Tag: Joshua 4

Memorial

Memorial Day is a day when we remember those who had served, past, present and future military for the sacrifices that they had made. It is a day to praise God for the freedom that we have here in America because of those courageous ones who are on the front lines everyday protecting the freedom.

I’d like to take a different perspective on the word “memorial” as we look to
Joshua 4:1-7

4 When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man,3 and command them, saying, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests’ feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.’” 4 Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. 5 And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, 6 that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ 7 then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.”

These verses tells us the significance and importance of memorials. We have so many here in the United States. So many statues of former people who have paved a way somehow in this country. What is their purpose? To remind us of the past victories that were made.

What memorials, what victories in your own life have you forgot about? What trials had you gone through, what rivers did you cross, what valleys of the shadow have you walked through, have you forgotten that He, God was with you through it all?

God is not asking us to buy a statue or a plaque after every time He comes through for us, for our homes could not contain them. He’s asking us not to forget His goodness, His faithfulness in the past, in the present and in the future. Because your past memorials are today’s testimony to this generation.

“What do those stones mean to you”

SURRENDER ALL

Surrendering is not on our weekly to do list. I know it isn’t on mine. with the hustle and bustle of life, it’s so easy to strive for success than to surrender. But for most we define success as a fulfilling and prosperous career, satisfying relationship, and a happy and productive life.

God though, defines success a lot differently then we do. He isn’t concerned with the amount of money you make, the shoes you wear, the position you hold in a company or a church. He doesn’t measure you on the accomplishments or charitable work that you’ve done.

God cares about who is in the driver’s seat of your life — and that is determined by your level of surrender.

The question I have to ask ourselves is this. We repent to be forgiven but are we choosing to surrender in order to be changed?
  1. There is always a call to surrender

Everyday of our lives, we are called to surrender our will for His. We are called to lay down our lives for His name sake. Luke 14:27 “And whosoever cannot bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”

The beauty of surrender is that in everyday life, we have the choice to lay down our burdens, our ways of doing things and exchanging them for His rest.

When Jesus called the disciples, it meant no going back to the way of life they once knew.

In the book of 1 Kings 19:19-21 after Elisha is called of God to follow Elijah, Elisha went back, not to stay, not to think about it or to throw a “going away party” but he did something very crucial. He destroyed his livelihood, the very means of secure necessities of life. Elisha seen more value in the pursuit of God than his own.

“To step forward in your destiny you have to step away from your security.”

Just like Elisha, we have the choice to follow God or our own agenda.

” Choose this day in whom you will serve.”