And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above, and they shall stand upon an heap.  Joshua 3:13
 
    In the upbuilding of His work the Lord does not always make everything plain before His servants.  He sometimes tries the confidence of His people by bringing about circumstances which compel them to move forward in faith.  Often He brings them into strait places, and bids them advance when their feet seem to be touching the waters of Jordan.  It is at such times, when the prayers of His servants ascend to Him in earnest faith, that God opens the way before them and brings them out into a large place. (The Acts of the Apostles, 357)
 
Reflection:  As we exercise our faith, it will grow.  Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.  When things look most discouraging, we need to remember Joshua 3.  We might have to get our feet wet, but it will be worth it all.

And as soon as we had heard [these things], our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.  Joshua 2:11
 
    This exercise of divine power in behalf of Israel was designed also to increase the fear with which they were regarded by the surrounding nations, and thus prepare the way for their easier and complete triumph.  When the tidings that God had stayed the waters of Jordan before the children of Israel, reached the kings of the Amorites and of the Canaanites, their hearts melted with fear.  The Hebrews had already slain the five kings of Midian, the powerful Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og of Bashan, and now the passage over the swollen and impetuous Jordan filled all the surrounding nations with terror.  To the Canaanites, to all Israel, and to Joshua himself, unmistakable evidence had been given that the living God, the King of heaven and earth, was among His people, and that He would not fail them nor forsake them.
 
    Heathen nations had reproached the Lord and His people because the Hebrews had failed to take possession of Canaan, as they expected, soon after leaving Egypt.  Their enemies had triumphed because Israel had wandered so long in the wilderness, and they had mockingly declared that the God of the Hebrews was not able to bring them in to the Promised Land.  The Lord had now signally manifested His power and favor in opening the Jordan before His people, and their enemies could no longer reproach them. (Patriarchs and Prophets, 485, 486)
 
Reflection:  Their desert wanderings were over; they would now come to possess the land by the power of God.  We, like Israel of old, have plenty of evidence that He is real and still as powerful as in those days.

And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.  Deuteronomy 34:10
 
    Moses gained that which went with him throughout the years of his toilsome and care-burdened life--a sense of the personal presence of the Divine One.  Not merely did he look down the ages for Christ to be made manifest in the flesh; he saw Christ accompanying the host of Israel in all their travels.  When misunderstood and misrepresented, when called to bear reproach and insult, to face danger and death, he was able to endure "as seeing Him who is invisible" (Hebrews 11:27).
 
    Moses did not merely think of God, he saw Him.  God was the constant vision before him.  Never did he lose sight of His face.
 
    To Moses faith was no guesswork; it was a reality.  He believed that God ruled his life in particular; and in all its details he acknowledged Him.  For strength to withstand every temptation, he trusted in Him.
 
    The great work assigned him he desired to make in the highest degree successful, and he placed his whole dependence upon divine power.  He felt his need of help, asked for it, by faith grasped it, and in assurance of sustaining strength went forward. (Education, 63)
 
Reflection:  Those who do the greatest work for God are those who feel the greatest need for divine help.  For forty years in the wilderness, this was the experience of Moses.

See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil.  Deuteronomy 30:15
 
    The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23).  While life is the inheritance of the righteous, death is the portion of the wicked.  Moses declared to Israel: "I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil" (Deuteronomy 30:15).  The death referred to in these scriptures is not that pronounced upon Adam, for all mankind suffer the penalty of his transgression.  It is "the second death" that is placed in contrast with everlasting life.
 
    In consequence of Adam's sin, death passed upon the whole human race.  All alike go down into the grave.  And through the provisions of the plan of salvation, all are to be brought forth from their graves.  "There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust,"..."for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (Acts 24:15; 1 Corinthians 15:22).  But a distinction is made between the two classes that are brought forth.  "All that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation" (John 5:28, 29).  They who have been "accounted worthy" of the resurrection of life are "Blessed and holy;...on such the second death hath no power" (Revelation 20:6). (The Great Controversy, 544)
 
Reflection:  But those who have not, through repentance and faith, secured pardon, must receive the penalty of transgression--"the wages of sin." (The Great Controversy, 544)

The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.  Deuteronomy 29:29
 
    The more we search the Bible, the deeper is our conviction that it is the word of the living God, and human reason bows before the majesty of divine revelation.
 
    God intends that to the earnest seeker the truths of His word shall be ever unfolding.  While "the secret things belong unto the Lord our God:...those things which are revealed belong unto us and our children" (Deuteronomy 29:29).  The idea that certain portions of the Bible cannot be understood has led to neglect of some of its most important truths.  The fact needs to be emphasized, and often repeated, that the mysteries of the Bible are not such because God has sought to conceal truth, but because our own weakness or ignorance makes us incapable of comprehending or appropriating truth.  The limitation is not in His purpose, but in our capacity.  Of those very portions of Scripture often passed by as impossible to be understood, God desires us to understand as much as our minds are capable of receiving.  "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God," that we may by "thoroughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Timothy 3:16, 17). (Education, 170)
 
Reflection:  The Bible is very complex.  Behind each verse is an endless sea of spiritual food.  God so desires us to learn more and more about Him as we search the scriptures like we would mine for gold.  Our goal should be to dig deeper every day and then practice what God has shown us.

 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.  For all that do these thing are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee.  Deuteronomy 18:10-12
 
    The Bible declares that the dead know not anything, that their thoughts have perished; they have no part in anything that is done under the sun; they know nothing of the joys or sorrows of those who were dearest to them on earth.
 
    Furthermore, God has expressly forbidden all pretended communication with departed spirits.  In the days of the Hebrews there was a class of people who claimed, as do the spiritualists of today, to hold communication with the dead.  But the "familiar spirts," as these visitants from other worlds were called, are declared by the Bible to be "the spirits of devils." (Compare Numbers 25:1-3; Psalm 106:28; 1 Corinthians 10:20; revelation 16:14.)  The work of dealing with familiar spirits was pronounced an abomination to the Lord, and was solemnly forbidden under penalty of death (Leviticus 19:31;20:27)....But spiritualism, which numbers its converts by hundreds of thousands, yea, by millions, which has made its way into scientific circles, which has invaded churches, and has found favor in legislative bodies, and even in the courts of kings--this mammoth deception is but a revival, in a new disguise, of the witchcraft condemned and prohibited of old. (The Great Controversy, 556)
 
Reflection:  From the very beginning, the devil has tried to brainwash us into believing that no matter what we do, we will never die.  He is a liar and deceiver.

       And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedest out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.  Deuteronomy 8:3
 
    It is not a conclusive evidence that a man is a Christian because he manifests spiritual ecstasy under extraordinary circumstances.  Holiness is not rapture: it is an entire surrender of the will to God; it is living by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God; it is doing the will of our heavenly Father; it is trusting God in trial, in darkness as well as in the light; it is walking by faith and not by sight; it is relying in God with unquestioning confidence, and resting in His love. (Acts of the Apostles, 51)
 
Reflection:  Today, more than ever, we are in danger of calling Christianity something it isn't.  Just because we go to church or quote scriptures does not make us Christians.  Many charming pastors and TV evangelists mention God or read some scripture and we automatically believe they are Christians.  Don't be fooled.  Let's live be every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.