“Now
then, give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day, for you
heard on that day that Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps
the Lord will be with me, and I will drive them out as the Lord has spoken.”
Joshua 14:12
This week we are focusing
on Claiming God’s Promise as Caleb and Joshua did with the Promised Land.
Caleb approached General Joshua with an astounding request. At age 85, when he might have asked for a
quiet place to spend his last days rocking in a rocking chair in the shade and
raising flowers…instead, he requested that he be given the same section of land
that his feet walked across 40 years ago…the same section of land that had
struck fear into the hearts of the 10 spies.
Caleb wasn’t shy about asking for what he’d been promised. That’s a good thing for us to emulate. Always be bold about claiming the promises of God. It thrills His heart when we step right up to the throne of grace and ask for what he’s promised us. When God gives you a promise—you should never release it. An unclaimed promise of God is like not claiming a winning lottery ticket.
Both Joshua and Caleb were old, but God reminded them that He wasn’t
through with them. In Joshua 13:1 we
read, “When Joshua was old and well advanced in years, the Lord said to him.
You are very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken
over.” God needed a couple of octogenarians to seal the deal. God not only preserved the promise for the
man, God preserved the man for the promise. Caleb was 85 years old before he
ever moved into his home place. That’s an age when most people are feeling like
it’s time to slow down and step aside.
But not Caleb. He was just
getting fired up for battle.
Attacking the Enemy
For Caleb to claim what God had promised he had to go against the vision
of the majority whose vision of themselves did not include GOD! If we accept the world’s opinion of our lives
and mission we will never attain the mandate of our faith. The world loves to “Keep Christians in their
place.”
Joshua was the leader that eventually led them in. Moses himself was not
allowed to go in, and he died and was buried out in the wilderness. Joshua then
took Moses’ position as leader of the Israelites.
Joshua then goes into the Promised Land with his strong faith and belief
in God, and then proceeds to literally wipe their enemies off the face of the
earth and conquer and possess the land that God had promised their earlier
forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Joshua and Caleb believed God, so God decreed that they would live
through the wilderness wanderings and enter the Promised Land. They had full faith and belief in God that He
could defeat all of their enemies once they went into the Promised Land to conquer
and possess it.
The Israelites lost their one and only chance to go into this Promised
Land due to one main reason: fear, and lack of full faith and belief in the
power of God to see them through. They
were too scared of the giants and kingdoms they saw in the Promised Land they
were supposed to possess – and they did not have enough faith and belief in God
that He could conquer and defeat these giants for them. As a result, they lost out on the biggest
blessing of their entire life
Joshua and Caleb took their strong faith and belief in God, entered the
Promised Land, and achieved total victory in God. If God is calling you to go through this
door, then rest assured that you will have the full power of God operating
through you to achieve total victory just like Joshua and Caleb did!
No one can please God without faith. Whoever goes to God must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who seek him. Hebrews 11:6 (GW)
