How To Cross The River

 Today’s Bible readings are Joshua 3:1-4:24, Luke 14:7-35, Psalm 80:1-19, & Proverbs 12:27-28

 

Joshua 3:15-16

¹⁵ It was the harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river’s edge, ¹⁶ the water above that point began backing up a great distance away at a town called Adam, which is near Zarethan. And the water below that point flowed on to the Dead Sea until the riverbed was dry. Then all the people crossed over near the town of Jericho.

What a day this must have been for the people of God. He did the impossible through them. As they came up to the Jordan to camp that night, I’m sure that the people were wondering, “How are we going to get across such a fierce river.”

The bible lets us know that the river was at flood stage. It was a raging river that had great power to destroy anything that dared enter into it. It would sweep people away & crush them against the rocks & trees that were engulfed in the current. There were no bridges. There was no natural way to pass through this great obstacle but that is no match for a supernatural God.

One the other side of this river represents the land of promise. It was the place where God promised His people that they would find rest. It was a place where God promised His people would find blessing. It was a place where God promised His people that they would find victory. The only thing standing between them & the abundant life that God had promised was a raging river that was impossible to cross. Sound familiar?

So many times in this life it seems that it is impossible to get to the place that we know we find rest, peace, victory, & prosperity. We come to the edge of the water & we know that on the other side of the river is a place of blessing but the river is raging. We don’t see any way to get across. What I see happen at these moments is most people just stay camped right where they are. They never cross to the place of victory.

The enemy will do all kinds of things to deter us from entering into the place of victory. He will attempt to do use things like:

1.      Relationship problems

2.      Fear

3.      Depression

4.      Past failures

5.      Weaknesses

These things can be like a raging river before us. When we come to them we can get scared, intimidated, overwhelmed. A lot of times we just stand at the edge of these obstacles & wait to see if they will disappear. I have never seen it work that way. But there is a way that we can cross through the obstacles in our path every time with great success.

Joshua 3:15-16

¹⁵ It was the harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river’s edge, ¹⁶ the water above that point began backing up a great distance away at a town called Adam, which is near Zarethan. And the water below that point flowed on to the Dead Sea until the riverbed was dry. Then all the people crossed over near the town of Jericho.

This is a picture to us of how we find victory as well. In this text we see why it is that we can be so confident when we face the obstacles in our path that try to keep us from entering into God promise. The answer is His Presence.

The priests were carrying the ark. The ark represented the place where God’s presence dwelt. Because they had His presence, as soon as they found the courage to take that first step, His powerful presence did the impossible.

The same is true for us today. We are carriers of the presence of God. We walk in His presence. We stand in His presence. We live in His presence. His Spirit dwells in us. We don’t carry a physical ark, we are the ark. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

We will face obstacles in this life that stand in the way of God’s promise to us. The obstacle can look impossible to overcome, BUT we have the presence of a SUPERNATURAL GOD living in us enabling us to do SUPERNATURAL THINGS.

I want to encourage you today that when you are face with the natural obstacles in this life, trust in the power of the supernatural presence of God in you to bring you through. You have to take that first step just like the priests did. When they stepped out in faith the water began to stop flowing & the ground began to dry up. I believer that as you start to step out in faith that you to will begin to see things change.

 

Pastor Richard Schlotter