Today's Passage - Joshua 3:8-11

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Joshua 3:8-11   Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: 'When you reach the edge of the Jordan's waters, go and stand in the river.'" Joshua said to the Israelites, "Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites. See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you.      Our God is the God who leads us to move forward. The Lord is never a follower, but always the general, and He also demands that we follow Him. When He called Peter, He didn't tell Peter that he will suffer for the Lord, and even die for Him. The Lord simply said, "come and follow me." When He called Zacchaeus, He said: "Zacchaeus, come down immediately, I must stay at your house today." When a disciple said, "Lord, I want to follow you, but I must go bury my dead father first," the Lord simply said: "Let the dead bury the dead, you come and follow me!" Some people think that the Lord doesn't respect parents, but that's not the case. The Lord was simply reminding the man to make up his mind.   Following the Lord should not be just one of the many things in our life; when there are other important things then we'll leave the Lord aside. Following God should supersede everything else in life. He is God who moves forward; just like how God led the Israelites with cloud when they were in the desert, when God wants to move forward the cloud will ascend. No matter what was happening in your life, when the Lord says you need to go then you must go. When the Lord says you need to stop, even if you are only an hour away from the well, you still need to stop. He is the Lord and the general; not only does He lead the way, and He will also cast out the enemy before us. In the spiritual warfare, it is Lord who achieves victory, and we simply proclaim victory against the enemy in the Lord. It is the Lord who casts out the enemy, and we simply step out by faith.   Many Christians don't understand this fact; they want to use their own might to discipline their bodies to defeat the enemy. Many are using their own heart and mind to preach the gospel, and do not understand that it's the Lord who can destroy the stronghold of the enemy. We depend on people more than we depend on the Lord Himself. Reverend Miller once said: "Why do you all come before me but not go to God Himself?" May the Lord's Spirit remind us once again that it is always the Lord Himself who leads us to victory in our life!     Pray with Pastor Tong     Lord, we thank you because you are always the God who walks ahead of us. Even though our eyes often cannot see your path and thus depart from your way, you still patiently wait for us. Help us to understand that you are our Lord, our help and our king. Let us follow you all our life! I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!