We thank God for the day He has given. As we were singing, ‘Here I am!’, it takes my time to say, ‘Here I am!’. It took time for Moses to say, ‘Here I am”, as we know that Moses was a very bold man. And till the time he came to the burning bush, it took time and at one point of the time, he said, “Here I am!”. Also, Isaiah when he saw the glory of God, he was saying, “Here I am Lord!”. Dear brothers and sisters, are we able to say, “Lord there are no demands, I can come before you Lord. Here I am. Lord, mold me and make me after thy will”. This is also my prayer today. I thank God for giving me one more time to share. Whenever I am given the task of sharing the Word, I pray to the Lord, “Lord, first let this Word break me, so that, that life can come. The life can come only through brokenness.
The Lord ,through another message, gave me a confirmation that, “You are a child of God”. 1 John 3:1 says that, “how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are.” When we see He has given us an opportunity to be called as a child of God, dear brothers and sisters, there’s always an area, where we can go away from that. We need to have a cry in our heart, need to cling to the Lord to help us. I can see small children over there, that whenever they are in need of something, they cling to their fathers. Because they have confidence. Are we too, having that confidence in our hearts, where we can come to the Lord, asking the Lord, His mercies.
The Word which blessed me today is, which came to my heart is from, Romans 8:15 says, “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”. Here it says, we have not received a spirit of fear. Dear brothers and sisters, we are the children of God and we are bound with God. Here it says that, there are areas which, by the way of fear, that bondage is coming to us. What is it that, which is bringing us here? Our self-will. There are areas where, the sin of this world, which is clinging to us, and that is the fear which is coming between us. Here, it says that, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!. Are we able to cry out to God, “Abba! Father! Help me! Help me from my unbelief.” We read in Romans 7:18, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; I have a desire to do Gods will. But I cannot do. Something is there which is taking me off. for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.” Every time that evil is coming in me, that good is not coming. I have a desire to do Gods will, Lord. But something is there, which is taking me off. V19,20, says, “For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.” V24,25 “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from [the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! It is only through Jesus Christ, dear brothers and sisters, we have the salvation.
Romans 8:1 says, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, dear brothers and sisters. And it says that, v2, v3 says, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh.” Here it says, His son in the likeness of sinful flesh, the flesh which you and I have got. As an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh. V6 says, “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.” Dear brothers and sisters, it says that, the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. Whenever the mind is set on the flesh, when we think of the world, there are many giants over there, which are holding aside. At one point of time, where I could see very big giants. One of the giants is the fear. It says, God has not given us a spirit of fear. There are lot of fears. For younger children there is a fear of exam. When I was young, I used to think the same, when can I be free from that fear of exams. There was constant fear of exams, performing well, fear of getting humiliated by others. Here it says that, we have not received a spirit of slavery., leading to fear but we have received a spirit of adoption as sons. V17 says, “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”
He will help us, dear brothers and sisters, here it says, “if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” It’s clear that there is a suffering dear brothers and sisters. “and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ “. He suffered denying His own will. He will give us the resurrected life. He will help us. In terms of the battle which Israelites had, we see that the spies were sent to Canaan. The fears they had. Moses appointed 12 men, a man from each of their fathers’ tribes, everyone a leader among them. Among the majority of them, we see there are two people there, having the fear of God. V23, then they came to the valley of Eshcol and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two men, with some of the pomegranates and the figs. When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, Thus they told him, and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.”
We see here that the land is full of milk and honey. Full of natural resources and is rich. This land was given to the Israelites to conquer. When they saw all the descendants of Anak, Amalek, Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living there, they were gripped with fear, as the people living there were strong and the cities were fortified with very large walls. Israelites got actual report of what they saw. In the light of this, this was the actual scan report they got. When we have our scan taken, for our body, and when we see lot of things, where the parameters varying from the actual healthy parameters range, we become a little scared. Slowly, thoughts come up. Satan is putting his grip on us. These giants are strong. We need to overcome with Gods help.
Caleb, was not among the majority, who were scared of those giants. Caleb quietened the people before Moses, Caleb was assuring people that we can overcome them. He was a man of fire. He says, “don’t be afraid. We should by all means go up, we will surely overcome them”. There are very strong lusts in our body. There are lusts in our body, there are desires and temptations, fears trying to overcome us. Every morning we say to God, “you have given us a beautiful land, a beautiful day and a beautiful body and I am going out with this body Lord. There are lusts, temptations, fears – fear of performance, fear of humiliation. Help me to overcome this. We can overcome this. Rely on God. We need to overcome this. Even the fear of thoughts about children. We need to overcome this. Numbers 14:6 says, “Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us—a land which flows with milk and honey.” If the Lord is pleased with us. We should not doubt. This body is exceedingly well and good. We need to believe in that. There are areas, pulling us down. Cry out to God, “Are you pleased with me Lord? Here I am!” Moses said, Here I am Lord. Isaiah said, Here I am Lord. I am submitting myself to you.
Here is when God was angry with the people. Numbers 14:24 says, “But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it.” Caleb had a different spirit. He was submitting himself to God. Every day, every hour, he’s crying out to God. Caleb has this confidence. He saw that God was holding them, when they crossed the Red sea. He knew all the promises of God. In Joshua 1 we see, verse 1, it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying, “Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory. No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go.” Here we see God speaking to Joshua, every place you put your feet, I have given it to you. No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Be strong and courageous. This is the confidence God is giving.
Romans 6:14 says, For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. God gives power. We need to cry out to God, verse 7 says, “be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night.” We need to enjoy meditating the Word of God. This will give us an overcoming life.
Joshua 3, Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and he and all the sons of Israel set out from Shittim and came to the Jordan, and they lodged there before they crossed. At the end of three days the officers went through the midst of the camp; and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God with the Levitical priests carrying it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. We see here that, two people, Joshua and Caleb took a stand. They were confident in Gods promises. They pulled people, with strength in God. The God who took us out of land of slavery, land of Egypt and helped us cross the Red sea, will surely help us to go to the promised land. God sustained us through our past years. Fears come but take a step. Cross the Jordan river. The majority or the scan report says do not go, but don’t depend on the scan report. Stay with God. We can overcome this fearful life.
In Joshua 3 we read, “Joshua said, “By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will assuredly dispossess from before you the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite. Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over ahead of you into the Jordan. Now then, take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe. It shall come about when the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, and the waters which are flowing down from above will stand in one heap. So when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant before the people, and when those who carried the ark came into the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest), the waters which were flowing down from above stood and rose up in one heap, a great distance away at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those which were flowing down toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. So the people crossed opposite Jericho. And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.”
Dear brothers and sisters, this is the confidence God is giving us, the land is given to us. No man shall be able to stand before you. God gives power. We need to lean on that. Cry out to God, Abba, Father, give me light. Have hope. We can have peace. Nothing is there, that can overtake us. Do not turn right or to the left. Meditate on His Word. This will give us an overcoming life. Are we able to do that?In Joshua 3, confidence is given to move from the place they were struck, Kadesh – barnea. The one thing we need to do is to look at the ark. Jesus. He is with you. He will help you go to the promised land. The land of peace with Jesus Christ. We see miracles of God. Are we struck in Kadesh-barnea? Have faith in God. Remember His miracles. Overcome this fearful life. God is living among you. He will remove all the “ites”. We need to take a step. Are we ready to move? We cannot do it. We need to see the ark. Jesus is with you. Take a decision to move to Jordan. Cross to the promised land, where there is rest, with Jesus.
Joshua 14, verse 7 onward, Caleb says to Joshua, “I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought word back to him as it was in my heart’ Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear; but I followed the Lord my God fully. Now behold, the Lord has let me live, just as He spoke, these forty-five years, from the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, when Israel walked in the wilderness; and now behold, I am eighty-five years old today. I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for going out and coming in.”
Caleb was 40 years old when he gave the report to Moses. Caleb is still strong when he’s 85 years old. This is the hope what God is giving us, dear brothers and sisters. He will be with us in our weakness, in our old age. There is a God who is going to help us. Caleb was full of hope, that God will help him to conquer the land. Caleb was very confident. He was very confident of his hope. This is the hope God is giving us. He will help. There are areas in our life, gripping us. But He will give us a life of rest. If we are submitting ourselves and making us available to Him, crying to our God, Abba, Father. Thank God.
