February 25th

February 25th

The Lord told Joshua and the Israelites as they were about to head into the promised land to be strong and courageous and not be discouraged or afraid. Now since they were walking in to the “land flowing with milk and honey,” the promised land, why didn’t He just say, “hey you have nothing to be afraid of, it’s just a land of abundance where you will prosper greatly” ? 

There are a few things to realize about our “promised lands” in life and we can take a lesson and gain understanding from the Israelites and Joshua back then. This land flowing with milk and honey also had enemies and challenges. If you read Deuteronomy and Joshua you will see that there were many enemies to conquer in this land and challenges to overcome. First of all look at what God said to them.

Deuteronomy 1:8 “See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land the Lord swore he would give to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—and to their descendants after them.”

He said here is what I am giving you, now go take possession of it. He didn’t say, wait here while I go take possession of it. He commissioned them to go and do it, with His blessing because He was giving it to them. This is the same with us, our commission is to go and make disciples. We have to act on that directive, just as the Israelites had to act on His directive back then. We have to obey, just like they had to obey. We have to trust God to do the rest, just like they had to trust Him to do the rest. We have to act, obey, and trust, not sit in the room waiting on room service.

When they obeyed they received a land of abundance, when we obey we receive abundant life.

In the midst of the abundance are the challenges and enemies. Nothing has changed, we still face challenges and enemies as we endeavor to obey. One of the challenges we face is the pushback that we get from those around us (sometimes even from those in our own “camp”) whether they realize it or not. The enemy will do everything he can to prevent us from obeying the Lord and sometimes that is through sowing doubt or fear even through those we are closest to in our life. Look further down in the same chapter of Deuteronomy and for more detail Numbers chapters 13 and 14. Moses sent 12 spies to the promised land to scout it out and report back. 10 of them said there were giants in that land that made the Israelites look like grasshoppers in their own eyes and in the eyes of the giants. They said there was no way to defeat them. Only 2 spies (Joshua and Caleb) said that there was nothing that God could not help them defeat.

Numbers 13:31-33 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

Numbers 14:6-9 Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”

Notice the way the enemy used fear to prevent those 10 from desiring to obey God. They not only viewed the people there as giants, it also affected their perception of themselves. They called themselves grasshoppers and they went as far as to say that the people in the land viewed them as grasshoppers as well. So their perception of themselves and their enemies and the whole situation was affected. As a result, they refused to agree to obedience. In addition, when Caleb and Joshua stood up and pointed out that the Lord would make victory possible, the 10 who were fearful, managed to get all of Israel riled up and speaking out against going in obedience. Therefore, God had them turn back and wander the desert until that generation died off. Only Caleb and Joshua from that generation were allowed to enter the Promised Land.

Joshua and Caleb had their eyes and faith on the Lord, the other 10 spies (along with the rest of Israel) had their eyes on the potential problems!

We have to remember this tactic of the enemy and be sure to keep our eyes on Jesus and walk in faith and obedience to HIM.

Jesus thank you for being the God of the impossible. Help me to remember to keep my eyes on you not the situation or the “giants” that I might face. Help me to refuse to get hung up on the “what ifs” and instead purposely stand on the “Who is.” Thank you for your help, remind me to ask you for your help regularly.