God's Mighty Hand Series

Have you ever lost your car in a crowded parking lot, forgetting where you parked it? It’s frustrating, but not near as frustrating as it was for a man in Frankfurt, Germany, who just last year (2017) found his car after forgetting where he parked it 20 years before that. The man, now 76-years-old, reported the car missing in 1997 to police when he couldn't find it after leaving it in a parking lot outside an industrial building. After hearing nothing, the man assumed the car was lost permanently. But a construction crew preparing to demolish the building and lot last year reported the abandoned vehicle to police. After checking through old records, police located the two-decade-old report. When the man and his daughter went to recover the car, it wouldn't start. (WORLD magazine, “Quick Takes” 12-30-17; www.PreachingToday.com)

Now, forgetting where you parked your car is bad enough, but there are much worse things people can forget that will stop them dead in their tracks. If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Joshua 4, Joshua 4, where we learn the one thing we must remember never to forget as we pursue God’s calling on our lives.

Joshua 4:1-3 When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, “Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, and command them, saying, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests’ feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.’” (ESV)

Because God performed a miracle, the children of Israel are crossing the Jordan River into the Promised Land on dry ground. Now, God wants them to take 12 boulders from that dry riverbed and set them up in the place where they will spend their first night in their new home-land.

Joshua 4:4-7 Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.” (ESV)

God wanted His people never to forget what He had done for them that day. They had been slaves and nomads – 400 years in Egypt and 40 years in the desert. Now, they are going to be warriors and soldiers. Now, they have to get ready to face the hardships of battle as they get ready to conquer the Promised Land.

And if they’re going to move forward in victory, they have to be able to look back and remember the miracle God did for them that day. And if you want to move forward in your life, then you must do the same. Look back and…

REMEMBER GOD’S MIRACLE.

Recall the wonderful thing God did when you crossed from the old life to new life in Christ. Celebrate the supernatural power of the cross in your own life.

You see, instead of a memorial of stones, Jesus gave us the memorial of communion to remember what He did for us on the cross. On the cross, Jesus paid the penalty for all our sins, and He overcame the power that sin had over us.

Now, we’ve entered the Promised Land of a new life in Christ. Oh, there’ll be battles and struggles ahead in that land; but when we remember the miracle of the cross, we’ll be able to overcome any enemy that tries to stop us from what God has called us to do.

Two years ago (2016), the people of London watched as a giant wooden replica of their city ignited and burned dramatically to the ground. A creative arts company called Artichoke, along with London City officials, had planned the inferno in honor of the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of London.

The original fire began on September 2, 1666, in the early morning at a bakery on Pudding Lane. The fire quickly spread to the surrounding structures, then to the rest of the city, and lasted four entire days.

Two years ago, London celebrated the event with a four-day festival they called “London’s Burning.” There were four days of art exhibits, a 6-hour underwater performance, and other activities, culminating with the spectacular burn of a 131-yard-long sculpture of 17th century London on the Thames River.