April 25, 2015

“But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.” Numbers 14:24

Life is about change, but you have probably noticed that!

We don’t mind change when it is our idea or when we feel in charge of it, but realistically how often does that happen?

Dealing with change generally requires making mental and emotional adjustments first.

That brings me back to the statement that is our theme for the week-end – If you want to change your outcome change your outlook. That is the Caleb difference!

You can call it a paradigm change or a new mindset or an attitude adjustment, whatever you prefer, but until your outlook is right your outcome will be wrong.

God had some major changes for His people. They were good changes but they called for drastic changes in their outlook.

Consider:

God was calling them out of being victims and into being victors.

As slaves in Egypt they had no rights, no privileges, and no freedom. They were at the mercy of their masters and where forced to take what they were given.

Nothing ever changed and they had lost hope of it ever changing.

But God had a better plan! His plan was to deliver them from slavery and make them His sons and daughters! That’s a huge change and it demands a major change in outlook. Though it was a very positive change it wasn’t an easy one. All their lives they had thought like victims but now they must begin thinking like victors. God was calling them to be victorious in the conquest of the Promised Land! That is a paradigm change many are never able to make.

How is your outlook?

Before God can change your outcome you must ask Him to change your outlook!

Also, God was calling them out of bondage and into boldness.

God created His people to be free and placed the desire for freedom in their spirit. But freedom is hard to get and even harder to keep. Freedom demands responsibility. Freedom requires self-discipline, self-denial and sound decision-making.

When bondage is all you’ve known, the boldness to break free is hard to muster. When bondage is all you have known discipline has been imposed upon you, decisions made for you and much has been denied you.

Bold actions must be preceded by bold thoughts and bold desires. To change that outcome requires a change in outlook.

God’s people had difficulty breaking the bondage of Egypt and finding the boldness to enter Canaan.

Will you be bold enough to ask Him to change your outlook?

Thirdly, God was calling them out of hopelessness and into their home.

People in hopelessly victimized by the bondage of slavery are in a bad place. That is where God’s people were when Moses answered God’s call to set them free. God had hopes for them when they had no hope.

God’s hope for His people involved a home where they could live in freedom and peace! Moses was called to lead God’s people out of His land of promise. The promise of this Promised Land was rest

When God called them out of hopelessness into His home He was calling them to His Self! He is the hope! He is the rest! He is where we belong!

God had wonderful plans for His people! But before they receive His plan they had to believe it. Before their outcome could change they would need to change their outlook!

This story is not just an ancient Old Testament story. This story is the foreshadowing of God’s plan for your salvation!

Egypt is your old life of sin and bondage. You were a hopeless victim of your own self-destructive nature.

Moses was the God-sent deliverer called to set His people free. He foreshadowed the Son of God who would be sent to save His people from their sins.

The Promised Land is the rest that God desires for us. It is a land that has where every enemy has been conquered and every passion has been brought under the control of the Holy Spirit. That is the different spirit demonstrated by Caleb!

In between Canaan and Egypt was the wilderness. That represents the life of salvation. Following God, learning to trust Him, getting to know Him and serve Him is what happens in the wilderness walk with God. The wilderness is where slave becomes sons and where outlooks and changed.

You can’t get into Canaan unless you go through the wilderness but you can’t get to the wilderness until you get out of Egypt! You can’t get out of Egypt until you trust Christ for your salvation from sin.

So this old story is as hopeful and helpful and powerful as it was in Egypt. God can still bring you out of your bondage into victory and boldness and into His rest!

Do you know this story?

Is this story your story?

Do you have the “different spirit” like Caleb had?

Are you ready for a new outlook?