Look, the Ark of the Covenant, which belongs to the Lord of the whole earth, will lead you across the Jordan River! Joshua 3:11 NLT
THE QUESTION BEFORE THE CROSSOVER
As the Israelites prepare to advance toward the promised land, they were faced with the Jordan river. The Jordan river was uncrossable! Panic and fear began to engulfed their hearts as they listened to the roar of the water.
They were afraid of the deepness of the Jordan river. Verse 15 gives the exact description of how deep and dreadful the Jordan river was. Most of the year, the Jordan River was about 100 feet wide and only three to ten feet deep. However, when the Israelites crossed, it was at flood stage, overflowing its banks.
How deep is the situation that is asking where your God is? They thought they will all perish in the Jordan.
Obstacles are a part of life and every believer faces them at one time or another.
Nothing but the mighty hand of God could have parted it and made it safe for his people to cross. And no enemy can overcome God's mighty power.
What Does The Covenant Of the Lord Represent?
The ark represents the physical representation of the might of God. It represents the very presence of the Almighty God leading and protecting the Israelites.
The God we serve is capable. He is the creator, possessor and supreme ruler of the whole universe. He has control over the powers and laws of nature. He can do what pleases Him both in the space, land and water. He can turn a "no way" into a highway!
The Great Question
The great question that brewed over the camp of Israel and over our lives today as we prepare to crossover to the new year is, "Will we walk by sight or by faith? Do we really believe God can handle the impossible?"
"For we walk by faith, not by sight ."(2 Corinthians 5:7).
Walking by faith and not by sight requires you to go to a place you do not know, one that God will reveal as you walk in obedience. Just look to Abraham as an example (Genesis 12:1).
Walking by faith requires a strong determination to follow God’s plan regardless what life throws your way. Look to Daniel to discover how to have the resolve not to sin (Daniel 1:8).
The new year is going to be greater for those who would not walk by sight but faith. Walking by faith means that you continue to cling to the dreams God has planted in your heart, even when all the odds are going against you.
Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” Luke 18:27 NIV
As we get prepared to crossover to the new year, the questions on the minds of many is what the new year will bring them. What's going to happen to them in the new year? Is it going to be good or bad? Is their situation going to improve or the same old story or even worse?
A New Covenant is between God and his people. God's laws were written in the heart and mind of His people, and not in the tablet of stone and NOT done away.
Hebrews 8: 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
The New Covenant now is not in the ark but in the heart. sealed with blood the precious blood of Jesus.
I want to let you know that we belong to a better covenant than that of the former Israelites. They had the covenant ark of God in a form of a golden wooden box. But in our days the covenant of the Lord is in our heart, meaning the presence of the Lord lives within our hearts 24/7 and will see us through the next year.
Get ready to see God turning your impossibilities into possibilities. What God did for the people of Israel on that day at the Jordan river was beyond expectation. Expect something bigger from God as we crossover to the next year. Next year is your year of of "Greater Expectations!
God is the source of your expectations that is your your expectations should be bigger than you can far imagine.
Ephesians 3:20, tells us
"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,"
God's means for accomplishing more than we can imagine comes through His strength. His work is done by the Holy Spirit's power within us, rather than by our human strength. How great are your expectations? What is the strength of your expectation, or how strong are your expectations?
The Psalmist in Psalms 121 has expectations when he says, I will lift up my eyes. The lifting up of his eyes speaks of expectations. But what was the source of his expectations? From whence, he says, comes my help? And he says, my help comes from the Lord.
The Lord here is Jehovah – Jehovah the self-existent One – the self-sufficient One. The source of his expectations was not the hills, it was God – nothing more, nothing less: nothing else. This is what makes his expectations great.
©Oasis Potterlight Chapel International, 31st December Night 2021
