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How To Miss The Promised Land by JCM
How To Miss The Promised Land by JCM
INTRODUCTION:
30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, "Let us go up at once and take possession, for we
are well able to overcome it."
31 But the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are
stronger than we."
32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land
through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw
in it are men of great stature.
33 There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers
in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."
Numbers 14:1 So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night.
2.) When You Compare What You Lack To What Others Possess, Intimidation Will Replace Confidence.
· Things will appear giants to grasshoppers, when you compare
· They were not grasshoppers in God’s sight
· They were not grasshoppers in the Palestinian’s sight
· They were grasshoppers in their own sight!
· When you began comparing yourself to what you think your obstacle have over you, your imagination will
go crazy
· All the people cried all night - they were in fear
· They left the limitless realm of the supernatural and returned to the limited realm of the natural
· God loves uneven battles - because He gets all the glory
14:2 And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to
them, "If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why has the
LORD brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims?
Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?" 4 So they said to one another, "Let us select a leader and
return to Egypt." 5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of
the children of Israel.
3.) When You Allow Fear To Take Control Of Your Situation, Your Desire For Relief Will Weaken Your
Courage.
· Fear stirred them into a tizzy
· They got themselves talked into going back to Egypt - back into bondage
· Christians today are the same, a little discomfort, a few trials, and they are ready to retreat
· And of course, they wanted to blame the leadership for not hearing God right
· There is always a leader who will take you back to where you were
6 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the
land, tore their clothes; 7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: "The land
we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. 8 If the LORD delights in us, then He will bring us
into this land and give it to us, ’a land which flows with milk and honey.’ 9 "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."
· You have to give Joshua & Caleb credit, they were gutsy
· If you have something to say that’s right, say it
10 And all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Now the glory of the LORD appeared in the
tabernacle of meeting before all the children of Israel.
4.) When You To Determine To Disobey, You Will Seek Instant Gratification And Justification, Rather
Than Endure The Cultivation Of Character.
· There is no limit that you won’t go
· You will hurt people, sometime permanently
· You want relief, now
· Get out while the getting is good
· There is no growth, no increase, no blessing
· God has had it with them, He is ready to strike them down and disinherit them
· But Moses pleads the nation’s case
· He calls on God’s mercy, He reasons with them
· Egypt will hear about this and tell the inhabitants of this land, their God could not bring them in, so he
killed them
· The Lord graciously holds back, but He say, okay Moses there will be a trial that the whole nation will never
forget - no one except Joshua & Caleb will enter in
CONCLUSION:
· This walk is a faith walk
· If we walk by faith, then we cannot walk by sight
· If you do not want to succeed these are good lessons
· If you don’t want to enter into your promised land, then do likewise
· Take your eyes of the objective and look at the obstacles
· Compare what you lack to what others possess
· Allow fear to take control of your situation
· When you decide to disobey, seek justification rather than character cultivation
· But I believe that God wants us to come up higher
· I believe He wants us to trust Him - totally
· I believe when He promises us something, nothing can stand in our way
· I believe we can overcome ridiculous odds through Christ
· The accounts of Israel are examples, to help us avoid the same pitfalls