March 27, 2017 GIVE ME THIS MOUNTAIN
Joshua 14:11-13: “I am still as strong today as the day of Moses sent me out; I am 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, the son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance.”
The story of Caleb is one of my favorites in all of scripture. Forty five years before this account of Joshua, Caleb was one of the ten spies Moses sent to spy out the land of Canaan that God had promised to give them. The spies returned and gave their report that it was indeed a beautiful and productive land, but said that because the men who occupied the land were like giants and the cities were fortified, they would not be able to overcome them. But in Numbers 13:30, we find Caleb’s report: “Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, ‘Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.’” Because of unbelief and fear, the people refused to go and take possession of the land and as a result, they continued to wander in the wilderness for forty five years! (I wonder how Caleb dealt with the forty five years of wondering in the wilderness when he knew that they could be living in the land of Canaan.) One thing for sure, Caleb never gave up on what God had promised. Caleb was not afraid of the giants because he knew that God was stronger than any giant and was able to fulfill every promise. The difference between Caleb and the other spies was that he believed God. For us as well, believing God is the difference maker. God has spoken through His word, and sometimes He speaks to us in our spirit in a personal way, but in both cases we can be sure that He will perform what He has said. There are times when He performs His word immediately, and there are times when there is a delay, be He always fulfills His word. Just as with Caleb, believing God produces confidence and gives us energy to pursue the promises of God. For certain, the aging process is real and we will eventually loose strength and stamina, but it also true that we “can do all things through Him who strengthens us.” (Philippians 4:13) The lesson for us from the life of Caleb is that believing what God has said will come to pass, motivates and causes us to pursue what He has said with all of our strength. There should be no retirement from being about what God has promised.
Romans 4:20-21: “He staggered not at the promises of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that, what He has promised, He was also able to perform.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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