DIG for Monday the 26th of September……how do you see yourself; as an overcomer or a grasshopper…..Numbers 13 v 30

How we see ourselves is of vital importance, affecting how successful we are in life.

When Moses sent out the spies to “check out the land” he wanted the facts, he wanted a report on what they saw (Numbers 13 v 16 to 20).

Ten of the spies saw nothing but problems and saw themselves as grasshoppers, forgetting the promises that God had made (Numbers 13 v 33).

These ten died before the Hebrew nation entered into the Promised Land.

Two of the spies saw the same problems but remembered what God had promised and saw themselves as conquerors.

These two, Caleb and Joshua, eventually entered the Promised Land with the nation.

Ten had their identify tied up in the physical circumstances that they saw and they failed.

Two had their identity tied up with what God said, irrespective of what they saw in the physical, and they succeeded.

How do you see yourself?

What do you base your identity upon?

Do you base your identity upon what you see or what God has said?

How you answer that question will affect our life in terms of success or failure.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that you have a plan and purpose for my life and thank you that you see me as a success”.

Numbers 13 v 30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it

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DIG for Wednesday the 10th of August…..what is your identity based upon…..Number 13 v 30

 

What do you think about yourself? How do you see yourself?

These are vital questions that we all required to think about, as how we answer will affect our lives.

In Numbers 13 we see how a number of people see themselves.

Two of the spies sent out by Moses saw themselves as conquerors, well able to defeat their enemies in order to enter into The Promised Land (Number 13 v 30).

Ten of the spies saw themselves as grasshoppers (Numbers 13 v 33).

All the spies knew what the Lord had said about possessing the land, and they all saw the same physical conditions when they were there.

The difference in the spies was how they saw their identity.

Caleb and Joshua based their identity upon what God said.

The other ten spies based their identify upon what they saw with their eyes.

What are you basing your identity upon; spiritual truths or what you see in the world?

The world may be saying that we are weak and powerless however the Word says we are more than conquerors; so what do you believe?

The world says we may be sick and poor, but the Word says we are healed and prosperous, living and abundant life; so what do you use to base your identity upon?

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that in your Word I can find my true identity in Christ Jesus”.

Numbers 13 v 30…..And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it

DIG for Friday the 8th of July……give God’s Word more weigh then what you see in the physical…..Numbers 13 v 30

I have always admired Caleb and Joshua, and I have often preached about them and written about them in my DIGs.

I admire them for sticking to what God had said instead of going along with all the other spies who brought back their “evil report” (Numbers 13 v 32).

The interesting thing for me is that the majority of spies actually reported the facts that they saw in the Promised Land.

They however added their own opinion to these facts and then spoke out against what God had said.

God told them that they could possess the land, yet the majority of spies spoke out the difficulties and the problems, and that is what is classed as an “evil report”.

They saw the physical facts and believed them rather then the truths that God had said, and this is evil, this is unbelief and this is sin.

Yes, speaking out what you see, if it is contrary to the Word of God is an evil report and it is sin.

Caleb and Joshua saw the same as the other spies, yet they gave more weight to what God has said.

God had said they could take the land so they believed God and spoke out appropriately.

God has spoken to us today through His Word and through His Holy Spirit.

If we see something different in the world we should believe what God said every time; anything else is an evil report and therefore sin.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for your Word and for Your truth”.

Numbers 13 v 30…..And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it

DIG for Wednesday the 29th of June…..Joshua did not live in fear…..Joshua 1 v 9

Life without fear is a life of freedom; that is what I have been meditating upon as I travel on my last leg home this morning.

One of the good things about travelling and working away from home (one of the few good things!) is that I get a lot of thinking time sitting in airports and hotels.

Today I’ve been meditating upon what we should see in our lives if we are free from fear; and Joshua “popped” into my mind.

To cut a long story short Joshua led the people into the Promised Land, He was of course a picture of Jesus, leading us into salvation.

The Lord gave Joshua some wonderful advice when he started to lead the people and this is still very valuable to us today.

The Lord told him not to be afraid, not to fear, and He also told him to be courageous and strong (Joshua 1 9).

Being strong and courageous talks to me of assertiveness, and this is what we should see in our lives if we are free from fear.

Assertive enough to strongly live out our lives of faith without being aggressive and offensive.

Assertive enough to talk openly and eloquently about Jesus without being abusive and intrusive.

Assertive enough to carry out what the Lord wants us to do without leaning on the knowledge or suggestions of men.

We are free to live our lives like Joshua and Caleb not like the other “spies”, living in fear because of what the world could potentially throw at them.

A life free from fear is what we should be living.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for the example of Joshua, thank you that I can live an assertive life, free from fear”.

Joshua 1 v 9…..Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with the whithersoever thou goest

DIG for Thursday the 21st of May……arise and shine, don’t sit and hide…..Psalm 60 v 1

I love coming to conference, it is a great source of material for my DIG!

Today the speaker gave us a great quote on how we should be living the Christian Life.

He said, “We were born to take the land, we were not born to hold the fort”.

That speaks to me about being assertive and not being passive, about going on the attack against the enemy instead of sitting back and trying to avoid him, about shining your light instead of hiding it under a bushel.

Caleb and Joshua wanted to “go on the attack” and take what the Lord had provided for them (Numbers 14 v 7 and 8), but the other spies were afraid of the giants and persuaded the rest of the people to be passive.

They wanted to be assertive and take what was theirs, but unbelief from an evil report blinded the others (Numbers 13 v 32).

Many of our brothers and sisters have been blinded by evil reports.

They see life as one long struggle, hanging on until either they die and reach the glory of Heaven, or Jesus returns; this is likened unto holding the fort.

The Word says we have all spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1 v 3) and all that we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1 v 3), and we access these things through knowledge, understanding and faith; that is likened to taking the land.

We have access to health and wholeness, joy and peace, abundance and prosperity; this is in a sense our Promised Land.

All we need to do is possess it, as strongly suggested by Caleb and Joshua.

Yes, there may be problems and struggles along the way, but we are to take the land and not just hold the fort; we after all have a covenant (or agreed promises) with God.

If He says something is ours, it is ours, no matter what the enemy may be saying through his evil reports.

Take the land today, stop just holding the fort!

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that through our faith in Jesus we are more than conquerors and we are victorious in this life”.

Psalm 60 v 1…..Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee

DIG for Saturday the 31st of January……the danger of unbelief; it will hold back blessings……Deuteronomy 1 v 32

God wants us to have abundant blessings in our life; this is His will for us and that is why Jesus came (John 10 v 10 and 3 John 2).

In the same way God wanted the Hebrew nation to enter the Promised Land.

Yet we see them wandering around in the wilderness for years, with the vast majority of the nation that left Egypt never making it into the Promised Land.

Of all the spies that went to ”check out” the Promised Land only Caleb and Joshua enter in.

They were the only spies who believed that they could take that land, and they believed that because of what the Lord had said not what they had seen.

Yes, the walls were high and the people were large and frightening, but the Lord had said this land was theirs so that was good enough for Caleb and Joshua.

The others spies and the people just did not believe hat the Lord had said (Deut 1 v 32).

They went with their senses (what they say and heard) instead of the Word of the Lord and because of unbelief never entered the Promised Land.

Our “promised land” (once we believe) is an abundant life full of blessings, including healing, wholeness, joy, peace and prosperity.

Many believers today however are not living in that “promised land” because of unbelief, because of not believing what the Lord has said through His inspired Word.

Are you on the edge of your “promised land” today with regards to healing and wholeness, peace and prosperity?

If you are, believe what the Lord has said in His Word.

By His stripes you were healed (1 Peter 2 v 24), He became poor so that you might be rich (2 Corinthians 8 v 9) and that above all things He wants you to live in health and prosperity (3 John 2).

Then step into your “promised land” and claim these abundant blessings that He wants you to have.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for the finished work of Jesus Christ, and thank you that He came so that I might have life in abundance”.

Deuteronomy 1 v 32…..Yet in this thing ye did not believe the Lord your God

DIG for Thursday the 2nd of October……are you like Caleb or like the rest…..Numbers 14 v 9

Caleb has long been a hero of mine, and I enjoyed reading about him again in my daily reading this morning.

Caleb was one of the original company of spies that Moses sent out to check up on the Promised Land (Numbers 13).

Along with the rest of the spies he saw that the land was indeed good but that there were obstacles in the way.

However he did not let the physical facts that he saw undermine the spiritual truths that God had said.

Caleb spoke up in defence of what the Lord had said in spite of being in the minority.

Caleb believed what the Lord had said.

Caleb wanted to act upon what the Lord had said and not upon what his eyes had seen.

I think Caleb could do this as he understood and believed the fundamental truth that the others did not recognise; the truth that they were in covenant relationship with God!

God had said He would give them the Promised Land and Caleb believed that no matter how big the people were or how high the walls of the cities were.

God had said it was theirs so Caleb just wanted to get on with things and get it!

God had said He was with them, so how could they lose.

Caleb basically said, “don’t go back on what God said and do not fear as He is with us” (Numbers 14 v 9).

This is great advice for us today.

We are in covenant relationship with God and we are in a far better covenant than Caleb had; we live under the new covenant.

God has said we are healed, we are prosperous, we are accepted and we are loved.

We can trust that and believe, knowing that God will not break the covenant relationship He has set up with us.

Are you like Caleb, believing this truth, or are you like the other spies and taking more notice of the physical circumstances around you?

Look to the spiritual truths that God has already spoken and you will be able to be more like Caleb.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that through the finished work of Jesus Christ you have enabled us to come into covenant relationship with you”.

Numbers 14 v 9…..Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not

DIG for Tuesday the 26th of February…..speak it out and it is what you will get…..Numbers 13 v 30

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, your tongue (Proverbs 18 v 21).

What you say has a direct impact on your life.

Caleb (along with Joshua) spoke out the truth that God had said about the promised land. He knew it was there to be possessed and was therefore theirs and he wanted his share of that blessing and abundance.

The other spies that were sent out (see Numbers 13 and 14) saw difficulties and spoke out negativity.

In fact they spoke out against the Word of God.

They took more notice of the physical facts than spiritual truths, and spoke out negativity.

Caleb and Joshua eventually entered the promised land while the other spies all died in the wilderness.

That is a great picture of the Christian life that we cannot ignore.

Do not focus on physical facts (pain and poverty for example) but speak out instead His spiritual truths; that you are healed and prosperous (1 Peter 2 v 24, 2 Corinthians 8 v 9 and 3 John v 2).

Trust and believe the Word of God rather than your eyes!

Look in the mirror that is the Word of God (the Bible) rather than the mirror in your bathroom (James 1 v 23 to 25).

Speak out God’s truth over your life rather than negativity and problems.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that the words I speak have creative power; I will endeavour to speak God’s truth over my life”.

Number 13 v 30…..And Caleb stilled the people before Moses and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it