Crossing The Jordan*
Take a look at Joshua chapter 1. Let's ENCOUNTER GOD this week by examining an Old Testament passage.
After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua, "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give them - to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates - all the Hittite country - to the Great Sea on the west" (Joshua 1:2-4). This promise was made to other people. Now it is being made to a new generation. The old generation is gone. They are dead. Moses is dead, along with all the people who would not cross the Jordan. They came to the edge of the river and GOD said, "Across from this river is who you are. Across from this river is who I want you to be. The Semitic concept of land, Gan, is more than just a place that you occupy. The Semitic concept of land is who you are. The place that you inhabit is your identity" (See Deuteronomy 32:47).
So what GOD was really saying to the people of Israel is this: "You cross over into who you really are. The other side of the river is what I want you to do, who I want you to be, what I have called you to be. You have come from a very bad place, where your identity was really messed up. You have been told you are slaves. I want you to cross into a new land - a new identity. Everything that I have prepared for you, everything I have made you to be, if you cross over, it will all be yours."
What did they do? They feared what was on the other side. They took comfort in their known world ... their known identities, and they stayed where they were. That generation walked around in a wilderness for forty years, and they perished, living their same old lives.
I do not know what your Jordan is, but we all have one. All of us have a river bank we are sitting on, and we are looking across to what GOD really wants us to do, to what He wants us to be, and we say, "Not right now, GOD. I am comfortable right where I am."
There are situations, cycles that you just cannot seem to stop, or relationships that are just not working well. And we say, "It is not my responsibility." But GOD says, "Yes, it is going to be scary, but you can cross, and then you will see my power. Then you will see what I can do." GOD says, "You want to see my power - cross! Hand over your stuff. Surrender."
Surrender to the leading of GOD. Cross over your Jordan!

ENCOUNTER QUESTIONS

• What is the life that GOD wants for you right now?
• What is the scary thing that you are looking at right now, that looks like what the Jordan had to have looked like to the people of Israel? What is the situation that looks scary? You know what it is.
• With that in mind, meditate on these words ... "I will never leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified. Do not be discouraged. For the Lord your GOD will be with you wherever you go."

*Thoughts adapted from an article by Sam Leonor entitled "Crossing the Jordan."