"When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 'Choose twelve men from amount he people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put the down at the place where you stay tonight'." (Joshua 4:1-3)
God told Joshua to build an altar out of stones from the middle of the Jordan river. The same river they had been able to cross because God had stopped the river from flowing to give Israel safe passage.
"So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, 'Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, What do these stones mean? tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever'." (Joshua 4:4-7)
God wanted Joshua and the Israelites to build the altar as a reminder of what He had done for them. For them to see the altar in the future and remember. It served a purpose.
We need these reminders in our lives as well. We need those things we can look back on and be reminded of what God did in that situation.
We may not be building physical altars of stone, but we need to create these reminders in our own lives. These are the things that keep us going in the hard times. Our ability to look back on how God has moved and worked in the past in our lives. Those times gives us hope that God is at work in the current situation as well.
What are those times for you? What are those instances when you look back and see how God has worked on your behalf? How God has met you in the midst of what was going on?
We need to become intentional about these things - about remembering them. God had the Israelites build this altar on purpose after they crossed the Jordan on dry land to remember what God had done for them. We need to build altars at these same times in our own lives. Not to worship them - but so they can point us to the God Who stepped in at that moment.
Monday, April 13, 2015
Thursday, April 9, 2015
Take the First Step
"As soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord - the Lord of all the earth - set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap." (Joshua 3:13)
God told Joshua how Israel would get across the Jordan safely. He would stop the water from flowing so they had dry ground to walk on.
Just one thing: The priests carrying the Ark would have to step into the water first, then the water would stop flowing. (Joshua 3:17 records that this is what happened.)
God said what He would do, but Israel had to take the first step of obedience to see what God said happen. If those priests didn't step into the Jordan, the water would have kept flowing. They had to take the first step of obedience and then God did the rest.
The same is true for us sometimes. God tells us His plan and then asks us to take the first step of obedience without seeing Him do His part. We have to trust Him and what He says. Once we take that first step of obedience, we see how God does exactly what He said He would.
For those us (me included) who like to know the outcome before getting started, this isn't always easy. We're being asked to do something without knowing the outcome. We have to choose to trust.
The thing about choosing to trust God is that we can be confident He will always keep His word. If He has said it, we can be sure that He will do it. But that doesn't always make it easier in the moment to take that first step without seeing the whole picture. Yet, that is exactly what we have to learn to do.
What is the first step God is asking you to take right now?
What is keeping you from taking it?
Will you choose to trust God and take that step now?
God told Joshua how Israel would get across the Jordan safely. He would stop the water from flowing so they had dry ground to walk on.
Just one thing: The priests carrying the Ark would have to step into the water first, then the water would stop flowing. (Joshua 3:17 records that this is what happened.)
God said what He would do, but Israel had to take the first step of obedience to see what God said happen. If those priests didn't step into the Jordan, the water would have kept flowing. They had to take the first step of obedience and then God did the rest.
The same is true for us sometimes. God tells us His plan and then asks us to take the first step of obedience without seeing Him do His part. We have to trust Him and what He says. Once we take that first step of obedience, we see how God does exactly what He said He would.
For those us (me included) who like to know the outcome before getting started, this isn't always easy. We're being asked to do something without knowing the outcome. We have to choose to trust.
The thing about choosing to trust God is that we can be confident He will always keep His word. If He has said it, we can be sure that He will do it. But that doesn't always make it easier in the moment to take that first step without seeing the whole picture. Yet, that is exactly what we have to learn to do.
What is the first step God is asking you to take right now?
What is keeping you from taking it?
Will you choose to trust God and take that step now?
Monday, April 6, 2015
Do the Work
With spring comes the beginning of new life and new growth.
Flowers will begin to bloom again.
Fruit trees are covered in buds that will become fruit later.
Everything begins to turn brilliant, varied shades of green again.
Sometimes for those signs of new life to be visible, we have to take the time to remove the dead stuff that is covering it up. We need to clear away the leaves and pull out the weeds. If we don't, they will choke out the new life and it won't become all that it was intended to be.
Clearing away the dead requires work on our part. We have to take the time to gather the leave. We have give the energy to pull out the weeds. We have to do it carefully so we don't damage the delicate, new life underneath it. When we have removed the dead around it, the new life gets all the things it needs to grow and flourish.
The same principles apply in our spiritual lives. When God begin to work in area of our lives to produce new life it's not a passive work on our part. We have a part to play. We have to come alongside God and work with Him to carefully remove the dead things and the weeds that are trying to choke the life out of the new things. As we do, the new thing is given room to grow and flourish and become all that God intends for it to become.
Allowing God's work in us to grow and flourish is an ongoing process. Just as the new growth spring brings requires continuing work to become what it was intended to be, our spiritual lives are the same way. We have to be continually working with God on removing the dead and the weeds so that the things He is doing receive everything they need to become when He intends them to become.
What is that area in your life that God is beginning to do something?
What are the things you need to do to work with God in clearing out what is in the way of that new growth He is bringing?
Flowers will begin to bloom again.
Fruit trees are covered in buds that will become fruit later.
Everything begins to turn brilliant, varied shades of green again.
Sometimes for those signs of new life to be visible, we have to take the time to remove the dead stuff that is covering it up. We need to clear away the leaves and pull out the weeds. If we don't, they will choke out the new life and it won't become all that it was intended to be.
Clearing away the dead requires work on our part. We have to take the time to gather the leave. We have give the energy to pull out the weeds. We have to do it carefully so we don't damage the delicate, new life underneath it. When we have removed the dead around it, the new life gets all the things it needs to grow and flourish.
The same principles apply in our spiritual lives. When God begin to work in area of our lives to produce new life it's not a passive work on our part. We have a part to play. We have to come alongside God and work with Him to carefully remove the dead things and the weeds that are trying to choke the life out of the new things. As we do, the new thing is given room to grow and flourish and become all that God intends for it to become.
Allowing God's work in us to grow and flourish is an ongoing process. Just as the new growth spring brings requires continuing work to become what it was intended to be, our spiritual lives are the same way. We have to be continually working with God on removing the dead and the weeds so that the things He is doing receive everything they need to become when He intends them to become.
What is that area in your life that God is beginning to do something?
What are the things you need to do to work with God in clearing out what is in the way of that new growth He is bringing?
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