Crossing the Jordan • Lessons From The Book of Joshua

Automated transcript, lightly edited for readability. Scripture appears as spoken; the video is the authoritative teaching.

All Right, Guys

All right, guys. As my friend and our pastor is recovering from the sniffles, we have an extra special guest speaker this week. She's been with us since the very beginning. Found in Truth became official in 2013. And even before that, when it was just in the living room of the Vanderells' home, she took the children upstairs into the man cave and did the first lesson there. And ever since then, she's been absolutely dynamic. She is a state-certified public school teacher, turned homeschool teacher, so she knows it all in that part. But she's been directing and educating Fitz kids for over a decade now.

Now, she writes her own curriculum, and she just so happens to be, in my opinion, the most attractive guest speaker we've ever had. I'd like to welcome Katie Price. Well, welcome. I guess I don't need to introduce myself to you. My husband did a very nice job of that. It was very sweet. So Matt had asked me if I would fill in for him. Originally, Jason had mentioned me filling in for another time, and I was like, there's too much going on. I don't have time for it. And then I got a message this week, and Matt not feeling well. And I was like, okay, this is the second time within a week, maybe I need to say yes.

So I was like, it's fine, I'll do it. And I wasn't worried or anxious or anything like that. So before I start, I just want to pray. So if you'll pray with me. Father, I just invite you. I thank you, Father, for what you've already done. I invite you into this time, and I ask that your spirit will just speak through me, that only your words will be spoken, and that you will give us ears to hear and a heart to receive. And I pray, Father God, that every person in here will walk away with something and a touch from you. So I ask for a touch from you. In Yeshua's name we pray. Amen.

Preparing the Servant

So as you can see, the last few weeks, or about a month or so, I've been working on developing a family Bible study that explores Joshua. And so you find Joshua actually all throughout the Old Testament. In Exodus 17, verses 14 through 16, we see that Joshua was the military leader. When Moses kept his arms up, they were successful. When his arms came down, they started to fail. And so Moses kept his hands up and Joshua was able to win and help conquer the people that they were fighting. So God began working in Joshua, preparing him for the things that he was getting ready to be called to do, and he started training him as a military leader. When you're a military leader, you have to be courageous. You have to be willing to go and to fight a battle even if you don't know what's going to happen. And so you're strong, you're brave. You're faithful. You're a warrior. You're not someone who's going to give up easily, and that was what Joshua was.

The Assistant of Moses

We see in Exodus 24, verses 12 through 13, that he became Moses' assistant. And so wherever God went, or Moses went, he brought his assistant with him. And when you're someone's assistant, that means for Joshua to be Moses' assistant, he had to be faithful. He needed to be smart. He needed to be helpful. He needed to be a servant. And he needed to be willing to do things that needed to be done. And it shows that he was trustworthy. So God began working in Joshua, teaching him how to be an assistant and how to be those things. So not only is he a military leader, he's an assistant. We see in Exodus 32, 17 that Joshua was actually with Moses when Aaron created the golden calf for idol worship. He was with Moses when that happened. He did not participate in that worship of the calf. And we see that he was actually blameless in this part.

In God's Presence

And that he began to see the importance of being in God's presence. And he knew what it took to be able to lead people because he was with Moses. Wherever Moses went, he followed. And he began teaching and learning and seeing what was needed to be done as a leader. In Exodus 33, verses 7 through 11, we see that Moses would go into the tabernacle. Whenever the presence of the Lord would come down, the fog would fill the sky and Moses would be in there. And when his presence lifted from the tabernacle, Moses would go out and tell the people what God had said. But Joshua stayed in the tabernacle. It shows me that Joshua learned how to enter into God's presence and he yearned to be in his presence.

He learned how to seek God, spending time with the Father. He began to see the value of how important it was to spend time in his tabernacle and to listen to his voice. So he was beginning to—Yahweh was working in Joshua, preparing him for things that he had no idea that he was getting ready to do. So we see that Joshua was a man who knew what faith was, and he was a man of prayer. We see in Numbers chapters 13 and 14 that when they reached the promised land, Moses sent the spies out, and Joshua and Caleb were the only ones to say, it doesn't matter what it looks like. If God is for us, who can be against us?

We can go into the land and we can take it. But everybody else said, no, those men are giants. We can't do it.

Forty Years of Preparation

We see Joshua had faith. He knew when Yahweh said go, Yahweh would provide. He knew when God said it was time to do this, that he would be there. And he had faith, and he had strength, and he was a leader. And what happened, because they didn't go, they spent 40 years in the wilderness. Joshua spent 40 years by Moses' side being trained and led and learning what it was like to get in God's presence. And he got to see up close and personal what it was like to be a leader and to lead people who can sometimes be rebellious and difficult. Joshua was being prepared. When it was time to enter into the promised land, Moses laid his hands on Joshua and anointed him and said, you will take my place. You see that he was given direction. You see that in Deuteronomy 34, verses 5 through 9. So Joshua becomes the new leader when Moses had died.

God Has Spent Years Preparing

And I found myself, before we even got into the book of Joshua, I found myself thinking about how Joshua spent 40 years by Moses' side. He spent 40 years watching Moses do all these things and seeing God. And I wonder if he felt, for just a minute, even though he had strong faith, why me? I'm not good enough. See, I struggle with that sometimes. I feel like, you want me to do this? Why would anyone want to listen to me? But I have to go back and I have to look just like Joshua.

God had spent 40 years preparing him. God has spent 40 more years preparing me for where I am right now. And when I look at what I do in the children's ministry and where he's brought me to, where I am right now, I see the hand of God teaching me and training me and showing me what I needed to do so that I could be right here, right now. And even though I don't feel equipped, I know that he's equipped me. I'm sure, Al, when you went to face any battle that you had to do, you might have felt not prepared. But all the training that you went through, through basic camp and everything else, you were prepared and you were equipped. We just don't always know how to access it, or we don't have enough faith or trust to believe that we are called to what he has called us to. And it's in this moment, in this time, he has prepared us for whatever we are getting ready to go through. So I wonder sometimes if Joshua struggled with imposter syndrome. And one of the reasons why I think that is because when you open up the book of Joshua, you see Yahweh say something over and over and over.

Be Strong and Courageous

He says, be strong and courageous. Be strong in something else. But I want to say before we go to Joshua, the first book of Joshua, I want to remind you what Jeremiah 29 11 says. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you, to bring you hope, a joy, and a future. See, he knows what he's called us to do, and he's equipped us for wherever we're going to go. So in Joshua chapter 1, Yahweh tells Joshua, I have anointed you and appointed you, and I am going to lead you. All you have to do is be strong and—I want you to be strong and be brave. And then lead. So be strong, be brave, and lead your people.

You see that in Joshua 1, 6. So when we have to lead people, we have to be willing to make a decision. We have to be willing to take that step off the ledge. We have to be willing to walk the path he's called us to. So we have to be strong and brave and lead. Another quality of a good leader is someone who is strong. Yahweh says, be strong and obey. Okay. Our leaders, whether they're the presidents of the United States, whether they're the leaders of here at Found in Truth, children's teachers, whatever leadership you have, whether it's the head of your home or the mother or father, whatever you are, you are called to lead.

We have to be strong and obey. And we see that in Joshua 1, 7 through 8. So what does that mean? It says to remember the Torah, you need to know what the word of God says. You cannot lead well if you don't know what the word of God says. Because if you don't know what it says, how are you going to make the right decision? If you don't allow the word to help you make decisions, how will you know if your decision is good or bad? And it also says to be strong and obey by talking about my word day and night. Isn't that what we teach our children? That as we walk by the way, when we lie down, when we rise up, we are to talk about Yahweh.

We are to remember Him all the days of our life. We are to talk about Him when we get up, when we lie down. We are to have the Word in our hearts so that it is there when we need it. It can come out. And then the other thing that we need to do in order to obey, to be strong and obey, is to study the Word. It's very hard to take time sometimes in the busy life to get in the Word. If you have a bunch of little kids running around and you're dealing with diapers and all the things, when do you have time to go to the bathroom? How do you have time to read the Word? I would propose to you, just listen to it.

Listen to scriptures and just talk about it with your kids, with storybooks, or whatever you need to do, and that would be how you're going to get the word in. But find time to allow the word to be what you go to every single day. Now, don't sit here and think that I've got that, and I don't. I struggle to do that every single day, so I'm talking to myself too, but in order to be a good leader, we need to be strong and brave and lead. We need to be strong and obey. Yahweh says in Deuteronomy 17 verses 18 through 20, if you do this, you will be successful in all that you do.

Remember the Word

I found it interesting as I was thinking about that. Even the kings, when Israel appointed people to become kings, were told how important the Torah was. You see that in Deuteronomy 17. I think it's 17 verses 18 through 20 where the king said that they needed to read the word, write the word. I think they were supposed to write it. Was it every year? Or did they just need to write one copy of it. And they needed to have that. Why would he ask us to write the word? So it gets into our heart. So writing scriptures down is a good way to get it into our minds and so that we have it. And remember, I was telling you it's really hard sometimes for me to find the time to do all this.

Endurance in the Word

And so this is where endurance comes in. Most of you know that I have been doing, or was doing, CrossFit for a long time. I was a CrossFit athlete. I know I don't look like it, but that's okay. I enjoyed doing it. And I did that for about nine years. COVID hit and I had some downtime, and I didn't really do that anymore because CrossFit got a little hard on the body. It started to hurt a little bit. So I didn't really want to do that anymore. And I found that I was missing the release that working out had given me. And so I went back and I started going to burn boot camp. And the reason I'm telling you this is that when I went back to burn boot camp and they would do the cardio days and all this stuff, I felt like I didn't have endurance.

I felt like I couldn't breathe. I thought I was going to pass out. And I even felt that with CrossFit. When I first started, I looked at the barbell and kind of laughed and was like, you want me to what? Pick that up. I'm a girl. Girls, do they lift weights, really? And I felt like crying. And so I started from not being able to even pick up a barbell to do a deadlift to being able to eventually pick up weight heavier than myself, and then to having to start back over.

Battles Are Ahead

So we have to have endurance. We need endurance in the word in order to be able to be strong and to lead. The last thing Yahweh tells Joshua as he's calling him into leadership role, he says, be strong and courageous. That's in Joshua 1:9 because guess what? Battles are ahead. Battles are ahead. I am telling you now: be strong, because battles are ahead and they are coming, whether we're prepared for them or not. So spending time in the word, having that in there, knowing what Yahweh says, listening to his voice so that we can be obedient will help us get through those battles. But you are going to fight enemies.

Joshua was anointed and appointed, and he was getting ready to go into battles. That means enemies were coming for him. But Yahweh says, be strong and courageous, for I will go before you. He promises to fight those battles. And again, remember, anything that you commit to me, your plans will be successful. So that was Joshua 1. And then we moved into Joshua 2, where we shift focus to Rahab. And Joshua decides, let's send the spies out into the land. And I'm kind of like, do you really think that's a good idea after what you experienced?

Sending the Spies

But I found it interesting. Instead of sending 10 spies, he sent two. How many came back last time with a good report? Two. So he sent two spies into the land, and they came across this woman named Rahab. Now we all know that Rahab was a prostitute, and she was someone who made money doing things that were not looked upon favorably by God. So I started thinking about who is Rahab? Who is this woman? For her to do the things that she was doing, she probably wasn't accepted by many women. They probably didn't like her. And then I thought about how she was on the outskirts—her house was on the outskirts.

I wondered if she was considered an outcast. I wondered how she was treated in her community for her to do the job she had to do to provide for her family. So when we don't know Yahweh and we don't know who he is, we tend to go to the world for answers and solutions to supply our needs. And we think that's what we need to do. But the interesting thing about Rahab and the people of Jericho, when the spies came, they had already heard about the Israelites. You see, it says: "Do not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God, he goes before you."

The Testimony Goes Before

The testimony of what Yahweh had already done when the Israelites came out and escaped the Red Sea—Yahweh's powerful, mighty hand—had already gone before them. And it had gone before them in such a way that every person in Jericho except Rahab had fear in their hearts. In scriptures, it said their hearts melted with fear. They were afraid, and they recognized that Yahweh was powerful. But Rahab did something different. She recognized he was the one true God. Now, she didn't see anything that he had done. She just knew that he was the true God, so much so that she helped the spies. She knew if Yahweh decided that the walls were going to come tumbling down, that she was going to go tumbling down with it.

So if she knew that this is the one true God and she was already being treated badly as an outcast, why not pledge your allegiance to this God? So what we see in the story of Rahab is that even the rejects, even the lowliest of lows are allowed to come to the Father. It doesn't matter who you are. You can come to the Father, and you can have a relationship with him. Go back to Joshua. I'm not good enough. We all feel like we're not good enough, but it doesn't matter. It's not based on what you look like, who you know, how much money you have, what kind of car you drive. It's not based on that. It wasn't based on that for Rahab. It was based on her belief.

Belief and Confession

Not only did she believe, she confessed. And because she believed and confessed, her entire family was saved. Because you believed and you confessed, Juanita was saved. And we are believing for her to make the full recovery. Because we are believing and confessing, one person, one person can bring salvation to the family of unbelievers, people who have been worshiping idols. People of the world. One person can bring salvation to the family. It starts with faith. Just believing. Rahab never saw. She had only heard. And she decided, I want to serve that God. So she helped the spies out. She said, listen, I'll help you out. But please, when you come back, will you remember me? And of course, they said, yes, we will remember you. And so, Yahweh remembered Rahab, and she was able to be saved. They said, "Whoever you bring into your home will be saved." I wonder if she included a friend, if she had one, or did she only save her family? There's no telling. But she was accepted into the kingdom.

Waiting for the Answer

And the funny thing is, at the end of chapter 2, she has to wait. She's left there to wonder, did she do the right thing? She has to wait. And we don't see the answer to that until chapter 5. But Rahab is left there, and her family, not only was she able to accept them and allow them to be saved, but they had to listen to her and stay in her house. If they didn't, then they wouldn't have been saved, right? So we see that Rahab's faith is something important that we all want to strive for. We all want to have this faith where we can say, I don't necessarily have to see it. I don't need to watch the YouTube videos to believe it. And I don't need to question whether or not the Holy Spirit can move in their faith. And even if he chooses to do it a different way than he's done it before, I don't need to question it because I know I serve a powerful God that he can bring revival to wherever he wants to in whatever way he wants to do it. And I'm just thankful for people to have faith like Rahab and be willing to say, you know what? I want to serve you. And that's all it takes.

Answering Promises

Then we move on to Joshua 3 and 4. The spies have come back and they told the good news to Joshua that everyone's afraid. Let's go. Everyone's afraid. Let's go. This is such a different report than what it was before. And they all are ready. And so Joshua starts getting everyone together in chapter 3. And he's like, we're going to get ready to go. So go consecrate yourself and get ready to follow after us. We are going to go and get this land. See, the book of Joshua is a book about answered promises. Right? The Israelites had spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness. And before that, it was the promises to Abraham that you will have a promised land, and you will have my people, and you will have this land.

But it took a really long time to get there. So the book of Joshua is a book of answered promises. We should be excited to see that those people, even though Abraham didn't get to see the fruition he endured, and all those after him endured to this point. And they are getting ready to enter into the promised land. So Joshua tells the people, you need to follow behind the ark. Stay 2,000 cubits, which I looked up. That's about a half a mile or 1,000 yards behind the Ark of the Covenant. And the priests were to carry the ark; then they would follow. And scripture says why did they need to follow? In Joshua 3:4, it says because you are getting ready to go where you haven't been before.

Are you guys entering into land or an area, a season in your life that you have never been to before? I'm looking at Christi and Dan, and I know as parents, you guys have entered into a season that you could never have imagined. And so what you guys have to do in order to endure, in order to get through, is keep your eyes on the ark. Keep your eyes on the word. Keep your eyes on the Holy Spirit. Because that is how you enter into enemy territory or land you've never been before. And that is how you come out conquerors. You have to know what voice you listen to. And so we have land that we are supposed to cover and conquer and bring people to knowledge of who Yeshua is.

And we do that by keeping our eyes on the ark, the word of God, listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit, praying, worshiping, spending time in his presence. That's how we follow after the word.

Crossing on Dry Ground

And so they went and got to the Jordan River. There's this river. And I found it interesting that Joshua tells the priests, go into the river. And the minute that their feet touched the water, the water started rising up like a wall. The Jordan River was flowing downward, and then it stopped and built this big wall straight up, and there was dry ground, and the Israelites were able to walk across the Jordan River on dry ground. But before they could finish, the priests went to the middle of the river and they stood. Joshua said, I need 12 men, one person for each tribe, and I need you to go back into the river, and I need you to pick up a stone, a large stone, and I need you to carry it.

I need you to place it where we're going to stay. We're going to spend the night, wherever we're going to stay. I need you to create this. I need you to lay these stones right here because I want everyone to know. Yahweh wants everyone to know what I have done. So the 12 men, one from each tribe, went and got the stones and they laid them and they created this stack of stones. I'm not sure how it looked. I can only imagine how interesting that was. But Joshua went also and he gathered 12 stones. And he put them right in the middle of the riverbed where the priests' feet were. And he did this in remembrance of the fact that Yahweh parted the waters for them to cross on dry land. Once that was done and the priest carrying the ark finished, crossing the river, the waters went flowing back like normal.

Miracles for Every Tribe

So I want to talk about the fact that Yahweh picked one person per tribe. I was laying in bed and I was thinking and the thought came to me that he does miracles for every person. Every person. Every tribe. He does the miracle for. He will do it. You just have to have the eyes to see. You have to be willing to see that he is answering your prayers, that he is helping you through. But it doesn't matter what tribe you are from. It doesn't matter if you're just the Levitical priest or if you're from the tribe of Gad or if you're the tribe of Asher. Or if you're like Rahab and you're a Gentile, he does it for us too.

And so Yahweh tells Joshua again in Joshua chapter 3, verse 7, and then again in Joshua 4, verses 14, saying this: He says that I am doing this to show everyone that I am with you. And let me just read it for you what he said in Joshua 3, 7-8. Oh, here it is. "Now the Lord said to Joshua, this day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all of Israel so that you will know that just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you." And then in 4.14, he says the same thing: "And on that day, Yahweh exalted Joshua in the sight of all of Israel so that they revered him just as they had revered Moses all the days of his life."

Leading with Confidence

So if there were any people who are trying to cause trouble, saying you're not the right leader, I still don't like you. Have you ever had someone rise to promotion that maybe was your equal and you kind of were like, do I have to really listen to them? Like you knew who they were before and now they're a person bossing around. Sometimes people have trouble with that. Yahweh's taking care of all of that. Everyone began to realize they were able to revere and listen to him. And they're seeing that Joshua hears the voice of the Lord and he can help direct their path for whatever steps God is calling them to. But also when they walk through the miracles, it shows us that Yahweh's hand is mighty and that he does miracles for them and he is teaching them that he is powerful and he will take care of whatever obstacles in your path will be moved and cleared up in a way that only Yahweh can do it.

Stones of Remembrance

So when times get hard, we have a hard time remembering that we are a child of the king. And so Yahweh told them to stack these stones up. Why? Scripture explains that he decided to stack them up. He says that because I want you to teach them to your children so that whenever they ask you—it's in Joshua 4, verses 5 and 7. These stones will be a reminder to Israel forever because he wants us to remember the deeds that Yahweh has done for us. They are to be a remembrance. We are to remember what he has done for us forever. And when times get hard, sometimes it's hard to remember all the things that God has done because in the midst of the battle, like when the wind is blowing and we're thinking about Yeshua asleep on the boat and the disciples are experiencing this storm.

Or even when the storm came and the disciples were on the boat and Yeshua walked on water, they're experiencing this horrible storm and it's hard to see past the things we're feeling, so it's hard to go back into our memory and remember the things that God has done. And so Yahweh tells the people that I want you to have this stack of stones so that you can remember what I have done, so that when times get tough—this is Katie's version—when times get tough, you can go back and you can remember what I have done for you. So actually, we find that all throughout Scripture. What do we do? What do we memorialize?

What are some things that we do in remembrance of things that have been done in the Scriptures? Well, Passover—we celebrate Passover every year. When we don't eat unleavened bread, we do that in memory of what they did. And also because we were commanded to. When we keep the Sabbath, the Shabbat, and we have the bread and the wine, we do that in remembrance of what God has done. When we rest on the seventh day, just as God did, we do that as a memory, a memorial of what God has done. And we teach our children about all these feast days when we celebrate Hanukkah. It's not a commanded day, but we do it in memory to remind ourselves that God can deliver us, but also that we are the temple and we should keep it clean, right?

Those are the things that we do. And there are many more things that you can find in Scripture that we do to memorialize things that God has done in your life. So God wants to remind the people not only of the miracles, but He wants to teach them. He wants us to teach our children how important it is and for us to never forget.

What We Memorialize

So you all did really good about keeping up with baby books, like when you had children and kept track of all the things they did, like when they first crawled. Anybody in here? Am I the only one? Oh, I'm sorry—you were good with your first one? Well, I wasn't good with my first one at all. I start out something really well, but then sometimes that ADD kicks in and I get distracted and I'm not able to follow through. How many of you do the pictures every month? One month, two months? Are you good at it? You don't forget it? It's a little bit easier with the phone, right? Electronic makes it a little bit easier to keep up with that stuff.

Well, my oldest daughter just turned 17. 17. And if she were to come and ask me, "Hey, Mom, how old was I when I first crawled?" I'd be like, "Oh, no, I'm sorry." And if she asked if I had a video of it, I might would say, "Yeah, I didn't get that either. I'm really sorry, Riley." If Callie—oh my gosh, I did better with Riley than I did Callie. I don't think I wrote anything in her baby book, and I feel horrible about that. But I couldn't tell you when they were or how old they were when they did certain events in their life. And these are memorial moments that you're supposed to remember. Heck, if you ask me how much they weighed, I couldn't tell you.

Because I don't remember. I know they're around 7 pounds, but I don't remember how many ounces. And I do remember they were 21 and 20 inches. I do remember that. But if you ask me what time of day they were born, I'm not 100% sure. Okay? I can go back and look at where it's written down. See, the further we get from an event, sometimes the fuzzier it gets. And then we start losing the details. At least, can you remember your fifth birthday and everything you did or one of your gifts that you got for your fifth birthday? No, right? Because the events get fuzzier and fuzzier. So why would God, why would Yahweh ask them to memorialize this event?

So that the events and the time won't get fuzzy or foggy. And we won't forget what He has done.

Many Ways to Remember

So people memorialize and remember things a lot of different ways. Now it's a lot easier, I think, than it was before. Before, it was probably just either taking a picture or writing about it. Now we have video. We can vlog. We can send voice messages. We can go back through Marco Polo if you send video messages through there. There are ways where we can go back and look. And you can journal. You can text. You can do all the things. So we have a lot of ways where we can memorialize events. Why am I spending so much time talking about this? Because I want to encourage you to remember that you can be Joshua, you can be Rahab, you can be anyone in the Scriptures, but Yahweh wants us to remember the different things that He has done in our life to memorialize Him speaking to us on a regular basis. And sometimes He gives us things that tell us different things. And I'm going to share some special things that I have in my life that help me remember who I am in Christ.

Memorial Objects That Speak

And the first one I thought about when I got here is this little bazooka, and I keep it on my key ring, but it has a specific meaning to me. And it had to do with me meeting with some special women on Friday. For the last—how many years now? Two years? Two years now. Almost every Friday we meet and we pray. And someone called and said that our prayers are like bazookas. Because when we pray, we are shooting these bazookas out into the atmosphere. And they're powerful. But as I was sitting here thinking about sharing this, I was like, "Hey, our words are that way too. Whatever we speak—in kindness or in harshness—our words are just as powerful as prayers too.

So we can build people up or we can knock them down." And sometimes when I let anxiety control me and then I go to my daughter because I'm feeling anxious about whatever I have going on, and I go to Riley and I'm like, "Riley, I'm shooting these bazookas, but they're not good. They're not for the kingdom." So I have this as a reminder. Now today is adding another meaning. Not only are my prayers powerful, but my words are powerful. So this is a memorial stone for me, because it reminds me that Yahweh says that He has declared your prayers powerful. And I'm going to tell every single one of you that Yahweh says every single one of your prayers is powerful too.

You don't have to be the person up here speaking in order to have powerful prayers. You can be any person and have powerful prayers. You don't have to be seen. Your prayers are powerful.

More Stones of Remembrance

And then I have this beautiful Bible that was given to me by the Blairs. And when I see it, it's the word of God. It's a memorial stone for me because I got to know them from Sukkot a couple years ago, but then I really got to know them as they began teaching their children on Zoom. And when they came to visit, they gave me this beautiful Bible. They sent it to my house as a way to say thank you. And when I see this Tree of Life version, this beautiful Bible that I would never have paid for or bought for myself, I am reminded of Yahweh working in me through the ministry that He has called me to do.

But not only that, I'm reminded that I can make a difference even when I don't think I can. And so this is a memorial stone for me. I have this necklace. It's a quartz necklace that was given to me by Kelly Beyond Delilio and her family. They gave it to me at Sukkot. How many of you came to Sukkot last year? Okay, so this was given to me on the last day when we had everyone go get the stones. They gave it to me after that. And I had everyone go and find stones. And I talked about how we carry things and we need to lay them at the foot of the cross. And I said that once God has helped us get rid of these things, we need to praise Him for what He's done.

We need to let go. We need to praise Him because if we don't, the rocks will cry out. And so they went out to get their rocks, and they came across this stone on the riverbed, and they made it into a necklace. And they gave it to me before I left on my last day there. And this is so meaningful to me because when I put this necklace on, I think, "If I don't praise God, the rocks will cry out." It's not about the message that I gave. It's the meaning behind it. You see, if we don't praise God, the rocks will cry out. And I just really don't want rocks to cry out in my place. I don't want them. I want to be the one praising Yahweh for all the things that He has done. But I also don't want to be the person who forgets what He has done.

The Testimony Carries Forward

So Yahweh tells us to go, and He told the Israelites—one per tribe—to place these stones so that when you see them and your children are like, "What's that?" they're going to sit. You're going to tell them what they have done, what God has done. So do you tell your children what God has done? Have you shared, not only with your children, but with others, the testimony of what God has done? You see, when people see this, they're like, "Oh, thank you. Your necklace is so pretty." I'm like, "Let me tell you about it." Miss Angie, you have carried your little bazooka on your key ring. And when people have asked you, you're like, "Let me tell you about it." And it is the testimony.

What did we say about the testimony? The testimony brings people to repentance. See, the testimony—Rahab heard the testimony. It brought people into the kingdom. Not only that, it will make our enemies flee. What is your testimony? What are the things that Yahweh has done to show you that He is the King of kings, the Lord of lords, and He is the only one God, one true God? I have these little stones right here that I've pulled out. And just as a reminder, in a minute I'm going to have you guys come and get some stones because I want you to have some memorial stones that you can carry with you and put in your pocket.

Two Experiences of God's Provision

You can make it into a necklace. You can just put it on wherever. It doesn't matter. And you can get as many as you want. How many do you have? How many is he bringing to your mind right now? How many times has God been faithful and answered your prayers? You can have as many as there are here. I don't care. It's my gift to you. But this one is to remind me of a job. My husband and I will have been married 24 years this summer. We've had two experiences. Before we had children, Jason quit his job. He decided he was going to travel. The very last day he worked, he quit working at that place. Guess what?

He didn't have a job. And he was looking at me. We didn't have children. And he was like, "I quit my job, and I don't have a job. I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow." And he was walking on faith. Eventually, God opened up a job for him to travel. He traveled to Charleston and was able to travel. Jason, were you traveling for three years? Two years? Two years maybe? Maybe something like that. And every time that contract was up and he didn't know where he was going to go, he got another contract in Charleston. God allowed him to get a job. Recently, this summer, Jason was unemployed, and we went a season without him having a job.

And I'm a stay-at-home mom. For those two months, Yahweh had already provided—he had already given us means to have money in the bank that we could live on. We wiped out our savings, but we still were able to live and not lack anything. So when I carry this rock, I know that God is my provider. And that Jordan River—it's going to part. I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know where he's calling us. But if he says that season is over, that season is over. And we need to walk through the dry riverbed to the other side so that we can walk in what he's called us to do. So God has provided a job for us.

Finding Peace in His Presence

The other thing he's been speaking to me about lately is that he wants to meet me. And he wants me to be at peace, and he wants Yahweh to—he wants me to rest in him. You see, I'm a little bit of a perfectionist, and I strive to do everything really well, to the point I make myself anxious and not kind to my daughters sometimes, or my husband. And then I get real stressed out, and I try to take on all the things, and he's telling me—Yahweh's telling me—to be at peace. And when we got sick two weeks ago and I wasn't able to come to church, I threw everything down and I stopped. I literally stopped. And I was like, "You know what?

I'm going to stop." And I did not pick up anything that I was supposed to do for that whole week that we were sick. And I just rested. And I needed that. And I think back to that—I was striving so hard to please Yahweh and to please everyone and trying to do my best because I love the Lord and I want to do well. But I was striving so hard trying to please him that I was wearing myself out. When I rested, he gave me the strength to endure. And it's no longer in my strength; it's in his. And so for the last two and a half weeks, I have not felt anxious or stressed about the things I have to do. And Yahweh did that, not me.

It is in his strength that I can do all the things I was doing before, but I can have peace about it. I went to that prayer meeting at Angie's house, and I just laid in the floor, and I didn't pray. I didn't open my mouth. I just sat in his presence. I still have peace from that, for that was over a week ago. The Lord met me where I need it. And so he is telling me, "Peace, be still." There's something about just sitting in his presence. Don't strive. Just allow him to meet you where you are.

Just Breathe

I have one more, and it's red, and I can't read it, but it's to breathe. Just breathe. Do not be anxious. When you're worried, cast those things down at his feet. And he's confirmed me. Just like Joshua, God has been confirming him all throughout the first four books. He says, "I am with you. I have appointed you. I have equipped you. Just listen and obey." Yahweh has sent many people my way to confirm who I am in him. Not only is my daughter a king, but he finds favor with me. And he's used different people in my life to say that to me.

And sometimes I struggle to believe that. I don't know if you feel like Rahab and feel like you're just an outcast and nobody. But Yahweh has sent many people to speak into my life and say, "I see you, daughter, and I am pleased."

Willing to Be Used

So I've stopped striving in my own life. And I am just willing to just walk, and I just want to be like Heather and say, "If I have a voice to be used in the room, use me. If you are willing to use this broken servant who tries to take the world on her shoulders, use me, right? But if you have someone else, use them." God wants us all to walk in freedom, to have peace, so that we can go out there and be used by him to share the gospel and show others what it means to be a believer and a follower of Christ. The works don't matter—none of it matters. All that matters is that we are his children. And we remind ourselves and we remind Elise of the different times that God has been faithful. And we have those rocks and these things that we put in our pocket because, you know, it says if we don't, the rocks will cry out. Well, guess what? These rocks in our pocket are crying out the testimonies that God has done for us.

Remembering God's Faithfulness

So I want you all to close your eyes, and I want you to think now. Of one or two or five or ten, however many ways God has answered your prayers. When has he shown you he has been faithful? When has he shown you that he is the king of kings, lord of lords? The one true God? And worship team, if you want to come up while they're doing that. When you have that in your mind, I want you to come to the altar and pick up your stones, and I want you to decide what you want to do with them, whatever you want to do with it. Are you going to glue them together, put them on your little nightstand so you can remember things? Or are you going to keep them in your pocket? Or are you going to give them to someone else? I also have some Sharpies here on this chair so that you can write down a word or two that he has, so you don't forget what this rock represents. Because as time goes by, it gets fuzzy. So a word or two would help you. And if you want to do that at home, that's fine too.

Getting Your Memorial Stones

But I want to encourage you: come and get your rocks. Come and get your rock so that you can have a memorial stone. The children are supposed to be making one in kids' class today. And so this would be a great way for you to share and talk. And maybe as a family, you can continue. Maybe you put them in a jar, and you can continue to add to them, and then you can pull them out to remember when time gets tough. That, oh yeah, he says just breathe. Oh yeah, peace—I got you. Oh yeah, you're my favorite daughter. I love you. It's okay what the world says. I know who you are. Those things help us get through the hard times. Looking back at the memories and the things, the testimonies, the times that Yahweh has helped us through, those are the ways we are able to endure. Sharing the testimony of Juanita that's not finished. I believe she's had a divine encounter and she's going to be so different. Thank God for that. Thank God for revival. And thank God that he is with us today. And that's my message for you.

The Shema

Sing the Shema with me. Shema Israel, Hear O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one. Blessed is the name of his glorious kingdom for all eternity. Now may the God of patience and encouragement grant you to be like-minded with one another in the manner of Messiah, so that together with one voice you glorify the God and Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. And may the Lord bless you and may he keep you, and may the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up his countenance toward you and give you his. Amen. Shabbat Shalom. Hallelujah. Shalom.

Closing

The bold proclamation of the gospel of King Yeshua. We thank you for your continued support and we look forward to seeing you next time. Shalom.