A Different Spirit
Numbers 14:24
Loving God (truly) means keeping His commandments, and his commandments (what to do) are not burdensome (oppressive, causing difficulty)!
I John 5:3
As a Loving Shepherd, everything the Lord does for us is for our good, His commandments.
God commandments is for our good- to position us for greater blessing and be a blessing.
When we submit and obey the Lord’s loving authority, lean on His wisdom, and when we don’t act presumptuously and irresponsibly, we can be safe, be protected and preserved.
Let us not test the Lord by making irresponsible and unwise decisions that ignore the written Word of God or the Godly counsel spoken to us.
As a believer in Jesus we don’t do good works to become righteous.
You are instantaneously and perfectly righteous when you believe in Christ Jesus- you’re one in Him.
Your holiness is an on ongoing process in your growth in Christ.
Hebrews 10:14
To be made new in the attitude of your minds and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:23-24
Like Father, like sons.
1 John 4:17
The Lord does not demand obedience, but He loves it when everything we do for Him, we do it within the cycle of love and faith.
Galatian 5:6
When we obey and honor the Lord out of love for Him, and not of slavish fear, our lives would become so much different that the world- that is holiness.
Do everything without grumbling or arguing.
Philippians 2:14
Do not slander one another.
James 4:11
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances;
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Bear one another’s burdens,
Galatians 6:2
When we honor the Lord in all of our ways, we will be blessed and be a blessing, God is glorified in us, then we can have an impact to the world.
And Caleb did so even when he was sorely outnumbered 10 to 2.
He never murmured or complained unlike the other spies for he believe God is on his side.
Murmuring or grumbling is birthed out of unbelief.
It is having a negative and wrong opinion of God.
“But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully (passionately), I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.
Numbers 14:24
Caleb said to Joshua, “Remember what the Lord said to Moses, the man of God, about you and me when we were at Kadesh-barnea. I was forty years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions.
Joshua 14:6-7
Caleb was different from his peers (the 10 other spies) in that he had a heart to follow the Lord.
He honor God and the authority He placed him under.
Yes, there will be times it might feel daunting to stand apart from the “safety” of the popular opinion or majority.
There will be times it might take courage to make a stand to follow the Lord in the face of peer pressure and society’s religious ideals and opinions.
At the end of the day, Caleb’s story is less about Caleb and more about the God whom Caleb knew.
That God is the game changer.
That God is the giant slayer.
That God is the miracle worker.
That God is the faith giver and way maker.
That God is the promise keeper.
And that’s why Caleb knew deep down in his gut that with the Lord on his side, he couldn’t lose.
So in confidence Caleb told Moses:
“Give me this mountain. . . for you heard in that day how the Anakim (giants) were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. (It may be) Since the Lord will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord sai.”
Joshua 14:12
When Caleb saw his mountain (his inheritance), he saw the giants in it but he also saw that it had giant-size harvests- clusters of grapes so huge and heavy that a single cluster had to be carried on a pole.
Caleb didn’t see the giant-populated mountain as a problem. He saw it as his portion.
All at 85 years old, when his natural strength and vigor were supposed to have run dry.
You maybe facing overwhelming odds but when you do stand on God’s Word, the Lord will stand up for you like He did for Caleb and bring you to His place of promise and provision.
