Oct 03, 2013 1:20 pm LAY HOLD OF HIS PROMISE for you What exactly does The Holy Spirit mean by the promise of God? Is it wealth, health and power? Is it always being in constant spiritual bliss? What is the promise God has for you as a believer? To answer this question you need to identify what Canaan was to the people of God. It was their inheritance. The promise given to Abraham in Genesis. And his descendants. To you I give this land.” Some have interpreted the promise as only for Israel. It was fulfilled when Joshua entered the land and led Israel to conquer it. Others have interpreted Canaan as being heaven. God has a place prepared for you after you leave this old world. The land of Canaan is also a picture of the Spirit-filled life. The life that God intended for you as a Christian to live. There are no exceptions to this. The Spirit filled life is not just for certain advanced saints, but is provided by God for you one of His people. Beginning in chapter one, you have a marvelously descriptive picture of it: Moses my servant is dead now therefore arise, go over to Jordan, you and all my people, to the land which I am giving them... The land is given to the people of Israel, just as the life in Christ is available to you absolutely without effort on your part. In the third verse notice that although the land has been given, it needs to be possessed. Title to it is the gift of God; possession of it is result of an obedient walk. Every place that the sole of your feet will tread upon I have given to you, as I said to Moses... The idea is, you can have all that you will take. You can have every bit of the spiritual life that you want. You will never get any more. God will never give you more that you are ready to take. So if you are not satisfied with the degree of your real experience of victory, it is because you haven’t really wanted any more. You can have all that you want. Then the land is described as abundant and far reaching. A land in which you will find all you need, in every area of life. A land flowing with milk and honey (3:8) From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the Great River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the Sun shall be your territory. But you will find that it is also a land of both conflict and victory. No man shall be able to stand against you all the days of your life, as I was with Moses So I will be with you. I will never leave you or forsake you. One of the first things you learn in coming into this place of walking in the Spirit is that although it is a place of conflict, every conflict can have victory. God said, be strong and of good courage; for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and courageous. Did you notice that God put the promise in the past tense? “I have given it to you as I said to Moses. How often you have asked God for blessings that are already yours in Christ. Paul wrote, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places with Christ.(Eph.1:3) The secret to walking in the blessing of the Spirit, is simple obedience to His Written word. An obedient heart brings the empowering Spirit. That is life in the land. LIVE IN HIS PRESENCE The secret of living in the land includes both a promise and a presence. Why do you suppose Joshua needed to be reminded by the Lord three times to be strong and courageous? Obviously his track record in the wilderness, gave evidence that he was a man of confident faith in God. Why then did he need to be encouraged not to be afraid? Joshua was Moses servant, not his second in command. When Moses was considering a successor, Joshua did not even come to mind. Caleb perhaps. Maybe one of his sons. But Joshua? He was a soldier and a general, but he was mostly a servant. An errand boy. An Joshua was content to be just that. No one was more grieved at Moses passing then Joshua. When the call for Joshua to succeed Moses, his heart must have skipped a beat.” What me? Be strong means that he felt weak. Be of good courage means that he was frightened. Be not dismayed means that he seriously considered whether he had the ‘right stuff’ to accomplish the call. This is an encouragement to you. Maybe you feel weak, frightened and dismayed at the thought of serving God. Many use the excuse, I am nothing. I don’t have any talent. I am too weak to do anything.” Yet that is exactly who God chooses to use. Weak vessels like you. Listen to what The Holy Spirit says in 2 Cor.4:7 You have this treasure in an earthen vessel, a power from God and not of you. The treasure is the Holy Spirit and the gospel of Christ. The earthen vessel is you. God has chosen to use weak, worthless, common clay pots like you to empower with His Spirit. This is in order that He would receive the glory not you. So God says be of Good courage. God does not ask Joshua to do something without the promise of being there to stand right with him. This is still true today. God will not ask you to do anything without also being there to enable you to do it! God will never waver in his promise to be with you. Jesus issued this same statement in Matthew 28:20 ‘and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surly I am with you always, to the very end of the age. The God who calls you will always be there beside you. This is God’s commitment to you! God demonstrated this truth to Moses, Joshua and for you too! CONCLUSION: The bible likens your Christian walk to a battle field. The Holy Spirit says, that you are in a spiritual war. As a wise soldier, you need to arm yourself appropriately. However, all the armour in the world will be impotent if the communication line between the soldier and commander in chief are in disarray. It is crucial that you listen to the right voice. There is the voice of the enemy (Satan), who roars like a lion, seeking whom he may devour. His voice is loud, intimidating and paralyzing. If you listen to him, you will be frozen in your tracks and not move anywhere Then there is the voice of the inhabitants of the land. The world that does not want the light of the Gospel to expose its sin. If you listen to their voice, then you will become distracted from the mission God has called you too. Then there is the voice of the critics in your own camp. These are beliefs, who may have tried to go forward, but for one reason or another experienced failure. Their attitude is, if they could not enter in, then no one else can. If you listen to their voice, then you will become equally discouraged and be tempted to turn back from the conflict. That leaves one final voice. It is a strong yet comforting voice a challenging but not overbearing voice. It is a firm but loving voice. It is God’s voice. He is telling you as He told Joshua to have courage. Do not be discouraged and be strong. I will always be with you! With ME you will be invincible. You will never be without His presence. And you will never fail when you walk in obedience to His voice.
Posted on: Thu, 03 Oct 2013 18:20:45 +0000
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