Stepping in Flood Stage Water

"As soon as the priests who carried the ark of the LORD-the LORD of all the earth- set their feet in the water of the Jordan, the waters that were flowing down stream were cut off and stood in a heap" (Joshua 3:13)

Joshua told the people to cross the Jordan. At this point, it was believed to be at flood stage.

Have you ever seen flood stage water? It is terrifying. It is deeper than normal. It is rapid. It is filled with debris that is sloshing to and fro. In Texas, it would have snakes and fire ants. I know because I have had to walk through it. I have no idea what critters it would have had in the Jordan but I imagine there were some.

Joshua told this huge group of people to get to the other side. They would have little children and little ewes. They would have carts and blankets and kitchen ware. They would have grandma's and grandpa's needing extra care.

Joshua said, "Go!"

It took the leaders to take the first steps. Someone had to be first to take the plunge. As soon as the priests stepped into the water God separated the waters and provided safe passage for the whole nation of Israel to cross. Can you image the numbers of people?

Taking that first step is terrifying. There are a thousand "what ifs" that try to slay us. The unknown is so hard to face. Sometimes, I would rather stay frozen and not move to the otherside. I would rather stay in my current mess rather than face an unknown mess. But, when I do that I do not get to walk in the miraculous! 

Right now I feel like we just crossed the Jordan. We have talked for a few years about moving my parents in. It was overwhelming. Daunting. A huge undertaking!  But once we took the steps it was so freeing and we had the privilege of seeing God do the miraculous! He moved the flood stage waters for us and gave us dry land to cross over. He sent the people we needed to move forward when we needed it. 

But it took the faith step to get in the water first. He has allowed us to enjoy the beauty of faith walking and the growth it gives us. 

Where might God being asking you to step into the water so He can part it for you? It is worth the plunge!

Raise up Leaders who Seek the LORD First

Look at this cool chart on the difference between Moses and Joshua. As I read through it I wondered if God is raising up our next generation of leaders to be like Joshua! 

As justice is sought in our nation and around the world the only way it will be won is if the leaders like Joshua stand up!

We need leaders that will fight the battle face to face. 

We need leaders that will confront laziness and fear of the enemy. 

We need tough leaders that will not put up with compromise in the WORD OF GOD on any topic! The message will always be the same. The methods must change. 

We need leaders that will tell people to get up and dig their own wells or in today's language get off your lazy toosh and take care of yourself and stop looking for hand outs. 

I think my struggle as a leader might be that I am a mix of Moses and Joshua. I think my flesh takes over and I act like Joshua in a sinful way by reacting and not seeking the LORD first. 

My heart also longs to be the peacemaker like Moses but I tend to be more of a peacekeeper. I think by just listening and not doing I can keep the peace. Ugh!  That never works. Peacemaking requires strength, resilience, and grit. There will always be a "do" in order to make peace! 

In both cases when I mess up, it is because I did not seek the LORD first. Ugh.

Father, rise up in me the necessary leadership skills to make Your will known and accomplished. Help me to release leaders around me to be like Joshua. Use them to tear down the walls that are barriers to Your will and plan. In Jesus name amen

Generational Leadership

I just had a thought as I read about Joshua. Joshua was a second generation leader that followed Moses. He knew how to follow and let Moses lead. 

Joshua was also a first generation military leader to those that fought the battle of Jericho. He knew how to take the lead and get the battle won. If you notice we are told he sought the LORD!

Joshua had leaders under him that were the third generation followers to Moses and second to him and so on it goes. He knew how to unleash them to get the job done.

Who are you the second generation leader to? Who are you the first generation leader to? Do you see generational growth happening to the second, third, and fourth generation? 

Ask questions and know who is being raised up. Write them down and pray for them by name.  

How are you seeking to honor and bless? Where do you need to invest and where do you need to release and unleash? Ask God to give you clear steps in what to do and say. This is the type of prayer God loves to answer because He loves to bless and honor even if it is in discipline.

I will confess it is always very hard for me when the LORD reveals a season of release. I love my people and I do not want to let go, but HE convicted me a long time ago that if I do not release those that follow me I will suffocate them and hurt their leadership growth. I have to remember my season of hunger to be unleashed so that I let them go and grow. This is when generational influence impacts the next generation positively.

Who do you need to follow? 

Who do you need to invest in?

Who might you need to release to go do their thing?

Moses Met God in his Daily Routine

I don't know about you, but sometimes I wonder how I could possibly meet God in a given circumstance. I search hard when there are big issues, but I can be forgetful in the daily routine. 

Yet, God meets us where we are at. It is in our daily routine that we can encounter God. We must simply be observant and curious enough to check it out. 

If we are willing to see God, God will reveal His presence, His name, His plan, and His purposes for our lives.

I love how Moses saw the burning bush and just went to go check it out. It was in this simple act of curiosity that he had the most intimate conversation with God.

I love that he was real and raw with his fears. He feared his ability was not good enough. He feared how the people would respond. He feared that he would not be recognized as one with authority. 

With each fear God responded in kind. 

I AM WITH YOU! 

       WORSHIP ME!

I AM THE GOD OF YOUR FORE- FATHERS. 

       KNOW MY NAME!

I AM SENDING YOU! 

      TELL THEM THAT!

Such intimacy, security, and comfort found as Moses just went about his day watching his flock if sheep.

Do I watch for God? AM I willing to pause and check things out when He is at work around me? Do I share with Him my greatest fears?  Do I listen to His answers?

I can know this. God does not change and if He did this with Moses, He will do this with me.

I can trust that God is present!

I will worship Him alone!

I know His Name! 

I will share what I know!

I can trust this will influence generations!  

Amen

When we see injustice, how we respond matters

I don't know about you, but sometimes when I see injustice I want to be or can be very reactionary in my responses. I can move too quickly or speak too quickly and cause more harm than good. 

In today's narrative, I see three types of justice occurring and as I watch them unfold, I see Moses maturing. I have never thought of this narrative this way before, but it is almost as if his maturity is being chronicled and condensed down to these three incidents.

The three types of justice I observed are...

1. Moses's response to justice. He is impulsive, reactionary, passionate, and irrational at first. He runs because his actions are wrong. It would have been better if he stayed to chase evil away.

2. Ruel's response to justice given to his daughters was welcoming, hospitable, and generous.

3. God's response to justice was He sees, He hears, and He responds to the groaning of Israel's bondage. 

All three see, hear, and respond. Yet, we see that Moses needs to mature in his response. We are given three separate accounts of how Moses responds to justice. 

Notice that the first situation was he encountered abuse, he was impulsive, physical, and it ended poorly. He killed a man and hide what he did.

In the second situation, Moses was verbal as he encountered two men fighting and he used questions. When he was confronted with his own poor use of just judgment by killing, Moses ran and hid. His approach was better but his poor judgment before caused consequences.

In the third situation, we are not told what Moses did except that he ran off shepherds that prevented the women shepherds from feeding their flocks water. His actions were just enough that he did not run away!  Also, the women told their dad and he welcomed him in and gave him a daughter as a wife. This time Moses reaped blessings so I am going to assume his justice leaned toward the side of goodness.

Because the narrative ends with noting that God sees, hears and responds to the cry for justice as Israel groaned, we can recognize that God longs for us to respond to justice, too.

As we reflect on Moses' three incidents,  we can observe that there are mature ways to respond justly. Justice should bring blessing and what we say or do should enable us to stand firm and not run.

I realize I must slow down, be rational, ask questions, and then move with action. I should chase evil away rather than run because I did evil.

Three character traits that save lives

Creative obedience, compassionate defiance, and courageous steps saves a baby's life!

These are the three truths that God taught me this morning as I reflected on the birth of Moses.

I sure want to be the person that says I recognize that your life matters! You matter! No matter how small you might be, you matter. You are God's gift.

I want to be creatively obedient like Mose's mom. Pharaoh said throw the babies in the Nile. She did, but only after hiding him to grow in strength for three months. She then made him a nice wicker basket boat to keep him afloat and protected from the elements! Talk about creativity!

I want to be compassionately defiant like Pharaoh's daughter. She knew that her dad said,  "throw the babies in the Nile", but when she heard the baby cry she had compassion. Not the kind of compassion that just moves the heart but the kind that moves the hand. She provided for the baby by agreeing to a nurse, giving her pay, and then taking the baby to raise as her own. 

Not only that, she named him Moses meaning "I drew you out of the water!"  This child would grow up hearing every time his name was called that he was delivered from an awful fate because she drew him out. Imagine how that alone plays out in his psyche as he becomes Israel's deliverer that draws them out of their bondage.

I want courageous steps. I want to be so curious that I am willing to see, but not just see, but step forward and do, maybe impulsively, but the right thing like Mose's sister. 

Anytime a life is saved physically or even spiritually, I realize it took someone or a group of someone's creative obedience, compassionate defiance, and courageous steps.

Father, please help me to walk in these and thank you for those that have already done this before me!

God honors those that honor Him

When is civil disobedience okay in the eyes of God?

In Exodus 1:1-22, we discover that God honored the midwives when they protected the lives of little boys being born. Pharoah commanded that they kill them at birth, but they disobeyed Pharaoh and let the little Hebrew boys live. God honored their decision and blessed them with families of their own.

See, back then when a woman could not have children, she was socially despised and greatly disadvantaged socially and politically. Women were property good for bearing children. When a woman could not bear children. she might become a midwife so she can at least be near children and the blessing of bearing them. 

Shiphrah and Puah (midwives) chose to disobey Pharoah at great risk. They could lose their lives but God showed His pleasure with their choice to save lives by blessing their wombs! Wozer!

But, even beyond the blessing of family. God used these two brave women to make a way for two deliverers: Moses and Jesus. 

God used them to fulfill His promise to Abraham to make him the father of a great nation. God used them to fulfill His promise to Jacob to make his family into a great nation. God used them to fulfill His promise to send Israel into the promised land by sending baby Moses that would deliver Israel from Egypt and eventually to send the Messiah through their descendants!

Sometimes, in the moment when we struggle to make the right decision, maybe great risk is involved, maybe we are very disadvantaged, trust that God has a plan and when we walk in obedience blessings will come. Recognize that some fruit will remain unknown because it is fulfilled generationally, but God honors those that honor Him and His commands.