Crossing Over (Part 1)

Ron
9:30 am

I’ve had numerous requests to review my teaching on “Crossing Over,” that was given at the VFM Conference during Word Explosion. Below is an article that reflects that message.

Crossing Over (Part 1)

As I began praying about 2014, I heard God say, “This is the year. It’s time for the church to cross over.” I felt impressed this was to be a time to “re•fresh” the church. Look at the meaning of many “re” words:

Re•new – “Re” is a prefix that means again. The word “new” means, like the first time again or to restore to an original state.
Re•fresh – to again have vigor
Re•vive – to again have vitality or life
Re•focus – to fix one’s attention again
Re•pent – to think higher again

It’s time for the church to find life again! In many corridors of culture the church has lost its relevancy. Something that is relevant is something that is pertinent. You become irrelevant when what is on the outside grows faster than what is on the inside. In other words, if the need for what you produce shifts faster than your ability to adapt to its value, you become irrelevant. The latest research indicates that 15 to 20 years ago 40% to 70% of America were evangelicals. Today, the low side estimates lean toward that number being around 7% to 8%. It’s an indication of a lack of relevancy. The message is good, but we’re not communicating in a way that is keeping up with the shift in culture…especially youth culture. Thus, it’s time to cross over to the other side to tapping into a viable kingdom that is fully impactful today. Joshua 3 gives 10 keys to the church crossing over.

Look at Joshua 3:1 – “Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out…to Jordan, where they were camped before crossing over.” 2014 is a time for the church to cross over…into our Promised Land. You might think that is ok for Israel in the Old Covenant, but unless I don’t understand Hebrews (and I do), there is a promise (land) of entering His rest (the finished work of Christ in the Kingdom of God) that remains for us today (Heb. 4:1-11).

In this incredible passage in Joshua, he gives us 10 key principles to “cross over.”

1. Anticipation – Joshua 3:1, “…camped before crossing over…”

This is what I call the biblical principle of “The Law of Expectation.” The Law of Expectation states, what you expect in your heart with confidence becomes self-fulfilling prophecy. Psychologists suggest that 80% of our actions are the result of our expectations. In other words, what we do or don’t do is the result of what we expect the results to be. Perhaps, in another writing I will focus on what it takes to create expectation in your heart. However, suffice it to say leaders “see” ahead of time what others miss.
Let me show this to you in scripture. Eph. 1:17ff states, “I, Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance (or the riches of His glory)…”
God gives us a spirit of revelation… revelation reveals what already exists (see Eph. 1:3). Wisdom is the application of revelation.
Spiritual leaders see ahead of time (the Principle of Prequel) and help followers to apply it. See Joshua 6:1,2; Numbers 13: 26-33; Hebrews 11:1; 2 Kings 6:17,18; Isaiah 43:19; Genesis 15:5; Joshua 1:2-8; Isaiah 42:7.
Expectation creates actions (Heb. 11:1). If you’re expecting a baby, you may create a nursery. If you are expecting money, you may look at catalogs or outlooks for ministry opportunities. If you are expecting a healing, you may respond with certain actions.
My miraculous healing from a car accident that sought to leave me paralyzed was averted by my learning “to expect a miracle.”

2. Preparation – Joshua 3:2, 3 – “…giving orders to the people.” This is the principle of preparation: preparation of how to cross over to our promised land (Kingdom of God).

The leading educator in the world is Howard Gardner at Harvard University. He did a 20 year study on “genius.” Here is what he found:
- At 4 years old, 100% tested out at genius.
- The same group at 20 years old, 10% tested out at genius.
- At 24 years old, the same group, 2% tested out as genius.
They say about 2% are genius in our world today. I don’t know what it tells you, but it suggests to me that God created all of us with a sense of genius, but we’ve allowed life to stamp it out of us. It’s time to help people rediscover their genius again.

3. Participation – Joshua 3:3b, “…you are to move out…” This is the principle of participation. This principle means we’re better together. Synergy means the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. This principle is about finding your part and taking ownership of your part of the vision. It is gleaning the understanding that every believer has authority to operate in the Spirit.

Genesis1:26 has what I call the 4 Law of Genesis 1:26 (authority).
1. Legal authority to dominate and rule the earth has been given to mankind (Ps. 115:16).
2. God did not include Himself in the legal authority structure over the earth.
3. Any influence or interference from the supernatural realm on earth is only legal through mankind.
4. God made Himself subjugated to His laws and will not violate them.
Therefore, I define kingdom laws (principles), the authorization and initiation for heaven to interfere and influence earth’s affairs. That’s what prayer does, that’s what giving does, etc.
1 John 4:9 helps put this in perspective: “This is how I know God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through”
That’s my role, because we’re better and more powerful together.

4. Reposition – Joshua 3:3c, 4 – “…move out from your positions and follow it (the ark, or the representation of the Glory of God), then you will know which way to go, since you’ve never been this way before…” This is the Principle of Reposition. God is calling us to a new wave of His spirit; to a place we’ve never been before.

The old move of God is often the biggest threat to the new move of God.
Every new move of the Spirit is a re-emphasis of an old kingdom law that we’ve lost focus on. For instance in the early 1920’s it was the Baptism with the Holy Spirit; in the 1940’s it was Healing; in the 1960’s it was the Charismatic Movement and the Gifts of the Spirit; in the 1980’s it was Faith; today it is Grace. To be sure there are abuses and heresy attached to this principle such as ultimate reconciliation or universalism. There are also over-reactions to God’s freedom that weak believers turn into a license to sin. What the reemphasis of Grace brings is a new freedom and qualification to be used and blessed from God that is lost under the guilt of relating to God based on your performance.
Every move of the Spirit goes through what I call the 4 R’s of the Move of the Spirit → Rejection, the old rejects the new → Reconciliation, the old realizes the new is not as bad as they thought and the new reels back some over-statements → Revival, the fresh revelation launches a move of life and vitality → Reformation, the result if fully impacting changes the way we see God and changes the way we see ourselves.

5. Reformation – Josh. 3:4, “…You’ve never been this way before (2)…” This is the principle of Reformation. It reforms your perspective of God and yourself.

Historically there have been 3 Reformations:

Jesus – See John 1:16, 17. It was a new and better covenant that caused us to see God differently (Heb. 8:6).
Paul – Taught us what the New Covenant really is and not to be caught up in what is not organic to the gospel.
Martin Luther (1517 Reformation), broke from Catholicism and launched Protestantism. The historical reformation was made up of 5 major components:
- Sola Christus – Christ alone
- Sola scriptura – scripture alone
- Sola gratia – grace alone
- Sola fide – faith alone
- Sole de Gloria – the Glory of God alone.