Pastor Bell's Words To Live By

And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan.  He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, ‘What do these stones mean?’  tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground. ‘He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might fear the LORD your God forever.” (Joshua 4:20-24 NIV).

For the month of October I will be focussing on the significance of Gilgal and its relevance for us today. The first instance of Gilgal in scripture is found in Joshua 4 and is the place where he set up camp for the soldiers of Israel before they marched on Jericho to take possession of the Promised Land. He gathered twelve stones and built an altar to commemorate the greatness of God who had just parted the Jordon River so that they could cross over.

Have a memorial of the past, don't live in the past!

As the people of God, there must be a time in our lives when we cross over from the past and all the negatives that it presented to us and move onto our Gilgal. It is here that we remember the goodness of our God and recognise that it is he who gives victory to those who are obedient to his calling. Gilgal became a camp for the fighting men of Israel. And as we shall see as we dig deeper into this wonderful resource that God has given us,  training is essential for all those who want to walk into their destiny.

 No soldier who enlists in the army and is placed on the front line immediately.

 All soldiers must undertake the necessary training programmes and must be kept up to date with the latest development in weaponry.

 All soldiers must be under authority; those fighting a spiritual battle must be under spiritual authority.

Discipline is essential.

Obedience is a vital prerequisite.

It is at Gilgal that training occurs and the individual is prepared to go forward and take possession of his or her destiny. The altar reminds us that there is no going back. The river of God has washed away the past and we now look to the future trusting that God who brought us out of bondage in ‘Egypt’ will lead us on to our Promised Land.

Today the disgrace of the past has been rolled away if allow our leaders to train us!

Read Joshua 4 & 5 and research Gilgal.