In Joshua chapter 3, we see the Israelites are faced with what appears to be an insurmountable problem: an overflowing river. To set the scene for you, they have just spent 40 years crossing the wilderness on a massive journey to the land promised to them by God. Most of these people grew up in the wilderness and have never known a home that wasn’t a moving caravan. They have seen God lead them by day and by night as well as provide for their daily needs. They are well acquainted with His power. They are at the end of the a journey that many did not survive. The idea of entering the land God promised to them has with it, I’m certain, mixed emotions. It’s a new kind of unknown and will require a new kind of faith. 

The leaders have gone through the camp and told everybody to get ready to move once they see the priests who carry the ark of the covenant move. In Joshua 3:5, Joshua addresses the group saying, “…tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.” Next we see a beautiful moment between God and Joshua where instructions are given. Joshua then repeats the message and tells them that as soon as the priests are standing in the river, God is going to stop the river from flowing. Keep in mind that the Jordan at this time of year is overflowing. Rivers are already moving and an overflowing river typically moves faster. On a good day, you could swim across the Jordan in this place if you weren’t carrying anything heavy with you. This is the entire nation of Israel with all of their belongings! Swimming across is definitely not an option. I don’t know about you, but believing that God is going to stop this overflowing river would take an entirely new level of faith.

The people do exactly as they are told. The priests carry the ark up to the banks of the river and they dip their feet in the river and stand still. Can you imagine what they are thinking? I would be trying to hang on to every ounce of faith hoping that God isn’t going to wipe us out. The laws of nature and physics say they have no way across this river! How on earth is God going to stop this river from flowing? This is where faith has to scream loudly over doubt and remind us all that God is not bound by the laws of this world, He operates in the laws of heaven. Heaven doesn’t care about the river in front of them because nothing is too big for God. The priests and all of Israel are at a critical place, the place of no plan B. If God doesn’t show up, there is no other option.

“…and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water…the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away…completely cut off. Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.” (Joshua 3:15-17) YES! God prooved Himself faithful one more time and His people were safely on the other side of the river. What seemed impassable became passable once God stepped in. “Nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37)

What are you facing today? Have you followed God well and have a river in front of you that feels too big? Here’s the truth, God isn’t going to call you, bring you through the desert and then leave you. Your entire journey is part of His plan and He has every step covered, you just have to keep believing. No matter what He asks of you or what you face, grow your faith in the God who created you, called you and provides for your every need. There is no plan B. Faith and obedience are the only plan. Dip your feet in your river and watch God provide a way.

Shalom,

KA

Hebrews 11:1 in the Amplifed bible says this: “Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen (the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses). I love the detail in this translation with words like “title deed”, “confirmation” and “divinely guaranteed”. Faith makes absolutely no sense whatsoever from a human, earthly-minded point of view. It’s crazy! And yet, faith is exactly what is required to follow Jesus.

So, what would happen if some of the people in the Bible didn’t have faith? Let’s take a look at just a few people who change the world because of their faith.

Noah 

Noah was a man who walked with God and found favor in the eyes of God (Gen 6:8 and 6:9). On an average day, God came to Noah and told him to make an ark that would hold his family plus two of every creature on the earth (Gen 6:14-21). While I’m certain everyone around would have thought him to be absolutely nuts, Noah did what God told him to do (Gen 6:22) and in that obedience, God saved his family and repopulated the planet. If Noah hadn’t been willing to have faith and follow God’s plan for his life, I’m certain God would have found someone else and then, we would know his story and not Noah’s. Through Noah we see faith at work in the midst of complete uncertainty and we see salvation. Through God in the story of Noah, we see a promise of life which we are reminded of with every beautiful rainbow. 
Abraham

Abram, soon to be renamed Abraham, is living life with this clan and God said to him “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” (Gen 12:1) God didn’t tell him exactly where to go, He just told him to go, pack up your entire household, and set off for a land that will identified later. Abram’s faith in God in this moment sets the stage for a miraculous life where God fulfills His promises over and over again, no matter how crazy they may seem. If Abraham hadn’t followed God at this pivotal point and set out for an unknown land, he wouldn’t have ended up with the children he had, and we wouldn’t have the same lineage of Jesus. Abraham’s faith in God, thousands of years ago, impacts us today.

Moses

Moses was a man who gave up his royalty to go back to his blood-line and identify as a slave. (Exodus 2) Then Moses encounters God in a deeper way through a bush that is on fire but not consumed and hears God’s call to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. (Exodus 3:11) Moses tries to talk God out of this call and yet, in the end, he is obedient. If Moses hadn’t followed God, we wouldn’t have Passover, we wouldn’t have the Ten Commandments, we wouldn’t have seen God part the Red Sea and so much more! Basically, we wouldn’t have as many real-life examples of how God does the impossible. 

Disciples

Every disciple of Jesus left their homes and families in order to follow an unknown traveling teacher with no guarantee and no plan. They faced ridicule and being misunderstood because they believed so strongly in the message of Jesus. They made mistakes along the way and, they did miracles. If people like Peter hadn’t followed Jesus, we woudn’t have the Church as we know it today. It’s not perfect, but it is important to our faith and our culture.

Read through Hebrews 11 and look up the stories in the Old Testament. There are so many examples of how God steps into the mundane and makes a miracle. God is not always about the safe route, He’s about the radical route, the route of faith. In the end, it is critical to grasp Hebrews 11:6 if you want to follow God well: “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him”. If you can believe God is able to save you and take you to heaven for eternity, wouldn’t it stand to reason He is equally able to provide for you today? 

What is God asking you to do today that you have put on the back burner because it just seems too crazy? I’m not saying every wild idea is from God, I am simply saying that God may ask you to go way outside your comfort zone and you have to determine if you are willing to increase your faith to meet His call. Pray. Get people who know you really well to pray with you. Share your dream with trusted partners. For me, I have a group of about 10 people who are always praying for me. I have a smaller group of 3 people who know me better than any other people on the planet and those 3 people pray with me and speak into my life. They don’t always agree with me and that’s what I need. We push each other to increase our faith and to test what we are hearing. We hold each other accountable and we seek the best for each other. If you don’t have a community like this around you, ask God to bring people to be a support to you and you to them. Don’t let fear hinder your faith, you can bet that God is waiting in the wings to do amazing things through you if you will just believe.

Shalom,

KA

Love, in this passage, is about making a choice regardless of the other persons actions or behaviors. It’s not the heart palpitating, moony-eyed love that we feel when we first are attracted to someone in a dating scenario. It’s not love that is caused by a DNA connection in a family. It’s a choice we make to be like Jesus and love those around us regardless of their actions or behaviors. I don’t know about you, but this kind of love is really challenging sometimes for me. And yet, it’s the kind of love Jesus has shown us and that He expects us to show others. It isn’t based on merit, it’s based on choice. The catch is, we are directed in this passage to make that choice for everyone around us.

Do you have people in your life, or personality styles, that you find really hard to love?

John starts this passage off by telling us what love is not. Love is not what Cain showed us when he was vengeful against his brother, Abel, and killed him. Then John goes one step further, which Jesus did also, and tells us that if we even hate someone, we have followed Cain in murder. And as if that isn’t strong enough, he goes even one step further and says that eternal life doesn’t reside in someone who is a murderer. Yikes! Now, before you start to think that you’re safe because you’ve never actually hated anyone, let me tell you what that word means in the original text: to esteem less. If you have ever thought less of someone, you have made a choice to not love them because the love of God places no judgment on anyone, therefore everyone is equally esteemed, no one less. I dare say we have all thought less of someone and in that thought, have not loved them as Jesus has loved us, unconditionally.

John then goes on to give us some examples of how we are to love the people in our lives in verses 16-18. We are to be willing to lay our lives down and to lay our needs down. Both of these actions are sacrificial and isn’t that just exactly the example Jesus showed us when He sacrificed His place in heaven to come to earth, and then sacrificed His life on earth so that we would have a place in heaven. By His actions, He showed us how to love people who spit on Him, called Him names, beat Him and betrayed Him…He made the choice to die so that they, and we, might live.

What are your actions saying to the people in your life? Are you loving in deed and truth?

I so appreciate how John reassures us as he wraps up this set of verses because I don’t know how you think, but I over-think. I read verses like these and I start to replay all of my conversations and interactions, directing them to see if I treated anyone less than I should and therefore, didn’t love them well. I can send my brain into a tailspin in seconds! John reminds us that God knows our hearts better than we do and He will use our hearts to inform our minds. “God is greater than our heart, and He knows everything;” (v20). This is where I stop and pray, asking God to show me if I need to make changes or make amends or, if I’m handling interactions well. My heart will guide me, if I need to make a correction. If my heart does not send me a corrective action message, I can continue on boldly before God. All of my requests end in yes and amen when I follow God’s desire for loving those around me.

We end this section with a reminder that we are commanded two primary actions: believe in Jesus and love one another, just as Jesus Himself commanded. If we will allow ourselves to be ruled by God fully, we can truly live a life of love for all people. One where we treat everyone equally and show love, grace and mercy that is never based on merit and always based simply on existence. When we love like we are commanded and empowered to love, we bring heaven to earth. This love, God’s love, is the only love that has the power to change lives. In all situations, we have the ability to choose this love and I pray that we do. The enemy is taken out completely by this love. The world needs this love.

Shalom,

KA

From the moment Peter arrives on the scene, he captures my attention. In the gospel of John, chapter 1, Jesus meets Simon and immediately changes his name to Cephas or Peter, meaning “rock”. Here we see Jesus setting the tone of the relationship and it is actually really important to remember that Peter is foundational to the long-term ministry of Jesus. In the first moments of their relationship, Jesus gives Peter his calling and though he doesn’t understand the name change at the time, he will.

I want to look at one of the moments in the life of Peter where he failed and yet, he wasn’t disqualified, cast aside by God and, he didn’t quit. The disciples have just seen Jesus feed thousands of people with 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread. Not only did He feed them, they had leftovers! The disciples are tired at every level and still processing the recent news that John the Baptist was killed. The conditions are not necessarily optimal but, they are with Jesus and changing the world.
Jesus, always One to show us the example of good self care, needs some time alone so He sends His followers off across the sea while He goes to spend some time with His Father. The weather isn’t great and the guys in the boat are getting battered by waves and wind. It’s the middle of the night and I am certain they were cranky. I mean, I would be! Then, out of nowhere, they see something that I am certain made them doubt their sanity. They saw Jesus walking on the water coming towards them! Just stop for a moment and imagine that scene. First, they are so far out that there is no earthy way Jesus could even be where they are considering the length of time they have been moving in the water. Second, Jesus is WALKING ON WATER. I probably would have passed out if I’m being totally honest.

Here is where I start to fall more in love with Peter. While most people would have been running away from someone walking on the water (let’s just be honest, it’s terrifying!), Peter is more attracted to the power of Jesus. The disciples are convinced they are seeing a ghost and they are filled with fear, but not Peter. In the midst of fear, Peter hears the voice of Jesus and he finds deeper faith. Only faith could have caused Peter to utter his next words, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water” (Matthew 14:28). Peter knows the voice of his Leader and Friend and he is firmly set in faith that he has recognized the voice and that Jesus is fully and without doubt able to allow Peter to walk on water. Jesus has only one response and it is truly a reward for his faith, “Come” (Matthew 14:29).

Can you relate to Peter in this moment? Have you had an experience where you just knew it was God and though it seemed crazy, you followed what you heard?

Peter then steps out of the boat, deeper into the storm, and walks on water toward Jesus. Now, stop here for just one moment and picture the face of Jesus as Peter would have seen Him. Here’s what I picture: deep love in His eyes, pride beaming all over His face as His friend walks in faith, a slight smile on his lips. Peter and Jesus have a moment that is so deeply special and lovely it can nearly bring me to tears if I think about it for a while. Peter is the hero of the story in this moment! He stepped out in faith and it was a HUGE success! End scene, go home. Oh but wait! It doesn’t actually end in this glorious moment. Peter starts to sink.

Peter, in what is the absolute human condition, takes his focus off of His Leader and Friend and puts it on the storm and in that moment, he loses faith and he loses footing, but he doesn’t lose his future. He starts to sink and scramble and I’m certain is filled with tremendous fear. Sometimes, it takes greater faith to stay the course, not stepping out of the boat. Peter had the faith to step out, he just didn’t have the faith to keep going when the storm around him seemed to be too much. Instead of keeping his eyes firmly planted on the goal, Jesus, he looked around, saw the storm and tried to keep going in his own strength. God will never give you the power to step out and not give you the power to keep going.

So let’s do a quick recap: the disciples are caught in a storm on the water, they see Jesus walking towards them on the water, Peter jumps out of the boat and he walks on the water, Peter sinks. For many, Peter’s bravery was in the stepping out of the boat but I would invite you to put your sanctified imagination hats on and look a little closer. I would suggest that Peter was most brave by letting Jesus save him and then getting back into the boat. As with many of the daily small details, the Bible doesn’t tell us what happened next but as we all know, it wasn’t a movie so the scene didn’t just end with Jesus saving Peter. Jesus would have had to carry Peter back to the boat, and then Peter would have had to face his friends.

Now, I know we like to think of these men, the disciples, as pillars of the community but let’s be honest, they weren’t. They were rough-and-tumble men’s men and I’m 99% positive at some point, maybe not right that moment, someone said something like, “Hey Peter, nice swim you took there!” Or “Wow Peter, way to make Jesus have to save you!!” I’m certain Peter had to face a little ridicule based on his actions and what we know about Peter is this…he stayed. Because I know that God allows freewill, I can say with assurance that Peter had the option to stop following Jesus at any moment. They all did. Peter could have been so undone by the public failure that he retreated back to being a fisherman. Praise God he didn’t!

Have you made a mistake or done something in public that fills you with shame or regret and you felt like, or perhaps you did, walking away from God’s call on your life?

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill. Peter didn’t let this failure stop him from fulfilling the destiny for which he was created, to be the rock on which Jesus built His Church. (Matthew 16:18) Was Peter brave for stepping out of the boat? Absolutely. Was he even more brave for getting back into the boat, facing his friends and then continuing on with them and Jesus? A million times yes!! Without Peter, we have no Church as we know it today. Peter shows us that we can be human, make mistakes, fail, and Jesus is still there to pick us up and keep us going. I don’t believe Jesus ever mentioned what happened to Peter again. Jesus knew what Peter was capable of and He knew what Peter was called to, remember, He gave him that call the first time they met.

Each of you is one of two people: you’ve failed and quit or, you’ve failed and gotten back up. If you have failed and quit, please hear my heart. Jesus is waiting to pull you up, bring you peace and healing, and relaunch you. Your calling doesn’t have an expiration date so don’t think He won’t use you. There is nothing, and I do mean nothing, that will stop God from using you except you. If you let shame and guilt rule, then you let the enemy win. Please don’t let him win. Failure only has power when we allow it to hold shame and we keep it a secret. Let your secret out! Ask God for help and He will provide it.

If you have failed and gotten back up, praise God. Share your story loudly. We all need to hear how other people have failed and gotten back up to keep moving forward into their calling to bring glory to the Kingdom. We all fail at one point or another, the more we share our stories of both success and failure, the more we realize they are really both the same. Stories of success are never easy stories and in many cases, the failure was needed in order for the success to be realized.

Shalom,

KA

The first recorded words of Jesus in the book of John are “What are you seeking?”. I love this question considering they started following Him only because John had told them He was the Son of God. Jesus hadn’t done any miracles yet. He hadn’t preached any messages yet. All Jesus did was walk by and on the word of John only, they started following. I also love this question because to me, it shows that Jesus is interested in a relationship with these new followers. Being God, He would already know all about them and what they needed, but this question opened the door to seeing if they understood what they needed.

What are you seeking from Jesus? Peace? Love? Stability? Acceptance? There is no wrong answer to this question, we all come to Jesus seeking different things to meet our needs. Most of us, I would have to imagine, have a LIST of things we need and are hoping that Jesus can provide. Are you able to be honest with God on what you need? Do you even actually know for sure yourself? 

I would like to extend the invitation to you all to ask yourself what you’re seeking from God in this season of your life. God is in love with you and is so interested in transforming you, that I believe He’s continually asking you to seek Him more. You have to be prepared for an answer you didn’t expect so get ready! Seeking God is a lifelong endeavor and the more you seek to remove barriers between you and God, the more you are pushed outside of your comfort zone. Grow in your faith and press in to new spaces that God will lead you. 

What are you seeking?

Shalom,

KA

Following in the footsteps of Jesus is not an easy path. There are beautiful mountaintops and dark valleys, both which hold rich and beautiful emotional moments. We find fortitude in the valleys and learn to rely more on God. We find our voice of praise on the mountaintops and shine brightly the glory of God. We hear God the best in these two places because they push us and pull us into His presence.

There is one more place Jesus leads us and it is in this place where the enemy has the greatest access to us: the wilderness. In this space, the enemy has singular focus on his goal…pulling us away from God. In the wilderness is where we find our greatest tests because we have to fight the enemy with what we know to be true about God from His Word. The wilderness isn’t tears soaked cheeks or elated eyes, the wilderness is a dry throat and a tired body. In the wilderness there is no path and yet, there is radical change and deeper faith in store.

Matthew and Luke both tell us the story of Jesus in the wilderness in chapter 4 of each book. I believe every true follower of Jesus will have at least one wilderness experience in their life because we see God use a wilderness experience many times throughout the Word. So when we find ourselves in this dry space, there are some important things to remember.

1) The wilderness isn’t punishment. In both accounts of Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus was led there by the Holy Spirit. The wilderness happens after the call and before the fulfilment to prepare us! The wilderness is the prep area and the launch pad for the promise.

2) The wilderness strengthens our faith. The wilderness is a time of testing and temptation where we see more easily those places we are strong and weak in our faith. We have to draw on our knowledge of God and use it as a weapon against the enemy in every area of our lives: physically (Matt 4:2-4), emotionally (Matt 4:5-7) and spiritually (Matt 4:8-10).

3) The wilderness is temporary, so use it. The wilderness is the space to go deeper and really lock yourself into your faith and your call. It is in the wilderness where we get more single-minded about our vision and more solid in our foundation.

Let’s face it, the wilderness is hard. It’s never a place people jump up and down celebrating and yet, I really believe that’s exactly what we should do because it is in this space where God gets us ready. That’s exciting!! God isn’t absent in the wilderness, He’s training you. Get excited about that and lean in so that you are ready when He launches you into the calling on your life for the next season. Between the call and the fulfillment there is the wilderness, that’s just the way of Jesus.

Shalom,

KA

If I could add up all of the time I have spent worrying about how something is going to get accomplished, I’m sure I would be saddened. My faith tends to be one size smaller than whatever obstacle is in front of me. Do you find that true for yourself? On our way to fulfilling a call, we think about the barriers and instead of just trusting that God will remove the barriers, we wonder how we will remove the barriers, instead if believing God will.

In this moment in Mark 16:3, the women in Jesus’ life are on their way to the tomb to perform the ritual of anointing the body of their Beloved. They are completely caught up in trying to figure out how they are going to roll the huge stone away that blocks the entrance. They miss an opportunity for fellowship and trade the time for focusing on the challenge ahead of them. Their focus is off the purpose and on the problem. I don’t know about you, but I have done that too many times!

Last week, I had the opportunity to go to New York City. I have loved this city for as long as I can remember, and had never been. Fear was in my way for this trip. Fear of flying. Fear of new places and new people. Fear of elevators and subways. Fear in general. In the weeks leading up to the trip, God spoke through close friends over and over again, inviting me to keep my focus on the One taking me to NYC and not all of the challenges of going. I had no idea how I would roll my stone of fear away, and I was missing the opportunity to just believe He would do that work as I moved forward.

In Mark 16:4, the women arrive at the tomb finally look up. The take their focus off of the problem and they see the plan. God had already moved the stone!! All the time spent focused on how was just a waste because God had already accomplished what they couldn’t. It was never in God’s plan for them to move the stone, He always knew that He would have to do that work. He just needed them to go to the tomb. It would have been really easy for them to stay home and say they couldn’t go, couldn’t fulfill their purpose, because the challenge ahead was too great. And even though on the way to the tomb they focused on how they would accomplish a task that they really couldn’t do, they never let that perceived barrier stop them from going.

Last week, I boarded planes, took elevators, rode subways and saw God break the power of fear in my life in ways I didn’t even know I needed. I couldn’t break the fear on my own, I needed God. I found several times where I could identify that I would normally have had fear and yet, I had peace. Much like with the women at the tomb, the stone was already rolled away.

You won’t be able to move your obstacles to the call in your life…God will. Today, I feel there is an invitation before us: if we will, God will. So my question for you is, will you just move forward in what you know is your call and believe God will make a way? Here’s what I know for absolute certain, God will.

Shalom,

KA