Possessing Our Spiritual Land - Day 104 Through the Bible

Wild turkeys are plentiful in our area.  Babies will soon be seen crossing the country roads behind their mothers.  A flock/brood is often seen feeding on the lawns around Mt. Celo Church

Applying the Word of God to My Daily Life

Possessing the Physical Promised Land / Possessing Our Spiritual Promised Land: (Joshua 17 and 18 and Luke 12)  I think it is not an uncommon read to correlate the OT command of going in and possessing the Promised Land - the Israelite's inheritance - with the NT command of naming/claiming/proclaiming God's promises - our spiritual inheritance.  Just as God led the Israelites through His presence in the cloud and fire, through His miraculous interventions and choices of leaders,  so God has equipped New Testament saints with His presence and power through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the subsequent command to go and preach the gospel to all nations and people.  I think it is also significant - essential - that we understand this is not an easy "believism", a simple "taking hold."  We have discussed the wars, horrors and difficulty in God's OT command to "go and possess."  The people had work to do to before obtaining the gift.  We, in the church age, also have been given our mission - to go and possess the world for Christ - which is also fraught with persecution, death, and ridicule.  But, before we can begin that call, we must possess Jesus Christ for ourselves - not merely profess Him.  This is a call to study, prayer, dedication, consecration and commitment.

Lesson / Application  - Refocus: This takes another mindset separate from that of the world - just as the Israelites learned through much backsliding.  As God led Israel away from the material giant of that day (Egypt), we are called away from the materialism-obsessed credo of the world.  As Moses, Joshua and the prophets taught and refocused the Israelites on God's laws and commands, so Jesus and His disciples continue teaching us and refocusing us through Scripture and the leading of the Holy Spirit.  We lose this divine perspective of God and His mission when we stray from Scripture, from gathering together for worship, from corporate and individual prayer which then leads to the quenching of the Spirit within us and our resultant powerlessness in the world.  When the OT leaders left the people to spend time alone with God or became too tied to the world around them, the people faltered and failed also..."for the lack of a shepherd."  Note the call of Jesus to us to refocus in Luke 12:  "Beware of the hypocrisy of the "so-called religious leaders"; what is hidden will be revealed (the inward reality is more important the outward show); don't fear men...fear God (it is the eternal - not the temporal that is of greatest importance); know that God loves you, cares about you, knows what is happening to you (trust Him even when you don't understand - He's God); confess God before man...this will count in heaven (our words carry eternal consequences); you will be forgiven if you speak a word against Me, but blaspheming the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven (there is still the sacred); the Holy Spirit will direct us in what to say when we are called before others (our time with God and in His Word informs our consciences, psyches, minds, mouths, which - in turn - impact our lives and those we touch for the kingdom of God); beware of covetousness...(it is not about the holy trinity the world teaches of me, myself and I).  There is one quintessential thing that should relieve you of worry and fear:  Seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you...(it is not treasure on earth that should be your focus but treasure in heaven - for eternity.)  Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Contemplation On Seemingly Tedious Passages: I know when God takes a significant amount of time to discuss something or to repeat it, I should pause...carefully consider it...and glean what I can from this.  When Scripture spends so much time delineating the borders that each tribe possessed, or meticulously listing the lineage of a tribe or group of people, I do well to remember that this is not only important to God but that He deems it critical to our understanding for future revelations, as well.  This - our lives, His Promises, our spiritual and physical history with Him - is not chance, not coincidence, not a theory of chaos.  It is the Almighty God of the Universe and Creation deigning to walk with us, teach us, forgive us, restore us, refocus us, substitute His death for us, save us for Himself, for all eternity- no matter the cost.  These are the details of His history with us - the long-forgotten names (to us)... the exactness of borders of the lands He gifted so long ago...the reminder from Him that we are important to Him, to His plan, that He is involved in the minutiae of our lives...that every hair on our head is numbered by Him...that He stores our tears in a bottle...that the most important thing in the world to Him is that we love Him, spend time with Him (Matt. 22:37) ... We are the apple of His eye (Zechariah 2:8, Psalm 17:8)...He is our exceeding great reward (Gen. 15:1, Heb. 10:35)