Go for the best?
Start with your ideal and end with your limitation
Best is in accordance with God's promise.
What is the promise
Don't reduce that promise, hold onto that promise and pray
Do not quit until you receive God's best
Now the people of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly. So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.’ “Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.” Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly. (Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba after Arba, who was the greatest man among the Anakites.) Then the land had rest from war. (Joshua 14:6-15 NIV)
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
13:31-33 NIV)
The Lord replied, “I have forgiven them, as you asked. Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times— not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very thing I heard you say: (Numbers
14:20-24, 28 NIV)
Caleb has
- A different spirit -
- That holds on to God's promise in the highest esteem (what are you holding onto? Have you ever rested on what god has said?)
- He is with you (Jehovah jireh, etc..)
- Seek only the kingdom of God (mat 6:33)
- Obey my instructions carefully (restore a god-seeking heart - seek, test my will, and follow it - then you will be prosperous and successful - eg when you are studying)
- Because of the challenges, therefore you pray
- Pray in accordance to the promise (eg, since you know the promise, confirm it even if you feel lousy - confirm your identity, focus on the kingdom once again, seek and test his will - first point)
- Because it is hard on the outside, therefore we need to pray. Depends on nothing else (positive outcomes) but on god alone. Pray to not lose faith in the absolute promise of God.
- Sustaining and growing in faith
- Pray till start enjoying daily walk with The Lord
- No longer struggling for the problem or enduring the problem.
Caleb was 45 yo when he held onto the promises above - God then punished his people for 40y. A person would not have remembered the promises, but what Caleb had been doing? He was praying, looking to god. When Daniel was in captivity, he looked to Jerusalem. When Paul was persecuted, he was looking to Rome and Spain - to run the race and end with lord. They were all praying in concordance to the spirit.
If you are not praying, your subconscious mind will have a lot of belief that impede you from walking this path.
When you made resolution with God, but if it didn't come from a different spirit, it will not last
For Caleb, it was a test of time. The time proved it.
The Lord replied, “I have forgiven them, as you asked. Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times— not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very thing I heard you say: (Numbers
14:20-24, 28 NIV)
- Y have tested me 10 times. No matter how many miracles I showed you, you always inclined to your old faith, you always go against me no matter what I have done for you
- Every time the word is preached for, what god wants to do is to give you a different spirit --> a spirit of listening to God first, to humble people
2. 3 things to overcome
- The mindset of tininess/ weaknesses
- 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 13:33NIV)
- The feeling of inadequacy
- Israelites carried the mindset of slavery / we are not gifted enough
- Restore I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20
- God gave you the life of Christ first that makes you so dignified and precious, then your conditions are made unique
- Pray till you receive the mindset
- Nephilim - the spiritual giants (the people whom others look up to, making you inferior so tremendously) = Anakites = Giants
- We all have giants in life - we feel discouraged when facing it
- Not a one off proclamation of faith
- The promise of God has to be in you long enough that your whole dignity etc is rest upon thst promise until it becomes you nature --> then conquering them is easy
- All problems are meant to train you to be rooted in the promise so thst when you face the giants, you can overcome them
- Old age (grey hair)
- Reality!
- There is a supernatural in the reality - when your heart is bent on following god to the end, the supernatural providence will come!
- Know the will of god - heart set on finishing the will of god
3. Follow The Lord wholeheartedly
- Test our motives for The Lord - what do you really want in your life?
- When you follow The Lord, you will have unexplained joy and courage in you to face the challenges. No reproach in life.
- Be different because of the truth
- Accept the Lord's perfect guidance with a prayerful heart - when you feel thst it is unfair, look to The Lord and pray, all things work for the good of those who love him
- Learn real lessons on humility and submission
- Be wholehearted in the conquest