God promised the Israelites a Promised Land which would be flowing with milk and honey.
When they went to spy it out, they found that It truly flows with milk and honey. (Numbers 13:28)
However, it also had the following problems:
1. The people in their Promised Land were strong (Numbers 13:28)
2. The cities in their Promised Land were protected. (Numbers 13:28)
3. There were giants in their Promised Land. (Numbers 13:28)
4. Their Promised Land was surrounded by their enemies the Amalekites in the south, the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites in the mountains and the Canaanites along the sea shore. (Numbers 13:29)
The Israelites were discouraged when they learned about these problems and they did the following:
1. Cried (Numbers 14:1)
2. Complained (Numbers 14:1)
3. Cursed themselves by saying If only we had died in Egypt. (Numbers 14:2)
4. Spoke against God asking Why has God brought us here to die from war? (Numbers 14:3)
5. Gave up on the promise of God for their life because they said, Let us chose a leader and return to Egypt. (Numbers 14:4)
Therefore when you are pursuing one of the Promises of God and you come across problems, do not do what the Israelites did.
Instead follow the recipe that Joshua and Caleb gave them for possessing their Promised Land when they told the Israelites, "The Promised Land is an exceedingly good land. If God delights in us He will bring us into the Land and give it to us ... Only do not rebel against God or fear the people of the Land ... God is with us. Do not fear them." (Numbers 14:7-9)
To follow this recipe, do the following:
1. Focus On The Good
Joshua and Caleb reiterated that The Promised Land is an exceedingly good land (Numbers 14:7-9) and they did not waste their energy regurgitating the negative things about the Promised Land.Likewise, know the positive and negative attributes of your Promised Land but then focus only on the positive. So if your Promised Land is filled with the problems of strong people, protected cities and giants, note their presence but focus your mind on the abundant milk, honey and gigantic grapes.To learn why you should do this read How to Deal with Giants in Your Life.
2. Delight Yourself in God
Joshua and Caleb told the Israelites, "If God delights in us He will bring us into the Land and give it to us".
This means that if God found them delightful He would help them possess their Promised Land even if it was filled with problems.
Therefore, do the things that please God so that you can delightful in His eyes. These things include:
1. Believing God
Without faith it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6)
Therefore develop your faith by deciding to believe God and what is written in the Bible because it is His Word.
To do this if God has promised to give you a Promised Land filled with milk and honey, see yourself in your mind feeding on the milk and honey even if in reality there are strong people, protected cities and giants standing between you and your Promised Land because Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)
When doubts creep into your mind telling you that the gigantic problems are too big for you, remind yourself that not believing God is one of the reasons that made God not delight in this generation of Israelites and declare that they would not enter the Promised Land because if they had truly believed that God had given them the Promised Land they would not have cried, complained and cursed when they found that there were numerous problems in and around it.
2. Obeying God
Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying His voice?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice and to heed better than the fat of rams. (1 Samuel 15:22)
Offering burnt sacrifices to God pleases Him but obeying Him brings Him even more delight. Therefore do your level best to obey Him since we are also told Delight yourself in God and He shall give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)
3. Being Righteous
The sacrifice of the wicked person is an abomination to the Lord but the prayer of the upright person is His delight. (Proverbs 15:8)
Therefore try to be righteous or to do the right thing in the eyes of God so that your prayers can delight Him.
Click here to read more Benefits of Righteousness
3. Do Not Rebel Against God
Joshua and Caleb told the Israelites, "Do not rebel against God".
Rebellion against God is a serious sin for we are told Rebellion is like the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is like the sin of idolatry. (1 Samuel 15:23)
Therefore do not let the problems you encounter as you pursue the Promises of God for your life make you part ways with God and decide to go your own way.
The Israelites did this when they said Let us chose a leader and return to Egypt (Numbers 14:4) even though they had seen the many things that God had done to get them out of Egypt.
When the gigantic problems you encounter tempt you to rebel against God and stop being a Christian, create time to listen to Christian worship music.
Worshiping God will allow you to surrender your problems and your feelings about the situation to God.
After you have released the feelings of rebellion, disappointment and all other feelings that may have arisen from encountering the problems in your Promised Land, begin praising God since God is enthroned in praises (Psalm 22:3).
By praising God in the middle of the problem You will be declaring that He is still God over your situation and calling on Him to reveal His Mighty Power on your behalf because The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth so that He can show Himself strong on behalf of those who are loyal to Him. (2 Chronicles 16:9)
4. Do Not Fear
Joshua and Caleb told the Israelites, "Do not fear the people of the Land ... Do not fear them".
Fear is one of the Devices of the Devil and it can keep you from possessing your Promised Land with its paralyzing effect.
Therefore do not fear the strong people, the giants, the fortified cities, the surrounding enemies or any other problem you may encounter as you move to possess your Promised Land.
When you encounter problems that make you afraid, decide to believe that God can help you overcome them because by doing this you will be shielding your mind from fear with faith.
This shield of faith is very important because are told to take The shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. (Ephesians 6:16)
To help you hold up your shield of faith you can confess and meditate on fear fighting Bible verses like Do not be afraid because I am with you. Do not be dismayed because I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with My Right Hand. (Isaiah 41:10)
5. Believe God is With You
Joshua and Caleb told the Israelites, "God is with us".
Therefore believe that God is with you since this will give you the confidence to face all the problems that stand between you and your Promised Land because With God all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26)
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