Texts: Josh 1:16; Josh 2

Praise God for territories that have been conquered since the beginning of the year.

Activity 1:
As a family, take some minutes to recount your victories and give God thanks generously.
We are pressing forward to possess more territories in the second half of the year 2025. In this FBT post, we will be looking at another vital key which is ‘Godly relationships’

Joshua had people in his network that collaborated with him to possess more land by divine direction.
The people of Israel said to him in Josh 1:16- Then they answered Joshua, “Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. They pledged their commitment to support Joshua their leader making it easier for Joshua to lead them. They also reminded him of the words the Lord spoke to Joshua before-‘be strong and of good courage’ Josh 1:18b.

Activity 2:
Take a look at your social network, do you have people that can support you in achieving your set goals and vision? Ask each family member to talk about their network. You can show this on a diagram of concentric circles, listing those that are closest to you in the innermost circle.

What have you found out from this exercise? Do you connect and associate with Godly people as a family? Do your children have Godly friends that they can work with to uphold Godly standards and fulfil purpose. 2nd Cor 6:14.

Josh 2 tells us about the spies of Joshua.
Activity 3:
Tell this story to your children. Compare and contrast what the spies of Moses did (Num 13) with what the spies of Joshua accomplished (Josh 2). You can use the following sub-headings: number of spies, who chose them, what did they report, what was the reaction of the people to their report, what were the results?

Again, this story shows that with the right people around you, you can pull down ‘Jericho walls’ and possess your land of inheritance. If you surround yourself with the wrong people, you will be restricted, you may live in fear and you will not take the necessary steps at the right time.

Activity 4:
Look at your social network diagram again. Can you identify relationships that are productive and those that are not?
Are you even utilizing the Godly relationships around you as much as God intends? Find out the answers to these questions by praying and asking the Holy Spirt to search your friendships and networks. Ask Him to disconnect you from wrong relationships and help you to accept the right ones He is bringing your way. Support your children to pray about their friendships also.

Take action:
Joshua took action steps by discussing with the people of Israel and choosing spies. You must take action to utilize the Godly relationships around you.

Some suggestions:
Plan a get together to know each other more and agree on what you could do together regularly to sharpen each other’s sword. You could meet online or offline for prayer/fasting; family day trips; share what you have been learning in your bible study.

Some actions need to be taken as a family towards building Godly family relationships while each family member also needs to take action towards developing Godly relationships that are personal to them e.g your children’s friends. Support them to identify how they can utilize their network to develop their relationship with God sharpening each other’s sword.

# building Godly relationships