[Memorial Stones performance by Mat Kearney]
Last week I attended a Mat Kearney concert here in
Charlotte
with some friends; my favorite song by this artist is
Memorial Stones. This song talks about the struggles and triumphs of the Israelites while they were wandering through the desert in the beginning of the Old Testament. And although we as world racers are not about to wander through an actual wilderness, I still feel like our journey, even now preparing for this race, parallels so much of the Israelites’ struggle. The beginning of the song paints a picture to me of hardship and trials that the enemy drags us into.
As I lay myself down to rest,
The enemy camped upon my chest,
With blinded eyes and lies to cries he did profess,
With rain and thundering storms and clouds to fog my intellect,
With guilt and shame he built his house and doused any form of self respect,
With lighting that was frightening taking my eyes up off the Lord,
Trying to discredit and edit the words of truth he found the sword,
He harmed me and disarmed me,
And he charmed me with his army,
But I stand before you right now cause the Lord came upon me…
There are going to be times when the enemy tries to use his power to ruin what God wants to do through us, but I think that if we depend on God to be our strength in the “wilderness” he will do amazing things through us! God did amazing things through Joshua to show His power, like when he dried up the
Jordan
for the Israelites to cross, and that’s when they put memorial stones in the middle of the
Jordan
to remember that God had been with them as they went through their rough times.
…Memorial stones in the middle of the Jordan,
Lord you brought me along.
I had a change through the desert,
It’s in you Lord that I’m strong.
Raining bread from the heaven’s giving me a new song.
Memorial stones in the middle of the
Jordan
,
I’m pressing on…
“Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “In the future your children will ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’
Then you can tell them, ‘This is where the Israelites crossed the
Jordan
on dry ground.’
For the L
ord your God dried up the river right before your eyes, and he kept it dry until you were all across, just as he did at the
Red Sea
when he dried it up until we had all crossed over.
He did this so all the nations of the earth might know that the L
ord‘s hand is powerful, and so you might fear the L
ord your God forever
.”
Joshua 4:21-24
…From the day to day the miry clay through the wilderness astray,
You brought me to the river
Jordan
bow my head down low and pray.
And thank the faithful God who’s brought His water to my lips,
Grab my hand and led me to the promised land where the honey drips.
And the vines filled with food of all kinds for the spirit soul and mind,
Around the sound of chimes the water stop again.
Lineman clatter feet sound,
Israel
cross the dry ground.
Memorial stones we lay down,
In all of your love that’s so profound.
You brought the old into a new face with a new place and a new grace,
Your love provision shown as you gave a child a new taste.
The manna stops and milk and honey of
Canaan
were found at my feet.
There I dropped to my knees,
Father God you’re so complete.
About face you seized me from the grips the enemy,
And the midst of my blunder through the thunder you’re under me in victory.
By no means is this journey finished, over or complete,
There are many
Jericho
‘s walls that’ll fall at our Lord’s feet.”
“
Now the gates of
Jericho
were tightly shut because the people were afraid of the Israelites.
No one was allowed to go out or in.
But the L
ord said to Joshua, “I have given you
Jericho
…”
Joshua 6:1-5
A lot of the countries that we are going to will be shut up tightly, just like Jericho was, and it will be such a sight to see when the walls of peoples hearts begin to break down and they open up their lives to Christ’s love! The Israelites learned of God’s great power because he gave them town after town, and I pray that our victories will be town after town of changed lives. It’s so exciting to know that we have victories through Jesus and plenty of memorial stone stories ahead of us!
I heard an old, old story,
How a Savior came from glory,
How He gave His life on Calvary
To save a wretch like me;
I heard about His groaning,
Of His precious blood’s atoning,
Then I repented of my sins;
And won the
victory.
O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him,
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.
I heard about His healing,
Of His cleansing power revealing.
How He made the lame to walk again
And caused the blind to see;
And then I cried, “Dear Jesus,
Come and heal my broken spirit,”
And somehow Jesus came and brought
To me the
victory.
Eugene Monroe
Bartlett
Sr, 1939
Support Update:
12% raised!
Matthew 6:32-33
Prayer Requests:
Josh – friend in
Iraq
whose division was hit badly Monday by suicide bombers, 20 injured, 9 dead. Please pray for the family and friends that were affected.
