"As we wrap our hands around a problem and in faith press on, strive and stand firm, divine energy surges through us . We experience the fullness of His grace. We press into grace."The idea here is embracing a problem rather than avoiding or running from the problem. When I read these word's of Joni's I knew what she was talking about! I've experienced many times where God challenged me to face my fear head-on and in doing so , the thing I once feared became an avenue of faith..... Where His free flowing grace met me and carried me through the difficulty. If we never face our fears knowing that what the enemy intends for evil God will use for good, we won't tap into that grace. It is always available to us but we must "tap into it" .
I've thought alot about the Israelites leaving Egypt by way of the Red Sea and the miraculous deliverence from the hand of their enemies who had held them in bondage. Sin is the ultimate bondage .What lures us into sin is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes ,and the pride of life just as it did Eve. Egypt symbolizes sin which had all of us held in the grips of slavery . Even though they were miraculously saved when God parted the Red Sea for them to cross over. they continued to complain in the desert . All they could see was what they had left behind. The leeks, the garlic etc.... They forgot they were no longer in bondage as slaves in Egypt! But there was still bondage that needed to be dealt with. They were in bondage to their own sinful hearts which could not be escaped by a mere matter of circumstances. This bondage would require an act of faith on their part. They needed new hearts circumcized by faith. Instead of running from the thing they feared (as they did when leaving Egypt), they would have to face the thing they feared, if they were to enter the promised land. God led them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night the whole time they wandered the desert. He was demonstrating His faithfulness, but there came a time when He expected them demonstrate their trust in His faithfulness which God had demonstrated for them over and over and over. This time thy would cross the Jordan to enter a land flowing with milk and honey. But it was also a land filled with giants. And this time the priests would have to step into the water at flood stage before the waters would part. This time a greater measure of faith was required. The ark of the covenant went before them into the Jordan (a symbol of God's grace in Jesus Christ) . The Jordan river was at flood stage a this time! By all natural instincts they could have been swept away in the current. But God was going to sweep them up in his love as they demostrated their faith!
I love the symbolism in the book of Exodus as well as the book of Joshua. When they left Egypt they had a righteousness which was of the law, but those who made it into the promised land (they were few by the way) had a righteousness which was by faith. They no longer had an outward circumcision as their forefathers did, but a circumscision of the heart.
The Jordan river symbolizes a death to self . A choice to rise above our fears and place Christ first in our life. His mission and purpose must come first if we are to experienced the victory of being overcomers . Only then will we uncover the heart that God gave us when we first believed. Because faith without works is dead. Let us excercize our faith and get this new heart pumping! Come to the River by The Rhett Walker Band
http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_994734&feature=iv&src_vid=_11qNSYloq4&v=pjIxuuBSzMI
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