Words of Encouragement

The children came to worship the Lord. They rejoiced and celebrated the awesomeness of God.

All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing praise to your name." Selah Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in man's behalf! He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the waters on foot— come, let us rejoice in him. - Psalm 66:4-6



Come and Go. God's Awesome Work. The psalmist calls for God's people to sing praises to his name. The psalmist calls for the people to "come" and see what God has done for mankind. The psalmist reminds the people of how God parted the waters and they walked across on dry ground. He says, rejoice in God.



This call for the people to come is also a call for us today. God calls us to come to him and to rejoice at what he has done for us. He also wants us to "go" and tell others. The psalmist had to go and tell others to come and rejoice as he reminded them of what God had done.



We are to come and go as God directs. As children of God we must always be ready to heed what we are instructed to do. This "coming and going" calls for us to be active and moving. The Christian life is not one of settling in and being stagnant. It is one that calls for action, life and movement.



Today, God we pray that you help us to be always moving as you direct. We are not to become stagnant or comfortable where we are, because as soon as we become comfortable, God calls us to move again. So when we go to worship this weekend, help us to hear your call to us for movement as directed by your spirit.

Words of Encouragement

Can you image if you needed to get across this body of water. Can you step into the edge of the water and believe it will open to you? What if this is what those of Joshua's time thought? Yet, God did promise to separate the water and he did. It reminds us to trust even those things that seem impossible to happen, if God says he will do it, he will.


So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, "Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. - Joshua 4:4-6



Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Command the priests carrying the ark of the Testimony to come up out of the Jordan." So Joshua commanded the priests, "Come up out of the Jordan." And the priests came up out of the river carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD. No sooner had they set their feet on the dry ground than the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and ran at flood stage as before. - Joshua 4:15-18

Come and Go. Following God, brings about the miracles. God gave instruction to Joshua for the people to cross over the Jordan. God has opened the Jordan so that the people can walk over on dry ground. In the midst of their crossing, God requires that appointed men go before and pick up a stone to use as a marking on the other side.



The priest then are told to come up out of the Jordan because the people have crossed over. When they come up out of the Jordan, it goes back to its original state.



What does this "coming and going" telling us? God wants to work some miracles in the lives of his people and he is requiring his children to play a part in the miracles. God has called some appointed people to go and gather something that will remind others of the miracles they have experienced. There are times when those coming behind will need to be reminded of the great things God can do. He is calling some to bring a testimony to the next generation that were not present when God worked some situations out in our lives. You and I are called to give a testimony of what God has done for us to the next generation. When someone sees the "marking" and they ask, what does this mean, we can tell them about what God has done.



Then there are some that God has used to stand in the midst to hold back the floods for others to cross over on dry ground. Those that have come into the midst to intercede for others after they have done what God has asked, will be called out of the midst.



Today, we are called to come and go as God desires so that we can give testimony to others of God's goodness as well as to be positioned to intercede for others.



I pray for us today that God would continue to use us as he desires so that we can help others out of the floods that would drown them. Lord help us to continually hear you calling us to come to your purpose and to go do as you say.

Words of Encouragement

I do not consider myself an artist, but I drew this picture of a mountain. As I thought about this lesson, I thought about what the mountain may have looked like. This cloud around the base of the mountain keeps anyone from going up the mountain. It must have been the same for the people of Moses' day. Aren't you glad God has opened the way for us to come to him?


The LORD said to Moses, "I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you." Then Moses told the LORD what the people had said. And the LORD said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and be ready by the third day, because on that day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.- Exodus 19:9-10



Moses said to the LORD, "The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, because you yourself warned us, 'Put limits around the mountain and set it apart as holy.' " The LORD replied, "Go down and bring Aaron up with you. But the priests and the people must not force their way through to come up to the LORD, or he will break out against them." So Moses went down to the people and told them. - Exodus 19:23-25



Come and Go. The Lord comes so that we can go. The Lord is speaking to Moses and tells him he will "come" to him so that the people will know that God is with Moses and trust in his leadership. After he does this, he tells Moses to "go" to the people and consecrate them (set them apart) for the time when God will visit with them. After they have consecrated themselves, God says he will "come" to them.



God will come down to the people, but the people cannot come up the mountain to where God is. He tells Moses other than himself, only Aaron is able to come up the mountain. If the people try to brake through and come up the mountain, they will die.



As we look at this interaction of "coming and going" we see some vital information. The first thing we see is that God will come and show himself in his servants so that those that follow will have confidence in the one leading. God gives his approval on his servants. And when his people prepare themselves for his coming, he will also show himself to the people.



Another point that is important is that God came "down" to man because man could not go up to God. This is true again in the New Testament because we see Jesus come down from heaven to be with man, because man could not stand in the presence of God on his holy hill, least he would die.



Only Moses and Aaron could come up the mountain but when Jesus came down to be with man, he called all to go into the presence of his father. Jesus made a way for all to come to God and to dwell with him in his presence. Now we can stand before him when once man was not able to do so. God came to mankind through his Son, Jesus so that we could come to him and be cleansed to stand in his presence.



Today, I pray that we thank God for coming down to us from his holy hill. Let us thank him for removing the barrier that kept us from going up to him and dwelling in his presence. Lord thank you for letting us come to stand in his presence and for cleansing us so that we do not die from being in your glory.

Words of Encouragement

Do you know where this road will lead? Most times than not, we do not know the path our lives will take. We have to trust God and allow him to direct us which way to go, even through the difficulties. (picture by James S. Williams)


"Come now, let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we'll see what comes of his dreams." - Genesis 37:20





How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come upon my father." - Genesis 44:34

Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Come close to me." When they had done so, he said, "I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! -Genesis 45:4

Come and Go. It's all in God's Plan. This is the story of Joseph. He was loved greatly by his father and this caused his other brothers to be jealous of him as well as because of the things he said. He told his family about a dream he had and they were not to happy about what he dreamed. We come now to the first scripture where the brothers have decided to "come" together and kill their own brother. The figured if they could get rid of him, they would get rid of his dreams.

It is a shame that brothers would allow the devil to tempt them to destroy one of their own. Jealousy of anothers gifts causes many to want to destroy their own brother. Yet, we find out that God will even use this plot that was set to destroy, to build up.

Joseph was not killed by his brothers, however he was sold into slavery. Many things happened to Joseph, but with each turn he made, it took him not away from God but to the completion of God's plan. Joseph was eventually made a great ruler in Egypt and was over the provisions being set aside for the people. In the second scripture Joseph did several things and his brothers did not know it was him. What he requested they go back and get his younger brother, Benjamin, they did. What happened is Joseph set a trap where Benjamin would have to be left behind. Yet his brother says, how can I go to my father without his son. They knew the pain this would cause they father and they did not want to inflict him any more.

The brothers seem to have learned a lesson. Maybe it was the years of seeing their father hurt for the lost of his son Joseph. Maybe they realized the sin of what they did, however we do not have record that they ever confessed it. So now they are instead trying to protect the youngest son. They do not want to go to the father and tell him something else has happened to one of his sons.

This is important for us to know. We should not be so quick to come together for evil so that we won't have to be unwilling to go and tell of the harm inflicted because of our disobedience.

Joseph eventually reveals himself to them. Joseph was willing to call his brothers closer even after the evil they had done in his life. Joseph was able to do this because he realized that all the evil done to him, was used by God to bring him to the place he now stood, a provider of provisions for many.

The lesson for us today is that when others come together for your destruction know that God will use it to call you to come to him. He uses it to call you to the plan and purpose he has for you. The enemy wants to destroy you, but God wants to fulfill your life plan. He calls us to come to him and go into the land and place that I have for you. And some of the very people you must provide for are the same ones that tried to take your life.

Lord, help us today to accept that all things work together for our good. You allow others to come together against us, but you use that planned destruction to build us up and create that in us which will help others to survive. Help us Lord this day.

Words of Encouragement

The Langley youth danced to Kirk Franklin's "Last Jesus". What if you are the one God has said "come" to me and then "go" to reach the lost? Yet, isn't that a call to all that belong to him?


I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you. You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. - Genesis 6:17-19



Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. - Genesis 8:16



Come and Go. God's Provision. Noah was born during a time when the earth was wicked. There was no one that was upon the earth that God said was faithful, except for Noah. God allowed Noah to know his plans. He told Noah that he was going to destroy the earth with water and all life would be destroyed.





God also told Noah, I will establish a covenant with you and I will protect you from this flood. God calls to Noah to "come". He calls to Noah to come out of the sins of the world. He calls him to come to a place of protection and safety.

When God calls Noah to come, he also gives him instruction to "go". Noah is to go into the ark for a time of safety and when he does, he is to bring others with him. When the time for the flood has ended and God restores the earth, he will then give Noah another command to "come". He will call Noah to come out of the ark. When God calls to Noah to "go" into this newness and teach the world about him, Noah must do as he is commanded.



The lesson for us is we will have times when God will call us to come to him. In those times he will provide us with special provisions from the destruction of this world. What he wants us to do when we recieve this call is to gather our families and others that we love and that he loves into the ark of safety from the destuction of this world. He will then call us to come out of the provision when he has done what he wills so that we can come out and worship him. When we come to worship him he will then send us to go into the world to help save someone else, just as we were saved from the destruction caused by sin.



Lord today, help us to rejoice in knowing that you will call us to "come" to you for safety and then you will send us and tell us to "go" help someone else.