Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

Our Reading titled, Step Out in Faith, was written by Alice and Keita.

The guest speaker spoke on the wisdom of trusting God and stepping into the river. He told of a pastor who

trusted God and chose to speak the truths of the Bible in a sermon despite the new law of his

land. He was convicted of hate crimes and spent 30 days in jail. But his case was appealed,

and the court ruled he had the right to give a personal

interpretation of the Bible and to urge others to follow. The priests carrying the Ark of the

Covenant had to make a choice, too, either step into the water or stay on the shore. After escaping

Egypt, the Israelites wandered in the desert for

40 years. Now they stood on the banks of the Jordan River, which was at flood stage and dangerously high.

But they took that step, and God caused the waters to recede. Joshua 3, 15 and 16 says that as soon as their feet

touched the water's edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. When we trust God with our

lives, he gives us the courage to move forward, whether choosing to speak the truths of the Bible,

or to take a step into unknown territory. During the pastor's trial, the court heard the gospel through listening to

his sermon, and in Joshua, the Israelites crossed safely into the promised land and shared about

the power of God with future generations.

If we step out in faith, God will see to the rest.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Joshua

3, verses 7 through 17.

The Lord said to Joshua,

Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.

Tell the priests who carry the Ark of the covenant,

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