Good Morning “River Crossers.” Today we are in Joshua 3.
Today we read about Joshua leading the nation into the promised land… but hold on. Taking hold of all that God has promised always results in a crisis of belief. We must humble ourselves, trust Him fully and step out in faith.
It was no different for Israel and its priests. In between them and their “promised land” was the Jordan. No biggie right? Except the Jordan was running at flood depth, overrunning its banks. (Joshua 3:15). According to “Holy Land Site” experts, the area where Israel crossed reached a depth up to 120 feet and as much as 2 miles across. It was more like a rushing lake. Through the years crazy expert swimmers have attempted to swim across - none have been successful.
What’s more, God had them camp next to it for 3 days so they could think about it. Imagine the camp fire discussions those 3 days. “How will we cross?” “This is crazy.” “Likely we’ll die here.” Now wrap your mind around the instructions to the Priests who will carry The Arc of The Covenant, and will lead them across. “Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’ ” Joshua 3:8 NIV
Later we read this: “…as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away…”
Joshua 3:15-16 NIV
”The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground…”Joshua 3:17 NIV
A couple things to notice and apply here:
- The Priests, in Faith appear to have been simply going to stand in the river as told… they were on their way - in obedience.
- Although He easily could have, God did not stop the waters before hand - they had to first touch the waters edge. They had to be faithfully already going!
- The entire nation followed, trusting God to hold back the waters… to the land He had promised.
How much of Gods blessing do we miss out on because we lack the faith to go stand in the river? How many times do we wait for God to “open a door” that we might walk through it? That requires little faith. I’ve said before, we don’t see a lot of evidence of waiting for open doors in Scripture. What we see is many accounts of God saying Go… and His people go… even if that means walking into a rushing river - trusting He’ll stop it. If God is leading the question isn’t how… it’s what’s holding you back?
Love you all! Dig in!
Today we read about Joshua leading the nation into the promised land… but hold on. Taking hold of all that God has promised always results in a crisis of belief. We must humble ourselves, trust Him fully and step out in faith.
It was no different for Israel and its priests. In between them and their “promised land” was the Jordan. No biggie right? Except the Jordan was running at flood depth, overrunning its banks. (Joshua 3:15). According to “Holy Land Site” experts, the area where Israel crossed reached a depth up to 120 feet and as much as 2 miles across. It was more like a rushing lake. Through the years crazy expert swimmers have attempted to swim across - none have been successful.
What’s more, God had them camp next to it for 3 days so they could think about it. Imagine the camp fire discussions those 3 days. “How will we cross?” “This is crazy.” “Likely we’ll die here.” Now wrap your mind around the instructions to the Priests who will carry The Arc of The Covenant, and will lead them across. “Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’ ” Joshua 3:8 NIV
Later we read this: “…as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away…”
Joshua 3:15-16 NIV
”The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground…”Joshua 3:17 NIV
A couple things to notice and apply here:
- The Priests, in Faith appear to have been simply going to stand in the river as told… they were on their way - in obedience.
- Although He easily could have, God did not stop the waters before hand - they had to first touch the waters edge. They had to be faithfully already going!
- The entire nation followed, trusting God to hold back the waters… to the land He had promised.
How much of Gods blessing do we miss out on because we lack the faith to go stand in the river? How many times do we wait for God to “open a door” that we might walk through it? That requires little faith. I’ve said before, we don’t see a lot of evidence of waiting for open doors in Scripture. What we see is many accounts of God saying Go… and His people go… even if that means walking into a rushing river - trusting He’ll stop it. If God is leading the question isn’t how… it’s what’s holding you back?
Love you all! Dig in!
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