COMMUNICATING WELL
Today’s Reading: Joshua 3-4
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion on the right-hand side).
Just east of Jericho, looking across the Jordan River into the country of Jordan, you can see a church that commemorates the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. This is also the area where the Children of Israel crossed into the Promised Land.
GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.
Key Verse: Joshua 4:24
…that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.
God has often intervened in human history to use so-called “acts of God” to accomplish His purposes. In the case of the Jordan River being dammed up at Adam (there is a bridge here today called “The Adam Bridge”), God may have used an earthquake. In 1927 there was a quake in this very area. A 150-foot rise on the West Bank was dislodged, completely blocking the flow of the Jordan River into the Dead Sea for 21 hours.
The leadership of Joshua, born a slave in Egypt, was not questioned from this time forward. Moses, raised in Pharaoh’s palace, saw the potential of Joshua and mentored him well. The written Word and the verbal telling of God’s stories, along with the pile of stones, succeeded in keeping the people faithful for at least one generation. Let us remember that we must creatively renew our means of communicating God’s message in every generation.
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord God, please enable me to communicate well to those for whom I am directly responsible. May I be faithful to point as many people as possible to You by the power of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
As a boy, I would often look at the photo album from my parents’ honeymoon in 1924 in what was then known as Palestine. They were in old-fashioned bathing suits swimming in the Jordan (see photo below) at approximately the place where the Children of Israel crossed over. I’ve visited that place several times. As a great-grandfather of 13, a grandfather of 16, and a father of 4, I must do everything I can do to remind those whose lives I can influence of the faithfulness of God in the past, present, and future.
Yours for communicating our God stories to the next generations,
David
P.S. Below is a fragment of the Dead Sea Scrolls from the book of Joshua. For more about the Dead Sea Scrolls, click.here The second photo below is
Found among the Dead Sea Scrolls were fragments, like the one pictured here, which retold various stories from the book of Joshua.
My parents on their honeymoon in 1924, bathing in the Jordan River.
How wonderful our God is!
Once again, He moves the waters so the Israelites can cross the river on dry land.
We should note that the waters were not parted UNTIL the priests carrying the Ark stood in the river. We need to be obedient and do what the Lord commands so that He can move on our behalf.
Oh for courage and grace to obey, always ( especially when it may not make sense to us)
May God be blessed as we gather in His Glorious Name on this Lord’s day!
Amen Luisa!!
I’m about to watch this short movie on Joshau again.We (rightly) decided to cancel church last night because of the storm.I’ll get some nourishment online as long as the power stays on.I hope yall have a great Sabbath.God bless
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXOdhmW26Rc
Love the honeymoon picture ! ????
Yes, Amen Ruth!
Amen Luisa. Thanks William for the movie. NB is getting the snowstorm now but without wind so far. Thinking of the song, “Lord keep us safe until the storm passes over.” All our family and friends and everyone including the service people. Have a nephew who drives the government snowplough and I always pray for him as well as others. Amen!
Wonderful lesson today of God’s faithfulness. We also had a great message from Acts 6 at Church this morning.
The sun is shining after the storm and that is what happens when we Accept the Lord Jresus into our Lord and Saviour. Oh Father I pray for all our unsaved loved ones that they would turn their lives over to you. I pray for safety for Ger”s nephew and others who may be suffering because o the extremely cold weather. Particularly those who have had around 50 cm of snow and the cold weather as well in the Hamilton Niagara region.
Lord you are able to do anything, as it says in my life verse Philippians 4:13. I can do all all things through Christ who strengthens me. It is His strength that we need daily as we walk with Him. We all need this and especially some seniors who are coping with disabilities and are house bound. Blessings to alll, Eleanor M.
Amen Eleanor M. agreeing with you in prayer!
Excuse errors.
Our church was cancelled but I found many wonderful services on TV & on line. Thank You, Lord.
Thank you Sah and Donna very much for your response and comments it meant the world to me and I really enjoy this blog that we can share our stories experiences things that are going on in our lives knowing that there are people on this blog that we can share things with and pray about them so thank you again from the bottom of my heart I pray that God will truly richly bless you this day and always and when it comes to mental illness in the church there is a big stickma some people in Sumter churches don’t understand if you have a mental health issue you just need to pull yourself up by the bootstraps but that’s wrong I’m glad. The church that I know of that I used to go to there are people who had mental illnesses and it was very open coming from the pulpit for prayer and people that had a mental illness where accepted which meant a lot to me now when I say the church I used to go to I’m not I’m not going present there is a reason but yeah I was very fortunate that my church doesn’t Embrace and pray for people that have mental illnesses so thank you very much and God bless
I meant to say that my church does embrace people that have mental illnesses and its really comes from the pulpits for people and there’s no a shame attached to it so I’m very grateful again so thank you again for hearing me a God bless
Thanks fore sharing!
God bless you Marilyn and thank you so much for sharing your story!
God’s Word says we are to bear one another’s burdens and to pray for one another! I am so happy we have opened up to begin to share and to pray and care for one another!
I am praying for the young people in our communities that are experiencing signs of mental illness and combined with puberty, it can become very scary and very unfamiliar! I also pray for the men in our country who also have mental health issues! I pray and give thanks to those businesses who are recognizing the need for support groups at their work and for employers to realize these issues also and offer some support…I pray for our schools to come on board and help the children in school to work on any mental issues they may dealing with at this time..
I’ve learned one very important detail; for me it is important to listen to people, to acknowledge that I have heard them speak and ask them to “tell me more”
went swimming last night! Had a VERY good time! Thanks be to God for giving me swimming from a broken leg!
Blessings to all
Thank You Lord that You are a caring and loving God! Your word tells us that we are more than conquerers through Jesus Christ Our Lord!!
And to call on You, and You will answer even before we ask! I know that is true because Your Word tells me so.
Its a wonderful promise, but sometimes I have a hard time with that when my prayers seem to be hitting the wall, and things get worse rather than better?
I have prayed for my sister Ollie who is ill with dementia, but instead of getting better, she has become worse and has had to be placed in a “lock-up”.
And says she wants to go home and that she hates it ther and will take her life if she has to be there. She does not want me to pray for her for anything except to get her out of there.
She was moved to the “lock-up” on January 15,m 2019.
Also pray for her daughter and son, as she is very angry with them for placing her there.
Thank you for your prayers, and God Bless you!
God bless you Irene! It is very difficult to deal with family when they very serious health issues and dementia is one of those issues that is hard to handle and sometimes it is very hard to know just what to do with your beloved family when dementia is diagnosed!
Lord we ask You to look after Irene’s sister Ollie who is in a care facility. I do believe the staff looks after the people as best as they can and they do provide some safe places for those with dementia.
We just pray Lord that You be with Ollie and keep her comfortable and give her peace We thank You Lord that You love each and every one of us all the time. You never leave nor forsake us! TY Lord in Jesus Name we Pray amen
Bless you Sah for praying for my sister Ollie.
Truly she is in caring place and I pray that in time she will have peace with that.
Thank you Ron and Ann and Reynold for continuing to post this daily manna! God Bless you always!
In the Scripture reading I am impressed how the people obeyed when they were told to do things, I sure need to learn that lesson alot in my life…..
The Lord parted the waters again, that is very cool!