DIG for Friday the 25th of August…..nothing will happen if you do not walk…..Joshua 1 v 3

I had wee bit of a revelation last night while listening to some teaching in our Bible study group at the house.

We were told that the devil would be crushed under our feet (Romans 16 v 20).

I was also reminded about Joshua where the Lord told him that he would possess everywhere that was under his feet (Joshua 1 v 3).

This is a picture of us possessing the good things provided for us by the Lord through our salvation.

Now I had the thought that neither of these two things would occur if we just stood still.

In order to crush or posses we need to walk, we need to move, we need to ‘do our bit’.

Standing still and not moving is not an option!

Lethargy, apathy and laziness is not an option for the born again believer; well they are not an option if you wish to crush the enemy and possess the good things of God.

In order to crush we need to move forward and attack.

In order to possess we need to move forward into the provision that has already been provided.

I am not talking about works, however we need to be pro-active and indeed simply active in our walk with the Lord.

Are you ready to move forward today?

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that you promised I could crush the devil and also possess the good things provided through my salvation”.

Joshua 1 v 3…..Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that I have given unto you, as I said unto Moses

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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

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 Sunday the 7th of August…..are you one of the two, or one of the ten…..Numbers 13 v 30 and 31

The Old Testament is full of pictures, types and shadows; we see a type of the today’s church in Numbers 13.

Moses had sent out twelve spies to look at the good things that they had been promised in the Promised Land, yet when they came back he was given a different story.

Two spies did come back with a good report, ready to march in and occupy the Promised Land that God had provided for them (Numbers 13 v 30).

Ten spies however came back with a bad (evil) report complaining about the walls of the city and the size of the people (Numbers 13 v 31 to 33).

Two people focussed on God and His promises while ten focussed on the physical world and the problems encountered there.

Two were positive and ten were negative.

This is a type (or picture) of the church today.

More people in the church focus on the world instead of the Word of God; more people focus on the physical facts rather than the spiritual truths.

When people see problems and encounter issues in their life the tendency is to worry and fear, rather than thinking about overcoming the issue.

There were of course big issues to overcome in entering the Promised Land, but Caleb and Joshua knew what the Lord had said and knew that they would be overcomers.

This is an attitude that is not common in the church in general today!

When you encounter a big problem in your life are you one of the two or one of the ten?

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for your Word and thank you for the spiritual truths held within”.

Numbers 13 v 30 and 31…..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. But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we

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 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 Monday the 26th of May…..this revelation made me want to jump up and punch the air…..John 1 v 17

I have been known to get very excited listening to sermons before, I have jumped out of my seat and shouted a couple of times in the past.

I want to do this at the conference the other day as Pastor Duane was explaining why Moses did not lead the people into the Promised Land and why Joshua achieved this instead.

This is a picture of law and grace, a picture of the old and new covenants.

Moses represents the old covenant and the law, while Joshua represents the new covenant and grace.

Did you know that Joshua is the Hebrew word that means Jesus?

Moses gave the law to the people, but grace (and truth) came in the form of Jesus Christ (John 1 v 17).

In a sense the new covenant and grace that was ushered in by Jesus’ finished work is our promised land; we are brought into this promised land as a gift of grace through faith in this finished work of Jesus.

The purpose of the law was (and still is) to show people their sin and tell them that they could never deal with that sin themselves but rather that they needed a Saviour.

The law could never bring people full reconciliation with God and full forgiveness from God; it could bring people to the realisation that they needed to move from their old life (Egypt) into new life (the promised land).

Moses (a picture of the law) brought people out of Egypt and up to the edge of the Promised Land, but he did not take them in.

Joshua, the new leader who took over from the old, took the people into the Promised Land and he is a picture of Jesus and of grace.

We live under the new covenant instead of the old because of the work of Jesus, not because of our own works or religious performance (Romans 6 v 14).

In the same way that we could never save ourselves through the law, Moses could not take the people into their Promised Land.

The people required a Joshua in the same way as we required Jesus!

This is such an awesome picture and I am still meditating it through, however I wanted to share my excitement with you tonight!

Speak this out today….”Thank you Lord for the finished work of Jesus Christ; thank you that I now live under grace and not under law”.

John 1 v 17…..For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ

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