Joshua 4:1-7 (KJV)  “Looking Back so we can Look Forward”

“And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying,2 Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,3 And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night.4 Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man:5 and Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel:6 That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?7 Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel forever.”

As we look at our lives as believers in Christ Jesus and children of a Living God, it is sometimes difficult to remember where we came from and how we got to this point in life.  When I begin to feel like I am standing still or stuck in the desert of life, not sure if I am moving forward in my daily walk with my Lord, I think of this story.  It challenges me to remember how things were before I knew my Redeemer and Lord and how He rescued me out of wilderness into the promised land he had for me.

The stones remind me of leaders and influencers who were faithful, and good examples of how to be obedient to the Lord. 

Of course, we all have our own stories, and if we will only think back to the miracle of our redemption, when the rushing waters of our Jordon stood still, and we were rescued from destruction by the raging waters of life, it will refresh our souls.

As a young boy, man, husband, father, and soldier I was not aware of the world’s prison system of sin I lived in.  I just thought life happened and I tried to do the best I could each day.  When life situations became unbearable, I escaped into my own little world to avoid pain, loneliness, and despair.  I did not know how to cross over my Jordan and that there was a promised land for me. 

At the age of 27 I found myself hearing someone describe the life I had been living as a direct result of sin. I heard of a life I could have if I would accept Jesus as my Lord and ask him to live in my heart.  Boy, was I ready for that. Things changed from that August day in 1975. It was different and slower than I expected but none less a miracle.  Now many years later, as I pass by the milestones of eternal life at an ever-increasing speed,  I look back in the Spirit to those memorial stones, and realize how much I have grown, and how much I have been truly blessed.

My Heavenly Father, his Son and my Savior and God the Holy Spirit that lives within me, carries me forward into the promised land he has always had for me.

If you have accepted your position as sons and daughters of a living God by letting Jesus be the Lord of your life……you can walk through these last days of life and look back and realize how special You are in our Heavenly Father’s eyes.  Now, as His children we can Rejoyce, knowing God is going before us, just like he did with the Arch of the Covenant, as you cross your own Jordan rivers into your promised land.

If you have never accepted this gift of eternal life, you can do it right now!
Romans 10:9 (KJV)

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

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