Let's Cross Over

Photo by Bgrace

"Pass through the camp and command the people, saying, 'Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you will cross over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess.' "
Joshua 1:11 (NKJV)

"So it was, after three days, that the officers went through the camp; and they commanded the people, saying, when 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.  Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure.  Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before."
Joshua 3:2-4 (NKJV)

"Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan." (NKJV)
Joshua 3:17

After forty years of waiting and wandering and wondering, the day had finally come.  Joshua had crossed over the Jordan before with a group of eleven others but never at harvest time when the waters were raging high, overflowing their banks.  He had been this way before, but not in this way. 
Whether you're walking, swimming, sailing, or flying, going from one shore to another is often fraught with danger, full of unknowns, pregnant with possibilities.  The crossing over is an act of faith and a consent to sacrifice.
Joshua--Yeshua (meaning Savior)--was called to take the place of Moses over the people of Israel.  God established Joshua's appointment through this crossing over--so that the people would know that the Lord was with him. He also taught Joshua what he needed to know for the crossing over and for life on the other side.

1) "I will not leave you or forsake you."
2) Be strong and courageous.
3) Observe the Teaching given to Moses, speak it, meditate on it, observe it, and do it.
4) Your way will be prosperous and you will have good success. (You will have your inheritance.)
5) Sanctify yourselves in preparation for wonders the Lord will do among you.
6) Follow the Ark of the covenant, and the priests bearing it.  (The presence of the Lord.)
7) "The Lord Your God is with you wherever you go."

"On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side."
Mark 4:35

In the same way, Jesus called his disciples to cross over to another shore.
He navigated them straight into a squall. 
Yet even when He leads them into a storm, they are reassured by His presence and saved by His power as they cross over.

Let's cross over.
Yeshua Jesus goes too.
We take with us the reassurance that He is with us, He will not leave us or forsake us (cease to claim us).  He brings with Him power over tempests, the ability to halt raging rivers, and still all the earth can stir up around us.
He speaks faith to our fears. 

"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." (NIV)
John 5:24