{"id":98245,"date":"2026-09-26T14:35:35","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T19:35:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=98245"},"modified":"2026-09-26T14:36:02","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T19:36:02","slug":"being-prepared","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/being-prepared\/","title":{"rendered":"Being Prepared"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>by Zeke Flores<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;<em>Then Joshua said to the people, &#8216;Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow Yahweh will do wonders among you&#8217;<\/em>&#8221; (Joshua 3:5).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Joshua 3 is about preparation. Israel is finally approaching the Jordan, and crossing it will mark the beginning of life in the land Yahweh promised. Before anything miraculous happens, Joshua tells the people to consecrate themselves. The point is simple: Yahweh&#8217;s work isn&#8217;t random; it&#8217;s connected to a people ready to respond.<\/p>\n<p>Consecration wasn&#8217;t mystical. It meant setting themselves apart, paying attention, and removing distractions that would dull their focus. Yahweh God was about to act, but the people needed to be spiritually awake enough to recognize it.<\/p>\n<p>In practical terms, this challenges the idea that we can drift through life and still expect clarity from God. Preparation matters. If you want to see His work clearly, you make space for it.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You simplify.<\/li>\n<li>You pay attention.<\/li>\n<li>You deal with the habits that keep you spiritually numb.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Joshua 3:5 reminds us that God&#8217;s &#8220;wonders&#8221; aren&#8217;t always loud or dramatic. Sometimes they&#8217;re opportunities, conversations, or moments of conviction. But if we&#8217;re not prepared, we miss them. Consecration is simply intentional readiness. It&#8217;s choosing to be alert to what God is doing instead of coasting through life on autopilot.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Zeke Flores &#8220;Then Joshua said to the people, &#8216;Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow Yahweh will do wonders among you&#8217;&#8221; (Joshua 3:5). Joshua 3 is about preparation. Israel is finally approaching the Jordan, and crossing it will mark the beginning of life in the land Yahweh promised. Before anything miraculous happens, Joshua tells the people to&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1936,1621],"class_list":["post-98245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-consecration","tag-prepared"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":96009,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/live-differently\/","url_meta":{"origin":98245,"position":0},"title":"Live Differently","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 8, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores \"You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am Yahweh your God\" (Leviticus 20:7). Leviticus 20 is intense. It lists serious sins and their consequences. But the heart behind it is God calling His people to live differently. Not because He wanted to scare them,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":98310,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/necessary-inconveniences\/","url_meta":{"origin":98245,"position":1},"title":"Necessary Inconveniences","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 29, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores \"At that time Yahweh said to Joshua, 'Make for yourself flint knives and circumcise again the sons of Israel the second time.' And Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel ...\" (Joshua 5:2-3). Joshua 5 is a surprising chapter. Israel has momentum. They've crossed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":84518,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/changing-clothes\/","url_meta":{"origin":98245,"position":2},"title":"Changing Clothes","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 13, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Perry Hall Notice how Colossians 2-4 has many parallel thoughts to Zechariah 3. Satan Accuses Joshua \"Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of Yahweh, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him\" (Zechariah 3:1). Colossians 2:14 mentions a certificate of debt\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":98221,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-rahab-knew\/","url_meta":{"origin":98245,"position":3},"title":"What Rahab Knew","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 25, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores \"And she said to the men, 'I know that Yahweh has given you the land ...\" (Joshua 2:9). Rahab's words in Joshua 2:9 are striking because they come from someone outside Israel. She isn't quoting Scripture or repeating something she heard from a prophet; she's interpreting the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":98689,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/fueling-our-obedience\/","url_meta":{"origin":98245,"position":4},"title":"Fueling Our Obedience","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 24, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores \"You have seen all that Yahweh your God has done ... for Yahweh your God is He who has been fighting for you\" (Joshua 23:3). Joshua's farewell speech starts with an observation: \"You have seen.\" He doesn't ask Israel to believe blindly; he points to reality, to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":98409,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/failure-doesnt-disqualify\/","url_meta":{"origin":98245,"position":5},"title":"Failure Doesn&#8217;t Disqualify","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 2, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores \"Do not fear or be dismayed. Take all the people of war with you ...\" (Joshua 8:1). After the failure at Ai, Yahweh tells Joshua not to fear. This isn't empty reassurance; it's a reset. Yahweh is giving Israel another chance, but this time with clear instructions\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98245\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}