The
Israelites took forty years to make what should have been an eleven-day journey
to the Promised Land. Through
Moses, God led them out of Egyptian bondage, but the wilderness wanderings of
the Israelites delayed the fulfillment of His plan for them.
God delivered them from Egypt to lead them into a land that was so much
better. And he brought us out
from there, that he might bring us in to give us the land which He swore to give
our fathers (Deuteronomy 6:23). God
brought them out to take them in!
God
continues to do that in our lives today. He
wants to take us out of one place to lead us into something better.
But unless we learn to listen to the Holy Spirit and do what He
tells us to do, we too will get delayed in the wilderness.
When
we accept Jesus, our lives are still extremely carnal, and it’s sometimes
difficult to discern God’s will. But
we don’t have to camp there – we can follow the admonition of Ephesians
4:15, which says, ...let us grow up in every way and in all things into Him
Who is the Head... He doesn’t
lead us out of something just to roam around aimlessly – He brings us out so
He can lead us into something better. But
in order to get there, we must grow up and mature in the things of God.
Some
people keep wandering in the wilderness because they never take responsibility
for their own actions. They spend
their lives blaming somebody else for their bad behavior and unhappiness.
But it’s time to face the truth about ourselves.
The Israelites spent forty years in the wilderness because they
wouldn’t face the truth.
It
is difficult to take an honest look at ourselves, and that’s why we blame
others for our problems. But if we
want to make it through the wilderness into our promised land, we must face the
truth. John 8:32 says, ...you
will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free. Only when we face the truth about our weaknesses can God
strengthen those areas. God already
knows all about us and still loves us, so why should we fear walking in the
light and facing the truth about ourselves?
One
good way to really get to know yourself is to listen to your words and
thoughts. Do you remember the
offenses of others...even after you have supposedly forgiven them?
Do you blame others for your problems, refusing to see your own faults?
Do you try to control and manipulate others?
You might as well face the truth and stop trying to hide it.
Matthew
12:34,35 says, ...How can you speak good things when you are evil (wicked)?
For out of the fullness (the overflow; the superabundance) of the heart
the mouth speaks. The good man from
his inner good treasure flings forth good things, and the evil man out of his
inner evil storehouse flings forth evil things.
You have a storehouse of thoughts, attitudes, and opinions inside of you,
so listen to yourself and learn.
I
used to have a negative attitude that said, “If you don’t expect anything
good to happen, then you won’t be disappointed.”
Because I had been hurt so many times, this was my way of protecting
myself from further emotional pain. But
when I learned God’s plan for my life, I was able to change my attitude.
Listening
to yourself will give you a good clue about where you stand in your journey out
of the wilderness. The Israelites
murmured, grumbled, complained, and found fault with God and Moses.
They spoke negatively – and God doesn’t like negativity!
What
is your conversation like during hard times?
Are you speaking to your mountains, or are you talking about
your mountains? If you can’t say
something positive, it’s better not to say anything. You can improve your life drastically just by being positive.
God
doesn’t give us His Spirit so we can be a bunch of Christians doing nothing.
He gives us His Spirit so we can grow up and go up – moving up to the
next spiritual level. God has an
abundance of good things in store for us, and He’s just waiting to bless us
with gifts, finances, and promotions. But
He won’t turn over all of those blessings to us until we grow up and show that
we’re capable of handling them.
God
wants to use all Christians in His end-time harvest, but if we are to be used,
we must grow out of carnal Christianity and learn to experience righteousness,
peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Righteousness
is knowing who you are in Christ and doing the right thing.
The world has a spirit of greed today.
But as Christians, we need to grow to the point that it doesn’t take
material things to make us happy. We
can wake up happy every day just because Jesus is alive!
Many
of the Israelites died in the wilderness because of their sins.
Numbers 21:5 says that ...the people spoke against God and against
Moses... Verse 6 tells us that
God sent fiery serpents that bit them...and many died.
Then...the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have
spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord, that He may take away
the serpents from us. So Moses
prayed for the people (verse 7). Their
sin was being critical of God and Moses and blaming them for their own problems. They murmured, grumbled, and complained because there was no
bread, failing to be grateful for the manna God provided.
The problem wasn’t their enemies – it was their attitude!
God
never intended to bring the Israelites out of Egypt just to watch them die in
the wilderness. No!
He wanted all of them to enter into the Promised Land.
But during the hard and dry places of the wilderness, they missed the
thing He was trying to teach them. He
wanted them to trust Him and enter into His rest.
He wanted to mean more to them than their entering into the Promised
Land. But they didn’t seem to get
it. And because of it, they missed
the Promised Land. It is the same
today. Unless God means more to us
than our promised land, we’ll never enter it.
Concentrating
on walking in love, as defined in 1 Corinthians 13, would solve most of our
problems. When you’re walking in
love it’s difficult to be offended, to stay mad, or to constantly be concerned
about yourself. So it is wise to
practice loving others on purpose and to be aggressive in your love walk.
Being
a Christian is not so much a matter of doing as of being.
When you’re willing to just get out there and shine, you’ll
eventually swallow up the darkness in your realm of influence.
God
anoints normal, everyday people to live supernaturally in a frustrating world.
He wants us to be doers of the Word and not hearers only.
He wants us to stop telling people that Jesus loves them and start
being Jesus to them.
We
are admonished in Titus 2:1 to ...teach what is fitting and becoming to sound
(wholesome) doctrine [the character and right living that identify true
Christians]. The rest of that
chapter gives specific instructions about what we are to do, but it all boils
down to teaching by example. The
people in the world want to see Christians who live good, clean lives.
They want to be able to trust someone.
And it is our job to pass along the principles of godly living from
generation to generation. Being a
mature believer encourages others to come up higher.
Living
a victorious Christian life involves more than just the spiritual aspect.
There is a practical side of your life, and you must pay careful
attention to it. After you have
spent time in prayer communicating with God and in studying and memorizing the
Word of God, you must walk it out by exercising the fruit of the Spirit.
A
lot of the things the Israelites went through were types and shadows of things
that affect us today. Slaves in
Egypt are symbolic of slaves to sin. Coming
out of Egypt correlates to the new birth. The
Promised Land, flowing with milk and honey, is symbolic of that place where we
walk with God in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
But we must go through the wilderness and grow out of carnality to get
there. God always tests us at one level before He promotes us to the
next.
Running away from is not part of God’s plan, but going through is.
We grow and mature in the hard times.
When we’re going through difficulties, we may seek to alleviate the
pain.
But there are no drive-through breakthroughs – the only way is to “go
through.”
We are Jesus’ ambassadors.
We’re supposed to imitate Him.
Procrastination
is one of Satan’s greatest deceptions. Obedience
is not good intention – it is action. Procrastination
is just another form of disobedience. Too
many people are willing, but they’re not obedient.
But Isaiah 1:19 says, If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat
the good of the land.
We
learn how to climb mountains in the wilderness, and we learn how to be tough and
stay calm in adversity. Blessed
(happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man whom You discipline and instruct, O
Lord, and teach out of Your law; that You may give him power to keep himself
calm in the days of adversity... (Psalm 94:12-13).
God
also wants to see evidence of a grateful heart. Thanksgiving is a powerful too, so learn to be radically
thankful! Stop taking inventory of
everything you don’t have and look at what you do have.
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you (1 Thessalonians 5:18, KJV).
The
trip through the wilderness is difficult, but how long it takes is up to us.
The trip through the wilderness progresses in stages.
There will be times when you’ll experience real growth...and times when
you feel that nothing is happening. When
nothing seems to be happening, be careful that you don’t try to make something
happen. Sometimes God wants us to
seek Him so we can go into a deeper relationship with Him.
We need to learn how to gain and maintain.
We
know about waiting on God, but I believe He is waiting on us, too.
He is extremely eager to bless His children.
We don’t have to talk God into blessing us – He’s just waiting for
us to grow up. Growing up involves
confronting giants in our lives. Too
many people run away from the battle line instead of running to it, but we
can’t win the victory of we don’t confront the devil and hold our ground. Once we’ve gained ground, we must maintain it
by being alert and aggressive.
If
you stand long enough and your heart is right, promotion day will come.
And when it does, no devil in hell and no person on earth can keep you
out of the will of God. But when God starts giving you possessions, you’d better
take care of them or you’ll lose them. Luke
4:13 speaks of the devil completing a cycle of temptation to wait...until
another more opportune and favorable time.
So we must stay alert because Satan stands back just waiting for a good
time to come against us again. We
must guard our hearts will all diligence.
One
of the greatest challenges is learning to maintain your peace during the storm.
When it looked like the Egyptians were going to overtake the Israelites,
Moses said, The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace and
remain at rest (Exodus 14:14). And
that is a good word for Christians today.
Evaluate
who you are, where you are, and what you can and can’t do.
Find out what God has anointed you to do and flow in His anointing.
It is time to stop comparing yourself to everybody else and begin
enjoying your life.
Start
moving in the things of God. Get
out there in the world and shine. Stop
worrying about your breakthrough or the next level of prosperity, and simply
walk in obedient love and enter into the rest of God. As you walk in spiritual maturity, you’ll discover the
short cut through the wilderness.
<Reproduced
with permission of Life In The Word, Inc./Joyce Meyer Ministries, Fenton,
MO 63026, U.S.A. How To Get To The Promised Land Before You Die, Joyce Meyer,
@2000. Life In The Word, Inc.>