Joshua 4:19-24

¹⁹On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. ²⁰And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. ²¹He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ ²²tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ ²³For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. ²⁴He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.”

Global Mission

Have you ever wondered if God has a list of priorities? What could possible be listed as His top priority? What could be the number one in His list? Someone said that God’s heart reflects mission. Mission has an exceptional place in God’s heart.
The phrase “so that all the peoples of the earth might know” inspires global mission. Similar phrases (to it) point to the Lord as God of missions. The Lord desires all people to know Him and His power, and to experience and recognize His abounding love. Believers can recognize and realize the love of God only by faith through the Holy Spirit.

We are reminded in Acts 1:8, ⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses…

Christians have boldness to witness when empowered by the Holy Spirit. By His power, the Lord performs wonderful things in our life as practical exhibit of our testimony. A witness is not qualified if he has nothing to say about the Lord.
Christians are called to testify of what? Testify about God’s love we experienced. Telling others about the gospel or the good news of Christ is more convincing and affirmed by personal testimony. Without first hand experience, witnessing is irrelevant!

Persistence in sharing the gospel exhibits the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. The Lord performs wonderful things in the life of His people as practical evidences of His love. Can you recall a personal experience or practical exhibit of God’s grace that you would claim as manifestation of your relationship with Christ?

1. Exhibit

¹⁹On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. ²⁰And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. ²¹He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ ²²tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’

The 10th day of the 1st month implies that Israel remembered and knew exactly the date when they crossed the Jordan River. Did the Lord anticipate a meticulous inquiry later? Exact date and place strengthens or helps one’s testimony to be more convincing.
Gilgal, the place where Joshua set up the 12 stones was a few kilometers west of Jordan River, they set camp there. Joshua arranged the 12 stones that they had taken from the middle of the river as actual exhibits when they cross the river at flood stage. The king of Jericho could have sent spies to observe and attest to what really happened.
The Lord stopped the flow of the raging river. They crossed the Jordan River at flood stage on dry ground that was why they were able to take 12 stones not just along the riverbank, right from the spot where the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant.
Only a powerful God can stop the raging water of the Jordan at flood stage. Engineers of our days may think twice to build a structure to stop the flow of river at flood stage. It needs a plan and materials to build a structure to stop the flow of water. God stopped the flow of the raging water at flood stage without using building materials.
Christ expects us to testify about His wonders. Did He do something spectacular in your life that defies the common concepts or humans ideas? Learn from Paul’s testimony.

Paul’s Testimony

When Paul was persecuted, they were opportunities for him to tell his amazing encounter with the Lord. Before King Agrippa, Paul testified in Acts 26:11-13:
¹¹Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities. ¹²“On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. ¹³ About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions.

Paul told Agrippa about his old lifestyle and his personal encounter of the Lord. Before non-believers, Paul did not explain any theological and spiritual elements of the gospel of Christ. He just narrated his experience. That is witnessing about Christ.
What is it that you would tell others about Christ? What amazing work Christ has done in your life? As Christ’s witness, be sensible and vigilant. Seek empowerment by the Holy Spirit to be effective witness, and testify about your experiences with the Lord.

2. Experience

²³For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. ²⁴He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.”

The Israelites were not just mere observers. They experienced it firsthand. They saw how the river at flood stage dried up. The river returned to flood stage after the have crossed over to the other side of the river. The Lord performed miracles in the life of the Israelites because He wanted all peoples of the earth might know His power.
He wanted all peoples of the earth to have fearful reverence of the Lord the God of Israel. That fearful reverence should inspire them to praise the God of Israel. Praising God is a result of personal experience of the Lord’s awesome power.

We can sing a beautiful praise and worship song but a personal experience makes the difference of earnestness. Beautiful voices may excite listeners but personal experience of God’s power would strongly convince believers to trust God more. Part of church worship is singing praise and worship songs that others have written.
Unless one can relate to the message of a song, both singers and listeners find no relevance. Not a few people come to church because of great songs, beautiful voices, or exceptional worship services but transformation and consistency comes from the Lord.

Psalm 20

The book of Psalms is a collection of songs and prayers. It teaches about stories of individual and corporal experience of God’s power, personal lament and complaint, prayer for wisdom, guidance, provision and safety, and many things related to the psalmist’s personal experience with the Lord. Let’s take a look at Psalm 20:1-9.
¹May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. ²May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion. ³May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings. ⁴May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. ⁵May we shout for joy over your victory and lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the Lord grant all your requests.
⁶Now this I know: The Lord gives victory to his anointed. He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of his right hand. ⁷Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. ⁸They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm. 9Lord, give victory to the king! Answer us when we call!

Psalm 20 expresses expectations. How convinced David was when he mentioned that others trust in chariots and horses but they trusted in the Lord? For sure, his words were not just statements of truth but his personal experience of the power of God.
We can recall the struggles of King David against his enemies: wild beats (lion and bear), the giant Goliath, their surrounding nations, and threats from his own people, family, relatives and friend. King David was victorious in all his exploits.

How can we relate in this generation what King David has declared? Some people trust in insurance and savings. Actual experience proves that insurance and saving cannot help us defeat our struggles emotionally, relationally and spiritually.
How’s your feeling today? How’s your relationship with your love ones, relatives, friends, acquaintances? Do you sense like your burden and concerns are too heavy for you to bear? Why should a loving God allow us to have problem?
You are in a perfect situation to experience the great and awesome power of God.
It says in 1 Peter 1:6-9, ⁶In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

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