The Joshua Ministry

Zechariah 3
Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. 2 The LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?”
3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 4 The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.”
Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you.”
5 Then I said, “Put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the LORD stood by.
6 The angel of the LORD gave this charge to Joshua: 7 “This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here.
8 ” ‘Listen, O high priest Joshua and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. 9 See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day.
10 ” ‘In that day each of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and fig tree,’ declares the LORD Almighty.”

The Joshua Ministry

Zechariah is plainly a book of symbolism, type and shadow. Here we see Joshua, which is the Hebrew word for Jesus. We see in him the anti-type of fallen Adam. We see in him the redemption, salvation and the transformation of the Lord. He represents the priesthood of God, God’s holy nation. In this vision and revelation showed to Joshua we see his state the same as our own as he is standing before the angel of the Lord. We also see the accuser, satan, right next to him telling and declaring how unworthy he is. We, like Joshua, are those burning sticks snatched from the fire by God’s infinite grace and mercy. We, like Joshua, have stood before the Lord dressed in the filthy garments of our flesh and own unrighteousness. What we see next is what the Lord is declaring and doing in His in-Christed ones; those He has set apart unto Himself. Our filthy garments have been removed. Our sins and sinfulness have been taken away and in their place we are now dressed in the rich garments of Christ’s righteousness, honor and glory. Upon our head is put on us a clean turban, which is the renewed and regenerated mind of Christ, thinking always upon those things above.
Next the Lord has given Joshua, and if you can receive it, you as well, this charge: “This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here.” The Lord has given to Joshua and to us the garments of royalty and righteousness. But our charge is to walk in God’s integrity and hold fast the ways of the Lord, for He has called us to be governors and rulers over His house and His courts.
In verse eight, the Lord tells Joshua that he is symbolic of the things to come. He then speaks of bringing His servant the branch which we know to be Christ Jesus, that came as a shoot out of the root of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1). He is the chief cornerstone. We see this passage brought to light by what Peter shares in 1 Peter 2:4-10, “As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— 5you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” 7Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,” 8and, “A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” Through Christ we see all sin removed from our land in a single day. We will invite our neighbors to come sit under our vine and fig tree. We invite them to sit under the anointing and ministry the Lord has brought into our lives. There, men are brought into the light of God’s truth and filled with the knowledge of Him.
We have a holy calling upon us. With the eyes of the Spirit we must see it and with God’s heart we must embrace it. The mandate that was upon Joshua, now rest upon us who will hear and receive it by faith. We must realize and receive in our inner most being that it is not the outward that we live for and are destined too; it is the high calling that we have in Christ Jesus. This is that Joshua ministry. Who among us will hear that call and respond to it today?

Blessings,
#kent

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Jesus Understands Your Humanity

Hebrews 4:14-16
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. 16Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Jesus Understands Your Humanity

The wonderful thing about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is that He doesn’t ask of us what He hasn’t been willing to walk out Himself as a man. He emptied Himself of glory so that might experience and walk in the weaknesses and the infirmities of our flesh. He knows what pain feels like. He knows what it is to have passions and longings for another person. He knows what it is to be rejected, ridiculed and be mocked. He knows what it feels like to be tempted and feel the urgings of the natural man. In every area Jesus was tried and tested so that He might thoroughly understand and identify with our infirmities and weaknesses.
Now that He has come back into His glory, who could be a better high priest to represent us before the Father. He who was tempted in every way and yet without sin. He knows perfectly both the God side and the human side of every thing that we face. Jesus doesn’t justify or condone our sin because we have been weak or have failed, but He does understand and sympathize with the struggles that we deal with. He stands as our high priest, not to condemn, but to reconcile us to the Father and His righteousness. His own righteous blood is what prevails as our righteousness when we confess our sin and turn our hearts toward Him. We have confidence before God because we are in Christ and His blood is reckoned unto as righteousness. Just as He once came to identify with us in our weakness, now He is bringing us to identify with Him in His strength, so that by that strength we might overcome and prevail.
Are you struggling in areas of your life today? Are you struggling with your trials, your temptations, your relationships or your own worth? Perhaps you’re dealing with strong feelings of condemnation and unworthiness because of the failures in your life. Jesus isn’t seeing you as a failure. His heart is tender toward you and His arms are open for you. The enemy uses our sin and shortcomings to convince us that God could never love us or accept us the way that we are, but that is the lie of the enemy. Jesus says, “ Come to me all of your who weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” Jesus is the merciful and compassionate One. He will give you grace and help you in your time of need, but you have to invite Him in. You have to open the door of your heart and come to Him just as you are. He is that master physician who is able to heal the wounded and broken hearted. He is the great psychiatrist who is able to minister to the mental torments and anguish you experience. It is by faith in who this Jesus is that you invite Him in and relinquish to Him your every struggle, failure, heartache, torment and sin. He is able to bring you rest and peace like none other and He is able to restore unto you the boldness to approach the throne of His grace with confidence and assurance. He is our great high priest and He loves us even where we are. His desire is to restore us to wholeness and righteousness in Him, so that we may know this ministry of His priesthood whereby we can have compassion and mercy on others as we lead them to Christ so that they may find mercy and grace in their time of need.

Blessings,
kent