“Activate it”

Numbers 13:17-33

Verse 17 “Then Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan…..

Verse 23 “Then they came to the Valley of Eschol and there cut down a branch with one cluster of grapes, they carried it between two of them on a pole.  They returned from spying.”

Verse 27 “Then they told Moses and said ‘We went to the land where you sent us.  IT TRULY FLOWS WITH MILK AND HONEY AND THIS IS ITS FRUIT.  Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there…’

Verse 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.”  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 are… the land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours it inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature.  There we saw the giants and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight.

This story is reminiscent of situations we have all encountered at one time or another.  God clearly gives us a promise.  And He even adds to the excitement of the promise as He did to the children of Israel.  Not only was He going to take them into the Promised Land but He told Moses it was a good and large land flowing with milk and honey.

So this was God’s promise:  the children of Israel would inherit the Promised Land which was good and large, and this land was flowing with milk and honey.  God speaks it to Moses and Moses speaks it to the people.

These people had already witnessed two of God’s great miracles that He had promised.  The first was that if they put the blood of an animal sacrifice on the doorposts and lintel of their homes, the Angel of Death would pass over them.  The second promise and miracle was that He would take them through the Red Sea and their enemies would be destroyed.  God had quite a track record with them.  He gave a promise and then fulfilled it.  With the Red Sea in front of them and the Egyptians hot on their trail behind them, God parted the sea for them.  The Egyptians with their horses and chariots were drowned in the sea after the Israelites passed through the sea on dry ground.

Moses sends out a team to see what this promised land is all about.  And they witness with their very eyes and confess with their mouth.  Yes, this land is flowing with milk and honey and check out the fruit they grow there.  Ten of the twelve spies have the negative vibe going on.   Yes, it’s a great place God has promised us but….they are stronger than us, they are known to devour their inhabitants, and the men are of great stature, way too big for us.

Imagine seeing a cluster of grapes so large it needed 2 men to carry it.  This land of promise was a fruitful place; supernatural abundance and supernatural provision.  God let them see with their natural eyes what He had in store for them.  So instead of activating their faith, they put their faith in reverse.  They were not able to see what Caleb and Joshua saw.

Then the scripture says that Caleb quieted them and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.”

Key words: go up at once and we are well able

Why would Caleb make such a statement?  Two reasons.  God had given them the promise so they didn’t need to hesitate.  Nothing was going to change about the situation in the next year or two.  It was time to go up at once and take the land.  God had commissioned them.  Secondly, Caleb was able to say, “we are well able” because he knew his God.  He knew God was on their side. He knew God would be faithful to His promise to them.  For Caleb, this was a no-brainer.  He had the faith to believe that what God said was true.  But the negative voices, the doubt and unbelief, won over the challenge to go up.  And the consequences for that decision were severe.  Very severe!  They spent the next 40 years wandering in the wilderness and eventually died and never entered the Promised Land.  Only Joshua and Caleb and the offspring of those who died entered in.

So this is what I feel the Lord is saying.

It’s time to ACTIVATE YOUR FAITH!!!  There are promises you have been given by God.  It requires taking a step forward and activating your faith, believing that what God said was true and that He is faithful to make it come to pass.  Maybe your mother is not saved.  God promised you that she would be saved.  Then you start saying things like, oh, my mother is an atheist.  She curses all the time.  She hates Christians.  I don’t think she could possibly be saved.  But the scriptures say that nothing is impossible with God.  And God’s desire is that every human come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  In the book of James it says that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous person avails much.

It’s time to stop wavering and being tossed to and fro with doubt and unbelief.  If you don’t pray for your mother, who will?  Severe consequences arise if she takes her last breath not having received salvation.

You lose your mother to an eternity without Christ.

The Bible is full of promises that we can stand on for whatever we are believing for.  Whether it’s praying for someone’s healing or helping a marriage get back on solid ground, we can activate our faith and believe for the impossible.  Did it look impossible in the natural for the Israelites to go and possess the land?  It sure did.  But it wasn’t about what they saw with their eyes.  It was believing God could and God would.   One bad faithless decision can derail your future and possibly others as well.  The faithless decision of 10 men affected the futures of over 2 million people.

As Christians we walk by faith not by what we see.  The situation or the individual may seem totally out of the realm of possibility.  To the naked eye, it is totally hopeless.  But by faith it becomes a reality.

Faith looks into the realm of impossibility and leaps forward with a yes.  It sees in the dimension of the spirit based on what the Word says.  Therefore, faith is blind to what is now.  It can only see the expected end. 

Have the spirit of Caleb!  Go after the promises of God and possess the land.  Dispossess your enemy from every situation.  You are well able.  You have been equipped with the Holy Spirit and God’s Word, and He has given you His armor.  Activate your FAITH NOW!