A Role Model of Faith
Num. 14:24 NIV “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.”
If you are anything like me, you probably have many characters from the Bible that you admire that have helped you in your faith. I know I do. Each of them have helped me know and understand the Lord as well as help strengthen my relationship and faith with Him in different ways. One of those is Caleb. In today's verse, God said that Caleb had a “different spirit.” He had said that to Moses at a time when He was chastising His people for casting aside their trust and faith in Him. What would become their destiny would not become Caleb's! They would become a people that would never enter into the promise land or experience the manifestation of God's promises in their lives. Why? Because despite how powerfully God would show them and demonstrate His presence and provision in their lives, they would not put faith in Him. They were rejecting His love.
God didn’t chastise Caleb. He praised him! He proclaimed to Moses that Caleb had a “different spirit.” Why did God say that about Caleb? He said it because Caleb is a role model of a believer. Caleb was a BELIEVER. We say you are a believer when you have received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. You are but that was not to be the end of what a “believer” meant. As “believers,” God desires us to let that belief permeate every fiber of our being so that we would come to a place of pressure, we would absolutely trust God because of having great faith in Him. We all come to places of pressure, but not absolute trust. Why is that? Because people don’t always take the time to get to know God well enough to trust Him. That becomes our dilemma, not God's. He has said to us, “Those that seek me will find Me.” The burden to seek God is upon us. When we do, He is desirous to reveal Himself and His love to those that will seek them with all their heart. Once you really know God you will find out that you have also experienced God. You will have felt and seen His presence manifest in your life in numerous ways. It helps you to really move over to a place of trust and your faith becomes active and powerful - like Caleb’s.
That is what made Caleb different. He wasn’t a complex person. To the contrary, I believe that he was a simple person. Faith in God simplifies things! He heard from God. He saw God work in his life, he had God's promise and he based his entire life upon what God said and promised. He held nothing back. God said they would have this Promised Land. God said Caleb would be one of those that entered into the land of promise that would effect and bless all of his future generations. For Caleb that settled it. He didn't spend a lot of mental anguish wondering, “will God do this or won't he?” Instead he spent all his time believing and preparing himself and those in his sphere of influence that they were going to enter into the promise of God.
How do I know that? In Deut. 1:35 & 36 we hear Moses speaking God's words: "Not a man of this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your forefathers, except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the LORD wholeheartedly."
Caleb is such a wonderful role model to me. He did enter into the land of promise when the rest of his generation (except for Joshua) did not. He did so because of his faith and trust in God. To generate good feelings and praise toward God is a good thing. It honors Him and it makes us feel good in praising Him. But I don’t think there is anything more honoring to God than trusting and believing in His love and promises to us – whether in times of pressure or not! Our tenacious faith and trust is the Caleb kind of evidence that love Him. It honors God! May you have a “different spirit” like Caleb!
Pastor Tim Burt
Fresh Manna
http://readfreshmanna.blogspot.com
Num. 14:24 NIV “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.”
If you are anything like me, you probably have many characters from the Bible that you admire that have helped you in your faith. I know I do. Each of them have helped me know and understand the Lord as well as help strengthen my relationship and faith with Him in different ways. One of those is Caleb. In today's verse, God said that Caleb had a “different spirit.” He had said that to Moses at a time when He was chastising His people for casting aside their trust and faith in Him. What would become their destiny would not become Caleb's! They would become a people that would never enter into the promise land or experience the manifestation of God's promises in their lives. Why? Because despite how powerfully God would show them and demonstrate His presence and provision in their lives, they would not put faith in Him. They were rejecting His love.
God didn’t chastise Caleb. He praised him! He proclaimed to Moses that Caleb had a “different spirit.” Why did God say that about Caleb? He said it because Caleb is a role model of a believer. Caleb was a BELIEVER. We say you are a believer when you have received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. You are but that was not to be the end of what a “believer” meant. As “believers,” God desires us to let that belief permeate every fiber of our being so that we would come to a place of pressure, we would absolutely trust God because of having great faith in Him. We all come to places of pressure, but not absolute trust. Why is that? Because people don’t always take the time to get to know God well enough to trust Him. That becomes our dilemma, not God's. He has said to us, “Those that seek me will find Me.” The burden to seek God is upon us. When we do, He is desirous to reveal Himself and His love to those that will seek them with all their heart. Once you really know God you will find out that you have also experienced God. You will have felt and seen His presence manifest in your life in numerous ways. It helps you to really move over to a place of trust and your faith becomes active and powerful - like Caleb’s.
That is what made Caleb different. He wasn’t a complex person. To the contrary, I believe that he was a simple person. Faith in God simplifies things! He heard from God. He saw God work in his life, he had God's promise and he based his entire life upon what God said and promised. He held nothing back. God said they would have this Promised Land. God said Caleb would be one of those that entered into the land of promise that would effect and bless all of his future generations. For Caleb that settled it. He didn't spend a lot of mental anguish wondering, “will God do this or won't he?” Instead he spent all his time believing and preparing himself and those in his sphere of influence that they were going to enter into the promise of God.
How do I know that? In Deut. 1:35 & 36 we hear Moses speaking God's words: "Not a man of this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your forefathers, except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the LORD wholeheartedly."
Caleb is such a wonderful role model to me. He did enter into the land of promise when the rest of his generation (except for Joshua) did not. He did so because of his faith and trust in God. To generate good feelings and praise toward God is a good thing. It honors Him and it makes us feel good in praising Him. But I don’t think there is anything more honoring to God than trusting and believing in His love and promises to us – whether in times of pressure or not! Our tenacious faith and trust is the Caleb kind of evidence that love Him. It honors God! May you have a “different spirit” like Caleb!
Pastor Tim Burt
Fresh Manna
http://readfreshmanna.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment