Living by Faith is for the Courageous!

(Num 13:1,2 NIV)  The Lord said to Moses, “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.”

This morning we continue our new series entitled, “Faith and Patience VOL III – Never Give Up!”  For the next couple of days we will look at the situation the Israelites went through when the Lord was attempting to give them the Promised Land (Canaan).

The Israelites had been in bondage under the captivity of the Egyptians for 400 years and their time was deliverance had come.  This was obviously not news to God.  God declares the end from the beginning (Isa 46:10) and He had certainly done so in this case.  Way back in Genesis the Lord said to Abraham, “You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years” (Gen 15:13).  The time of deliverance came, the Father sent Moses to lead His people out, and after all the challenges Moses faced with Pharaoh led them out of Egypt with great possessions (which was also foretold to Abraham by God in Genesis 15).  At the end of Genesis 15 the Lord made a covenant with Abraham and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates—the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites” (Gen 15:18-21).  Do you know what land the Lord was promising here?  It was the land of Canaan, the Promised Land.

Now fast forward over 400 years and Moses is the new leader of these newly freed people.  They are no longer slaves, they have great possessions, and the Lord wanted to bless them even more by giving them the Promised Land.  Surely, the promise made to Abraham had been passed down from generation to generation.  Although they were born slaves, they had to know that some day their nation would be free and they would possess the Promised Land.  Well, guess what?  That time had come.  The Lord said to Moses, “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites.  From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.”  Notice the language.  We already know that the land was promised to them centuries earlier.  We already know that everything that happened to them had been foretold to their ancestor.  This was their time to possess the promise!  The Lord Himself said that He was giving them the land.  The problem is the land was inhabited by giants and they would have to fight for it.  We will stop here for today.

So what does this mean to you today?

1.  Now matter how haywire your life may seem from time to time, God already knew the path you would take, before you were even born, and He made plans for your to be blessed.

2.  There will come a time when your season is due.  The question is: will you be ready?

3.  Taking the person out of Egypt is a lot easier than taking Egypt out of the person.  For you to walk in God’s best you must embrace where you are NOW and stop living in your past.

4.  To take possession of the promises of God you will often have to face opposition!  But don’t lose heart; living by faith is for the courageous!

Closing Confession:  Father, I thank You for the plans You made for my life, before I was ever born.  Like Jeremiah, I was ordained for a specific assignment before my mother met my father.  Like Paul, You separated me from my Mother’s womb and called me by Your grace.  You have an assignment for my life and I declare, by faith, that I shall fulfill it before I die.  To do so I know I must release the mentality I had before I came to You.  I must embrace the mentality Your Word teaches me to embrace.  This way I can enter every day with the confidence of knowing that what You have destined for me to have, will come to pass in my life, no matter how long it is seemingly taking.  I refuse to give up, cave in, or quit.  If I have to fight, I am ready to fight the fight of faith.  Opposition will not keep me from Your best!  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

This is Today’s Word!  Apply it and Prosper!