July 19, 2012
Whose Report are You Going to Believe?
Sharon Jaynes
Today’s Truth
“We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” - (Numbers 13:30 NIV).
Friend to Friend
All through the Bible, God gives us great and wonderful promises about who we are in Christ, what we have in Christ, and where we are in Christ. Let me remind you of just a few.
- I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:13)
- Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. (Proverbs 16:3)
- God…has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3).
- For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. (1 John 5:5)
The Bible is packed full of many promises just like those. However, the enemy, Satan, tells us that we are worthless losers with little to no power to live in victory. He tells us we are but “grasshoppers” in the face of our difficulties and struggles. So, who’s reports are we going to believe?
The Israelites faced the same situation. They had been freed from Egyptian slavery and then headed into the desert. Then God signaled it was time to enter the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey. He said, “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan which I am giving the Israelites.”
At God’s command, Moses sent in twelve men to spy out the land. Ten came back with this report:
We went into the land which you sent us and it does flow with milk and honey! But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large (Numbers 13:27,28). The men went on to say they were like grasshoppers compared to the giants who lived in Canaan.
However, two of the spies, Caleb and Joshua, believed God. This was their report: We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it (13:30).
Guess who the people believed? They believed the ten who said, “we can’t,” rather than the two who said, “God already has.” Why? Lack of faith and an abundance of fear. I have an acronym for fear: False Evidence Appearing Real. They saw only the giants, but failed to see Almighty God. God had already given them the land, the people simply needed to walk in and take possession of it. But instead of moving into the Promised Land, they wandered in the desert for forty years because of their unbelief. The entire generation, except for Caleb and Joshua, died in their unbelief. Caleb and Joshua marched in and took possession of what God had already promised and provided.
Oswald Chambers notes, “Human frailty is another thing that gets between God’s words of assurance and our own words and thoughts. When we realize how feeble we are in facing difficulties, the difficulties become like giants, we become like grasshoppers, and God seems to be non-existent. But remember God’s assurance to us – “I will never…forsake you.” Have we learned to sing after hearing God’s keynote? Are we continually filled with enough courage to say, ‘The Lord is my Helper,’ or are we yielding to fear?”
I don’t want to be like those Israelites who didn’t believe God told the truth. Do you? Let me ask you a few questions: Are you going to move into the land flowing with milk and honey - take the promises found in the Bible and make them yours? Or, are you going to believe the evil report and continue wandering around in the desert – free from slavery, but missing the Promised Land? Who’s report are you going to believe?
Let’s Pray
Dear Lord, Thank you that you have called me to walk in victory. Help me to realize when I am listening to Satan’s lies, “to the evil report,” and not to You. Even if I am the only person who believes in Your promises today, even if everyone around me says I’m crazy for doing so, I’m believing You! In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Now It’s Your Turn
Think back over your life for the past few months. Have you been believing what your eyes see or what God promises in His word? Make a list of promises of God that mean the most to you and practice believing the truth!
Look back over the promises of God listed above in the devotion. How might these verses help you defeat that “grasshopper” feeling in your life?
Can you think of a time where you believed God’s report instead of the border bullies, naysayers, and gloom and doomers? What was the result?
Here’s a final word. I want you to say it out loud. “I might be a grasshopper in the world’s eyes, but I’m a mighty warrior in God’s. Woo Hoo! If you’ll stand up and say that with me, click over to my blog page, look for today’s devo/blog, and write in the comment box...I’m no grasshopper!
More from the Girlfriends
Girlfriend, let’s start taking our own personal Promised Land. If you’d like to learn more about claiming what is already yours, check out my book, Becoming Spiritually Beautiful. Don’t let the title fool you, this is no fluff. Victory is only a belief away!
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