Joshua 4:1-3, 19-24
1 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, 3 and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.”
19 On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. 20 And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. 21 He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ 23 For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea[b] when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. 24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.”
For
the past two weeks I have had the chance of visiting Mexico, my home country, after being
gone for ten years. Everything was different – the town, the people, even the
atmosphere. I could not believe that I
was actually visiting my old church, the church where I began to serve the
Lord. It was in that church where God began His purpose and will in my life. It
was surreal to think about where I was in life twenty years ago and where I am
now. Twenty years ago, there was never a thought, desire, or even a prayer about
me wanting to come to the United States of America. As I walked into my old
church where I grew up, it reminded me that the favor and the grace of God have
always been upon my life. It has not been because of my qualities, my
abilities, or my talents that I am where I am today. It is all because of Him!
While
being there and meditating upon everything that has happened to me during all
of these years, God took me back to Joshua 4, where God is asking
Joshua to pick up stones from the middle of the Jordan River and set them up on
the other side. This was to be a memorial for their children, in order to
remember what the Lord did in Israel. Joshua told the Israelites that these
stones were going to be proof that the Lord dried up the Jordan River for the
Israelites to cross over; when their descendants asked what these stones
meant, they could say that the Lord's power was with them. The stones
were a testimony that the Living God took Israel from one side of the river to
the other, walking upon dry land. These stones were there as a remembrance for
their children and the future generations to come.
I
believe that God took me back to where everything started in my life and
allowed me to see my old church so that I could remember where God has taken me.
Standing in front of the church was, in a sense, that memorial stone that
served as a proof that it was God who took me from there. He took me from a poor
church with poor people all the way to a church in Beaverton, where I have seen
the glory of God in an even bigger way. I came to the conclusion that every
good thing that I have been able to experience should be a memorial stone that
will remind me that the Lord my God has always been with me. When I have
children and grandchildren, I can take them back to my old town and testify
that the Lord brought me out of poverty and led me to a very blessed place. On
this trip, God reminded me to never forget where I came from and where
everything started. In the same way God was with Israel as they were crossing the
Jordan, God has been with my family and I since we moved from our country and
came to the USA.
Every
accomplishment, special event, celebration, and victory that we have should be
a reminder that the Lord our God has been with us. When people take a look at
our lives, we should always testify that it was, and always is, all Him. May we
never forget what the Lord has done on our behalf. May we always give him
thanks through the good and bad, and know that our entire lives are living proof
that He is and always will be with us.
Thank you for reading,
Israel
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