OUR DAILY BREAD : YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND TOMORROW

[cimi]

May 11
Saturday


YESTERDAY,
TODAY, AND
TOMORROW

READ:
Joshua 4:1-6,20-24
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That all the peoples
of the earth may
know the hand of
the LORD, that it is
mighty. __Joshua 4:24
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Recently I realized that all of the photos and mementos in my office represent the past. I considered removing them, but wondered if those reminders of people, places, and events might serve some purpose beyond nostalgia. To avoid being mired into the "yesterdays" of life, I needed to discover the value of those items for today and tomorrow.

When God's people crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land, He told their leader, Joshua, to choose 12 men, have each one take a stone from the middle of the river, and carry it to their campsite that night (Josh. 4:1-5). Joshua set up the stones as a memorial so that when future generations asked, "What do these stones mean to you?" they could tell them about God's faithfulness in holding back the water while they crossed (vv.6-7).

As followers of Christ, it's good for us to have tangible evidence of God's help in the past. Those mementos remind us that His faithfulness continues today, and we can follow Him confidently into the future. Our "stones" may also help to fear the Lord our God forever (v.24).

The memories of what God has done for us can become building blocks for today and tomorrow. __David McCasland

`````````````````````````````````THINKING IT OVER``````````````````````````````
````````````````How has God shown Himself to be faithful to you``````````````````````
``````````````and your family? What would help you to remember?`````````````````````
````````````````Is there someone you can talk to about it today?````````````````````````
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Precious memories of yesterday
can strengthen our faith today and tomorrow.

***************************Today's Bible Reading __Joshua 4:1-6,20-24***********************************

1 And it came to pass, when
all the people had completely
crossed over the Jordan, that
the LORD spoke to Joshua,
saying: 2 "Take for
yourselves twelve men from
the people, one man from
every tribe, 3 and command
them saying, 'Take for
yourselves twelve stones
from here, out of the midst of
the Jordan, from the place
where the priests' feet stood
firm...' "

4 Then Joshua called the
twelve men whom he had
appointed from the children
of Israel, one man from every
tribe; 5 and Joshua said to
them: "Cross over before the
ark of the LORD your God
into the midst of the Jordan,
and each one of you take up
a stone on his hsoulder,
according to the number of
the tribes of the children of
Israel, 6 that this may be a
sign among you when your
children ask in time to come,
saying, 'What do these
stones mean to you?' "...

20And those twelve stones
...Joshua set up in Gilgal.

21 Then he spoke to the
children of Israel, saying:
"When your children ask
their fathers in time to come,
saying, 'What are these
stones?' 22 then you shall let
your children know, saying,
'Israel crossed over this
Jordan on dry land'; 23 for the
LORD your God dried up the
waters of the Jordan before
you until you had crossed
over, as the LORD your God
did to the Red Sea... 24 that
all the peoples of the earth
may know the hand of the
LORD, that it is mighty, that
you may fear the LORD your
God forever."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

In the same way that the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea marked
Israel's exodus out of Egypt, the miraculous crossing of the Jordan
River (Josh, 3:7-17) marked their entrance into the land of promise.