Thank you for joining today as we seek God’s wisdom together. Let us begin with prayer. “Lord Jesus, I ask that you reveal the truth to us today in Your word. I ask that the Holy Spirit lead us into truth and life and change our hearts and minds. In Jesus name, Amen.”
Ex. 3:12-17, NASB
“Then Moses said to the LORD, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people!’ But You Yourself have not let me know whom You will send with me. Moreover, You have said, ‘I have known you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.’ Now then, if I have found favor in Your sight in any way, please let me know Your ways so that I may know You, in order that I may find favor in Your sight. Consider too, that this nation is Your people.” And He said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then he said to Him, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are on the face of the earth?” The LORD said to Moses, “I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name.”
In the past two years I have gone through a lot of trials. The Lord has put my faith to the test. He has pressed me on every side and allowed the enemy to buffet me. I have often prayed “Lord, pray for me that my faith does not fail as you did for Peter.” He has been faithful to carry me through especially when I could not walk on my own. This morning I was reminded of the story of Caleb and Joshua. Specifically, regarding the reports, they brought back from the land. It’s funny that the reports even need to be made because the Lord had been telling the people and Moses since they left Egypt that He would bring them into the land and give it to them as their inheritance. Not only that but, that He would destroy their enemies before them as they advanced. But alas Moses at the direction of the Lord sent scouts into the land and this is what transpired:
“When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, they went on and came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. So, they reported to him and said, “We came into the land where you sent us, and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And indeed, we saw the descendants of Anak there! Amalek is living in the land of the Negev, the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.” Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will certainly prevail over it.” But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, because they are too strong for us.” So, they brought a bad report of the land which they had spied out to the sons of Israel, saying, “The land through which we have gone to spy out is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are people of great stature. We also saw the Nephilim there (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight (Numbers 13:25-33).”
The sin here is not that they did not see their own inadequacy. They knew they were ill equipped to bring victory of their own accord. After all they “were grasshoppers in their own sight.” Rather despite everything that the Lord had brought them through they failed to see and acknowledge that if God was with them, they would succeed. They were on the front half of the mountain and unable to see the victory that awaited them on the other side. Moses in response reminds the Lord that it is for His sake that the Lord needed to bring them into the Land. Speaking of God’s thoughts of destroying the people Moses says:
“Now if You put this people to death all at once, then the nations who have heard of Your fame will say, ‘Since the LORD could not bring this people into the land which He promised them by oath, He slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ … So, the LORD said, “I have forgiven them in accordance with your word; however, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD. Certainly, all the people who have seen My Glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who were disrespectful to Me see it. But as for My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring him into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it (Numbers 14:15-24).”
What is significant here is that both the spies who brought the bad reports and Caleb seen the same things when they went into the Land. The difference is that Caleb saw a more powerful God that was able to give them victory over any circumstance.
Just as Moses cried out to the Lord to act in accordance with His fame. It is for the sake of His name that I ask for Him to perform His words that He has given me. I have not asked Him for wealth, power, or status. I have only asked for Him to use me as His vessel to the unsaved. Because is that not what we who are saved by the grace of God here to do? I believe we have lost sight of that here, especially in America. This does not mean that God will not bless us, because He does. However, in our striving for blessing we have lost the true reason we remain here until He returns. That is to spread the gospel to the world. That is our mission and that alone is the mission. If that time is short, as many of us think it is, why is not our hearts burning with hunger to reach the lost? Our family members, friends, and co-workers need Jesus just as we do. SI it because the mountain in front of us seems too big for even the Lord to overcome. That He is unable to bring them into the kingdom? He is able, we just need to step out in faith and let Him do the work.
Remember Moses speaking in Exodus to the Lord in the text we started with. He said don’t send us up into the land if you are not going with us. This is so the people could be distinguished from the rest of the people on the earth. Should we not expect the same thing from Him now? We go into the land spreading the message and God gives us favor to distinguish us from the rest of those in the land. The Muslim, the Hindu, the Satanist, the Mystics, and Nature worshippers, are distinguished from us because we serve the living God. He is able to answer prayer and do mighty things in our midst because He is alive. He is just looking for His people to step out in faith despite the bad reports in the land and He will bring the victory.
If you have not received Christ Jesus as your Lord and Savior, I implore you to do so now. All He asks for is for you to accept the free gift He gave you. Therefore, humble yourself and acknowledge that Jesus is Lord of all. He alone is all powerful and you submit to His authority. Next you must believe He did what He did. That is; die on a cross and rise again from the dead. These are both actions of faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for with evidence not seen. Meaning you believe even though you don’t have physical evidence to prove it. I know you made it to this page for a reason and the Holy Spirit is working on your heart. The Father has drawn you and He alone can reveal to you the truth of what I am saying. I know that He is now, and you need to take a step of faith and pray these words with me.
Right where you are; say these words out loud: “Jesus I confess that you are Lord of all, I yield my will to your will for you are greater than me. I believe you came to this world and lived a sinless life; I believe you suffered and died on cross for my sins, I believe they put your lifeless body in a tomb, and three days later you rose from the dead. I confess to you that I am a sinner and ask you to forgive me. I also ask that you send me your Holy Spirit to give me power to live a sanctified life and to lead me into all truth. In Jesus name, Amen.”
If you prayed that prayer, I urge you to contact us here so that we might come beside you and hold you up in prayer as you begin your journey with Jesus. I assure you that we have all been where you are. We may have committed different sins, but we are just as guilty, nonetheless. We all needed forgiveness and someone else supported us as we began our Journey with Him.
Thank you for joining me today as we searched the scriptures for What the Word is Saying. I pray that God will send His Holy Spirit into our lives anew and fill us again with His love and His purpose for us. So that we can fulfill the mission He left us in bringing the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world.
“Scripture quotations taken from the NASB (New American Standard Bible) Copyright 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.” lockman.org.
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