Joshua 5:9 - 6:2

Reproach Removed

Manna Replaced

Awareness Expanded

Shocked by a Vision

Abuse, Slavery

Loss of Dignity, Loss of Hope

No Recognition, No Rights, No Future

Protection from Plagues, Promise of Passover

Deliverance, Exodus, Parting of the Sea, Freedom

Crossing Over, Entry into the Promised Land, Conquest

I Peter 2:9-12, 21-25

You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, living stones built into a temple of the Spirit, God's special possession that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy but now you have received an abundance of mercy. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a coverup for evil; live as God's slaves. Christ himself bore our sins in his body on the cross so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness and justice. By his wounds we have been healed. You were like sheep going astray but now you have returned to the Shepherd of your souls.

Things to consider:

Does your Story empower or disable you?

Does your Story force you to go it alone ... or does it bind you to God and involve other people as friends and fellow adventurers?

Does your Story predict a life free of problems and struggles ... or does it require effort, sacrifice and endurance?

Does your Story lead you to believe that joy comes only at the end ... or is there joy along the way?

Does your Story exclude or invite?

Is it a True Story? Does your Story align with and integrate you into the Greatest Story?

Flip the Script!

"You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending."

(C.S. Lewis)