Trusting the path God Clears for you: Joshua chapter 3

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Reflecting on the gentle wisdom imparted by my beloved grandparents, I realized the power of following directions with faith and patience. Just as they tackled the daunting task of assembling furniture with teamwork and trust, we too can navigate the paths cleared by God. This episode of Jessi Morgan Devotions for the Christian Heart offers heartfelt stories intertwined with the timeless teachings of Joshua 3. As we journey alongside the Israelites crossing the Jordan River, we explore how trust in divine guidance can illuminate our life’s path, no matter how fragmented the pieces might seem.

Join me on this uplifting exploration of faith, inspired by the resolute spirit of Joshua and the loving example of my grandparents. Their story of collaboration mirrors the biblical narrative of following God’s instructions amidst uncertainty. With thoughtful reflections from Exodus 16, Deuteronomy 10, and Isaiah 30:21, this episode invites you to embrace the power of scripture in transforming life's challenges into opportunities for growth and strength. Allow these stories to encourage and remind you of the unwavering presence and love that guides us all toward the promises laid out for us.

Key passages:
Joshua 3

Exodus 16

Duetronomy 10

Isaiah 30:21

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, hello.
You are listening to the JesseMorgan Devotions for the
Christian Heart Podcast, episode39.
This week's devotional istitled Trusting the Path God
Clears for you Joshua, chapter 3.
Let's go Hi.
I'm Jesse Morgan.
I used to just share home decorand renovation tips on social
media, but now I'm sharingsomething even closer to my

(00:20):
heart my journey and love forJesus Christ, my Savior.
Welcome to the Jesse MorganDevotions for the Christian Hawk
Podcast.
This is a weekly devotional.
I started back in May 2024, butthe inspiration for it came
much earlier.
It was rooted in a faithjourney that began when my
daughter was born, four monthsearly in 2023.
Through that challenging time,god worked in ways that truly

(00:42):
amazed me.
On this podcast, I sharepersonal stories of faith, woven
together with scripture to showjust how incredible God's word
can be in our everyday lives.
My hope is that through thesestories, you'll be encouraged,
uplifted and reminded of God'slove and presence, no matter
what you're going through.
So I invite you to spend lessthan 15 minutes with me each

(01:04):
week as we reflect on thesedevotionals together.
Let's all pray within Trustingthe path God clears for you
Joshua, chapter 3, key passagesJoshua 3, exodus 16, deuteronomy
10, and Isaiah 30, 21.
Welcome back, hello everyone.

(01:25):
I hope you're doing really wellthis week.
Today, I'm excited to dive intoJoshua 3, which is honestly one
of the most significant passagesin biblical history.
It's the story of theIsraelites crossing the famous
Jordan River as they begin theirquest entering the promised
land.
We've been focusing on beingbold and leading like Joshua,

(01:51):
sharing testimonies andbelieving like Rahab, but now we
get to go to Joshua 3, whichhas honestly been a highlight
for me.
What does this chapter mean forme and what could it mean for
you?
I can't wait to share mythoughts and I pray that it
blesses you the way it hasblessed me.

(02:11):
But before we dive in, I want toshare a quick story about my
amazing grandparents.
So, as many of you know, I lostmy grandmother in late December
of 2024.
And now every memory of herfeels like a precious gift, you
know, and I cherish thosememories, and anytime I get with
my grandfather, who's stillwith us, I cherish even you know

(02:34):
, cherish it even more so mygrandparents.
For those that don't know,we're such a perfect couple and
a perfect match.
My grandfather could build orfix anything.
I mean he can fix a dog house.
He can create a batting cage,you name it.
He's still a jack of all trades.
My grandmother, on the otherhand, was creative and smart.

(02:58):
She was an avid reader, atalented writer and could sew
anything you can imagineTogether.
It just worked.
So one day, when I was movinginto my apartment during my
junior year at the University ofAlabama, when I was in college,
my mom bought me this mostamazing, beautiful bedroom set.
It was all black, super sleek,and it came with a bed frame,

(03:23):
two side tables and a vanitywith a mirror.
But the catch?
But what about?
But the catch was it came in amillion pieces.
I wasn't about to try puttingthat together myself.
I don't have the patience.
Naturally, we called mygrandfather.
He came up and, you know, tooka whole week to be there, and my

(03:44):
grandmother did too.
At first he was a bit stumpedby all the pieces and all the
parts.
Then my grandmother came in,sat down in a chair and started
reading the directions to himstep by step.
At first I thought why don't wejust follow the pictures, you
know?
But my grandmother insisteddirections are there for a
reason.

(04:05):
So they followed them exactlyand after a few hours the set
was perfectly put together andsuper sturdy.
When they finished, mygrandmother kissed my
grandfather on the cheek andsaid you're welcome.
And he laughed, blushed andsaid okay, woman.
And they walked out of the roomhand in hand.
Finally I had a clear path tomy room, all those boxes and

(04:29):
pieces were gone and it finallyfelt like a home in my new
apartment.
So let's transition this toJoshua 3.
Directions, instructions Somepeople find them confusing.
Instructions Some people findthem confusing, Others find them
comforting.
But either way, they are therefor a reason.
God gives us directions,instructions too, not to confuse

(04:54):
us but to guide us.
He wants us to succeed and hewants us to understand that
obeying him will always lead usto the path he has destined for
us, right or wrong, right.
So how does this tie intoJoshua 3 with my grandparents
and what does my bed set have todo with the Lord?
I promise it will connect.

(05:15):
Big lesson for me too.
So the first thing I want to do,before we dive into the
crossing of the Jordan andJoshua, chapter 3, we need to
understand the Ark of theCovenant.
Here's a quick overview.
So in Exodus 25, 10 through 22,it tells us that the arc's

(05:37):
dimensions are 2.5 cubits long,1.5 cubits wide and 1.5 cubits
high.
You can take that and youshould be able to Google and
find out like in length andwidth and everything.
But it had a gold lid calledthe mercy set and two cherubims
facing each other which are likespiritual beings mentioned

(05:58):
within the Bible.
They were facing each other.
The Ark was a visible sign ofGod's presence, allowing Moses
and then later Joshua, toconsult with the Lord.
It contained three items.
Usually the Ark of Covenantcontained three items and one
was the stone tablets.
Ten Commandments, which you canlook in Deuteronomy 10, 1-5.

(06:19):
A jar of manna, which you canfind in Exodus 16, 33-34.
It symbolizes God's provisionwhile they were in the
wilderness.
And Aaron's rod, which you canlook up in Numbers 17-10, which
is a sign of God's chosenleadership, can look up in

(06:40):
Numbers 17.10, which is a signof God's chosen leadership.
The ark was carried only by theLevites tribe, specifically the
descendants of Aaron.
Look that up in Deuteronomy10.8.
They used poles to carry it ontheir shoulders and never
touching it directly.
That was God's instructions.
So now let's focus on Joshua 3.
Here's what happens crossing theJordan River, which is the big

(07:00):
thing within this chapter.
Joshua tells the people toprepare to cross the Jordan, the
Levite priests carrying it.
You are to move out from yourpositions and follow it.
Then you will know which way togo, since you have never been

(07:24):
this way before Now.
Then, in Joshua 3.6, joshuainstructs the priests and he
says take up the Ark of theCovenant and pass on ahead of
the people.
And then, finally, in Joshua3.8, the priests are told
flooding, yet the waters werecompletely cut off when they
stepped in that river.

(07:44):
The Israelites crossed on dryground while the priests stood
in the middle holding the ark.
So what does this mean for us?

(08:07):
Think about the faith it tookfor the priests, joshua and the
Israelites to follow thosedirections.
They didn't know exactly whatwas going to happen next.
They simply followed God'sinstructions or directions and
walked the clear path heprovided.
Just like my grandparentsfollowed the step-by-step

(08:28):
directions to build my bed set,the Israelites followed God's
direction step-by-step to crossthe Jordan River.
Imagine if they had tried tofigure it out on their own, how
much harder it would have beenor would have even happened
right.
Why do we make life harder forourselves by cutting corners or
trying to handle things on ourown?
God has already cleared themuddy waters and challenges for

(08:51):
us through Jesus Christ.
So God's presence at our level,like think about that, here's
the beautiful part of that.
At our level.
Like, think about that, here'sthe beautiful part of that.
God, in his sovereignty, madehimself visible to the
Israelites through the ark.
He came down to their level,guiding them through treacherous
waters into battles theycouldn't have handled alone.

(09:13):
They didn't have the experienceto handle alone.
So today, god is with usspiritually, through the holy
spirit.
The same god who parted thejordan river is, guy, is ready
to guide you through theobstacles in your life.
And don't miss this.
The jordan river is the sameriver where jesus was later
baptized.

(09:34):
God's directions and pathsalways have meaning, even when
we don't fully understand them.
We can trust that he is workingfor our good.
So remember this.
Isaiah 30, 21 reminds uswhether you turn to the right or
to the left, your ears willhear a voice behind you saying

(09:55):
this is the way.
Walk in it.
My friends, god has a clear pathfor your life.
He has cleared out all themuddy water.
He has cleared out all the mud,all the obstacles in that river
of yours, to give you the paththat he wants and chose for you.
Are you ready to follow hisinstructions?

(10:18):
Are you ready to follow hisdirections and what he's asking
of you?
Think about that.
Let's pray.
Lord, thank you for the clearpaths you create for us, even
when the way seems uncertain.
Help us to trust yourdirections and carry you in our
hearts as we walk the pathyou've laid out for us.

(10:40):
Thank you for parting thewaters and making a way through.
Jesus Christ, father, we loveyou and we praise you.
We thank you so much foreverything you've done for us.
I pray for everybody listeningto this podcast that they're
inspired, that they're comforted, whatever they're going through
.
Lord, I just pray thatsomething in this session, you
know, blessed them or justreally worked their spirit.

(11:03):
Lord, we love you and we praiseyou in Jesus' name, amen.
Thank you so much for listeningtoday.
I hope this blessed you as muchas it's blessed me.
See you next time, and we'll beentering Joshua 4 and the
Jericho walls.
Stay tuned.
Well, that wraps up this week'sepisode.
I hope these devotions help youdraw closer to God each day.

(11:24):
If this episode encouraged you,please share it with someone
who might need the same message,and don't forget to subscribe
so you never miss a weeklyepisode.
For more information or toreach out, check the show notes
or visit jessimorganhomecom orfind me on Instagram at
jessimorganlife.
Remember God's timing is alwaysperfect.
Keep trusting him Until nexttime.

(11:48):
This is Jessi Morgan prayingoff.
I just wanted to like touch basereally quick again on this
chapter, I think with Joshua,chapter three.
It just it spoke to me so muchabout crossing the Jordan, how
God just cleared a path, howIsrael just believed and just
stepped foot on that dry groundand just walked across that

(12:11):
river into land and situations.
They had no idea how it wasgoing to turn out.
All they knew is, if theyfollow God's plan and direction,
that they will be blessed andthey'll be able to take the
promised land.
And it was just interestingbeing able to think about the

(12:32):
story of my grandparents and Imean how my entire front of my
door of my apartment was filledwith boxes of that bed set and I
was like, oh, I just can't.
And you know, my grandfathercame and my grandmother sat down
and they went through thedirections.
I just it really touched me andI was happy that I was able to.

(12:52):
God bless me with that story toremember, to bring here and I
just want to like encourage youguys to any lesson or anything
you read in the Bible.
Sit back and reflect on personalstories of yours and how they
can connect to that and what youcan learn from it.
At the time, my grandparentsputting the bed together meant
nothing to me, but now, sittingback and I'm in my late 30s and

(13:16):
reflecting on that, it just madeit more personal for me and
making me realize that the Biblewas written for me, it was
written for us, it was.
It was written to inspire us tolearn from it and take our
experiences that we have now andto apply those experiences
based on the lessons learned inthe Bible.

(13:37):
And I just encourage you to youknow, on the lessons learned in
the Bible, and I just encourageyou to you know, spend time
with the Lord and see how youreveryday life is part of God's
plan.
So I just, you know, wanted toshare that and thank you again
for all the support with thispodcast.
It's just been truly a blessing.
So, love you all.
Next till next week.