96 - "God Is With You in the Midst of Your Confusion" Joshua 1-3;

                                                                   

Oh! The Wonder of a Beautiful God moving through history, our story, to move us into holiness. Oh! The enormity of what He is doing in our lives. “Be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. … This book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night.” Joshua 1:8.  “Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.  I will not leave you or forsake you.” Joshua 1:5.  So, right where you are fixed with all emotion and involvement and commitment and confusion---God is with you in the midst of your mess.  But make no mistake, you’re a beautiful mess. 

5 Loaves and 2 Fish. Luke 9:14. That's all we need. 

Oh, Friends, do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful whatever you have inherited. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” How can we grasp an ironclad hold on this?  

How did Joshua rise above to receive an invitation to cross the Jordan and lead his friends to the Promised Land?  The flood banks of the Jordan are overflowing.  Crossing this river is an impossible adventure.  Not for Joshua.  He believes God's Providential Hand is in this.  "As I was with Moses, so I will be with you."  No one will be able to stand up against you.  So, why is it when I was stiff-armed that I thought that God wouldn't help?  His Power & Presence equal this event of mine.  A promise of the Presence of God Himself.  Simply amazing.  Moses knew what it meant to walk with God in the midst of his own infirmities. Now Joshua.   God tells us not to be discouraged over our sins but to trust the Captain of our salvation.  We're enlisted followers.  What could I better say to you than I will pray that the Presence of God will be so very real in this next event of yours---where He promises His Power and Presence.  Joshua had no idea how hundreds of thousands could cross the Jordan River and live.  It was in Joshua 3:13, when the priests first put their big toe into the water, that heaps of water stood right up and invited them across a path on an ocean floor where no one had ever walked before. 

PHOTO:  Taken 30,000 feet in the air. God is with us above, beyond, sitting right next to us.