesh and we are all called to make this decision.

Deuteronomy 30:6 tells us the Lord will circumcise our hearts:

Jeremiah 4:4a tells us to circumcise our hearts unto the Lord lest His wrath fall upon us:

Romans 2:29 tells us that this is an inward work. Paul teaches through his writings that circumcision of the heart, while painful, leads us to union.

The Scriptures teach how the partnership between the individual’s willingness to separate themselves from the world opens them up to the working of the Spirit of God. This requires a sanctification of the heart, a true willingness to avail oneself to the working of His Spirit, a submission to what the Spirit of God reveals and a complete abandonment of oneself to the work of the Lord regardless of how painful it becomes, or how vulnerable we feel in the midst of what the Lord is cutting away.

Circumcision requires us to examine our hearts, there are things the Spirit removes, but there are areas we must lay down before Him so it can be consumed in His fire.

This is a partnership, we avail ourselves, we sanctify our hearts and expose them to the Lord for Him to circumcise and remove all that stands in the way of total abandonment to His plans. It is here that we can be used by Him in whatever manner He’s calling us. Warrior, Intercessor, Pastor, Worshipper, Prophet, Apostle—we cannot fulfill any of these completely without a deep work wherein a circumcision of the heart is done by the hand of the Lord.

We are in the Awakening and on the cusp of a revival that will envelop the earth. God will set nations free from the grip of the Cabal, He will deliver both America and Israel, and any nation which has availed themselves to His separation, this is why we cry out for the Church to go higher in God every week. When the people of God avail themselves to this sanctification process, transition from wanderer to warrior, and the circumcision of our hearts, it brings us into a place of unity (Joshua 6) and that enables us to win the battles we face together. This involves nations, but the truth is, when we cry out for the Church, it surpasses national borders. It’s a call to go higher.

When we seem to be stumbling along, we need to ask ourselves some questions:

In Joshua 7 we can find our answer.

Israel was coming off the heels of a great victory with Jericho, and when they went into Ai, 36 men were killed and they were chased off like children. Why? What happened?

Jericho was taken miraculously. The spoils of which were to belong to the Lord. It was His portion or tithe of the land. Tithing involves giving God our first fruits, sowing back into the Kingdom that which we are receiving so much from. Our offerings are over and above and help meet the needs of those in need.

However, the bullet point here is greed and the lust of the flesh. In Joshua 6-7 we see how Achan saw the spoils of the land and took from them for his own gain. Joshua instructed them in Joshua 6:16-19 that everything in the city was under a ban and was not to be taken by the Israelites. Only the precious metals were to be taken and set apart for the house of the Lord.

Achan rebelled. He saw the spoils and they fed a hunger in his heart that surpassed the desire to obey the word of the Lord. Achan saw the opportunity and if it were any other nation, any other battle, any other situation, no one would have been the wiser. However, Israel was set apart and they were there on assignment. Achan hid his sin within his tent and that sin opened the whole nation to failing their responsibility before God. They could not have compromise. They were being used by God as His instrument of judgment in a nation whose cup of sin was full. They could not be used by God if sin remained in their own hearts. Achan’s heart was revealed when they went to take AI, a small town requiring only 3000 men to overtake it, yet they were defeated. Men lost their lives because of Achan’s greed.

What else do we find?

The next three bullet points deal with the root issue of pride that can point back to Achan’s sin. He chose to follow his own path instead of God’s the results were disastrous. Why? What do the Scriptures tell us about Pride?

Proverbs 16:18 tells us that– “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”

To follow the lust of the flesh is to embark upon a journey of pride and that lends itself to rebellion. Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and that is an abomination before the Lord. It begins with compromise. Compromising our faith, compromising on truth, compromising on the Word of God, each of these things open us up to more than we realize in the spirit realm. It weakens us, it weakens the Church and it weakens the nation. The Church is the heart of the nation; when we are weak, the nation is weak. When we are strong, the nation is strong.

Jeremiah 49:16 tells us that the pride of our hearts deceives us. When we are walking in pride, we view things through that lens. When Satan deceived Eve, he lied on God, he spoke doubt into her mind, and he caused her to view God and the fruit in front of her through a lens of deception. I’ve often spoken on viewing the events in front of us through the lens of the Lord, this is why. If we view them through anything other than the eyes of the Lord, we are opening ourselves up to viewing them through a lens of deception and we cannot pray effectively with a lens of a deception over our eyes.

The Lord warned Isaiah about this in Isaiah 8:11-12

The Lord spoke this to me nearly three years ago. The summer of 2023. He warned me against succumbing to conspiracies as they would be the undoing of the Republic. I’ve tried to bring clarity and truth into the narratives, but the narratives continue to scream louder and louder.

Today, there are more conspiracies about Trump, Vance, Israel, the moon landing, 9/11, and so on. Why those last two, because it causes a distrust of the government, of which Trump is the head.

Conspiracies do a few things:

All this, every conspiracy, can be stripped down to two primary issues. While they each have several streams and variations, if you listen closely, you can see they are working to accomplish two primary goals:

We are on the cusp of winning the war and bringing down the Cabal. 27 years of crying out to God for this victory. It will not only set America free, but it will also set nations free. And the enemy has come in and if he succeeds, we will lose the mid-terms, and the democrats have already promised to immediately begin impeachment hearings.

Today, rather than supporting and standing with God’s choice for leadership in our nation, we believe lies about them. Rather than stand with Isreal, as a nation or at the very least, the Church, we are succumbing to conspiracies that have been recycled for centuries with the sole intention of destroying the Jewish race. Today, fear and anxiety permeate our thoughts and instead of praying for the Awakening to permeate nations, we are calling for the destruction of those nations because we fear them.

I’ll continue this message this Friday. Until then, I encourage you to seek the Lord about what it is going to take to take our nation for the Kingdom of Heaven. Spend time with the Lord and allow Him to sanctify your heart on these critical issues. This coming week I’ll share some of the pertinent issues we are facing so that together, we can stand united in our fight to take our nation for the Kingdom of God.

Much love,

Ricci