Free to Set Free - Day 3
Wednesday, August 29th
Read: Joshua 4 (please pay special attention to Joshua’s directive in verses 21-24)
Remember: “Freedom is never just for the freed. Freedom is a gift that’s meant to be shared.” Rebekah Lyons
Today is a day I wish we were all sitting together in someone’s kitchen or dining room. I’d love for all of us to be sharing a cup of coffee and exchanging stories of how God has freed/delivered us from different areas in our lives. I just know that hearing from each other and seeing God’s fingerprint on our lives collectively would encourage and inspire us for whatever it is we might individually be facing now. There is no doubt that God works miracles in our lives, like delivering freedom to us, in order to build our faith AND build the faith of others who hear about or witness His handiwork.
The story we read today in Joshua is a beautiful illustration of this. Since going through Amy Cutrer Rogers's book, Move!, last fall Joshua has become one of my favorite books of the Bible. It is full of stories that show God’s faithfulness, stories that build our faith by seeing the great works He has done. In our reading today, we see Joshua directing the Israelites to gather stones from the center of the Jordan River. He explained to them that the stones would serve as a memorial among them to share the story of God’s miracles with future generations, so they could vicariously experience the power of the Lord.
It makes me wonder…what “stones” do we have to share with each other and with future generations of God’s miracles in our lives. We all have seen his unique fingerprints on the deliverance of strongholds we have faced. Let’s use those stories to impact lives. Let’s use those stories to help others see the power that our God has. Let us use those stories to lead others to freedom in Him.
Rest: Girls, there is no way around it. Our stories weren’t meant for only us. Others need to hear them and be freed by them. In our Bible reading today, we got to see a powerful miracle. God stopped the course of a river flowing at flood level in or to move HIS people into their freedom. Surely, they’d never forget that or forget to tell others about it! But, they did, and we will too. What has God done in your life to move you into freedom. Write it down. Praise Him for it. Then, ask Him who needs to know about it. Begin writing out your story in a way that you’d like to share it with others. The children of Israel wrote it out on stones to create a visible and obvious reminder. God wanted them to force them to retell the story. Is there a way to do the same for yourself?
Dear Heavenly Father,
This morning we start our day by praising you. We praise you for who you are! God, in our lives today we come to many a Jordan River moments…obstacles that feel so big that we can never get through them. Lord when we get to that point and we feel chained to our circumstances, help us remember that just like you delivered the Israelites in the desert, you will deliver us. And Lord, help us remember to share those stories of deliverance so that others will see YOU in our lives. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
