Crossing Your Jordan: Handling Life's Many Turbulent Moments

By James T. Murphy, Jr.

In the maze of trying to live a life worthy of the sacred calling runs parallel with the various trials and tribulations that often must be defeated if victory is to be experienced. Each Christian faces what I have defined as Jordan Rivers which often flows with the high currency that can sweep one under to drown in the sea of pain and frustration.
Crossing Your Jordan is an exposition through the biblical text of The Book of Joshua as he leads the people of Israel across the Jordan River into the land of victory (Canaan) encountering an expedition that provides various helpful insights into how Christians can be victorious in crossing the Jordan Rivers of life. These are preached sermons that assisted a congregation across diverse Jordans that hopefully will come alongside those who find themselves in familiar territory.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 6, 2010
• ISBN: 9781456811785

James T. Murphy, Jr.

Dr. Murphy currently serves as Senior Pastor of the Greater Little Zion Baptist Church in Fairfax, Virginia. His academic accomplishments include: B.Th., International Bible Seminary M.A., Trinity Theological Seminary, M. Div, M. Th., Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, D. Min., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, D. Min., Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, and a PhD from the Graduate Theological Foundation.

Book preview

I CROSSED MY JORDON

AS I LOOK BACK AT ALL I’VE BEEN THROUGH

THE LORD’S LOVE STAYED FAST AND TRUE.

AS I LOOK BACK AT ALL OF THE OBSTACLES THAT WERE IN MY WAY THE LORD MADE MY STORM CLOUDS ROLL AWAY.

AS I REFLECT ON HIS PROMISES TO ME

HE VOWED TO NEVER LEAVE NOR FORSAKE ME.

HE HAS SEEN ME THROUGH THE ROUGH TIMES

WHILE HIS LOVE REMAINED SO PATIENT AND KIND.

FOR MY EYES HAVE SEEN THE GLORY

I MUST TELL MY STORY.

HE BROUGHT ME ACROSS MY JORDON

HE MADE THE WIND AND THE WAVES OBEY

HE TOOK AWAY THE HURT AND THE PAIN.

HE DIDN’T ALLOW MY ENEMIES TO DEFEAT ME

BUT INSTEAD GAVE ME A SENSE OF PEACE WITHIN ME.

CROSSING MY JORDON, I COULD LEAVE THE PAST BEHIND

I COULD LOOK FORWARD TO WHAT I WOULD FIND ON THE OTHER SIDE.

WHAT I REALIZED AS I CROSSED WAS THAT THE LORD WAS WITH ME, TAKING ALL OF MY OLD BAGGAGE AND LEAVING IT IN THE SEA.

WHEN MY FEET FIRST TOUCHED THE WATER, HE PILED IT IN A

HEAP, I THOUGHT I WAS DREAMING; MAYBE EVEN ASLEEP.

BUT I SOON REALIZED I WASN’T DREAMING AND I COULD FINALLY EXHALE I COULD RELINQUISH MY HEARTACHES, ANXIETIES, AND DOUBT-I KNEW WITH GOD I WOULDN’T FAIL.

THANK YOU LORD FOR CROSSING MY JORDON WITH ME.

THANK YOU FOR RENEWING ME AND STAYING FAITHFUL AND TRUE.

I CAN FINALLY SAY I HAVE CROSSED MY JORDON.

WRITTEN BY:

ANGEL J. WINDLEY

1

A Charge to Keep

Joshua 1:1-9

Is it possible that the supernatural could be a reality? Could it be that the stories we have heard regarding the miraculous could actually be true? I would suggest that although many would credit the opportunity of life each day to some form of evolutionary or scientific process those who are believers in God will lend that credit to the grace and mercy of God. This lends itself to the preparation to experience a miraculous moment. Joshua is about to be commissioned to continual a task that will encompass supernatural intervention. He is faced with two certainties: Moses my servant is dead and now therefore arise, cross the Jordan, you and all this people to the land which I am giving to them (Joshua 1:2). This young warrior is faced with an enormous task. He has seen such assignments before, but they were tackled and accomplished by his bold and brass predecessor, Moses. Now that Moses has moved from earth into eternity, the mantle of leading this gigantic congregation of people is passed as a charge into the hands of Joshua, Arise, cross the Jordan, you and all this people to the land which I am giving to them. I sense that there is perhaps some presence of reluctance or fear in the anatomy of Joshua. But, the new leader is given two significant promises: "Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you" (Joshua 1:3). Can you hear what Joshua is hearing? God is providing the promise of provisionary assurance. God knows that the Jordan before Joshua may appear overwhelming and too deep to cross under normal circumstances. But this will become abnormal because God has promised that wherever he plants his feet, the soles of his shoes will be anchored in a kind of divine concrete. You can rest in the provisionary assurance on this day that whatever Jordan you have to cross, God will provide the safe and secured foundation that you will cross and enter into the victory He has prepared. Notice the pictorial image that God provides to further assure Joshua of his success, "From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun, will be your territory" (Joshua 1:4). The same pictorial metaphor was suggested to Abraham when proof was provided to assure him of God’ provisionary assurance regarding his descendants, "Now look toward the heavens and count the stars, if you are able to count them . . . so shall your descendants be" (Genesis 15:5). Wow! Can you imagine how Abraham must have thought while trying to began counting the stars and the magnitude in which he could imagine how blessed his family will be. We are called to rest upon the assurance that God will always supply all of our needs, that God will make sure that His promises will always be fulfilled, that God will remain faithful to His truth because He is a God that cannot lie or deny His divine promise (Phil. 4:9; Heb. 6:13; 10:23; Num. 23:19). Yes, God has proven to be faithful and true.

Second, notice God has provided Joshua a significant promise that will later in life magnify itself extensively, "Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you" (Joshua 1:5). Herein states the promise that Joshua could reflect as he considered the various interactions between Yahweh and Moses. He could recall how God had stood beside Moses as he was charged to confront Pharaoh (Exodus 3:10-12); he remembered how God was with Moses as the passage way to freedom was blocked by a sea that required supernatural intervention in order for freedom to be experienced (Exodus 13:17; 14:13-31). He remembered the plagues in Egypt and how protection was all around the people of God (Exodus 7:14-11:1-10). Often time you need to reflect upon the provisionary promise that God has fulfilled as He was with you through those various trials of sicknesses, unemployment, relocations,