Believe God and don’t Fear

The Lord delivered the people of Israel out of bondage in Egypt with great signs and wonders. He opens the Red Sea for them to cross over, he sent plagues to Pharaoh and Egypt. God intended that they take possession of the Land of Canaan and He promised He would fight for them. Moses sent twelve spies into the land of Canaan to check it out, if it was a good land, was there cities, were there crops, what were the people like. The spies came back with a bunch of grapes it took two men to carry. So the land produced abundance of grapes. There were cities and a land flowing with milk and honey.

But ten of the spies reported that there were Giants in the land and they would eat their children up. They gave a bad report to the thousands of people that were in the camp. Instead of looking at the Grapes they looked at the Giants. Two spies, Joshua and Caleb tried to silence the people and said “Don’t be afraid. With God’s help we can defeat the Giants and take over the land. But the people doubted God’s help and were afraid of the Giants.

Because of their unbelief the children of Israel didn’t get into the Land God had promised them. The ten spies died and the rest of the people had to wander around a desert for forty years!

This story really shocked me when I first read it. I couldn’t believe that the people missed the opportunity to get a new inheritance that God was going to freely give to them. All they had to do was obey God and he would show them how to defeat their enemies. They had to suffer in the desert looking at sand for forty years! Joshua led their children into the Promised Land. Their parents who saw the Promised Land but didn’t enter into it, died in the desert.

I thought to myself, “I want to believe God and not have doubt and fear of my enemies.” I don’t want to live in a desert the rest of my life and my children have a chance to enter into their Promised Land. Caleb, one of the men who believed God, said at the age of eighty years of age, “Give me my mountain!” I say the same today, “Lord give me my mountain!”

Aren’t we often like the people of old when faced with difficulties that seem insurmountable, like the Giants. We complain and get afraid. If God has given one a promise that he wants one to have it. All hell will be let lose to try and stop one getting what God has promised. For example God promised Brendan and me unity in our lives. I believed God but our enemies came out against us. The same enemies the people of Israel had, fear, doubt, unforgiveness, rebellion, rejection, religion, cancer, to mention a few. With God’s help we continue to be alive, believe God and walk in unity. He has defeated our enemies as they rise up against us and as we walk in obedience.

Here is the reading that inspired me to write to day and testify to God’s faithfulness in the land of the living.
There were 44,760 capable warriors in the armies of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
They were all skilled in combat and armed with shields, swords, and bows.
They waged war against the Hagrites, the Jeturites, the Naphishites, and the Nodabites. They cried out to God during the battle, and he answered their prayer because they trusted in him.
So the Hagrites and all their allies were defeated.
The plunder taken from the Hagrites included 50,000 camels, 250,000 sheep and goats, 2,000 donkeys, and 100,000 captives.
Many of the Hagrites were killed in the battle because God was fighting against them. The people of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh lived in their land until they were taken into exile.”
‭‭1 Chronicles‬ ‭5:18-22‬ ‭NLT‬‬.

Not only did they get land but they got plunder. The different enemies represent different demonic powers that are holding on to what belongs to us. It may be our property, our jobs, our husband or our children and our grandchildren. With the power of Jesus name and his Precious Blood we can fight Satan and his hordes. He is already a defeated foe with all his demons. He has no right to hold onto what God has intended for me. We can’t be passive, apathetic, angry or disappointed. We have to fight for what belongs to us. Fighting means believing God, dressed in our armour and praising him to help us win the battle. As Nehemiah said, “Remember The Lord who is great. Let us fight for brothers, our wives, our children and our homes.

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Be Thankful

God our Father in heaven told the Jewish people he didn’t want their sacrifices of bulls and goats. In Psalm 50 v 14 and v 23 I read,

What I want instead is your true thanks to God.
But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me.

It is good to thank God and thank others.

I was speaking to an elderly man of over eighty years. He told me as well as being thankful he tries to make someone happy every day.

When one is thankful he is like a flourishing tree. Letting thankful words come out of his mouth cause his sap to come up within him; like a bubbling brook that overflows. Others want to be around him. When one is bitter and complaining he becomes like a withered tree. Others shun him. There is no life flowing out.
I think of the words of Jesus again from Matthew 13 v 12.

Whoever has will be given more, and he will have abundance. Whoever does not have even what he has will be taken from him.

There is a chorus that goes,

“Count your blessings name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.”

Try it. Don’t focus on what one doesn’t have but be thankful for all what one does have.
You will feel better. The gloom will lift when you start to be thankful. Practise being thankful.

We are privileged people living in the Europe. We have good education, health services, travel and many other benefits. We often forget to give thanks and take these blessings for granted. Young people have so many choices in their lives that it is easy for them to want more instead of stopping to be thankful and enjoy what one has.

One’s husband, ones wife, ones friend, a mother or father, professor or teacher will brighten up when he is thanked or receives a greeting card.

God is the giver of all good things. He is a good, good Father. Thank him.