Walking By Faith

This past weekend, my pastor, Dr. Ronnie Floyd, delivered yet another message that has had a profound impact on my life and is very well moving me into a position of action rather than sitting by. He spoke a message he entitled "What Kind Of Church Does Northwest Arkansas Need?" It's based from the scriptures found in Joshua 3, verses 1-5. In this passage, Joshua is about to lead the Israelites across the Jordan river into the land God had promised them. As the Lord said in Joshua 1:3-6...

"I have given you every place where the sole of your foot treads, just as I promised Moses. Your territory will be from the wilderness and Lebannon to the great Euphrates River...all the land of the Hittites...and west to the Mediterranean Sea. No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. I will be with you, just as I was with Moses. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous for you will distribue the land I swore to their fathers to give them as an inheritance."

So in the third chapter, Joshua was beginning to rally Israel to cross the Jordan and prepare to take the land God had promised them.

The lessons Pastor Floyd was teaching us that day started in Chapter 3, verse 1 where it states that "Joshua started early the next morning and left Acacia Grove with all the Israelites." In this verse, it shows that ALL of Israel was going to cross over into the unknown and in doing so, would have to maximize ALL their human abilities to get there. That was Pastor's first response into what kind of church is needed in this region as well as the world.

1. One that maximizes ALL it's human ability.

Ask yourself...are you going as far as you possibly can with your potential and in your spiritual walk? Assuredly, most of us don't even live up to our fullest human potential in life, let alone our spiritual side. Why is that? Are we too complacent or lax in our daily activities that we're just content to "get by"? Do we not believe God when He says "He will never leave nor forsake us" and therefore, whatever trials we face, we know He will be there to sustain us?

Pastor Floyd continued with reading Joshua 3:4 that has God saying "But keep a distance of about 1000 yards between yourselves and the ark (God's referring to the ark of the covenant). Don't go near it, so that you can see the way to go, for you haven't traveled this way before."

2. A church is needed that is willing to enter unfamiliar territory.

Now remember, the church is not brick and mortar. The church is the body of Christ and that body is made up of you and me and all believers. We are called to serve and use our talents & abilities to further the kingdom and please the Lord. God was saying "Hey gang...let ME lead the way, follow Me and I will lead you to safety because where we are going is a place none of you have ever been before." Therefore, He was calling them to act on their F-A-I-T-H. If they say they believe in Him then it's time to put that faith and belief into action. Allow the Lord to lead and follow Him, trusting that He will keep you on dry, safe, secure ground.

Pastor said 2 great things during this segment that I absolutely loved. First off, because the church is so content to stay where we are (ie: let's stay where it's familiar for us and we know what to expect), the world "yawns" at us because we're not out there doing anything unique or different. We need to trust God as we step out into the unknown. And that was the second thing that impacted me...

FAITH calls us to get into that river of unfamiliarity.

Look at Israel. Before them was a literal river, the Jordan River, and God was calling them BY FAITH to step into it and cross it. See, God knew what He was going to do because He's mighty and omnipotent. He knows all and He sees all, even that which we cannot. Do you know what happened to the Israelites?

I'll tell you in a moment.

3. Count the cost of what you do. Verse 5 of chapter 3 says that Joshua commaned them to "consecrate yourselves because the Lord will do wonders among you tomorrow."

First off, count the cost or consecrate yourselves means, in it's most simplest terms...give yourself completely. Something my dad used to always tell me was to be "thourough" or as he said it "thur-uh". Do a job well, do it right the first time and do it completely. Same principle applies here. If you're going to commit to something, commit all the way. Whether it's your marriage or raising your kids or getting up and exercising of a morning, you can't do it half-heartedly. It's all the way or it won't work.

The church, you and I, have 3 ways to fully give ourselves to God: spiritually, practically and financially. Give all that we have, regardless of how WE view it's size or stature, and let God become God with it. That means no matter how small our gifts or talents are, if we do them with an honest heart and with our entire efforts, God can use them exponentially.

There's a story about a ring I want to share with you very soon that exemplifies this to a T.

4. Experience wonders tomorrow by living out your faith today. That's the second part of Verse 5 that Joshua told the people. Walk by faith today and see the blessings of God appear tomorrow. It all starts with that initial obedience to Him. A lot of us live on what "yesterday" meant rather than focusing on a more bountiful tomorrow with God. I think that's why you see the church many times become stagnant, delapidated and extremely ineffective...

They lose their relevancy because we're content to just keep things as they are.

Think about it though....if God decided to just keep things as they were and never send His Son to die for our sins, would we today have the promise of eternal life? No. See, it's not that God couldn't do what He said He could or would do, it's that WE wouldn't do what He asked us to do. Mankind is doomed to being lost and going to hell. Yet, it's through the shed blood of Jesus Christ that we can have that hope of a life more abundant!! We can walk unashamedly and unabashed in our faith in Him because, as God said earlier "I will never leave nor forsake you."

So what's preventing you from stepping into that river of unfamiliarity today? Whatever the issue might be, friend, know that God is there with you and has promised to lead you on your way. All you have to do is step out on faith, believe in Him and He'll carry you through.

Oh yeah...what happened to the Israelites and the crossing of the Jordan? As the priests went before the people carrying the ark of the covenant, the waters of the Jordan separated.

"The water flowing downstream stood still, rising up in a mass that extended as far as Adam, a city next to Zarethan. The water flowing downstream into the Sea of the Arabah (the Dead Sea) was completely cut off and the people crossed opposite Jericho. The priests carrying the ark of the Lord's covenant stood firmly on dry ground in the middle fo the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground until the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan." Joshua 3:16-17

God instructed, the people followed and God lead and protected...just as He said He would.

Are you ready to step out into that river?