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For more than 15 years, God has used Experiencing God in His work, showing believers how to know Him intimately while encouraging them to step out in faith and join Him in His work with miraculous results. The revised Leader Guide has been updated with new discussion content. Also included in revised Leader Kit.
Many people carry deep seated resentments that haunt them and prevent them from ever experiencing all that God has for them.Some people never get to the place that they should because they cannot let go of the past.We have been messed with so much that we fail to trust and we miss out on the best that life has to offer.A painful past is often the stumbling block that prevents a glorious future.We have to find a way to let go of the past if we are going to prosper in the things that are presently before us.Do you have things in your life that you just can't seem to let go?-Problems with a parent that you were never able to deal with;.-Problems with an old relationship that haunts your present relationships;.-Problems with people that you trusted but they offended that trust;.-Problems with people you thought were friends but only wanted something from you.In the story of David and Absalom, Absalom was to be the heir to the throne of David.The people loved Absalom and wanted him to be the heir to the throne.Even David wanted Him to be king and had groomed him for the job.Absalom would have been king but he got greedy and wanted to over throw his father, David, before his death.He would have become king if he had not taken Hushai advise instead Ahithophel's.It cost Absalom the throne and his life.The counsel that Ahithophel gave was esteemed, both by David and by Absalom.He was a man of God; a man who knew the Word of God; a man who knew how to get a hold of God in prayer; a man who David sought after for godly counsel.The Bible says that when He spoke it was just like God, Himself speaking.Ahithophel, the grandfather of Bathsheba, saw David take his grand-daughter and violate her; He saw David have his grand-daughter's husband killed; and he saw God take the life of his Great grand Child; and there was a root of bitterness that pierced his heart.He was consumed by his bitterness torward David.When Ahithophel found out that Absalom didn't take his advise and that David was not going to be overthrown.He saddled his donkey and left for his hometown.After putting his house in order, he hanged himself and died.What happened to this man of God? How could a man who knew God and spoke for God and prayed to God and could be so close to God at one time, do a thing like this? He Could Not Take Rejection.Ahithophel perceived that the rejection of his advice was a rejection of him.He was shallow and insecure.Rejection and life go hand and hand.We must handle rejection as a learning experience and as a time for growth.What God has for us, is for us and sometimes a no from God in one direction is a yes in another direction.Ahithophel could not handle his disappointments.He knew that his aspirations had died and that he had made the wrong choice.Disappointments can devastate us, but we must handle them knowing that life's greatest lessons are not in our successes but in our failures.Ahithophel could not let go of the past so hanged himself.What haunted him, what messed with him, what was it that he could not he not let go? Bitterness and an unforgiving heart was the things that brought this man of God to destruction.When a person does not have a forgiving heart it is like poison in his system.It eats like a cancer to the soul.How can you overcome the resentment and hate that devours your spirit".1.By letting all bitterness, wrath, and anger be put away from you, with all malice.2.By being kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you.3.By walking in love, as Christ also has loved us, and given himself for us a sacrifice to God.4.We are to do it because it is following God's footsteps.5.Love is the reason.
Many families are cutting back on vacation spending in order to meet tighter budgets.Although many have given them up entirely, that's not always necessary.Instead of flying or driving to a distant location, NJ locals can enjoy some of the New Jersey attractions that can be reached in an hour or less by car.From entertaining museums to amusement parks, New Jersey attractions have a lot to offer.With proper planning, you can plan a day trip to suit your family's interests and budget.For The Fun-Seeking Family.It's hard to beat amusement parks in New Jersey when kids and parents want to have a good time.Places like Morey's Piers give everyone an opportunity to enjoy the day pursuing activities that they like the most.These amusement parks have a permanent carnival feel, which provides a sense of wonderment for kids and nostalgia for parents.Plus, with so many amusement parks in New Jersey located on the shore, you're likely to get caught up in the vacation spirit that so many other visitors to the famous beaches are feeling.Best of all, you can spend an entire day at an amusement park and head home feeling fulfilled.For The Daycationer With Young Children.Although amusement parks are excellent for many families, some may have children too young for most of the rides, or who just don't like that kind of thing.If your family falls into this category, you might want to try one of the museums instead.One great option for children all ages is Northlandz, the world's largest model railroad.It's completely indoors, which means sudden bad weather won't derail your plans.For The Romantic Couple.If you're looking for romance, it's really best to arrange for at least one night on your vacation.Find a babysitter or caretaker for your children if you have them, and then look for a romantic bed and breakfast.Many people don't realize that NJ actually has a fair number of small inns and other venues that cater to people looking for a unique experience.Exploring these little surprises is one of the most fun things to do in NJ, and because they're all fairly close, it's not very expensive.If you want to explore the beach during the summer high season your room prices will climb a bit, but as a local resident driving out there, you can feel free to make your trip later in the year if you like.You know when the weather really gets to be problematic and can plan around it.Work Out Your Logistics, Particularly Driving Directions.Exploring new attractions is one of the most fun things to do in NJ, but working out practical matters like driving directions is not.The best thing to do is simply ensure that you are prepared by planning your trip and printing out your route information ahead of time.That way, you'll make sure that you're ready to go when the time to leave arrives.You'll be able to enjoy the short drive and experience your day of vacation with pleasure!
The greatest of all the positive persons who lived life positively more than any other person in this earth is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ.He is our role model after whom we should pattern our life in this planet earth.Jesus lived in the present looking to the future reward.The writer of the Book of Hebrews confirmed this attitude of Jesus by saying ".Who [i.E.Jesus] for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross.Has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Heb 12.2).Some people say that we should not serve the Lord expecting a reward for the things that we do.But it is unbiblical to think in such a way because the Bible says that ".He who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (Heb 11.6).In other words to seek God diligently is to positively believe in the rewarding characteristics of God as an unchanging attribute, irrespective of time and space eternally.The reward of God can be received only personally as we endure to keep on holding on to the promises of God in our lives.To endure patiently trusting the goodness of God in spite of the harsh circumstances we face is the will of God for our lives.If we tarry by faith during the waiting period we will surely receive the promises of God (Heb 10.35-36).So only the Jesus said, "If you have faith [during your waiting time].Nothing shall be impossible unto you [at the appointed time]" (Matthew 17.20).When you are living your life by the faith of God, no matter what mountains of obstacles come your way, you can confidently assure your soul saying, "If God is with me who can be against me" [personalized] (Romans 8.31).Why has God given us such scriptures? The main reason is for us to live positively just like Him all the time (2 Tim 3.16-17).Our God is a highly positive God who sees and hopes the best even in the worst possible scenario.Just like Him He wants us to be positive all the time.Faith is the positive outlook towards life which pleases God and makes Him acknowledge us and bless us.If you want some more confidence and inspiration read some more Bible verses like the above and personalize and write it in a piece of paper or your diary, then start to meditate and mutter it over and over.The word of God is the most positive hope giving source in this entire universe.As a result the positive power of the word will get imparted in to your being and will carry you in to your destiny of success that God has purposed for you in this life.Attitudes are more important than facts.One thing that you must keep nailed in your mind is "Attitudes are more important than facts".If you have got the attitude, you will be the most successful person in this life.Believe me because God is the one who strengthens the heart of those people who have good attitudes! To wait on the Lord is to meditate on the positive seed of the word of God expecting your circumstances to change.Until the appointed time of your miracle comes, God will strengthen your heart to keep you courageous through all the tough times that you will go through.People may mock you seeing your faith in God.They may even call you insane to the practicality of life.But look unto Jesus and His promises and never take your eyes off Him.The Bible says, "Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!" (Psalm 27.14) and "Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the Lord" (Psalm 31.24).The Lord will never fail to strengthen your heart through your tough times if you are able to keep trusting in the Lord by meditating on the promises of God and whispering it to yourself.This is the process of encouraging oneself in the Lord which is the reality of waiting in the Lord (1 Sam 30.6).Always say to yourself words like "I can do all things through the anointing of Jesus which strengthens me" (Phil 4.3).The moment you get up in the morning say to yourself loudly, 'I believe' and think about the promises of God that you personally believe and expect God to do it in your life.Say it now at least three times now and then praise the Lord believing that all His promises will come to pass.Now rejoice in the Lord and be happy.To rejoice in the Lord always and to give thanks for all the things that He is going to do in your lives is the will of God for your lives (1 Thess 5.16, 18).Keep thanking the Lord and most importantly pray to Him without ceasing.In other words the more the problems you experience, and the more it challenges you to move away from the destiny that God has for your lives, the more you need to pray to keep your attitude positive and thus be happy and enjoy life.As the Bible says, "Happy people always enjoy life" (Proverbs 15.15).If you are not happy and positive you may easily sulk in to unbelief, fear and doubt of the onslaught of the devil that will continually try to clog and derail you from going forward in to your destiny.When you are continuously joyful, positive and happy, it will be like a sound of death knell to all the evil sadistic strategies of the devil.Satan will fail and become fearful seeing you positive all the time.Believe and conquer.Even the old adage says, 'They conquer who believe they can.' Say now, 'I can' at least three times and praise the Lord.When you are able to believe all the promises of God and live positively all the time, whatever you believe will surely happen to you in your life.That's why when the blind men who asked Jesus for healing believed that Jesus is able to heal them, Jesus plainly told to the blind men, "According to your faith be it unto you" (Matt 9.29).In other words Jesus told them, 'Because you have believed, whatever you have believed will happen automatically because of your faith.' O what a truth! So keep believing no matter what circumstances you are going through in your life right now.God will suddenly change your wilderness to bloom as a fragrant lush garden.Praise the Lord always to keep yourself positive! Because the Lord God dwells only in the praises of His people and then He gives liberty and prosperity to the place where He dwells (Psalm 22.3; 2 Cor 3.17; 2 Sam 6.11-12).You should never forget that no matter what kind of things have happened in your lives or is happening in your lives now or will happen in the future, remind yourself that, "All things God is working together for my good because I love God and am called according to His purpose" (Rom 8.28).Say to yourself in such situations of trials and testing's, ".I am more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ who loves me all the time" (Rom 8.37).There may be times when the devil will impose negative things constantly in to your mind to make you move away from God and it will seem to you that you have nothing but only obstacles and troubles in your life.But do not believe in your negative feelings that have been imposed subtly by the devil.Instead trust in the Lord and say to yourself, 'No matter what the circumstances I go through, God is always My God and He will never ever change His goodness towards me.These problem too will pass away as fast as it has come.' Keep reminding yourself that the only constant in this life that we can truly experience without change is God Himself.As we take everything in a positive way, everything in life will be transformed in to a positive experience of enjoyment by the power of the Holy Spirit.As you get up in the morning say to yourself, 'This is the day of rejoicing that the Lord has made for me and has given it to me to enjoy (Ps 118.24).I will choose to be happy and everything I do today will be successful because God is with me and is empowering me to be successful in this life.' Always learn to say and perceive each day as a pleasant day.The real success in one's life is living this reality of experiencing this positive God- attitude in one's life.Such kind of positive thinking will relax your mind and will give hope to your soul every day and will take you to the height of success in your life, because of your positive attitude God will acknowledge and bless you immensely.Attitudes are more important than achievement.Attitudes are more important than a person's achievement because God sees and rewards each one according to their heart attitudes toward God and life.If you have got a positive attitude in spite of the negative and depressive circumstances you are facing in your life, you are the one who will be blessed tremendously by the Lord than the people with great achievements and abilities.When you notice King David's life, he was not a great person with special abilities in him to be elevated to a stardom status in a single day.He was just a shepherd boy who was considered the least valued person in his whole family.But he had a contagious positive attitude of faith and confession based on the ability of the God whom he believed with his whole heart.This made the Lord to stoop down low to cherish this unknown boy and elevate him to super stardom status.This is the single greatest magnitude of victory till date which was pulled in to existence in spite of hopelessness and impossibility of faithless fear-filled and discouraging people all around.God gave the responsibility of leading the people of Israel in to the promised land of Canaan to Caleb and Joshua which even Moses the veteran did not get, because God noticed a different spirit of faith operate in the young Joshua and Caleb (Num 14.24; 2 Cor 4.13).God is always excited to use people who live in the positive category of faith.If you want to be successful and be blessed in this small life while we live in this planet earth, you better learn to live as a faith man.These men lived as faith-warriors and were blessed beyond description.Achievement can be reached by hard work but cultivating a positive attitude cannot be acquired just by hard work alone.We need the help of God to inculcate it in our lifestyle.Being positive is the character of God that will get rubbed upon us as we daily walk with God day in and day out.As he speaks and communicates with us through dreams, visions, riddles, signs, the still small voice of the Holy Spirit in our spirit man, prophecies, circumstances and ministers of God, the positive energy of God will get imparted in to us.This positive energy will draw us more towards the things of God and His word.As we keep our mind filled with the word of God, the positive pattern of thinking will get programmed in our mind and will change the way we see, think and act.Our soulish mind will start to get more and more influenced in the way God thinks and acts.As a result we will begin to see and live as God's true Sons and Daughters in this planet earth.This is the original plan of God for every human being.In other words we are basically created to be positive, happy, joyful and rejoicing all the time in God.Being negative is alien to our natural make up and thus will sap out the life which we were created to enjoy.Think and visualize each day.Each day of your life, think and visualize the promises of God that God has quickened in your heart through the Holy Spirit.The dreams, visions that God might have shown you or the prophecies that God might have spoken to you or the word of God that the Holy Spirit might have quickened to you in your spirit man are all the God-seed that has the potential within it to change, transform, prosper, supply, empower and release the power of God in your life and to make you a highly successful person in every area of your life (Acts 2.17-18).But the most important process that is needed in order for this power of God to be released in your life is the need to nurture the God-seed by meditating on it over and over again till you accomplish the destiny that God has set forth for you.So only men like David who was one of the very few people who fulfilled all of God's purpose for their generation (Acts 13.36) said, "Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day." (Psalm 119.97).He also said to God, "49 Remember the word to Your servant, upon which You have caused me to hope.50 This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life." (Psalm 119.49-50).Not only we see in the preceding verses that David received his comfort from the word of God but also he himself has confessed that the word of God has given him the life giving positive energy.Say to yourself each day, 'God is with me; God is helping me; God is guiding me all the time; He will never leave me nor forsake me.' Always train yourself to picture "success" in your mind, no matter how badly things seem to be going at the moment.This is the reason Apostle Paul told the Philippians, "8-9Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious-the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized.Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies." [The Message] (Philippians 4.8-9).From the preceding verse we come to understand that not only Apostle Paul is encouraging us to think positively, but also to see him as an example and learn from him.If we see the life of Apostle Paul, we can see literally the kind of difficulties, hardships, trials, tribulations that he went through, for trying to preach and teach the good news of Christ all around the world (2 Cor 11.23-33; 1 Cor 4.9-12).It is highly admirable to see that the Apostle Paul was able to maintain his positive attitude towards God, life, himself and his fellow beings in spite of all the difficulties that he faced almost daily.We can easily conclude that Apostle Paul was one of the most exemplary positive thinkers of his times because of the way he lived his life.Because of this attribute that he developed, he was known to be one of the most effective and the greatest man to reach the whole world within the shortest period of time in the first century.When we are living our life positively God will make us and work in us effectively to be seen and heard by others as the most excellent harmonies in this planet earth.Only living such life will impact us, our surroundings, our workplace, our city, nation and nations around the world uniquely by the grace of God.Learn to create a positive picture and visualize it and commit it to the Lord to fulfill it in His appointed time (Psalm 37.5).The positive picture may be a vision, dream, beautiful scenery or good things that you might have experienced in your life, or a positive word of God which you received as a promise in your life.When you think about it, start to thank God and praise Him.These activities will usher you in to the peace of God that will pass all your finite understanding and will guard your heart from getting doubtful, fearful and negative (Phil 4.6-7).When you practice these things, your trust level in the ability of God will increase as time goes by.This will directly influence God to do all the good things that have been thought by Him and He will make it to come to pass in your life, because God by then will have started to materialize all His promises in His appointed time.This is the reason the Bible says, "Commit your works to the LORD, and your thoughts will be established." (Prov 16.3).Your works are nothing but the creative thinking that God has given you in your life.By committing these faculties to the Lord by thinking positively God-ward, He will fill you and establish your mind with His heavenly thoughts.The thoughts that are described in the preceding verse are God-thoughts of peace, prosperity, comfort, wisdom, guidance, hope and a great successful future which are all the positive attributes of God (Jer 29.11; Psalm 139.17-18).Many of you as you start to do and practice these things in your daily life, Satan will try his best to bring fear and disillusionment in to your lives.In such times resist the devil by directly speaking verbally against him in Jesus mighty name because Jesus has already given you authority over all the demons and devils that are trying to discourage you (Luke 10.19).Say to yourself, "God has not given me the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" [personalized] (2 Tim 1.7).Fear is a spirit and it is not an emotion as some people consider it.If fear still persists, rebuke and command it to flee in Jesus name and it will.Say to the spirit of fear directly, 'In Jesus name I rebuke you spirit of fear, go and never come back.' David was such a man who practiced to be positive and he too fought against such demonic fear in his life.He said to God, "Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You." (Psa 56.3).To trust in the Lord is to believe his promises and to expectantly do what God says in His word.The Bible says ".Submit to God.Resist the devil and he will flee from you." (James 4.7).In other words it means, 'Speak against the devil and he will run away from you because Satan is not omniscient to know your resisting thoughts, but only fears when you start to speak against him in the authority of the name of Jesus.' He is powerless before your God who always lives inside of you.As the Bible says, ".In Him we live and move and have our being." (Acts 17.28).In such fearful times increase your faith and calm yourself by saying, "My God who is in me is greater than all the devils and demons that are present in the world." [Paraphrased] (1 John 4.4).Jesus also confirmed this in another place when He said, ".The kingdom [i.E.King's dominion and authority] of God is within you" (Luke 17.21).If you choose to use the King's authority which is inside you by using the name of Jesus against all the demons and devils that are acting against you from the pit of hell, all of its evil activities will be crushed by God under your feet with in a very short time (Rom 16.20).As the proverb says, 'Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain.' In other words. Don't stop doing what you are able to do with the empowerment of God, which is present inside you to make you successful in all your endeavor.One of the poems that I have read has always been an inspiration to me.You too learn what it means to be persistent enough to be positive and enjoy the 'winning ways' that are our birth right in Christ Jesus.This is the real recipe for success.Winning ways.[Part of longer poem called "it couldn't be done" by the British-born American poet -Edgar Guest.].There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done, There are thousands to prophesy failure; There are thousands to point out to you one by one, The dangers that wait to assail you.But just buckle in with a bit of grin, Just take off your coat and go to it; Just start to sing as you tackle things, That cannot be done, and you'll do it.Now pray with me this prayer, 'Father God, I have come to understand you to be a positive God.I thank you for adopting me to be a child of you and thank you for helping me to grown in your character to become mature as your son in your family to glorify you.Help me be positive all the time by believing your promises, help me victoriously conquer over all the bad and negative circumstances around me through your mighty power that works with in me.Help me live with your positive attitude all the time.Help me think and visualize good things all the time and to meditate on it all the time.I praise you that you are transforming me to be like a river out of which positive current of energy flows and feeds the multitudes.Help me to live and persist in your 'winning ways' which can only keep me positive and full of possibilities, to see success in this negative, gloomy and fallen world.I thank you and praise you for hearing and answering my prayer in Jesus name I pray.Amen and Amen.'.
Recently I preached a sermon based on Joshua 3.It seemed to help many people think through the issue of having faith when facing challenging times.In order to understand this passage of scripture, we must remember that forty years earlier Moses had led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt.For forty years they had wandered in the wilderness because of their lack of faith that God could take them all the way into the Promised Land.Many of us have spent many years wandering in a spiritual wilderness.Somewhere along the way we became Christians but we have yet to experience the promises of God.Verse 1 - Joshua started early the next morning and left Acacia Grove with all the Israelites.They went as far as the Jordan and stayed there before crossing.Joshua started out early in the morning.God often interacted with His people early in the morning.It was early in the morning that Abraham took Isaac to Mount Moriah to test his faith.It was early in the morning that Moses stood before Pharaoh and told him to let the people go.It was early in the morning that David battled Goliath.It was early in the morning when the women went to the tomb and found Jesus already resurrected.Therefore, it makes sense that it was early in the morning when God told Joshua to take the people into the Promised Land.Though we can spend time with God at any point in the day, if we fail to do it early in the morning, most of us get so busy that we never get around to it the rest of the day.They journeyed for several miles before making camp.Though this may seem like a short distance, remember that Joshua was leading a very large group of people.When we try to lead a larger group, everyone has an opinion or an idea and they all want to go in different directions.We need effective leaders but being a leader is not easy.In fact, leadership is in great demand and short supply.God has also asked men to be leaders in their families.Sadly, many men have failed to do that and families are struggling as a result.Pray for men to step up and lead their families.Every company or organization needs capable leadership.When good leadership is present, people can go far.When bad leadership is present, people become paralyzed and unable to move.We should all endeavor to be good leaders in whatever circles of influence we are in.Verses 2-3 - After three days the officers went through the camp and commanded the people. "When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God carried by the Levitical priests, you must break camp and follow it.When we see God at work, we must be willing to break camp and follow.We tend to get comfortable with the way things are and do not like it when God tells us to break camp.God does not always do things the way we think He should and He seldom leaves us in our comfort zone for very long.But whatever God does is always the best way things should be done so we should learn to follow Him where ever He leads.Verse 4 - But keep a distance of about 1,000 yards between yourselves and the ark.Don't go near it, so that you can see the way to go, for you haven't traveled this way before.As Joshua led the people, he told them to keep a certain distance from the Ark.Joshua was not suggesting that they needed to keep a distance between themselves and God.Verse 9 tells us they needed to get as close to God as possible.Joshua simply wanted the people to be able to see the Ark at all times so they would not lose perspective on what God was doing.Too many of us have lost sight of God in our journey through life and we need to regain our perspective.Sometimes we get so busy that we lose sight of God in our lives and taking a step back helps us regain our perspective.If we are too busy to think, we need to step back and eliminate something.If we are too busy to pray, we need to step back and eliminate something.If we are too busy to worship, we need to step back and eliminate something.We must make sure we do not eliminate the very thing we need most, time with God!Joshua reminded the people that though they had not traveled this way before, God would guide them if they stayed focused.Life is full of surprises and we often do not know what lies ahead.This can be scary, but God will guide us.Verse 5 - Joshua told the people, "Consecrate yourselves, because the LORD will do wonders among you tomorrow.".If we want God's guidance, we must consecrate ourselves.Consecrate comes from the Hebrew word kaw-dash and it means to prepare, dedicate, make holy, or be separate.How often have we really prepared ourselves to hear from the Lord? How dedicated to God are we? What aspects of our lives have we made holy? Have we done anything to set ourselves apart for the Lord? These are challenging questions for each of us.Too many of us are so busy trying to fit into this broken messed up world that we have failed to grasp what God is trying to do.If we want to see God do wonders, we should stop trying to imitate a messed up world and start acting more like Christ.We will not see the wonders of God unless we set ourselves apart for God.If we are living unholy lives, do we really think God will bless us? We must be willing to live right before a holy God if we expect Him to do wonders in our lives.Verse 6 - Then he said to the priests, "Take the Ark of the Covenant and go on ahead of the people." So they carried the Ark of the Covenant and went ahead.Joshua told the priests to carry the Ark out in front so everyone could see it.The ark itself was not spiritual.The ark was just a physical symbol of God's Presence.We often need such symbols to help us visualize the Presence of God in our lives.That is why we wear crosses, or display them in our homes.That is why we observe communion.That is why we light candles.That is why we publicly baptize people.That is why we anoint people with oil.That is why most churches prefer to have a specific building in which to worship.None of these things are spiritual in themselves; they are powerful symbols that help us focus more clearly on the Lord.God was about to show the Israelites another powerful symbol that would seal in their minds His power and provision.Verse 8 - Command the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant. 'When you reach the edge of the waters, stand in the Jordan.To understand this verse, we must remember biblical history from Exodus.When the Israelites left Egypt, God parted the Red Sea so they could go across.Forty years later the Jordan River stood in the way of the people finally being able to enter the Promised Land and God was going to part it so they could cross over.God was trying to show a new generation that He was still in charge and had the same power that He had in previous generations.Parting the Jordan became a symbol of God's power that they would remember for generations.What stands in our way keeping us from experiencing God's blessings and promises? Did we get hurt by someone? Time to let it go! Have we refused to obey God regarding baptism or church involvement? Time to jump in with both feet! Have we willfully ignored something God clearly told us to do? Time to start obeying! Whatever we have let come between us and experiencing all that God wants for us, we need to let it go so we can cross over the Jordan and enter the Promised Land!Verse 15 - Now the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest season.The river God asked them to cross was at flood stage! It took a lot of faith for them to trust God and step out into the water.It seemed like what God was asking them to do was crazy, but they could not enter the Promised Land without moving forward.We all experience our floods from time to time.But when the river is overflowing its banks the most is exactly when God is calling us to experience His power the greatest!Verses 15-16 -.But as soon as the priests carrying the ark reached the Jordan, their feet touched the water at its edge and the water flowing downstream stood still.As soon as the priests took that first step into the water, God did His part.But nothing was going to happen until they first stepped out into the water and got their feet wet.This must have been a hard thing to trust God for and even harder to actually do.But it was the way God worked then and it is the way God still works today.We must be willing to get our feet wet if we want to see the power of God displayed in our lives.We must be willing to step out into the water and do our part while trusting God to do His.Too often we want God to do everything for us and while He clearly has the power to do everything, most often He waits for us to do our part.Our God is a miracle working God but we have to get our feet wet and step out in faith and trust the Lord if we want to see those miracles.Verse 17 - The priests carrying the ark of the LORD's covenant stood firmly on dry ground.The leaders of God's people, carrying the symbol of God's Presence among them, stood firmly in the midst of the flood believing God would make a way for them to cross into the Promised Land.Too many of us do not stand firmly in our faith.We start, and then stop, our spiritual journey.We move one step forward and two steps backward.It is time to stand firm in our faith and watch God do His work in our lives.The Israelites had seen God provide for them in the desert, so they knew God had great power.But they needed this "experience" in the Jordan to help burn into their minds the need to stand firm for God.We often need an experience of some type in order to seal some decision we are trying to make for God.God often gives us some type of experience to let us know He is there and we should be grateful when He does.Conclusion..We may not know exactly what God will do in our lives or how He will help us overcome whatever challenge we are facing, but it is time to get our feet wet and step out and trust Him.
