Promised Land

 

RelianceOnGrace

Promised Land

 

I was listening to the Toby Mac song Promised Land the other day and started thinking about how God is our promised land. Today it is more of a spiritual promised land, meaning our connection, guidance and protection with God rather than the physical land promised to the Israelite people of the Old Testament.

Matthew 4:17 tells us:

From the time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Jesus began with this message and continued it throughout His ministry here on earth. He continually referenced the kingdom in His teachings.

This tells me that Jesus brought the kingdom of heaven with Him to earth and made it available to us, this is our promised land.

Just like the Israelites, we must follow God’s instruction in order to possess the promised land in our lives today. God gave instructions for the possession of the promised land to Israel, and I would like for us to look at it so we can see how it pertains to us today. I am not going to list out all the scriptures so you will need to read them fully yourselves, but I would like to list out the instructions that God referenced in Numbers 33:50-56.

1.      Verse 51            Cross over the Jordan into the land

2.      Verse 52            Drive out all the inhabitants of the land

                          Destroy all their figured stones

                          Destroy their molten images

                          Demolish all their high places

3.      Verse 53            Take possession of the land and live in it

 

We have a part to play in living in the kingdom of heaven.

God has shared His kingdom with us because of His love and grace!

 

1.      We are a participant in this kingdom life that God has freely given to us. Everything that He has given to us is through His grace and we receive it through our faith, which He also gave us.

Ephesians 2:8               For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.

Romans 5:1-2               Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

2.      The process of driving out the inhabitants, molten images, and high places is the renewing of our minds. In Matthew 4:17 referenced above, Jesus says to repent. The word “repent” in the Greek is “metanoeo” meaning to think differently or afterwards. We are to change the way we think about things and come into line with the way Jesus thinks because kingdom living is different than living in the world.  Meaning, we don’t just go with how we have always done or thought about things. We open our minds to the Holy Spirit and let Him influence how we think, using Jesus as our example.

 

3.      Then we take possession of what God has so graciously given to us. We do this by making His word a priority in our lives. In every situation we look to God and see what He would have us do. Speaking God’s word over our lives and our situations is also key. I don’t mean just saying what you want out of any situation. We speak what God says in His written word or when He speaks a personal Word directly to us. God is continually speaking to us and the only questions is, are we listening? He has a solution for everything that we come against before we even have the problem, so if we are listening for His word, we can keep walking in our kingdom life. Many times, we will decide what we want to do and then ask God to make it happen. That is not how kingdom life works. Caleb heard what God said about the promised land and wanted to act on what God had said to do.  

Numbers 13:30            Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.”

 

Learn from Jesus to live in the promised land.  

Jesus only said what the Father said (John 12:49-50). He spoke God’s word continually over His

own earthly life and over everyone He came into contact with.

God’s word is powerful and it accomplishes what it is sent to do. (Isaiah 55:11)

If we are speaking the word over our lives, we are saying what God says and it will have the same effect

in our lives as it did for Jesus.

 

Finally, I would like to look at what happens when we do not follow God’s instructions for entering the

promised land. Whenever we are struggling or running up against opposition in our lives, it’s time to

evaluate our thinking to see if there is an area that we need to address. We can ask God to show us

where our thinking is not lining up with His and ask Him to help us in this area.

 

Numbers 33:55            But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come about that those whom you let remain of them will become as pricks in your eyes and as thorns in your sides, and they will trouble you in the land in which you live.

 

We aren’t going to be on the mark 100% of the time because I think only Jesus could do that but we

 can intentionally live by His example of making God’s word a priority in every area of our lives. We can

invite God into every area of our everyday life and watch how His grace will influence our attitudes and

bring us peace in knowing that His plan is better than anything we could think of.

 

Romans 14:17              for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

 

 

 

 

Life Lessons From a Cat?

 

Life has its ups and downs and sometimes we wonder why bad things happen to us.  

Anyone who knows us, knows that we love animals, and we have plenty of them. They bring us happiness along with frustration at times and also some heartache, but we love them.  Interactions with my animals can teach me a little about life and how I can avoid some of the “bad” that happens, believe it or not.

We recently adopted two kittens named Bo and Buddy. They were very small when we received them, and they are both super loving outdoor cats. Buddy is curious and loves to be in the middle of everything going on.  He usually walks with me out to the chicken coop to collect eggs so today was no different. I noticed a large fire ant mound right by the chicken coop. I did not know what fire ants were until I moved to Texas and let me tell you, I could have done without knowing. They are little black and red ants that will swarm whatever is a perceived threat to them and start stinging it. I see that Buddy is walking right to the ant mound, so I tell him to stop, don’t go over there a couple times. Now we all know that cats are not good at listening to commands, well, this one is no different.  Buddy walks right over and stands almost on top of the fire ant mound and they are swarming. I snatched him off the mound as soon as I could, but it was too late. He took off like a rocket when the ants started stinging him. I didn’t see him for a while but when I did, he didn’t want anything to do with me. My normally loving cat was staying as far away from me as he could.

What do you think was running through his mind? Maybe he was thinking I’m not going near her because she allowed me to get hurt or maybe, I’m not going to her because she caused this to happen.

Do we ever do this in life? Maybe this is how we think of God at times?

What happened today was: Buddy didn’t listen to the clear warning given to him because he was too busy doing his own thing and it could have been much worse if I hadn’t snatched him off the ant mound when I did.

Maybe we could all learn a lesson here about listening to wisdom even when we don’t fully understand.

Prosperity and Success

 

 

 

Prospering and Success

Joshua 1:8      This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it, for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.

This was God’s direct command to Joshua because Joshua had a big responsibility. He was to lead God’s people into the plan that God had for them all along. 

How do we interpret this command today?

Don’t we all want to prosper and have success?

 Let’s break this down:

 

This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth…

At the time this was written it meant keeping the commandments, but it also meant that Joshua had to seek God in every decision and follow through on what He told him to do. Joshua was making life and death decisions because they were about to go to battle and in order to keep the people safe, it had to be done God’s way.

Some may say that this does not really apply to today, but it does, more than we think. We go to battle every day and the battle is in our minds.  In Hebrews 8:10 we are told that the new covenant gives us better access to God’s word because they are written in our minds and in our hearts. Not only do we have the written word of God in the form of the bible but now we have access to all He wants to tell us personally. All we must do is ask Him directly.

 

but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it…

God has given us access to Himself. His wisdom, knowledge, direction and so much more. All we must do is ask and then listen. Think about what God said about putting His laws in our hearts and in our minds. God’s laws are His direction for our lives, so this means that He will speak His wisdom, His knowledge, His direction and so much more directly into your heart and your mind. When He does, your part is to keep your focus on what He said and then do it. Sometimes this can be hard to do so I have started writing down what I hear and keep it in front of me, so I don’t lose it.

 

for then you will make your way prosperous…

Some may think that this part of the verse is completely about money and that may be the wrong focus here. While money may be part of prosperity, it is not all of it. I believe that a larger part of it is a sound mind. God says He has given us a sound mind in 2 Timothy 1:7. A sound mind is free from fear and full of peace. We are talking about good mental health here. Living in the freedom of knowing that you have a God who wants to walk this life out with you and guide you into His perfect plan. Even when things don’t go exactly as you think they should, you can know that it will all work out better for you in the end if you keep your focus on Him. You may have to remind yourself continuously of what you were told by God. It will not be easy at first, but it is worth the effort because the struggle to keep your mind focused on Him becomes easier over time and practice.

 

and then you will have success.

Success is not always going to be visible outwardly at first. You will notice that things that used to bother you do not anymore. Then you will notice that your thoughts automatically go to God’s word when something comes up in your life. You will have peace. Peace in knowing that you are not tied to opinions and expectations from the world. Your peace will come from knowing that all you do is in response to a God who is caring and patient and kind and who will guide and protect you in the journey.

 

This is prosperity and success to me.

A Spiritual House

 

A Spiritual House

 

The bible tells us that Jesus went proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom. He said, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well, for I was sent for this purpose.” Luke 4:43

 

This kingdom is something you cannot touch or physically see but He told us that the kingdom of God is at hand. So how are we in this kingdom?

 

Peter explains this to us in 1 Peter 2:4-5:

And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

 

Peter is giving us a physical example (a stone) of what each of our spirits are in the kingdom of God. Of course, we are living stones because everything that is in God is living. When we were born again, our spirits were revived and now are living in Jesus. That connection with Jesus has brought us to life in the kingdom of God and now we have that connection to God.

Peter has firsthand knowledge of this because Jesus renamed him “the rock” in 

Matthew 16:18:

“I also say to you that you are Peter, upon this rock I will build My church and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”

 

The word Peter in the Greek is Petros, meaning a piece of rock. The Greek word for rock in this scripture is Petra, meaning a mass of rock.

Very enlightening when you look at the full meaning of these words.

Jesus told Peter that he would be a rock, one of many that would make a massive rock and that would be His church. We are living stones and part of that massive rock that is His church when we are born again.

This massive rock is resting in and on Jesus who is the cornerstone and the foundation of it all. (Isaiah 28:16)

So why go through all this detail?

Well, when we can have a mental picture of a house being built stone by stone, we can start to understand that there really is a spiritual house built on the foundation of Jesus, and we are living in it. Each week there are many spiritual houses gathering and that makes up the kingdom. When we can see ourselves connected like that around the world, I believe it will make God’s kingdom stronger.

Unity in the kingdom of God is what it is going to take in these last days. Jesus said “the gates of hades will not overpower it” meaning that when the kingdom is all of one accord there is nothing that can stop it.

Let’s be of one accord in Jesus. This does not mean that everyone will agree on everything. But if we just live in God’s will for our lives, we will be of one accord.

What is that?

I Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

When our focus is continuously on our King, the kingdom will be unstoppable.

 

 

 

 

Trust

 

Trust

Where do you place your trust?

In your abilities? In other people? In money?

We all place our trust somewhere.

When we place our trust, we do it because we believe we know what the outcome will be.

If I do this, then this will happen. But will it?

Do we really know what the future holds? We like to think we do.

 

The ultimate example of trust is Jesus, of course, but I think David gives us a wonderful example of where to place our trust.

 

Psalm 27:13-14

I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord.

 

David is telling us that believing that the Lord is good, and He will take care of us will give us hope.

David believed that He would see God’s goodness in all his circumstances.

Now you may be thinking, easier said than done and I would agree with you.

David gives us the key when he says, “wait on the Lord”. This does not mean sit around do nothing.

The word for wait in Hebrew is qavah, which means, “to bind together”.

David is telling us to bind ourselves together with God. What does that mean?

Binding together with someone is to become so intimately acquainted with them that you know how they think, and you know how they will react.

We can have that type of relationship with God, but it takes time. The more time you spend with God the more you will begin to trust Him with your life.

It may not be easy at first, in fact, it will probably be a little scary.

Given time, your trust will grow, and you know that you are trusting God when the first thing that comes up in you is that God is good, and He will take care of me in this.

That is what I am striving for in every area of life. Do you want to join me?

 

 

RelianceOnGrace.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Abel

 

Abel

Hebrews 11:4     By faith, Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.

Why is it that when we read the story of Cain and Abel, our focus is on what Cain did?

We do need to look at what Cain did and understand that what he did was wrong. It is interesting that even when we refer to the story we say, “Cain and Abel”, we don’t mention Abel without first saying Cain.

When I read this scripture in Hebrews, I want to shine a light on what Abel did because God testified about his gifts. It also says that Abel still speaks so there is something in his story that will speak to us even today.

 

The first children born on this earth can tell us about our humanity in the decision to place our trust in God or trusting in other sources. I believe that this is a fundamental truth that will define our walk in this life on earth.

When you look at the life of Abel, he placed a priority on His relationship with God in that he offered the firstlings of his flock and their fat portions. (Genesis 4:4)

What does that mean? The flock was their livelihood and the first born of the flock would be considered extremely important and celebrated since the gestation period of sheep would have been approximately five months. In the business world you would look at growing your flock so every birth would be important to your future but the first would be the most important, they are the beginning.

 

I also want to look at the fact that Abel’s parents were Adam and Eve. He would have been told the story of what happened in the garden and the curse that his parents, including him and his brother, now lived under because of what they did. The ground was cursed because of them, and they would have to toil (labor or pain) to produce from it. Thorns and thistles would come up from it, meaning that there would be less for their livestock to eat. (Genesis 3:17-19)

 

When you look at the circumstances surrounding Abel, it is easy to see that he had a choice to make. Am I going to look at the future of my flock, the curse that my family lives under, or my own abilities? Or am I going to look to and celebrate my God. He may have been told not to depend on God for anything, but he chose to offer up the very first of what he thought to be important in his and his family’s life.

God looks upon the heart, so we are not talking about actions here. Abel’s actions represented what was in his heart.

Trust, how can we trust what we don’t know. Apparently, Abel knew deep down that God is good or why would he make this offering.

Today may be a day that we need to make a choice to tune out all the things that would negatively affect our opinion of what God will or will not do for us. To make a choice that a relationship with God, seeking His presence in my life, is the only way to get to know His heart for us.

I want God to testify of my gifts! I am not wanting any recognition but just knowing that God knows my heart is for Him.

 

RelianceOnGrace.com

Believe

 

Believe

I find it interesting that during the holiday season the easiest movies to find are about believing in Santa Claus. Children and adults alike, are to believe in Santa in order to have the spirit of the season. When you look at the concept of believing, it is a beautiful thing. What we believe directs our lives. I think this is what these movies are trying to portray.  Our beliefs can lead us in the right direction or can lead us astray. I think everyone wants to believe in something good and beautiful, but it depends on the road you have been dealt in life on whether you can. Positive thinking is just not enough, we must believe in something, it’s called hope. Hope of a good future, hope that there is still good in people. Placing our hope in the right place is the key and believing in something bigger that what we have right now is vital.

 

Mark 9:23            And Jesus said to him, “If You can? All things are possible to him who believes.”

John 6:47             “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life”

Ephesians 1:18-19            

                        I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.

 

When we look at these verses, it is easy to see that God is asking us to believe in Him, but it goes much deeper than that. He is asking us to entrust everything we have to Him along with our belief. Our everyday life and our future. I think it is easier for us to trust God with our future, where we are going after we leave this life, but I think it is much harder for us to trust Him with everything in the moment of here and now. There is a hope in His calling for our lives. When we let go of the everyday worries of life and fix our hearts on Him, wonderful things happen. I’m not saying that life becomes perfect, but our perspective on life changes and that changes everything. I pray today that you will find comfort in Him, that you will come to know His precious plan for you and the hope that only lies in His presence.

He is the reason for the season!!!

 

 

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