Take a look at what God instructed the people to do, what will unfold are keys to overcoming obstacles that could prevent you from crossing over to your promised land.

1. THE PRESENCE OF GOD WILL MAKE A WAY

As long as you stay on the riverbank – on the side of the river – you will never receive that which you are believing for.

God had given specific instructions to Joshua – the waters would only part when the feet of those carrying the ark – the presence of God – stepped into the water.

He was telling them, It is my presence that must go ahead of the people, because it is my presence that will make a way.  Don’t send the people in their own strength, I am the one who will part the waters.

God says to you, put my presence in your problem and it will part.

Don’t try and do what God will accomplish for you.  You need to be a carrier of his presence and allow his presence to part the waters for you.

The presence of God tells us that God himself is in our midst.  That is why we must treasure and value God’s presence, that is why we should create an environment that is conducive to his presence.  Because when God shows up, problems disappear.

2. STEP OUT ON GOD’S WORD

God instructed them that as soon as they put their feet in the water the miracle would take place.  And God was true to His word.  But their dilemma is this:

The waters stopped flowing 10 kilometers away, out of their sight. They would not have known what was happening up stream.  It would have taken some time before the water had run dry.  When they first put their feet in the water – bam!  The waters stopped… 10 ks away.

They would have seen nothing, heard nothing and felt nothing, because there was still 10kms of an overflown river that had to run dry before they could pass.

There was only one thing that they could rely on to get them through – that was God’s word.

The Priests are carrying a word from God and the very presence of God; they’ve put their feet to the water with all of Israel watching, and as the sole of their sandal hit the water, they did not see anything, they did not feel anything, they did not hear anything.

But that didn’t stop them.  They kept moving forward step by step, they just trusted God’s word and despite not seeing anything they just kept on going, they kept moving forward until eventually they were in the middle of the riverbed standing on dry ground.

3. CHRIST HAS ALREADY OVERCOME

It is at this point that we begin to see the miraculous work of Jesus Christ emerge in their journey.

The water was stopped about 10 kilometres upstream, out of sight.

It happened that way because it was by Adam, the father of the human family that sin and death entered the world.  And God was painting a picture that was taking place: Christ stepping in and dying on the cross, putting an end to sin and death and rising from the dead, just as the Israelites rose from the river to the other side – the side of the promised land.

What he did at Calvary reaches all the way forward to us today in 2009 and it reaches all the way back to Adam the beginning of the human family.  The curse is broken.

Christ has stopped the raging waters of sin and death and made a way for you to enter into the promised land.

It was the Ark that opened the way and it was Christ that removed the curse of Adam.

You don’t have work for it, you don’t have to earn it, you just have to step out of your comfort zone and receive what he has already done for you.

Because what God did out of our sight 2000 years ago, still has power today.  But the key to activating this power is the presence of God.  Just as the ark made the way, God’s presence will do it today.  You need to open your life to the presence of God.  It’s his presence that makes the way and his cross that cuts the curse.

Then in chapter 4:1-10 God instructs Joshua to establish a memorial on the other side of the river, to testify of his goodness.

But then something extraordinary happens.  Joshua himself, does something peculiar.  With his own hands he makes another pile of 12 stones.  But he does so in the middle of the riverbed, so that when the waters came rushing through, they would never again be seen.  But they would always be there in the middle of the river, under the water.

God didn’t ask him to, the Bible doesn’t call it a memorial.  He just builds 12 stones in the middle of the river, right where the presence of God opened the waters and allowed the people of Israel to walk from death to life.  From a curse to a promise.  From a burial to a resurrection.

I believe that Joshua, a type of Christ, whose name means Jesus.  Was making a profound statement.  There was something significant about these waters.

Just as the Priests had stepped into the water – the place where the old was left behind and the new was before them – they stepped in with anticipation and great expectation of something miraculous to happen, about 1400 years later John the Baptist  spoke with anticipation and great expectation of something miraculous to happen, he prophesied that there is One coming who is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with Fire.  He was speaking of Jesus Christ and it was Jesus who stepped in to those very same waters and was baptised.

Joshua put together those 12 stones that stayed underwater as a symbol of those who are dead in sin.

Romans 6:4 tells us that we died and were buried with Christ by baptism.

Joshua was making a statement that these are the waters of baptism – they are now and they will be then – and the people of Israel had been through a type of baptism, whereby they entered into the riverbank, where at its core the presence of God was found and it was there Joshua lay 12 stones, for all the people of Israel, in the middle of the river,  and then the water came rushing over it it buried the old life.

But Romans 6.4 goes on, it says

And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.

And so it was that God instructed the people to build 12 stones on up on the river bank on the side of the promised land, where everyone could see.  But they weren’t any old stones, they were specifically taken from the middle of the Jordan river, the waters of baptism, symbolising that they had come up out of the waters of baptism, into their inheritance.

And as Romans 5 tells us that as judgment came through Adam, justification will come through Jesus, and it will be from Jesus’ gift of righteousness that we will reign in life and never be put to shame.

Friend let me encourage you, if you’ve been stopped at the raging river in front of your promise, it’s time to cross over.  You need to immerse yourself in the presence of God and put your feet forward.  It’s time to step out on God’s word.

Christ has put an end to death and destruction its time to cross over to the promised land.  He did it for us that we might receive all that he has done for us.

When you cannot see the waters stopping, don’t you stop.  Hold on to God’s word, remain in his presence and kept moving forward.  You’re not the same anymore, you’ve been buried with Christ and now you’re a new person.

You need to receive what Christ has done for you.

© Mark Sceriha 2009

David Bright, one of our students, shared a great message on tithing and giving.  I have included an extract from his message below.  Now you must remember, this is a brand new student and our first chapel service, so he’s not had a lot of practice.  In fact, he’s overcome a pretty rough past to get to where he is today.  If, like me, you were impressed, leave a comment and I will pass it on to him.

I want to speak to you on Tithing and Gods heart.

What we give over, God will take over.  Malachi 3:10… Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse. It doesn’t say lets have a debate over this. It simply states ….Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse.
Why? … Because it demonstrates that our trust is in God

Many think when it comes to a tithe message we are just trying to get the church’s hand into your pocket.  Well…NO!! I am actually trying to put your hand into God’s pocket, where you are able to prosper, not in the accumulation of things, but in the expansion of God in all things within your life.

What you withhold from God, you isolate from His ability to inhabit and multiply.

But you may say, “I don’t make enough to tithe; I’m going to run out of money.”
Well if you think you’re going to run out anyway… run out… into God’s arms, run out trusting Him, because He promises to open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing until it overflows.

God says He will rebuke the devourer for you.  Many are suffering from a spiritual devourer – an enemy that drains away energy, time and resources so that you never seem to have enough.

The Lord is saying, “Now turn your finances over to Me and I will turn over my resources to you and destroy that very thing which is destroying your prosperity.”

Whatever we get from God we need to sow back as Gods gift is a gift that keeps on giving.  Let me recall a story in 1 kings 17 that exemplifies this principle.

During a time of terrible famine the Lord told Elijah to go to Zaraphath, as He had commanded a widow there to provide for Elijah. Notice the Lord did not command a wealthy businessman to provide for him, but a destitute widow – a woman facing starvation who was about to prepare her last meal for herself and her son and then die.

God’s way to activate her faith and to bring her into a supernatural provision was to require her to give over the little she had to fulfill the purpose of God.
What seemed like an insensitive, even cruel command, Elijah ordered her to feed him first and then take food for herself. Although she didn’t know the plan and provision of God, Elijah knew and he urged her into both faith and surrender. As a result, God provided for her miraculously: “The bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil become empty” until the famine broke (v16).

Remember Jesus fed 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 Fish from a little boy

When I hear people say, “I can’t afford to give,” I immediately think, “You can’t afford not to give.”

When faith is activated and surrender perfected, God steps into our lives.  We need to have a testimony of God’s supply, where each of us can say, “God came through for me.”

God multiplied the widow’s provisions during a drought. Maybe it’s in the times of need that we need ‘surrender’ the most.  Our faithfulness with money shows Jesus that we can be trusted with greater things such as miracles.

Why live in the pitiful little realm of unbelief when we can have the provisions of the Most High?  Ask yourself, “How is it Jesus always had what He always needed”?
John 17:10 reveals, “Praying to the Father, Jesus said …. “All things that are Mine are Yours…””

Jesus surrendered all. As a result, He could continue with confidence in His prayer, “And what is Yours God is Mine.””  So also with us – make this same act of surrender.

Whatever we have was God’s in the first place anyway.  To those who give all to Him, He says, “What’s Mine is yours.” We exchange our little for God’s much. Whether it is with our finances, our families, our future or our past.

The key to unlocking the destiny of God is faith and surrender.  What we give over, He will take over.

I’ve made the mistake of thinking that because someone is a good friend, they will make a good leader – boy was I wrong.  And the worst thing is, when the individual’s leadership crumbles and correction is needed, it can often have an affect on the friendship.

It’s an undesired fact that, in church life, people will always come and go.  Having been at the one church for over a decade I have had the privilege of building lasting friendships, even with people who have since moved on.  But I’ve also witnessed people who have mixed the distinction between friend and leader.  When the leaders, who are your only friends, move on, you’re left a lonely person who has lost a friend and a leader – a perfect recipe for a wounded soul.

I encourage you to always seek to develop a good relationship between you and your leaders, but leave the core relationships for your friends who are not a following your leadership.

John 15:1-17

Many Christians are not enjoying the full benefit of a friendship with Jesus because they cannot get past the bondage of servitude that has developed out of a sense of religious obligation rather than out of a love for Christ.

Security is a hallmark of a good friendship. If you don’t feel secure you won’t have a good friendship because security it built upon a foundation of stability in knowing where you stand.

Just as much as I am a friend of God, I am also His servant, but my servitude doesn’t come out of a forced religious obligation but out of recognition that, just like Christianity itself, and all that the Kingdom of God is, the best of friendships are built on generosity.

And a true, godly friendship is not about what you can get out of it, but what you can pour into it. While my position in Christ is to be seated in heavenly places, the expression of my love for Christ is outworked in my desire to lay down my life and serve Him and do what that which pleases Him.

There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

Four Reasons Why Jesus Calls us Friend:

1. Servants are only in the presence of their master when their master wants something from them.

But as a friend of God you can spend time with Him, whenever you desire.

We were created to be in fellowship / relationship with God.

Christ has destroyed everything that was preventing us from fully entering into His presence. You don’t need to wait to be called, there is an open invitation all you need to do is choose to.

Jesus calls us friend because…

2. Servants don’t express their thoughts or share their heart to their master, they just follow instruction.

But friends of God can pour out their heart to Him.

Christ cares about you. Masters don’t care about the needs of the servant, because the servant is there to meet the Master’s needs.

In Matt 11.28 Jesus said come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. In effect, he was saying, if you have a need, I will meet that need

When no one else understands, God does.

Jesus calls us friend because…

3. Servants do not know the business of their master.

But friends of God can share in His business and know what He is doing.

Jesus isn’t holding anything back from us. John 15:15 – Everything Jesus has heard from His Father He makes known to us.

The sense of the graduation in the relationship is the development of your ability to know something you didn’t know before. He says you understand some things about God that you didn’t know before.

Jesus calls us friend because…

4. Servants don’t get hurt, they’re just there to do a job.

But friends can get their feelings hurt.

Friends will tell you the truth. They will try to get you out of a situation that’s not good for you. Friends will protect you from embarrassment.

Prov 27:6 – Faithful are the wounds of a friend.

If a friend hurts you, it’s for a good reason. A real friend will hurt your feelings to protect you.

Real friends, close friends can talk about the things that no one else is talking about.

And, so, here we have Jesus who calls us friend. But before he does so, he confronts the issue that people are reluctant to talk about, the thing that, if misunderstood by someone who doesn’t know where they stand, could seem inhumane and perhaps even merciless by a loving God. No body’s talking about it and no body wants to hear it, but Jesus just confronts it head on.

He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

Jesus said if the branch bears fruit I’m going to cut you back – one is being cut out while the other is being cut back. One is being cut to be destroyed and one is being cut to prosper.

God used your difficulty to cut you back, rather than cut you out. It’s the pruning. God will use painful situations to cut back the branch so that you might trust Him and have lasting success. The only way to obtain more is to be cut back.

The key to a lasting friendship is connection. If the connection is lost, the friendship is lost.

Jesus calls you friend because you’ve been through it all and you have remained faithful.

God says, when I see you’re not using me to manipulate me to get what you want, when things don’t go the way you expected, if you stick it out and you abide in Me then you can ask what you will and it will be given to you.