ENTERING INTO THE PROMISE LAND(Newsletter 11:6:00)
Newsletter 11:6:00
ENTERING IN TO THE PROMISE LAND
When it comes to the promises of God, there's a vast difference between knowing about them, and entering in to them.
When God brought the Hebrew children out of Egypt, He told them His plans for them. He told them of a land flowing with milk and honey, that He had already given them. It was already theirs. What remained was for them to take possession of it. Which they failed to do, because although they had the knowledge of what God had for them, they failed to catch the vision.
"Where there is no vision (no redemptive revelations of God), the people perish: but he who keeps the law, blessed, happy. Fortunate [and enviable] is he." Proverbs 29:18 (Amplified Bible)
The word "perish" in the original Hebrew means: To throw off, let loose - hence to uncover, to make naked - are made naked, stripped of their honour and defense. Revelation (prophetic vision in some translations) speaks of truth revealed that was previously hidden. It implies a knowing in your heart, not your head. Redemption means: to buy out of the market place (slave market), to ransom or buy someone's freedom. "Law" in the Old Testament refers to the written word of God at that time - the scriptures - that contained statutes and ordinances, the terms of the Covenant and promises of God.
The people that failed to enter the promised land suffered from slave mentality.
When the next generation finally entered the land, led by Joshua and Caleb, God told them: "This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you." (Joshua 5:9) 'Reproach' means: to pluck or strip off, to disparage, to attack a persons character, reputation or honour."
God literally, physically bought these people out of the slave market. But they had remained stripped of their honour and defense, because they hung onto their slave mentality. Their inferiority complex. Their 'grasshopper' image.
Vision and hope work together, and become the basis for faith. In Ephesians 1:12&13 Paul is talking to those who first hoped in Christ. He gives a progression - we heard, hoped, then believed, and were stamped with the seal of the long promised Holy Spirit. After hearing God's promise, hope must be activated in order to believe it. Hope is the vision - the ability to see those things that are not, as though they already are. (I must point out here that our common perception of hope today is different from bible hope. For us to say: "I hope so," actually implies an element of doubt - the possibility that it might not happen - that the circumstances are beyond your control. Bible hope is a confident expectation.) God's provision is miraculous - 'super' natural. If you take an American format, NTSC video tape and try to play it in a normal video player it won't work. It can't hold the picture, because the systems are incompatible. A supernatural vision will not play in the natural mind. The promises of God, and sin consciousness or slave mentality are mutually exclusive. Take someone who needs a healing. You show them God's promises. They are listening - the information goes in. But as the picture begins to come up on their screen, the unworthiness system kicks in, and the image fails. Faith comes by hearing, so the obvious course is to meditate (mutter, imagine, ponder) the promises concerning healing. But that's not going to be sufficient in itself. We need to change the system with a redemptive revelation of God. We must you know and understand who He is, and the wonderful things He has done, and wants to do, for us. Only then we can understand who we are. The inner system has changed. We see ourselves as children of destiny, with a mighty God who wants to do mighty things for us and through us. Then you will also know and understand who the enemy is.
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While Israel were talking of the giants, and seeing themselves as grasshoppers,
Joshua and Caleb were walking in a redemptive revelation of God. What they saw in the same circumstances was completely different: "Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them." (Numbers 14:9) In world the system, it's easy to develop a slave mentality. But worse, religion often strengthens it with false humility and sin consciousness. The law is a curse, because we are always going to fall short. After Adam and Eve sinned, the consciousness of their sin caused Adam to hide when he heard God's voice. A redemptive revelation will turn you into a giant killer. When they were dividing up the land of Canaan, Caleb asked for the mountain where the giants lived. He had a thing about giants!
We must know who God is, what He has, and what He can do.
He is the loving Father who sent His son to deliver me. He has redeemed me with an outstretched arm, and great judgments. He is the Lord my Healer, the Lord my provider, the Lord my Shepherd! He has forgiven me. He has justified me! He has given me the promise of His presence always.
Only then will we know who we are, what we have, and what we can do.
I have His promise - His word that shows me the land of milk and honey that He has prepared for me.
I have His provision. -To meet every need.
I have His presence. - to go with me, And His leading -the Holy Spirit to show me the way.
I have His power - the Name of Jesus and the anointing to destroy every yoke! To defeat every giant! The gifts of the spirit and tongues to help me gain supernatural insight of the strategies of the enemy. The power to bind and loose!
And then you will also know who the enemy is - what he has, and what he can do.
By yourself you may feel like a grasshopper in the devil's sight, but with your armour on you strike terror into his heart! Listen to what Rahab of Jericho said to Joshua' spies: "I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you." (Joshua 2:9) Satan and his demons work desperately to keep God's people locked up in sin, or sin consciousness. To whip them, chain them, oppress them - not with chains of iron, but shackles of inferiority, legalism and tradition. Regardless how you feel about yourself, you are an agent of God's plan. Our calling is to break the bands of oppression and take the land! To drive the enemy from the field of battle!
Jesus said: "The thief comes only in order that he may steal and may kill and may destroy. I am come that they may and enjoy life, and have it in abundance - to the full, till it overflows." (John 10:10) He has given us the land, but we must rise up and take possession of it. We need to get tired of manna and wilderness blessings. Isaac spoke this to Esau: "By your sword you shall live and serve your brother. But the time shall come when you will grow restive and break loose, and you shall tear his yoke from off your neck." (Genesis 27:40) Become a violent, take it by forcer! (Matthew 11:12) -Steve & Jenny
-Steve & Jenny
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