[audio mp3="https://pointofgracechurch.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/why-give-day-18-our-giving-causes-god-to-open-the-door-rev2.mp3"][/audio]
Joshua 3:9,11,14-16
Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God… See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you…
So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing.
The things that stood out to me the most today were:
“Their leaders were asked to do one thing and only one thing: Get their feet wet.”
“God sees things differently than we do, He is always eager to teach us new lessons.”
… do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:9)
“God doesn’t call us to do it, only to let Him do it through our giving and expect the unexpected.”
“In spite of their total lack of resources, the Israelites had one thing to give – obedience. They obeyed. They went forward. They got their feet wet”
“God did not ask the Israelites to get across by their own resources or by helping themselves. He asked them to trust Him to get them across and to show that trust by taking the first step into that turbulent water before the water was parted!”
…when we give…we can “have faith that He in turn will provide for us in some unexpected way that reflects His means and not our effort!”
Well, I’m still processing all this…How about you? Maybe we need to just “step out into the water!”
Blessings to you and yours,
jim