"And they returned from searching of the land after forty days... And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there (giants)... And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report of the land..."
~Numbers 13:25, 27-28, 30-32
I am reading in Numbers now and am at the part where the children of Israel have spied out the promised land and brought back an evil report of the land. As I read I can hear my God say to me:
"This is you! Will you go up and take what is promised? You have been set free and unchained from sin, you have tasted of the promised land; but have you gone up and claimed it for your God? Even though there are giants in the land, walled cities, and 31 hostile empires. Even though the giants of sleep, popularity, worry, and busyness live there. Will you trust what your God has told you? Am I trustworthy? Do you trust my Word when He says that He will drive out the nations before you and make the walled cities to crumble?
Knowing about the promised land and how to rise up and take it is useless unless you exert by faith the grace, power, and wisdom given to you in Christ to claim your body, soul, heart, mind, life, and very existence for the Living God alone. Will you sit quietly in your knowledge, (knowing what you should do and yet not doing it), or will you rise up to battle for what rightfully belongs to your Prince?
Now is the time my daughter. Now you must make a decision. Are you with me or are you against me? I will give you every last thing you need to live for me, and the result will be fulness of joy, peace that passes understanding, and life abundant. All flowing from the ultimate gift: JESUS.
Are you with the fearful and idolatrous children of Israel, or are you with Joshua, Caleb, Moses, and Aaron? The end of the multitude was wandering the desert for 40 years and death. While the end of the few was life with God, favor with God, the honor of bearing the name, nature, and essence of the coming Messiah, victory over the giants at an impossibly old age, and entrance into the very near presence of God. Which will you choose?"
"Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying, Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness.
And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying, The Lord is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.
Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.
And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word: But truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:
But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it."
~Numbers 14:15-24
This call to action rouses and stirs my soul. But as a wise and devoted preacher once said, "What's the use of being challenged if we are not changed?"
P.S. God gave me a beautiful sunset this evening to enjoy. This is a different sunset from this summer, but still beautiful!
