Former Blackout Artist

Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you.” – Joshua 3:5

Imagine someone coming up to you today and saying to you, “Get ready and be prepared! Tomorrow the Lord is going to do amazing things right in front of your very eyes!”

Well, that’s precisely what happened here in Joshua chapter 3, as the Israelites stood on the edge of a pivotal moment in their history. After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, they were ready to finally claim the land that God had promised them. Or so they thought anyway. But Joshua knew they weren’t entirely ready. “Consecrate yourselves,” he told them. In other words, purify your hearts, set aside all the distractions, and align yourselves with God’s holy purpose.

What lied ahead wasn’t some leisurely stroll through a shallow creek bed… what would be amazing about that? No, the Jordan River was at flood-stage! And there were no boats! This required God to do something amazing, and Joshua knew his people needed to be spiritually prepared to be willing participants in His awesome miracle.

Just as the Israelites couldn’t casually wade into the Jordan unprepared, neither can we step into a new season of God’s promises with shallow faith and competing loyalties. When God plans to lead you into a new phase of blessing, He wants you to be spiritually prepared. He wants you to be ready to move when He moves. He wants you to be a participant of His miracle, not a mere spectator. So that means intentionally living in a state of spiritual readiness, with purified hearts and purity of purpose. He wants ears that are sensitive to His voice and eyes that are sensitive to His movement around us. If we’re constantly distracted by the noise of life, this is virtually impossible. The truth is that while most of us want to cross the Jordan, we want no part of the consecration. We want the miracle, but we don’t want the spiritual discipline. We seem to crave the distractions, don’t we?

There have been times when I’ve seen God working through others and thought to myself, “Wow! That guy is amazing! He talks and connects with people in a way that just seems to come so naturally to him!” Well, that guy was equipped by God’s Holy Spirit. He was prepared and willing to be used by God. He wasn’t distracted by all the noise and worry and misplaced priorities… he was walking in step with the Spirit and had purity of heart and purpose. It didn’t come to him naturally. It came to him supernaturally.

Are you prepared for the Lord to do something amazing in your life? Think about it. Pray about it. Ask God to reveal what it is He wants to do through you to help someone else. You may say, “But I don’t have this ability or that ability.” That’s okay. God will take care of those specifics. He will equip you just as He equips the guy who has a way of relating and communicating to others – supernaturally. The Lord will give us as much of His Holy Spirit as we want.

He wants us to cross the Jordan. Not on our own, but with Him leading the way. Are you prepared?

Today’s Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for Your promises to do amazing things in my life. Help me to purify my heart, to clear out anything that hinders my walk with You. Teach me to live expectantly and reverently, ready to obey Your call. May my spirit be attentive, so I can participate in the good works You have planned for me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.