Remember

So Joshua called together the twelve men he had chosen—one from each of the tribes of Israel. He told them, “Go into the middle of the Jordan, in front of the Ark of the LORD your God. Each of you must pick up one stone and carry it out on your shoulder—twelve stones in all, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. 

We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ Then you can tell them, ‘They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant went across.’ These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever.” (Joshua 4:4-7 NLT)

The Israelites were about to go into the land that God had promised. This land had been promised to them for years and years. If you read Exodus you will see that the generation before had opportunity to go into this land but didn’t. The Lord had spoken to them to go and take the land, that He would drive out their enemies! But when they entered the land and saw what they were up against, their hearts were full of fear and they completely forgot everything God had promised them. It kept them from experiencing all God had for them.

Now, you have Joshua. He believed God’s promise! And because of that he was the one chosen to lead the next generation into the land! 

I love this passage in Joshua. They were ready to take the land. The came up to the Jordan river and the Lord caused it to dry up so they could walk across on dry land! And instead of going right on and taking the land, they stopped and made a memorial. They took time to set something up that would cause them to remember always what God had done for them. 

Remembering what God had already done for them made it easier to remember that He could do it again! Read Joshua and you will see victory after victory for Joshua and his people. They went on and took the land God had promised!


I encourage you look back in your life and remember everything God has done for you. Remembering what He has already done with help you when you come up against something that seems impossible. It will help you walk forward, knowing that if He did it then He can do it again! Never forget what He has done for you!

What does your service look like

If you live on this planet, there is this thing that we all have to do that starts at a young age.  Its called work.  Not everyone likes to work but one thing I do know is this, our attitude has a lot to do with whether we enjoy it or not.  A good attitude makes for a good day of work even if you come up against a lot of junk! I know you know what a bad attitude can do to your day of work! 

I am currently teaching a class in our next level classes here at Beyond and it happens to be on something that is near and dear to my heart.  Its called serving.  A lot of times serving and work get mixed up and it becomes more of something that i have to do, other than something that I get to do.  In society, we are trained that in order to be a somebody, you have to move your way up to the top.  Did you know that you can actually start at the top?  

Look at Colossians 3:22-25 MSG.
22-25 Servants, do what you’re told by your earthly masters. And don’t just do the minimum that will get you by. Do your best. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God, confident that you’ll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance. Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you’re serving is Christ. The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being a follower of Jesus doesn’t cover up bad work.

In the local church, you can be at the top even though in the natural it seems like you are on the bottom…I am not saying that there are levels in serving God but our human mentality would like to think it! Its easy to think that way because maybe you aren’t praying with people to be saved, or you haven’t been there to pray for a broken family and see it restored. 

Whether you are in the children’s classes being spit up on and having your ears screamed in, or you are the Pastor out in front of 5,000 people with hands going up all over for salvation, God wants us to do our service as if we were doing it all for Him.  When we do it for Him, that puts you at the top.  

You could live your whole life as a janitor in the church and still hear God tell you “WELL DONE GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT!” It is simply a matter of the heart.  

Purpose to do what you do, for Him.  He will make sure that you are rewarded for it! 

Surrender to Creativity

I love how creative our God is. He is not only creative in the forming of the earth and skies and all things we can see, and not just in the creating of people, but He is simply creative in the way He performs His glorious role of being God in our every day lives. Here lately, I’ve been meditating on the way that He creatively solves the problems in my life. 

I’m in the midst of remodeling my home, and let me tell ya, there is no shortage of problems that I have come against. I’ve been sleeplessly working it as a separate job, I’ve been pouring significant finances into it, I’ve uncovered issues or roadblocks at the house, etc. 

As we have progressed, small things have eaten up the renovation budget, leaving less funds to do the big picture tasks. Well, instead of getting disappointed about not being able to do one of the projects, I said “God, be creative in solving this. You know my heart’s desire, and I know you can make it happen in ways I could have never dreamed up”. That allowed me to rest, and trust in my wonderful God, and sure enough, He surprised me with unexpected gifts and the avenue I hadn’t considered to make it happen!

It doesn’t always come natural, but I know that the more we surrender to the creativity of our God (in other words, His loving kindness towards us), the more we will see Him act in creative ways in our lives. As we come into this season of holidays, may I encourage you to be adamant about keeping your stress level at a zero? 

An easy way to do this is each time you feel that blood pressure rising, or that care you might be taking (all the giving and buying and shopping and running around), just surrender it to the creativity of God. He will gladly take the concern, and perform in a “surprising” way on your behalf. But the thing is, you have to willing to let Him solve the problem in a way you might not have chosen.

Check out this awesome verse. Read through it a few times and think about the challenges you’re up against. And then think abut how God wants to perform in superabundant ways in your life today, this month, this Christmas, and beyond! Seriously, read it a few times and get it in you. :)

Ephesians 3:20 AMP

Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]—