Taking New Territory
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God’s ultimate aim with us is not preservation but possession.
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Taking New Territory
- 2. Deu 1:6-7 NLT "When we were at Mount Sinai, the LORD our God said to us, 'You have stayed at this mountain long enough. 7 It is time to break camp and move on. Go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the neighboring regions--the Jordan Valley, the hill country, the western foothills, the Negev, and the coastal plain. Go to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, and all the way to the great Euphrates River.
- 3. Desert Progression • Promise • Provocation • Postponement • Procrastinating • Presence, Provision and Power
- 4. Presence, Provision, Power Possession
- 5. God’s ultimate aim with us is not preservation but possession.
- 6. Possession • Faith – Right Now • Fidelity • Fighting
Editor's Notes
- The story of Israel’s journey through the desert gives us insight into the progression from promise to ultimate possession. Their story is particularly useful to us because it includes their time of rebellion (provocation) that led to the postponement of the promise and to their meandering (procrastinating) aimlessly though the dessert. It is ironic that this time of meandering became so filled with supernatural manifestation. They had in this time God’s presence (cloud and pillar), provision (manna, clothes etc) and power (God performed miracles at every turn). Yet this miraculous time was not God’s perfect plan because it lacked possession.
- God’s supernatural working in our lives must ultimately lead to possession. God desires for his people to possess the land, in new testament language that is termed God wants His Kingdom to come through us. Miracles, signs and wonders are not in and of themselves possession, even though people often make that mistake. It is like praying for someone and seeing them get healed, that may be wonderful and worth celebration but if that doesn’t lead to discipleship (God taking possession of the person) it falls short of the ultimate goal. We are not to chase miracles but to build a place where God can rule. Miracles are great as the power tools to get to people but if you stop there and think just because someone is healed or experienced God’s power, you are missing the point.
- In the story of Israel’s Exodus the presence, provision and power was about preserving them and their faith in order to ultimately get them to possessing the land.
- Possessing requires:Faith – a Belief in and receiving of the promise of God right now in the midst of the time of testing. What kept Israel from entering the promised land at Kadesh-Barnea was an attitude of unbelief. It is this attitude that had to die in the dessert so that when the next opportunity came God’s people would receive the promise and believe in it while still not having entered it.Fidelity – It always requires obedience, stepping out into a raging Jordan because God said so. The river only parted as the priests put their feet on the water. Obedience is challenging and may even appear foolish but without it we cannot enter.Fighting – Once they have stepped into the promised land they had to take possession by evicting the current owners. For God’s kingdom to come we have to oust the enemy. We are not moving into virgin territory but every place we must take will require a fight. God said every place you put your foot I have given to you (Judges 1:3), that means possession requires your presence and active engagement.You may have been under pressure for a long time, feeling the testing of financial need, illness, spiritual dryness, relational struggles or any other trouble, but today hear the word of God. You have been in this place long enough it is time to move on.