May 14, 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

Caleb is an example of what can happen when you consecrate yourself to God’s will in Kadesh Barnea – the place of decision.

We examined why he had a different spirit – he was a servant and he was sold out to God.

Over the next few days I want to call attention to HOW he was different.

First, Caleb had a Visionary spirit!

“Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” Numbers 13:30

“The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good.  If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us.” Numbers 14:7-8 

Because Caleb was tuned into God’s will he say life in God’s way! That is the heart of vision. Here are some more contemporary definitions of vision.

Andy Stanley,  -  “Vision is a clear mental picture of what could be, fueled by the conviction that it should be.”

John Maxwell  - “Vision is a clear compelling picture of a preferred future”

George Bernard Shaw – “Some look at things that are, and ask why. I dream of things that never were and ask why not?"

I say, “Vision connects your past story to your future glory”

When it came to the vaunted giants reported to dwell in Canaan, the ten spies said, “They are so big they make us seem like grasshoppers.”

But Caleb had the same spirit as David did when he went out to face Goliath. When the others were saying, “Goliath is too big to challenge,” David said, “He’s too big to miss!”

That’s the Caleb difference!

If you want a different outcome you must have a different outlook! For Caleb, like David, that different outlook was godly vision!

At FredWes, God has brought us out of some difficult places and into our Kadesh Barnea with hopes we will catch His vision of a preferred future. He wants to give us a different spirit so we can have a better outcome.

It is important to understand that Caleb was not out of touch with reality or psyched into some sort of wishful thinking. He saw the size of the Giants who dwelt in Canaan with his own eyes! But with his “different spirit” he saw the size of His God!

A different spirit manifests itself in a different outlook, a godly vision that looks at life’s giant challenges and says, “Ok, God, the bigger they are the harder they fall!”

How’s your vision?

May 13, 2015

“Then, as the Lord our God commanded us, we set out from Horeb and went toward the hill country of the Amorites through all that vast and dreadful wilderness that you have seen, and so we reached Kadesh Barnea. Then I said to you, “You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. See, the Lord your God has given you the land. Go up and take possession of it as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, told you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 1:19-21

God was calling His people into their destiny. He had promised them this land of promise, a holy place, a place to rest in Him. And He promised to lead them in.

How could they be sure He would lead them in?

How could feel good about taking this risk?

They could be sure God would lead them in because He had led them out!

Through Moses, God brought His people out of the bondage of slavery in Egypt. God displayed His power in sending plagues throughout Egypt while sparing the Hebrews. Finally, He sent the Death Angel to take the first born sons of all the Egyptians and passed over those who had the blood of a lamb over their door posts.

God’s people were saved and delivered by the blood of a lamb. Sound familiar?

They could be sure God would lead then in because He had led them out.

They could also be sure He would lead them in because He had led them through!

When they were threatened by defeat and destruction on the shore of the Red Sea, God opened the sea and led them through – ON DRY GROUND!

As the Egyptian army pursued them God closed the Red Sea on top of them and drowned them all!

The very thing that looked like it would be their destruction God turned into their deliverance! It’s not unlike the Cross of Jesus, the very thing that looked to destroy Him became our deliverance through a stream of red from His hands and feet.

God also led them through the wilderness with a cloud by day and pillar of fire at night. He provided manna for them to eat and water in the desert!

They could trust God to lead them in because He had led them out and He had led them through.

So, now they found themselves in Kadesh Barnea, the place of decision and consecration. They were there because He had led them there. Now He was calling them into the next great blessing He had for them. Would they decide to trust Him? Would they realize that the best predictor of what someone will do in the future is what he has done in the past?

Perhaps you find yourself in Kadesh Barnea. God is calling you into a new level of fellowship with Him. Will you consecrate yourself to the One who led you there so He can lead you on?

May 12, 2015

“When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, they proceeded to come to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. Thus they told him, and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.” Numbers 13:25-27

Because the Bible is divinely inspired and every word has a purpose, often within the great stories of the Bible is usually a story within the story. And sometimes the story within the story is as good as the main story!

So, let’s put together this story within the story!

God called His people to consecrate themselves in Kadesh Barnea so Joshua could lead them into the promised rest. Caleb was the only one who did. No wonder he had a different spirit!

Only Caleb entered into Canaan and claimed Hebron as his inheritance because of his different spirit!

I want to call your attention to one of the stories within the story of God’s people camping near the Jordan across from the Promised Land. It centers around several names and places:

“Kadesh Barnea“

 “Caleb”

“Hebron”

“Joshua”

Kadesh Barnea was the place where the Israelites were in or around for 38 of the 40 years they spent in their wandering. It was near Canaan, the Land of Promise, and where the spies were chosen to be sent into spy out Canaan. It was where Moses buried His sister, Miriam. Kadesh was the place where Moses got water from the rock to provide for God’s people. Kadesh Barnea was symbolic of consecration or preparation. It was a holy place but still a place of struggle.

Their unwillingness to commit, to consecrate themselves to the will of God kept them from entering into the land of Promise.

God calls individual believers and churches to a place of consecration so they can leave their wandering and enter into His promised rest. Only a “different spirit” will allow you (and us) to enter into inherit Hebron.

Hebron was another significant place in Biblical history. It was located within Canaan, the Land of Promise. It was where Abraham met God and built and altar in days of old. It was the place Abraham buried his beloved Sarah. It was the city where David ruled the divided Kingdom.  It was the place given to Caleb as his inheritance. It literally means “union”, as in union with God, a place of rest. It is where Jesus wants to lead us.

Joshua was the Old Testament representation of Christ. It was Joshua who led God’s people into Canaan, the land of the promised rest. Joshua defeated the giants that dwelt there and chased them out so Caleb could have a place of rest. Caleb is regarded as the Old Testament representation of the Church.

Get the picture?

Is there a message here for you?

May 11, 2015

^"Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth."  Genesis 7:17

What can you expect from a God Who can do anything, anytime, to anyone when ever He wants to?

From the perspective of Noah, you can expect God to keep His promises!

And, indeed, He did! And trusting in God's promise strengthened Noah before the storm. But that is not all! Noah also found that trusting God's promise also supported him IN the storm!

Can you get your mind around what Noah did? He spent 100+ years preparing for an catastrophic event that would be caused by a meterological phenomenon never seen before! That's faith! That is believing God!

Noah expected that the same promise that strengthened him while he prepared for the storm would also support him IN the storm!

What do you trust during your storms? What supports you?

This stirring story of Noah reminds us that life is stormy! As you read this you are either in a storm, coming out of a storm or headed to the next one! When those storms come you will either sink or swim! That's the way it is! Where will you look for support?

There are so many great lessons to learn from this story, but one that I want to focus on is this: when you expect God to support you in the storm He will use the flood that would have destroyed you will lift you up!

Faith floats! When you claim the promises of God and live by them every day, faith will keep you afloat! When you base your decisions on the promises of God, faith will keep you afloat! 

God's promises will lift you above your doubts! His promises will lift you above your despair! His promises are based in His character and guaranteed by His power so you can hope in them like Noah did.

Don't be fearful in the storm! Don't sink! Don't get swamped! Cling to His promises and they will support you!

I promise!

May 10, 2015

Mom is the guiding force behind all great people and those great people are aware of it! Enjoy these quotes as a tribute to Moms everywhere on Mother's Day!

A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.  ― Washington Irving

Behind all your stories is always your mother's story, because hers is where yours begin. 

― Mitch Albom

No man is poor who has a Godly mother. ― Abraham Lincoln

My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her. 

― George Washington

(Motherhood) is the one job where, the better you are, the more surely you won't be needed in the long run.― Barbara Kingsolver

(A mother) can be glorious or terrible, benevolent or filled with wrath, but she commands love either way. I am convinced that this is the greatest power in the universe.  ― N.K. Jemisin

How vital are mother’s influence and teaching in the home—and how apparent when neglected! ― Ezra Taft Benson

God knows that a mother needs fortitude and courage and tolerance and flexibility and patience and firmness and nearly every other brave aspect of the human soul. ― Phyllis McGinley

(Mothers) worry only about those we brought into this world, regardless of whether they loved us back or treated us fairly or understood our shortcomings.  ― Adriana Trigiani

I realized when you look at your mother, you are looking at the purest love you will ever know. ― Mitch Albom

You may have tangible wealth untold; caskets of jewels and coffers of gold. Richer than I you can never be. I had a mother who read to me.  ― Strickland Gillilan

The daughter of a good mother will be the mother of a good daughter. ― Vikrant Parsai

No language can express the power, and beauty, and heroism, and majesty of a mother's love. It shrinks not where man cowers, and grows stronger where man faints, and over wastes of worldly fortunes sends the radiance of its quenchless fidelity like a star. — Edwin Hubbell Chapin

Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs in my field, since the payment is pure love. — Mildred B. Vermont

The phrase “working mother” is redundant.— Jane Sellman

If you have a mom, there is nowhere you are likely to go where a prayer has not already been.— Robert Brault

She never quite leaves her children at home, even when she doesn't take them along.

— Margaret Culkin Banning

If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands? — Milton Berle

Mom—the person most likely to write an autobiography and never mention herself.

— Robert Brault

The mother-child relationship is paradoxical and, in a sense, tragic. It requires the most intense love on the mother's side, yet this very love must help the child grow away from the mother, and to become fully independent. — Erich Fromm

May 9, 2015

I found this thought today and wanted to share Mother's Day "by the Book".

What does the Bible say about moms? Here are some Bible quotes you can use for inspirational greeting cards, personal devotions, or preparing a Bible study/sermon about Mother’s Day. Each of these scriptures about mothers are quoted from the ESV translation.

Motherhood Before the Fall

"Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.". (Genesis 2:24-25 ESV)

Sons Should Follow their Mother’s Teaching

"My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not your mother’s teaching. Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck. When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you." (Proverbs 6:20-22 ESV)

Mother’s Must Correct their Children

The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother. (Proverbs 29:15 ESV)

Children Must Honor their Mother (and Father)

“Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:2-4 ESV)

Timothy’s Mother as Faith Example

"I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well."  (2 Timothy 1:5 ESV)

Jesus Provided for His Mother Before He Died

"When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home." (John 19:26-27 ESV)

Warning to Provide for Your Aged Mother

"Honor widows who are truly widows. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God. She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day, but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives. Command these things as well, so that they may be without reproach. But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." (1 Timothy 5:3-7; 1 Timothy 5:8 ESV)

Women Who Believer are Like Mothers to Jesus

While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12:46-50 ESV)

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

May 7, 2015

"Honor your father and your mother........"

Pictures really do say more than a thousand words!

Here is a pictorial tribute to a mothers love!

Here are some Magnificent Moms!

So many of us have been spoiled on our mother’s love.  So much that we don’t realize how much love they really had for us.  We don’t realize how much they did for us.  We can’t comprehend what they would do for us. Whether it be as dramatic as this image of the Israeli woman shielding her son while rockets were being shot into her town during the Gaza war…

… or small acts, like this mother getting wet while her son holds the umbrella…

 … or this 97 year old mother who has been feeding and taking care of her 60 year old paralyzed son every day for 19 years…

…it can be so easy to forget just how much a mother gives, and how much she is willing to give.  How much she loves. 

Is there something you need to say to your mother?