Joshua 3:5 (NASB), Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do miracles among you.” 6 And Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, “Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over ahead of the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went ahead of the people.7 Now the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so that they will know that just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you. 8 So you shall command the priests who are carrying the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’”
Joshua 3:5, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do miracles among you.”
WHAT: Consecrate – “sanctify, purify, prepare, dedicate, be holy, be separate.”
WHY: Miracles – “wonders, amazing things done by the direct and powerful action of God.”
• What God said to Israel on the shores of the Jordan River, God says to the church today.
• Wash and worship and wonders are ahead for us too.
• Robert Morgan in his book, *Jordan River Rules* said, “A holy God needs holy people if he is to do great things among them.”
**Jordan River Rule #6 – Prepare Today for Tomorrow’s Wonders **
1. Consecrate Ourselves
1 Thessalonians 4:3, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification...”
1 Peter 1:14, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior.”
1 John 3:3, “...everyone who has this hope set on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
“God wants you to be holy. Through faith he already counts you holy in Christ. Now he intends to make you holy with Christ.” - Kevin DeYoung
“Every person who follows Jesus experiences a change in who they are and what desires they will satisfy... Every believer who is transformed by the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit experiences a change of identity and lifestyle.” - Alan Shlemon
2. The Lord will do miracles among us!
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” - 1 Corinthians 2:9
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.”- Matthew 5:6
“The greatest miracle is when God takes an unholy man and makes him holy. The second greatest miracle is when God takes that holy man and puts him in an unholy world and keeps him holy.” - Jacob Aranza
• Perfection in holiness is NOT possible in this life.
• Progress in holiness IS possible!
1 Timothy 4:12 (NASB), Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe...15 Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your **progress** will be evident to all.
The LRC Mission Statement
“And this I pray, that your LOVE may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, [LEARN] in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; [GROW] having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God [GIVE].” - Phil. 1:9-11 (NASB)
