Trust And Obey Part I

Joshua looked out at the Jordan River. It was harvest time and the river was flooding. His prayers immediately flowed towards Heaven asking God to help the Israelites to safely cross the water.

Joshua was the servant of Moses. He was his understudy and now he was the prophet's successor. All Israel looked to his guidance and wondered if he could carry on where Moses left off and get the people to the Promised Land securely.

The task was huge and the man full of the Spirit of God knew that the only way he could succeed was if the miracles that Moses performed were passed onto him. He fell on his knees before the tent containing the ark of the covenant of God. His prayers for strength were heard and then God Spoke.

Joshua 1:5&6, "Joshua, no one will be able to defeat you as long as you live. I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will always be with you; I will never abandon you. Be determined and confident, for you will be the leader of these people as they occupy this land which I promised their ancestors."

Joshua stood before the Israelite people and commanded the priests to take the ark of the covenant into the Jordan river. As soon as the priests stepped into the river, the water stopped flowing upstream and piled up, and the flow down stream was completely cut off.

The people crossed the Jordan river on dry ground. God had exalted Joshua in the sight of the Israelites. This sign from God gave them confidence that Joshua would be a strong and miraculous leader just like Moses. A leader they could depend on to fight the wars that they were about to face.

All of this took place because Joshua trusted God and obeyed his words. He was a man just like us. As a human being he had no power to perform miracles, but with the supernatural workings of God, he could do anything.

Too many people today limit God. They look at the world for what it is and believe no further. They pray but they really don't believe that God can perform miracles in their life.

I grew up in a small rural Kansas town. Everyone thought they knew every one's secrets. I married young, had three children and was very involved in church. I was highly respected, but everything changed when I fell in love with a woman.

I divorced and tried to live in my home town, but the people would not accept my life change. They followed me around, denied me service in the stores and wrote letters to the court service officer stating that I was gay and I shouldn't be allowed to be my children's custodial parent

Up until this time I was like everyone else reaching for the American Dream and desiring to raise my children to be good, law abiding, Christian people. But everything changed when I was persecuted and everything changed when God began to reach out and single me out for a miracle.

God supernaturally began typing me messages. He stated that if He didn't make Himself real to me that I would never be able to make it. At the time I didn't understand what this meant, but later after looking back at everything I suffered I began to understand.

I was raised to be a very strong Christian. I knew the difference between love and hate. I prayed and loved God, but I had never gone through anything other than the difficulties of raising three children.

It wasn't until I was injured by my ex-husband, abandoned by my parents, and stalked by members of my ex-church that I finally understood faith. The test of loosing everyone I loved demanded for me to believe beyond what I had once been taught to believe.

God's messages taught me to see the war surrounding our world. A spiritual existence that is not visible by the naked eye. An unseen world where powerful spirits interact in the minds of individuals. Every message I received was ended with these words, "Pray for protection from Satan, I love you, God has Spoken."

The war that surrounded my life caused me to depend on these messages from God. I read every word, applied them to my life in full obedience and trusted that all the pain I was going through would not last forever.

I trusted and obeyed God because I had no one else except for Tori. I had to let go of what I had been taught in order to interpret and follow the messages God wrote to me.

Joshua 1:9, "Remember that I have commanded you to be determined and confident! Do not be afraid or discouraged, for I, the Lord your God, am with you wherever you go."

I became like Joshua at the Jordan river. I was determined to hold onto Tori and to learn why the church hated gay people so much. I held onto my Bible praying for protection from Satan and obeying God's messages to me.

Each message helped me to gain strength as I faced each and every court battle until my children were finally taken away from me and given to their dad. The messages made me stand up to the injustices of our legal system. The messages helped me to defy the court order to turn over my children and run with my kids.

Joshua stood at the Jordan river and wondered if God would really use him to lead the great people of Israel into the Promised Land. His human weaknesses doubted his ability to do it, but his belief in the miracle working power of God made him Trust and Obey.