Thought for September 15

 History: 

• 1835: Darwin reaches the Galapagos Islands
• 1862: Confederates capture arsenal at Harpers Ferry
• 1916: First use of tanks in battle, Battle of the Somme
• 1917: Forbes Magazine founded
• 1928: Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
• 1935: Swastika becomes official symbol of Nazi Germany
• 1949: Lone Ranger premiers
• 1961: Jack Nicklaus wins US Amateur
• 1963: Church bombing in Birmingham kills 4 girls
• 1978: Ali beats Leon Spinks
• 1982: First issue of USA Today
• 1997: Google.com registered as domain name
• 2021: SpaceX launches 1st all-civilian space flight
• Born: Marco Polo, James Fenimore Cooper, William Howard Taft, Frank Gannett [newspaper publisher], Max Factor, Agatha Christie, Roy Acuff, Fay Wray [King Kong], Karsten Solheim [golf], John Mitchell, Nipsey Russell, Norm Crosby, Cannonball Adderley, Merlin Olsen, Jessye Norman [opera], Tommy Lee Jones, Oliver Stone, Pete Carroll, Dan Marino, Prince Harry, 
• Died: Jumbo [Elephant], Thomas Wolfe, Willy Messerschmitt [airplane builder], Robert Penn Warren,  Harry Dean Stanton

Thought:

Reading Joshua 3-4 today, focused on these words from 4:21-22--When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, "What are these stones? . . .the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed just as the Lord your God had done to the Red Sea."

A couple of things jump out of these verses to me--

• God parted the waters to lead the people out of slavery in Egypt and parted the waters to lead them into the Promised Land. Reminds me that God saves us from the penalty of sin, but also saves us to a life of service and the promised land. For if Jesus death only saved you from the wages of sin, what would you have, life but not abundant life. But His resurrection raises us to the abundant, full and eternal life with God. When the people left Egypt they were in the wilderness, not the Promised Land. It wasn't until they crossed the Jordan that they truly entered the Promised Land. I feel like that when I was saved, I was freed, but I still live among the wilderness as an alien. God provides for me here, manna in the Bread of Life and the Living Water. He guides me here by His Holy Spirit. But a day is coming when I cross the river and enjoy the fullness of the promised land.
• God expected and commanded His people to leave stones of remembrance, monuments to His faithfulness. Reading that causes me to inspect my life and ask, where are the memorial stones that my children and grandchildren can see and ask "what are these stones" and someone can say, these are monuments to the faithfulness of God manifested in your father or grandfather's life. What stories of God's love and faithfulness have I passed along to my children and others? We often talk of multi-generation churches where people of all ages gather to worship together. But God is looking for intergenerational churches where His love, grace and mercy, His miracles and works are passed down generationally. 

So today, I am thinking about what markers, memorials, stories I can share with my family and others so that my descendants will know that God has moved and preserved and provided and knowing that they can trust and rely on Him to do the same. Look at 4:24--the markers of God's faithfulness in our lives should have two impacts:

• The world will know that our Great God is mighty and His power is on display in the lives of His people. Makes me think of the Jewish boys in Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar asked, "what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands." The men reply, "Our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and He will deliver us out of your hand." They knew that God would either deliver them out of the fire physically or He would deliver them out of the fire and into His presence. We live in the same reality when we face the challenges of this world--our Great God will either walk through the fire with us or He will deliver us safely into His presence. So when we stand steadfast for Him, the world sees the awesome power of our God. Every martyr stands as a monument to the power of God. 
• We will be constantly reminded that we are to fear, awe and worship the Lord forever. He was faithful in the past, He will be faithful today.

Blessings

Larry