· Joshua 4: 4-7 says, “So Joshua called together the twelve men… from the Israelites… and said to them, ‘Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder… when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” And Joshua concludes saying in verse 24, “He did this so that all the people of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.”
· Let me tell you how great my God is!!! I was able to do____ because of God.
1. God wants His people to greatly influence the culture of their world. That is why He placed His people in the land of Israel and wanted them to occupy the city of Gezer, which was an international crossroads. Likewise, God wants you and me-His followers today-to live at the crossroads of life. He wants us to live so publicly that we become a “flavoring influence” on our culture. Rather than isolating ourselves from the world, God wants us to actively participate in and control areas that shape our culture and the world as a whole.
2. Israel failed to conquer the Gezers of their world and as a result failed in their mission to be God’s witnesses to the world. We also fail in our mission as God’s witnesses to the world when we don’t take control and exert a godly influence on that which is significant in our culture.
3. Just as the people of ancient Israel erected “standing stones” to commemorate God’s supernatural actions on their behalf (such as when He gave them the Ten Commandments), God wants each of us to be a massebah-a living, standing stone. In 1 Peter 2:4-5, we learn that we, “like living stones are being built into a spiritual house.” Each of us is like a piece of stone that God is shaping and cutting in order to build His house-His world, His kingdom, His church. He wants us to exhibit Him to a watching world. As we live godly lives, non-Christians will see our good deeds and be drawn toward God-just as the people in ancient times were reminded about what God had done for them when they saw standing stones.
▐Standing Stone
Start Charging toward your goals and become a ▐Standing Stone!!!
