WALKING INTO THE PROMISED LAND

I know its a long blog, but its for me and a few more out there -

The Promised Land is our inheritance, our destiny. It’s what God has promised us in His word and what He has spoken to us through the mouths of the prophets. I believe that we are crossing the waters of the Jordan River (Josh. 3) and we are saying in our hearts, “God, I want to take the land! I want the Promised Land.” I know that many of you have visions, dreams, revelations and prophetic words that were given to you by the Holy Spirit. However many of the words have not yet come to pass. I believe that many believers have been waiting and asking, “Father, when am I going to have that promise? When are You going to do what You promised our church, Father? I believe that there is a demonic strategy to keep us from entering the Promised Land and God wants to show us how to overcome. There are schemes and tactics of the devil to oppose and hinder us from entering into everything that God has for us. We need to take back the land that the enemy has taken from us. So what does the Promised Land look like? When the Lord wanted Moses and the nation of Israel to enter the Promised Land (Canaan) He told Moses to make plans to send a leader from each of the 12 tribes to spy out the land of Canaan (Num. 13:2). Listen. Many of us have been spying out the land! You know what the land looks like? HARVEST! I believe that we’re crossing the waters of the Jordan River and in our hearts there is a militancy that the Holy Spirit is releasing upon us. The kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force (Matt. 11:12). So when the spies entered this area, instead of breaking through spiritually and remembering that God promised them the land (of Canaan—Num. 13:2), they came under the existing demonic strongholds. All but two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, became completely intimidated by the giants’ huge stature. So when they returned home, ten of the spies gave a very convincing bad report (Num. 13:25-33). So all the people rebelled and wanted to stone Joshua and Caleb (Num. 14:1-10). Woe! Unfortunately ten of the spies forgot how big God is and so they became deceived and believed that they could not overcome the enemy. WRONG! The enemy won that particular battle without laying one finger on the emerging nation of Israel. Talk about a battle for their minds!

WITH THE RIGHT PERSPECTIVE WE CAN OVERCOME
We’re ready now to take a look at the enemies of God’s promise THE GIANTS, Anak and his descendants (Numbers 13:22). Anak means to choke and to strangle as if strangling someone with a necklace. The devil wants to choke out, strangle and suffocate the promise of God; often by a slow process. King Solomon said, “Where there is no vision [no redemptive revelation of God], the people perish…” (Prov. 29:18 AV). The enemy wants to choke and strangle the vision. The devil just doesn’t do it overnight. He’s been working slowly on our mindsets every day since we were young children. Some believers carry mindsets into the kingdom that are opposing and blocking them from God’s promise and God wants to set them free!
Now I want to share with you some tactics/schemes that Anak’s descendants, (Ahiman, Sheshai and Telmai) planned to use against the children of Israel to choke and strangle God’s promise to them. The enemy of our souls continues to use these same tactics in our lives.
1. Ahiman means to block or hinder. This stronghold wants to block and hinder the Holy One’s plan and the Holy One’s purpose.
2. Sheshai means to whiten or white wash. This stronghold wants to make something look like more than what it really is. Here’s an example. A dirty, rusty, run down automobile has some paint thrown on it to make it look new when it isn’t new at all.
3. Telmai means to accumulate. The devil wants us to be so busy accumulating material goods and getting so involved in the cares of this work and into entertainment that we don’t have time for God’s purposes and promise.
The enemy wants something on the outside to look good but in reality, on the inside, it’s full of dead man’s bones, white washed tombs (Matt. 23:27). It’s hypocrisy. These strongholds try to get us to settle for something that’s not authentic. It’s that “settle for this” attitude; no real life or motivation. Also there’s an apathetic spirit operating that tries to color our thinking: “I guess this is what my lot in life is so let’s not ‘push the envelope.’” “If the Lord delights in us then He’ll take us into the land.” “If God wants to heal me, then He’ll heal me.” “God is sovereign and He does whatever He pleases so I’m not going to do anything.”
If these strongholds succeed in deceiving us into settling for something that’s not God’s will, then ultimately we’re abandoning God’s real plan. And the strongholds are trying to get us to accumulate and they are working with other giants to oppose and rob us from God’s promise and to keep us from entering our destiny.
We can see historically that when the Israelites confronted their enemies in one generation (when they went in to take the Promised Land), they had to deal with them in another generation. And we’re going to have to deal with these strongholds too, when we take the land. We’re going to have to go to “Hebron” ourselves and overcome not only the demonic strategies but also the mindsets that bring deception.
Also, God didn’t say we have to fight these battles alone. When Moses told the children of Israel about the Promised Land he said that God would “cast out” their enemies:
“When the Lord your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you” (Deut. 7:1).
So let’s examine 5 more enemies that the Israelites had to confront in order to enter into God’s promises: the Jebusites, the Girgashites, the Canaanites and Hittites and Hivites.)
1. Jebusite means trodden down. This tribe represents those who are discouraged, overwhelmed and defeated. There is guilt, condemnation, shame, the spirit of heaviness and depression. “I can’t get over my past. I am beaten down. I am tired, I am weak. I am trodden down. It’s like a heavy cloud on me.” We need to overcome the power of condemnation, guilt, shame and the feeling of guilt over what we’ve done in the past. The devil wants to overwhelm us, discourage us and continually accuse us so that no matter how many times we ask God for forgiveness we still feel condemnation.
2. 2. Girgashite means the dwellers of the clay, the dwellers of the marsh, compromise or living in the grey areas. Revelation 3:15 speaks about compromise: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.” Compromise in Webster’s Dictionary means something midway. God said that if we are neither hot nor cold then He would vomit us out of His mouth (v. 16). We can’t be in between; we must be either hot or cold. Compromise, discouragement and condemnation work together. If the devil can’t draw you into condemnation, discouragement, guilt or shame, then he’ll try to trap you with compromise.Here are some lies that involve compromise: “You don’t need to be as radical and fanatical and extreme as they are. Just kind of keep it steady between you and the Lord. You don’t want to offend anybody. Let’s just kind of keep it quiet.” If we compromise just a little here and there, suddenly we’ll find ourselves far removed from what God intended for us. We need to be hot. It’s either hot or nothing! If we’re not hot Christians then what are we? You know when a person is on fire!
3. Canaanite means materialism. This is one of the greatest enemies today, especially in the western church. The spirit of covetousness will rob from us the promise of God. It says in Mathew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” We can’t serve God and money. If we compromise and give up in our heart, defeated, feeling unworthy, then the Canaanite stronghold of materialism will come along and try to tempt us to accumulate as much paraphernalia and stuff as we can! And to pay for everything, the devil just gets us working seven days a week for 12 hours a day. Then there’s no time for Jesus or our family! Materialism is about bigger toys and how much money is in the bank account.Did you know that it doesn’t take long before success in accumulating cash and possessions makes it harder for us to be generous? We falsely think that with more cash and possessions we’d be such big givers but what do we do with the money that we accumulate? What would you do with a million dollars? Would you walk into the church and say, “Here’s your hundred grand?” When the wealth and prestige increases, (not that God doesn’t use that) it’s so easy to be deceived and keep telling ourselves that it’s all for the kingdom. But in reality, most of the time, it isn’t for the kingdom of God at all. That spirit of materialism gets us focused on accumulating cash and possessions, trying to work more to get ahead, but it’s a trap.
4. Hittites means fear. They were a fierce nation that brought terror and fear into the hearts of their enemies. One of the ways that the spirit of fear works against our destiny is insecurity. When Saul was chosen as the King of Israel and it was time for him to be presented to the people he was afraid and so he hid by the baggage (1 Sam. 10:22). Many of us can’t step into the destiny that God has for us because of our baggage, insecurities, rejection issues, unworthiness and because of our fears. “How am I ever going to get up in front of all those people and speak?” Maybe you have a fear of flying and you can’t even get on a plane to go to the nations. Or maybe you’re hiding in your past, you’re hiding in your baggage or you’re hiding in your trauma. In my life there was a time when I was fearful to be in the public eye in ministry because I feared that someone would dig into my past and pull out all of my “skeletons.” So I didn’t want to get too well known in the Your fear might be a stuttering problem and you think that it’s impossible to ever speak publicly into a microphone. Or fear could be holding you back from going into the ministry because of anxiety over finances and quitting your secure job and living by faith. “I don’t know where the money is going to come from. It’s so much easier having a secure wage.” Or, “God, I know that You’ve called me to the nations but the real reason I’m not going is that I’m afraid of flying in an airplane and I’m afraid of trusting You.” That’s what fear will do. It will always challenge our trust in God. But we don’t want to allow fear to be a barrier. God wants us to take steps of faith. If we’re stuck in a fear mode then the exploits that God wants to do through us to advance His Kingdom, won’t be accomplished. That’s why God said several times: “Be strong and courageous, for the Lord your God is with you.” (Jos. 1:6,9, 11:6). He wanted to encourage Joshua and the people not to slip into fear. So often we are afraid. “Look at the people! Look at the fortified cities!” We tend to look at the bills and worry about how we’re going to pay them. Or we get stuck in our insecurities.

God is commanding us to be strong and courageous! He wants us to be risk takers and get out of the boat and walk on the water! When God told me to quit my job because He was calling me into the nations, my first thought was this: Who the heck knows who I am? I don’t have any invitations. I don’t even know how to get started. I don’t have a ministry. I don’t know how to go anywhere and where is my next pay cheque going to come from? But I had to purpose within my heart and count the cost. Do I want God’s will more than my fear? So I said, “God, I’m going to be a risk taker. I only live once. If this is really Your will for me then I will risk falling flat on my face.” Don’t let fear keep you back from obedience. Before closing I just sense that we need to honor the Lord by believing what He has spoken to us. Choosing to believe what God has promised is an act of faith. It means that we’re taking steps forward into the center of God’s will and closer to the Promised Land. It would be so unfortunate for anyone reading this teaching to shrink back into unbelief and fear. You know, the apostle Paul spoke wisely when he said:
“Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: “For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul” (Heb. 10:35-39).
5, Hivites means lie openly. This tribe represents a type of the spirit of humanism. This spirit is represented as a serpent. Humanism is one of the strongest, if not the strongest of all evil spirits at work in the world today. It is the exaltation of man (self-exaltation) to the place of God. This spirit manifests an attitude that says: “Let’s forget about God and do it ourselves.” Or “I’m getting tired of waiting for God to do what He said He was going to do. So if God doesn’t get it done by this deadline, I’m going to go out here and I’m going to do it myself. I don’t need God. I don’t need anybody. I can just get it done myself.” This spirit, this attitude, is getting into the church. It’s almost the spirit of Jezebel trying to exert itself into a place of authority through the feminist spirit and calling it “independence.” The spirit of humanism says, “I don’t need God. Oh that’s good that you found a crutch but I don’t need something to lean on. I’m glad that you found something that helped you get off drugs and alcohol and gave you a purpose, that’s good for you, but I don’t need that. I’m doing fine myself. You’re doing it that way and I’m doing it this way. We’re both getting to the same place in the end.” That’s a bunch of baloney!Remember, this spirit is shown in the form of a serpent and it’s trying to keep us from God’s promise and from our destiny. So let’s look at Genesis 3:1. Here’s how the spirit works. “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?" Listen. For every prophetic promise, every prophetic destiny and every promise from God’s presence, the spirit of humanism is right there undermining God, saying, “Has God said?” This spirit casts doubt and suspicion, challenging the faithfulness of God and tries to brew mistrust. “Has God said? Was that really the word from God that you’ve been looking forward to for ten years?” It takes the place of God, exalting itself before God and coming alongside what God has promised saying “Has God said? Well if God said, then…? Is that really what He meant?”Soon we’re tired, we’re discouraged and the kingdoms of this world just look so good. In this vulnerable condition, it’s so much easier to compromise and live in the grey areas than to be an extreme, on fire, radical Christian, every day. It’s so much easier just to slip on by and hope that one day we’ll fly up into heaven. And we don’t want to rock the boat as we go or push any envelopes along the way! Let’s just make it as best as we can; just me and Jesus. Of course we know that this mindset is wrong! Jesus told His disciples to be wise as a serpent and harmless as doves (Matt. 10:16). The serpent may be cunning, but the Lord will freely give us wisdom and discernment so that we can possess His promises and enter the Promised Land.
POSSESSING THE PROMISED LAND
To possess means to seize, to get, to lay hold of, to grasp, to dispossess our enemies. It means to occupy by driving out the tenants with force. It means casting out and destroying. God told the Israelites to go and spy out the land that He was giving them. Afterwards when most of the people chose not to believe the good report of Joshua and Caleb, their unbelief cost them big time. Unbelief sucks the life out of faith and without faith they didn’t have what it takes to be possessors, to be those who would dispossess the enemy. God couldn’t bless their unbelief! Remember Moses said that God was going to give them the land of Canaan and the Lord was going to cast out their enemies before them (Deut. 7:1). If they would have believed God they would have seen miracles happen. They were probably hoping that if God delighted in them that He would take care of all the problems and they wouldn’t have to work with Him and go into battle mode (Num. 14:8) in order to possess the Promised Land.
God said to possess the land (Deut. 7:1). In fact, it’s quite a job to try and count the number of times, just in the book of Deuteronomy alone, that God told them to possess the land. Listen. If we want the promises of God to be fulfilled in our lives we have to start possessing. It’s aggressive. It means to lay hold of the promise. It means grasp the promise and occupy by driving out the tenants. It means cast out, destroy and fight. It means if God isn’t moving then we’ll move God because our actions are speaking louder than our words. God will often ask, “How badly do you want this? Show me!” We need to be so hungry for what God has for us that we stir ourselves up to take hold of God’s promises and then take action. We need to make sure that we’re saying to God, “Here I am. Send me. I’m not letting go of the promise until you bless me. I am going to remind You of every word that I’ve received through the mouth of every prophet. I’m going to believe what You said, oh God. I’m going to wait here, fast, pray and press in as much as I have to until I receive what you said because I am not going to let it go!”
I want to invite you to examine your heart before the Lord with me this week. Take at look at where the enemy has been blocking and hindering God’s promises from being fulfilled in your life. Are there areas of deception and white-washing? Are you gaining the victory over materialism, compromise and fear? Do you know that the sins of your past are forgiven and forgotten by the Lord when they are confessed? Can you forgive yourself, too? And remember God's promise:

1 Thessalonians 5:24 (The Message)
23-24May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he'll do it!

AMEN AND AMEN