LEARNING DAILY

Joshua 3:5, Then Joshua said to the people, "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you."

Three of the pastors at Community Bible Church spoke this weekend; they shared from the third and fourth chapters of Joshua. Caleb Jones, Youth Pastor, spoke first about the need to prepare yourself to set the tone for what was about to happen. Joshua told the people to Consecrate or sanctify themselves before crossing the Jordan River; they were to prepare themselves spiritually to do the work God had for them to do. “Every step of your life tells a story,” (Jones). The Israelites were to be clean inwardly, to be aligned with God’s Word to do His will. Believers need to understand that God is capable of doing whatever is needed in their lives at any time. It is important to be spiritually ready for God to use you as He sees the need to do. It is also important to be spiritually ready for Him to meet the need in their life. When Joshua said “tomorrow” he was saying God’s actions were going to happen soon. The Believer’s spiritual preparation can lead to significant breakthrough in their lives; taking time to seek God, cleansing their hearts, and making sure they are lining up with God’s will, opens Believers to what He is doing in them and through them.

I am going to use some of the thoughts the second pastor, Nick Henderson, shared in the coming days with a verse he spoke of very quickly.

Pastor Maurice Cox was the third Pastor to speak. He stated, “Every step demands a response”. “And Joshua said to them, "Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?” (Joshua 4:5-6). A response must be given to what God has done for you. Pastor Jones said as he finished his part, “The commemoration not only allows people to see you, but God who works through you.” Stated another way, “What God does through you or for you is not about you; it’s about God! Pastor Cox stated clearly, “God is not just concerned about getting us through the situation, the trial you are facing. He is concerned about what you do when He gets you through it.”

Joshua directed the people to gather twelve stones (one for each tribe) to be gathered and placed where all could see in order to remember what God had done for them as they crossed the Jordan River. He had done what He did at the Nile River – He stopped the river’s flow, dried up the land, allowing the people to cross. The people of God “Must remember so they don’t have spiritual amnesia and forget what God has brought them through!”

After 9-11, the people of this country filled the churches. It did not take long for them to forget to go to the house of God, to stop drawing close to God for strength and comfort. Let’s bring it closer to each of us; it does not take us long to forget God bringing us through that situation. Or we brush off His part in the healing, saying there was really nothing wrong. Or we think more highly of ourselves than we should when others give us credit for this or that. Yes, you and I, especially as believer, must gather the stones and build a memorial, so we don’t forget and have “spiritual amnesia”.

What has God done for you? What is He doing right now? “The stones on the bank of the Jordan River provide an occasion for parents to teach their children about God’s power and faithfulness. They were a memorial that was to aid in instructing their children to look to God for guidance and help throughout their lives on earth” (Life in the Spirit Study Bible). Don’t forget! Don’t ever forget what God had done for you.