“Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise (Hebrews 10:35-36).
When it comes right down to it, we choose to believe the things that we want to believe whether they are correct or our own wishful thinking. You would think that the Israelites would have had a better attitude when they were delivered from Egyptian bondage and led to the Promised Land; after all, they had God on their side.
Shouldn’t going in to possess the land be a piece of cake? Didn’t God lead them out of Egypt? Didn’t the Lord part the Red Sea? And certainly, we couldn’t forget how God caused manna to rain down from heaven to feed them on a daily basis. It wasn’t a week’s supply—it was fresh every day except the Sabbath. On the day before the Sabbath, they gathered enough for two days.
They were never hungry; but still, they chose to complain. They’d lament that back in Egypt they could have all of the onions and garlic that they wanted. Or, they might say things like, if they hadn’t left from Egypt they wouldn’t be wandering around in the wilderness. Do you get the impression that maybe, the Israelites made a choice to chronically complain rather than to believe God?
Out of twelve spies sent out to search the land, only two had a positive report. The other ten spies saw the same promised land, criticized their abilities, and doubted God would give them the land. Joshua and Caleb had a different view because they looked at the situation through God’s eyes. They believed that God was able to deliver the giants into their hands and that they could go in and possess the land.
Can we possess God’s promises for this year? Whose report you believe depends on whose eyes you are looking through. I, for one, believe in the report of the Lord. There is nothing that I need that he won’t supply if I believe. If there are mountains in your life, you can speak to the mountain and tell it to move. The mountain will stay if you don’t believe, but if you believe, then you can watch the mountain crumble by the power that is within you. The spies went to search out the land that flowed with milk and honey, but their lack of confidence in God’s ability and willingness to help them cost them the promised Land!
Whose report will you believe? We shall believe the report of the Lord. His report says, I am healed; his report says, I am filled; his report says, I am free; his report says, victory. Joshua and Caleb gave a good report and they were the only two of the original Israelites who left out of Egypt to cross over into the Promised Land.
It’s perfect time to renew our commitments. I’m more convinced than ever that we’re living in a time where being faithful is crucial. We don’t know the day nor the hour that the Lord will return, and we aren’t guaranteed that we’ll even have enough time to do the work that he’s called us to do if he delays his coming. What we can know is that until he comes, we must work!
Whose report will you believe? It’s not too late to start building a legacy with fresh commitments and a new vision; aren’t you ready to invest in something that will reward you for eternity? Here are some scriptures that have encouraged me when I felt that I was losing the battle:
“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: (Philippians 1:6)
“But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).
8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
11 For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
12 So then death worketh in us, but life in you.
13 We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;
14 Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.
15 For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:8-18, King James Version (KJV)
The things in our lives that used to weigh us down with the cares of this world, no longer have a hold on us, when we learn to trust God. In this week’s Lattereign we discuss the awesome power of God that can destroy the yoke through the anointing.
In the Time of the Lattereign 