Mensa Otabil - The Lord Will Cross Over With Us (10/07/2025)
This is the final day of the year 2021. It’s been a momentous year; we thank God for taking us from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, and we are honored to see the last day of the year. Today, we believe that the Lord will cross over with us into the new year. Joshua chapter 3, verse 11: «Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you into the Jordan.»
That’s a very instructive statement to the people of Israel. God did not just say that they were the ones crossing over, but He said the ark of the Lord was crossing over. In other words, God was the one taking them over. So today, we are crossing over from one year to another. It seems like a very simple process; the clock ticks, and it’s a new year. It seems meaningless, but one year is a lot of days, a lot of weeks, a lot of months, and so much happens in one year. Just to be able to live through one year-364 days- is a significant achievement. We thank God for watching over us throughout this year.
This year of COVID has intensified; unfortunately, many lives have been lost, and some of us have very painful memories of this year. In the midst of all our joy, there is also sorrow and sadness, but to God be all the glory for what He has done for us, for watching over us, for keeping us, and bringing us this far. Even if we went through the valley, He was with us, and even if we had great moments of joy, He was also with us. He is the Lord of the valley, and He is the Lord of the mountain; He is with us. As He has been with us in the past, so will He be with us today and tomorrow.
Our confidence in God is not only based on what He can do for us in the future. Many see their hope only in a future work of God, maybe in heaven; but God also works with us here on earth and in the affairs of life, and He is with us, and He will guide us. The question many people ask as they face a new year is: What does the new year hold for me? Will I make it? Will it be good for me? Will I survive? Will my loved ones survive? Nobody knows the future except God, and that’s why we trust Him, and that’s why we put our hope in Him and our confidence in Him, and we commit our future into His hands.
So if you don’t know what the future holds, just trust God. Leave it in His hands, and He will guide us. The same hands that have guided us throughout 2021 will continue to guide us in 2022. So in 2022, God is with you. When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of God will lift up a standard against him. When we go through the valley of the shadow of death, the Lord is with us. When the fires of affliction rise high and seek to consume us, the Lord will shelter us. And when sickness comes in, the Lord is our healer.
I want you to go into the year confident in who God is-not in who you are, not in who your friends are, but confident in who God is. There is no assurance that there will not be turbulence on this flight of 2022, but the Lord assures us He is with us through the storm, through the fire, through the flood, and we will come through with a testimony to His glory. I believe next year, about this time, you will be here listening to this broadcast, thanking God for 2022 and getting ready for 2023. God is with us, so I encourage you to go into the future with the Lord. We believe that this year has been a fruitful year, and next year will be a year of increase for us. May the Lord increase you on every side in all that you do, in Jesus' name. Cross over well with the Lord Jesus Christ; cross over in faith and cross over with expectation that God will increase you and bless you in the coming year.
Let us pray. Say with me: Heavenly Father, thank You for bringing me to the end of the year. Today, I cross over with faith into 2022, in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. May the Lord be with you, guide you, and lead you into a prosperous and victorious year. I am Pastor Mensa Otabil. I’ll catch you again next year. Shalom, peace, and life to you.