the parting of the Jordan

"Then the LORD said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites." ~Exodus 3:7-8

I absolutely LOVE the Old Testament. Praise God that He can use events that happened hundreds of years ago, too effect our lives today. I want to give a little background before you read the passage below. After 40 years of traveling, or wondering aimlessly, the Israelites (now led by Joshua after Moses' death) have come to their first test from God. Will they have faith in Joshua (who God chose), or choose to not have faith in God. It's the crossing of the Jordan River. That's right....get excited-cause I am! Keep in mind the verse up above when reading through the next few verses.

"Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan. Now therefore take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, from each tribe a man. And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap."

"So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho. Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan." ~Joshua 3: 11-17

Simply amazing...........this blows my mind every time I read it. The Bible tells us that the Jordan River at that time was in its flood season. I did some research on the Jordan during the time the Israelites crossed, and found some thought-provoking information. The river at that time was at its deepest, widest, and swiftest. It's width was between 300-360ft, and it had risen 10-12ft because of melting snow from Mt. Hermon. In other words, this ain't no creek.

I love those passages because they show God's faithfulness in a really cool way. In the first verse God promises to deliver His people back to Canaan, and then even after 40 years He remains true to His word. He leads his people across the Jordan-which leads them to Jericho and then to Canaan. Just imagine the magnitude of this line, "all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan". I love it! God remains faithful no matter what--He can't not be faithful. Just like He can't lie--even if He wanted to. We serve such a good and powerful God. A God not limited by anything, capable of everything.

"And when the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the LORD came up from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up on dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks, as before." ~Joshua 4:18

God was in complete control. As soon as He (or the ark) was taken out of the river, it went back to the way it was. The power in the verse truly shows us the vastness of the God we serve. Just imagine a river being torn apart, flowing away so fast-like it was afraid, going miles in either direction. That's the God we serve.

Fact, God is faithful. He's faithful when we choose not to be, when we disown him, when we lose faith in Him, when we cling to our sin instead of Him, when we don't carry our cross daily-God remains faithful.

"if we are faithless,
he will remain faithful,
for he cannot deny himself." ~2 Timothy 2:13

amen

why worry?

I've come to think that I don't give Him enough praise. He's deserving of all that I own, all that I make, all that I say or do. I know, I truly believe that.....so why is it so hard to trust Him sometimes. Why do I constantly find myself anxious or worrying. At this point in my life, I have A LOT of decisions to make. What degree I want to purse, what college to get that degree at, how to spend my summers, or even what to get at the coffee shop everyday.

Why worry? That question gets thrown around in my head a lot; however, continually seems to be unanswered. I know that I shouldn't be anxious all the time, but whenever decisions come up in my life, I tend to think about them too much. I tend to not trust God as much as I should. We should live our lives knowing and believing He is not going to let us fall, that we're safe in His hands. He's deserving of our unashamed love and trust simply because....

"For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves"
- Col 1:13

I was listening to a John Brown sermon on a podcast, and he was talking about a friend of his who lives his life by answering this question: What does faithful look like? I found that life becomes a whole lot easier if you simply try and answer that question. What does being faithful look like? Is it for me to stay here in Denton or go to Virginia? Go to college in this or that town? Do I need to serve here or there? Our goal in life should be to glorify God in everything we do, in who we are, in how we speak to others, in everything...When major decisions appear in my life, my first reaction should be prayer, but a lot of the time I simply think about it too much and drive myself completely insane! This is right where Satan tries to get me to fall; he gets in my head and stirs up my thoughts. A couple of months ago my friend and I were trying to answer this question, "How do we, or how can we guard our hearts". I found that the best way to answer it, and that question of why we needn't worry can be found in God's very own words.....of course :)

"do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by PRAYER and SUPPLICATION with THANKSGIVING let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will GUARD YOUR HEARTS and your minds in Christ Jesus."
-Philippians 4:6-7

I know for me personally, I used to read this verse and simply not see what I do now. This verse does not say may guard your heart, or sometimes guard you hearts. The peace of God WILL guard your hearts---praise God! My friends this is a promise, that if we give our requests/concerns to God with thanks and prayer, He will guard your heart. Ahhh I like that...I'm personally going to try and live by this verse a lot more than I have been.

My prayer now is that prayer would be the first thing I run or cling to.

I want to end this by writing this verse. I know there are many reasons to not worry; however, this one comforts me more than any.....by far!

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; YOU ARE WORTH MORE THAN MANY SPARROWS."
-Matthew 10:29-32


amen---so why worry?