New Way 1/15/22

Summary: It is important to cross over a new year with goals, with God’s presence, with urgency, with a clean up, and without any heavy baggages.

CROSSING OVER

Text: Josh 3:1-17

Joshua had a difficult task in front of him. He was to lead the people across the Jordan into the promise land. He was to achieve what his mentor Moses failed to do 40 years ago. But first, he had to crossover the Jordan river.

Crossing over into this new year is an important event and has already proved to be very challenging. We need to spend some time reflecting on the past and plan the future.

The following are 5 things we should do with whats needed in this new year

1. CROSS OVER EARLY.

Josh 3:1 – Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and they set out for Acacia Grove and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they crossed over.

Never leave for tomorrow what you can do today.

Stop worrying and doubting and start doing. God is waiting for us to cross over whats in the way. Take a step in His direction today

Joshua 3:15 Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, 16 the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.

The waters stopped only when the feet of the priest touched the water.

We do not fail unless we do not try, or stop trying

Illustration : The people who failed

Thomas Edison – failed in 10,000 bulb experiments

Michael Jordan- Lost almost 300 games (that’s more games than many NBA players have court time in)Missed over 9000 shots at goal (again more shots than an average NBA player even takes)

Peter – was the only man besides Jesus who walked on water and sunk…

2. CROSS OVER WITH GOD’S PRESENCE

Joshua 3:3 Whenever you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it.

We need to be God chasers. Run after the things of God. Be passionate about the things of God.

God’ presence brings life. The absence of God will brings death.

3. CROSS OVER WITH URGENCY

Josh 3:4 Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits c between you and the ark; do not go near it.”

This is a prophetic picture of the church crossing over to rule and reign with Jesus in God’s Kingdom approximately 2000 years after the first coming of Jesus.

Make full use of the time to achieve the purposes of God.

Eph 5:15,16 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

If you knew you had one year to live, what are the things you would plan to do in the last year of your life ?

You can lose money today and earn it back tomorrow. However, time is something you can only lose once.

4. CROSS OVER WITH A CLEAN UP

Joshua 3:5 Joshua told the people sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, the Lord will do wonders among you.

Joshua 5:5 For all the people who came out had been circumcised, but all who were born in the wilderness on the way as they came out of Egypt had not been circumcised.

It appears Israel was not living under the covenant during the 40 years in the wilderness. Everyone was caught by surprise. A spiritual check up will high light areas we need to adjust in our lives.

It starts with a spiritual check up. This area of our lives permeates throughout every other area. ment, emot, and phy

5. CROSS OVER IN THE NEW

Josh 3:10 By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Cannanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites.

All the “ites” were the hidden ghosts Israel failed to defeat 40 years ago. Our hidden ghosts often comes back to trouble us.

We need to release to God “mountains” and understand that He will remove the mountains in our lives.

Joshua 4:19 Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. (20) And those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal.”

It is significant that this happened on the tenth day of the first month, this is exactly forty years to the day, since Israel marched out of Egypt.

Leaving the edge of the river, the Israelites went to a place called Gilgal to make their camp. Gilgal was “on the eastern border of Jericho (v. 19).

Gilgal means “the reproach has been rolled away.”

God rolled away the following things at Gilgal :

a) Forty years of spiritual defeat, failure, death, cancers.

b) 40 years of wandering.

c) 40 years without a vision.

It was the dawn of a great new beginning in a new land. The days of sullen refusal to respond to God under Moses were gone, complaining was ended, hopeless wandering in the wilderness was behind them.

Are you ready to cross over ?