Crossing Over

The Lord loves to take us on to new places in dramatic ways. There are so many occasions when God's promises can only be attained when we press through one last test of faith. For many great people in the Bible this test of faith is represented by a body of water. They crossed over and enter the promise. Here are 3 of these:

Moses crossed the red sea with a miracle – into the wilderness – Old Covenant. (Exodus 15)

Joshua crossed the Jordan with a miracle – into the Promised Land – New Covenant. (Joshua 3-4)

Elijah and Elisha crossed over the Jordan with a miracle – into a double portion (2 Kings 2)

1. The place of crossing represents the final great barrier to God's promise. Like Joshua who sent the Ark of the Covenant over the Jordan first, we have to follow the presence of God - don't ever take your eyes off the Lord.

2. No matter what we have been through, we still need  to see our journey through to the end and cross over God's final test. There are times when we are stepping into things we don't understand - but our eyes remain on the Lord.

3. It is possible that the final "crossing over" will involve some of the hardest things we encounter on the journey towards the promise. Our faith will move us forward

4. Somehow the waters become a place of cleansing. Testings will often do that to us - they bring us through great things to receive God's great approval; they clothe us in new layers of holiness if we find God in the test.

5. The "crossing over" brings with it a new anointing and greater fruitfulness

6. The "crossing over" indicates that we have a past that we must leave behind and a future to claim.

7. The "crossing over" affects every area of our lives - spirit, soul and body; mind, will and emotions. In the end all of these must submit to the will of God, the cross of Christ and the leading of the Holy Spirit

Deut. 9:1

Hear, O Israel:
You are to cross over the Jordan today,

and go in to dispossess nations
greater and mightier than yourself,

cities great and fortified up to heaven.

Josh. 4:5 and Joshua said to them: “Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel,

           

Josh. 4:7 “Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.”

Each tribe contributed to the story of God’s glory in this place

In Scripture, times of the radical in-breaking of God in the lives of His people were memorialized with altars. To the uninitiated, the pile of stones had no meaning.  But the markers were there so that when the children asked, “what do these stones mean,” a suitable history lesson would follow.