Are You Possessing Your Promised Land? - Week 4

Father in Heaven, 

We praise Your Name as a community of Believers saved by Your faithful grace!  Help us to live our lives worthy of You, fully pleasing You and fruitful in every good work, increasing in the knowledge of God...and yes, with JOY in all our journey.  We thank You for never leaving us nor forsaking us.  You are Good and Faithful.  May we bear a strong family resemblance to Your Son Yeshua, today, tomorrow and the next.  Amen!

"Now, Isra'el, listen to the laws and rulings I am teaching you, in order to follow them, so that you will live; then you will go in and take possession of the land that ADONAI, the God of your fathers, is giving you...Only be careful, and watch yourselves diligently as long as you live, so that you won't forget what you saw with your own eyes, so that these things won't vanish from your hearts." 

~ Moses to the Israelites (D'varim 4:1,9) CJB 

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"Because I live, you too will live." 

~ Yeshua to His disciples (John 14:19)

For the Kingdom of God is...righteousness, shalom and joy in the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit). ~Romans 14:17 (CJB)

"While it may be SAFE to simply look upon The Promised Land, it is certainly NOT SATISFYING!"

Welcome Women of the Word!  This SAHM is sure glad you joined me for another study of His glorious Word!  Got your Bibles and journals?  Surgical scalpels?...you just might need them today.

Divine Surgery

These last few weeks we looked at what the Scriptures reveal about the Possessing our Promised Land through the Transformation (week 2) and Sifting (week 3) of HIS children.  Indeed, what pleasures and treasures we have in being called children of God!  Transformation through sifting, though painful, yields a life of glory and honor to the One Whose Name we bear.  And in that BEARING, our souls are ultimately satisfied!  

Besides, have you ever heard of a surgery that didn't involve some kind of pain?  Was not the surgery for the betterment of the patient?  These 'holy procedures', though painful at the time, is actually our healing; and because it is our healing, it is our possessing as well!

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. ~ Hebrews 12:11

In week 1 we reviewed the three 'parent' sins that kept the Israelite Nation from initially possessing their Promised Land.  

DISBELIEF (not trusting in God’s WORD)

REBELLION (not obeying God’s Command)

COMPLAINING (grumbling against God’s Character)

Remember, Caleb and Joshua were the only remaining Israelites given the privilege of actually entering the Good Land.  

"Don't be fearful, don't be afraid of them...Yet in this matter you don't trust ADONAI your God...ADONAI heard what you were saying, became angry and swore, 'Not a single one of these people, this whole evil generation, will see the good land I swore to give to your ancestors, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh - he shall see it; I will give him and his descendants the land he walked on, because he has fully followed ADONAI.'" ~ D'varim 1:29, 32, 34-36

 Tell them this: 'As surely as I live, ADONAI swears, as surely as you have spoken in my ears, I will do this to you:  your carcasses will fall in this desert! Every single one of you who were included in the census over the age of twenty, you who have complained against me, will certainly not enter the land about which I raised my hand to swear that I would have you live in it - except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, who you said would be taken as booty - them I will bring in. They will know the land you have rejected. ~ Numbers 14:28-31

Fully following ADONAI, then (Who is taking us into the Promised Land) is to welcome the Good Land and not reject the Good He has given us.

That might need to sink in a bit...

I'm Goin' In!...(with my cross)

1 "Now, Isra'el, listen to the laws and rulings I am teaching you, in order to follow them, so that you will live; then you will go in and take possession of the land that ADONAI, the God of your fathers, is giving you.  ...so that you would live by them in the land you are entering in order to take possession of it. ~ D'varim 4:1,14

Yes indeed, the LORD had given the Israelites the Promised Land, but in ORDER TO TAKE POSSESSION of their Good Land, a good faith effort was required on their part.  They had to strong-handedly and determinedly DISPOSSESS the enemies.  

Dispossess -  (Hebrew) yarash meaning to 'to occupy by driving out previous tenants'; to seize; to ruin, consume, destroy, disinherit, expel; also to leave an inheritance and succeed.

The very nature of an inheritance implies that something has come to pass before one is able to rightfully take possession of said property.  In this case, the death of a person is that 'something which has passed'.  Are you feelin' me?

That person would be you and me.

We gain the new Abundant life by losing the old (Adamic) nature within.

And anyone who does not take up his execution-stake (cross) and follow Me is not worthy of Me. 39 Whoever finds his own life will lose it, but the person who loses his life for My sake will find it. ~ Matthew 10:38,39 (CJB)

Because...

20 The P'rushim asked Yeshua when the Kingdom of God would come. "The Kingdom of God," He answered, "does not come with visible signs; 21 nor will people be able to say, `Look! Here it is!' or, `Over there!' Because, you see, the Kingdom of God (which is Righteousness! Shalom! Joy! in the Ruach HaKodesh - Romans 14:17) is among you."28 Likewise, as it was in the time of Lot -- people ate and drank, bought and sold, planted and built; 29 but the day Lot left S'dom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all...he must not turn back -- 32 remember Lot's wife! 33 Whoever aims at preserving his own life will lose it, but whoever loses his life (for My sake) will stay alive.  ~ Luke 17

We dispossess the enemies (gain our RIGHTFUL INHERITANCE of ABUNDANT LIFE) as we 'pick up our execution-stakes' (crosses) and DIE to our old nature!

The P'rushim (Pharisees) in the Luke passage above, expected a physical kingdom.  But Jesus was teaching them that He was bringing a SPIRITUAL KINGDOM that would then generate a spiritual transformation (inner change) as people begin to trust in ADONAI. 

Mission Accomplished

ADONAI your God - He will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations ahead of you, and you will dispossess them.  ~ D'varim 31:3

1 John 3:8 says that Son of God came to DESTROY THE WORKS of the devil.  That DESTRUCTION was already accomplished for us on THE CROSS more than 2000 years ago.

HE destroys!  We dispossess.

This dispossessing of our enemies is a picture reminiscent of our sanctification,  It resembles our being set-apart in Christ Jesus!

D'varim 7:22 says:

ADONAI your God will expel those nations ahead of you little by little...

‘Little by Little’ is also reminiscent of our sanctification by His Spirit.

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. ~ John 10:10

I recently heard a pastor ask his congregation 'On which side of the comma are you living...life or life abundant?' 

The Great Deception

How many of your days have you allowed to be Stolen, Killed and Destroyed by the enemy because of Disbelief, Rebellion and Complaining in your tents?

Yes, this saying is hard.  But it's not mine.  It is His and believe you, me, I am feeling the pain of the execution-stake!

It’s no coincidence that the morning I sat down to write this portion, the ‘word of the day’ on my computer was ‘waylay’ meaning:  to lie in wait to attack and ambush...

Sound familiar? In Genesis 4:7, ADONAI tells Cain that ‘sin lies crouching at your door, it’s desire is for you!  BUT (ADONAI SAYS) you must MASTER it!’

Many reading these words today may feel as if you have been devoured.  Your life seems to have been stolen right out from under your dripping nose.  But I want you to remember that Jesus Christ DIED that you may inherit your Promised Land and walk in Liberty.  

You see, this Adversary of ours does not want you to know that you can take POSSESSION OF YOUR PROMISED LAND by SOWING THE SEED OF GOD’S WORD INTO YOUR LIFE!  

Whatever the crop you now have is the direct result of what has been sown in days past.  

"There are a lot of folks who think they can sow their wild oats six days a week and then pray for crop failure on Sunday." ~ Adrian Rogers

But the very fact that you still have air in your lungs is GOOD NEWS because HE's given you more time to TEND and TURN YOUR CROP.

The ENEMY doesn’t want us to realize what we have.  If we allow him to hold us in defeat BY refusing to dispossess our old natures, no one around us will be able to see the WITNESS AND MARK OF LIBERATING HOPE of Jesus Christ in our lives. 

Psalm 40:1-3 says:

I WAITED patiently and expectantly for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry.

He drew me up out of a horrible pit [a pit of tumult and of destruction], out of the miry clay (froth and slime), and set my feet upon a rock, steadying my steps and establishing my goings.

And He has put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many shall see and fear (revere and worship) and put their trust and confident reliance in the Lord.

God’s plan for us is that we are WITNESSES UNTO HIM singing our New Song with feet planted firmly on the Promised Land!  

And as we sing, the Great Commission is fulfilled in that 'many shall hear our New Song and see and fear and put their trust and confident reliance in the LORD’.

The enemy knows this...DO YOU?!  

It is our JOY he is after so that no one will see Jesus Christ and put their trust in Him.

Remarkable...and to think, all I have to do is LOSE my life for His sake.

Introspective Journaling in HIS Presence:

1.)   LORD, specifically, what attitudes or actions must I lose that I may GAIN Life? (Colossians 3; Ephesians 4; Galatians 5)
2.)   Since dispossessing the old nature brings harmony and peace with You LORD, and with others, what are some ways that I can actively serve those nearest me?
3.) LORD, please help me to quiet the clanging cymbals of the world that I might hear my New Song!
4.) LORD, please speak to me in the quiet places of Your workshop that I might do 
Your will of Rejoicing! Praying! and Giving Thanks! (1Thessalonians 5:16-18)

Hiding His WORD in My Heart Memory Verse:

1 Therefore I, the prisoner united with the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called.  2 Always be humble, gentle and patient, bearing with one another in love, 3 and making every effort to preserve the unity the Spirit gives through the binding power of shalom. ~ Ephesians 4

13 For, brothers, you were called to be free. Only do not let that freedom become an excuse for allowing your old nature to have its way. Instead, serve one another in love. ~ Galatians 5

14 Above all these, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together perfectly; 15 and let the shalom which comes from the Messiah be your heart's decision-maker, for this is why you were called to be part of a single Body. And be thankful - 16 let the Word of the Messiah, in all its richness, live in you...~ Colossians 3