GOD BLESSES

Pray, a lot; Listen, (wait); God leads: We follow; God blesses.
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This is the last of a five part series about leading a lifestyle that is focused on paying attention to what God wants from us. This month ~ God Blesses.

We followed God to my being at a church missions conference in Florida and I really did not want to go, to go alone and without Sharon. God had other plans for us and following His leading was critical for what is proving to be a blessing for millions of radio listeners across south Africa countries. 
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What is now formed as Radio Africa Network (RAN), started as a single Christian Radio station in Fish Hoek, South Africa.

From this single single Christian Radio station in Fish Hoek, South Africa now encompasses Christian radio stations in Lesotho, Rwanda, Tanzania, Madagascar, Gabon, Botswana, Burundi, Mali, Burkina Faso and Tanzania.

Thousands of people listen daily to Christian radio programs on these stations.  Untold millions of people have heard about the love of God, many for the first time while listening to their radio. And untold thousands will enjoy eternity with God because they accepted Jesus as their Savior.

One of my all time favorite Bible passages is about God leading his people, the Israelites from their 40 years in the desert, into the land promised to them years earlier. It is one of the most powerful lessons about following God’s leading and experiencing his BLESSING.

God chose Joshua to lead them in to the land he had promised to them.  Following in the footsteps of Moses as the leader of God’s chosen people Joshua directed the Levitical priests to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord and cross the Jordan river.

It is an example of God continuing to direct but an incredible focus on the resulting blessing when Joshua follows God’s specific instructions as he leads his people. 

Israel Crosses the Jordan
Then Joshua rose early in the morning and they set out from Shittim. And they came to the Jordan, he and all the people of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over.  At the end of three days the officers went through the camp and commanded the people, “As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow it.  Yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about 2,000 cubits in length. Do not come near it, in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.”  Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”  And Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on before the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.
The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.  And as for you, command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, ‘When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’”  And Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God.”  And Joshua said, “Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Parities, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites.  Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan.  Now therefore take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, from each tribe a man.  And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.”
So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people,  and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest),  the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho.  Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.  Joshua 3:1-17 NIV

Over the past 30 years of praying for God to lead us and our commitment to follow his leading has resulted in hundreds and hundreds of stories about how God has blessed. He has blessed time and time again our humble following the leading of the Holy Spirit. Yes, we believe in the trinity; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

​Jesus Promised the Holy Spirit
“If you love me, keep my commands.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.  Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.  On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”  John 14:15-31

ACTION POINTS:

• Consider living daily expecting God to lead and you experiencing a blessing because you followed.
• Tell a friend or neighbor or family member about the blessing.
• Expect continued blessing from God as you continue to live a life of following his leading.

When we were led by the LORD to follow his leading us to serve him full time as missionaries we were encouraged by the verse found in the book of Proverbs.

    “Commit to the Lord whatever you do,
and he will establish your plans."    Proverbs 16:3

This verse set the course for us to make plans consistent with following his leading. That we have done for over 30 years now.

    “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
​whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit."
                                 Jeremiah 17:7-8 
“Blessed are those who keep his statutes
and seek him with all their heart."
                                 Psalm 119:2