Aligning My Life for the Miraculous
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“Joshua told the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you.’ Joshua said to the priests, ‘Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people.’ So they took it up and went ahead of them. And the LORD said to Joshua, ‘Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.’” Joshua 3:5-7 (NIV)
Joshua is an Old Testament book of conquest! It’s full of miracles as God fulfills His promise to Abraham centuries before and brings the people of Israel into the Promised Land! It’s a beautiful type of the Christian life as well. Joshua shows us how to live victoriously, no longer defeated by the hurts, habits and hang-ups of our past sins that kept us in bondage. We can be free and live an abundant life in Christ, experiencing the fulness of the Holy Spirit daily as we abide in Him and learn to walk in the Spirit. God brought Israel out of Egypt to bring them into Canaan. Doubt, unbelief and complaining kept them wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. Once that faithless generation died off, God promised to bring their sons and daughters into the land of promise and blessing. In this passage, Israel is on the banks of the Jordan River. They are poised to enter the land, but they must first cross the Jordan. God was about to perform the miraculous on their behalf and establish Joshua firmly as their new ordained leader. It would be a miracle like the crossing of the Red Sea. God would part the waters and over two million Israelites would walk across on dry ground! To make the miracle even more sensational, the Jordan River was at flood stage. And this time, instead of parting the water first, the Priests were told to carry the Ark of the Covenant and step into the waters. Only then would the water’s part for them. (I think if I were one of the priests carrying the ark, I would want to have been in the back.)
Before the miracle could happen, Joshua gave specific instructions for the people to prepare them. They needed to align their hearts with the heart of God who longed to bless them and bring them into the land. Joshua told them to “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you.” Joshua 3:5 (NIV) The New King James Version uses the word “Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.” The New Living Translation says, “Purify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do great wonders among you.” The word for “consecrate” in Hebrew is “Kawdash” and it means “to dedicate, hallow, make holy, purify” and comes from the root “to cleanse.” The verb is used 172 times in Scripture.
What was Joshua telling the people? He was giving them and us today an essential principle that will release the blessings of God in our lives! It’s the principle of alignment. When we align our lives to the will of God, He is able to release the miraculous on our behalf! Could it be, the reason we do not see the wonders of God in our lives is because we will not consecrate ourselves to Him? God is looking for a people, a man, a woman, a boy or a girl who is wholly yielded to Him and available for Him to accomplish His purposes. One of my life verses is 2 Chronicles 16:9 (NKJV/NLT) that says, “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. …”
If you and I want to see God do amazing things we must align our hearts with His heart. When my car is out of alignment it won’t drive straight. It wants to veer to the left or the right. My heart needs alignment as well. It has a natural bias to drift. Prayer is not getting God to go my direction but aligning my life to His will and purpose. When I do that, I get to see the miraculous!
Israel had been camped at the banks of the Jordan for three days. In the Bible, the Jordan River is a symbol of death. To cross the Jordan, I must die to self. I must sanctify myself, consecrate myself, yielding my will to God’s will. Jesus said, “If any of you wants to be My follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23 (NLT) In Romans 8:13-14, the Amplified Bible says, “For if you live according to [the dictates of] the flesh, you will surely die. But if through the power of the [Holy] Spirit you are [habitually] putting to death (making extinct, deadening) the [evil] deeds prompted by the body, you shall [really and genuinely] live forever. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”
When I align myself with God’s purpose and will, He turns my problems into opportunities to show Himself strong on my behalf. Joshua 3:15 (NLT) says “It was harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. …” The Jordan River flows from the mountains of Lebanon all the way down to the Dead Sea. “Yardon” or “Jordan” means “descent.” It follows a winding descending path for 156 miles through the Sea of Galilee and drops rapidly in a 47-mile run! God chose the time when the river was at its highest to demonstrate His power! One generation saw the Red Sea part and left Egypt. The next generation saw the Jordan River do the same thing and entered Canaan. Finally, 40 years later, the people who got out of Egypt/Bondage would get into the Promised land/blessing. What a miracle!
When Israel sanctified themselves that day, they were not earning God’s blessing, they were making sure their hearts were ready for God’s blessing. Do you desire to see God do wonders in your life? Have you aligned your heart to the heart of God? You can do that right now. None of us can cleanse our own hearts but the Bible says in 1 John 1:9 (NLT) “But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”
Why not take a moment right now and lift that prayer to God? Ask God to cleanse your heart and consecrate your life to Him. That simply means you are saying, “God I am available to You. Do through me whatever pleases You and brings You glory. I am Yours.”