YET MUCH LAND TO BE POSSESSED 3

Where/What then are the lands yet to be possessed?

Inasmuch as it comes under the description there and not here, it fits into what we are discussing and God is particular about it.

Things we have asked and trusted God for: We need to realise that we are not bastards for there shall be a performance of things we have asked and trusted God for (Lk. 11.9-13). God will grant our requests inasmuch as they are according to His will and the season of favour shall surely come for unanswered prayers – Lk. 1.13,20; Acts. 10.4

Things still dark or unknown to us: The second area of of lands to be possesed has to do with things currently unknown. The plan of God is not to leave us in the dark but to reveal by His Spirit to us things that he has prepared for those who love him. There shall be revelations of things still dark or unknown to us, for we do not have a full awareness yet of the things God has prepared for us (1 Cor. 2.9-10; Dan. 2.21,22; Isa. 45.2,3). There is more to be known, if He can grant revelation unto a gentile king because of his desire, He will surely meet your desire to know.

Reward for all past obedience and faithfulness: Reward shall come for all past obedience and faithfulness, inasmuch as you continue to be obedient to God and to listen to your heart and not your head in truly following the Lord. It was after forty years that Joshua's season came to be rewarded for his faithfulness as a youth in following God. God is not mocked; you will reap whatever you sow (Eph. 6.7; Jos. 14.7-13). God has not forgotten your labours of love.

Help to tackle greater challenges: Greater experiences in life are shielded behind greater challenges. Many never attained greater heights in life simply because of the fear of great challenges. Everyman would need to prove himself in God as worthy of the greater height God has provided by being willing to tackel the challenge. Be assured also that there will be help to tackle greater challenges for greater experience: Jos. 17.17-18. True challenges only come to those who are dissatisfied with the status quo. As you attempt to do things differently to create a better result, and such attempts bring greater and fresh challenges, there will be help if you are really willing to face them: Jos. 17.18; 14.11,12

Sing and rejoice for greater things are awaiting you. It is not too late yet! What will happen to you is greater than what you see around. Glory to God!

YET MUCH LAND TO BE POSSESSED 2

The Scriptural Indications.

There are four scriptures that give indications that there is more to life (and with God) than what we’ve experienced or seen:

First, everyone has dreams or desires, and for those who trust and rely on God they have definite requests. No matter how lofty and impossible these are, Eph. 3.20-21 gives indication that God’s power is able to perform beyond man’s imaginations and requests. Paul writing to the Corinthians told them that as the scripture says, "What no one ever saw or heard, what no one ever thought could happen, is the very thing God prepared for those who love him" (1 Cor 2:9 - TEV). Think out of the box when you take your requests to God in prayer and ask for the extraordinary, God is willing and He will make your joy to be full (Jn. 16.23-24).

Second, man’s need is unlimited and enormous, and often when man comes to God with them he would rather see the enormousness of the need than the greatness of God. Paul, while writing to the poor, yet liberal hearted and philantropic Macedonian church, prays for them that God shall supply their need according to his riches in glory in Christ (Phil. 4.19). The implication here is that the workings of God in the lives of His own is according to his wealth, possession, and ability, and not according to man’s need. There is a world beyond what we have as need.

Third, the love of God for his own is unfathomable and beyond description for the natural mind, that what He has in plan is far beyond what we presently see. What we appear to be is not yet the fullness of what we are supposed to be. John the beloved in his old age told the church that “now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears (or when it [what we are supposed to be] is made known), we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.” 1 John 3:2-3 (NIV). The standard for what we should be is Christ or in Christ. If therefore you have seen someone whose stature (person) made so much impression on you that you so much desire to be like the person, good news! There is much more awaiting you in Christ Jesus. Those who desire to fully evolve into that fullness cleanses themselves, that is separate themselves from impurities (which of course cannot be found in Christ), for they stifle the manifestation of all that we are to be in Christ, when they find their place in our lives.

Fourth, there is a reality beyond what man can do, it is God’s ability. Man was endowed with great potentials by God. Being made in God’s image and in God’s likeness indicates that there will be exceptional abilities with man than you would found with all other creatures that God made; and man, of course, has been found with great and impressive feats. From the tower of Babel and other wonders of the ancient world, to both the great and profitable and the wild and destructive technologies of the post-modern world, man’s achievements continue. But with all his accomplishments, there is an extent to what man can do. Jesus said those things which are impossible with man shall with God be possible (Mk. 10.27) if impossibilities have characterised your life experience, it is good to know that such should be put behind for the possibilities to be secured with God or in God.

YET MUCH LAND TO BE POSSESSED

Now Joshua was old, advanced in years. And the LORD said to him: "You are old, advanced in years, and there remains very much land yet to be possessed. Josh 13:1 NKJV

Human traditions are not divine creation for they are largely built around what has been. One funny part to it is the habit of dwelling in the past and preferring former times to things yet be seen, done, or experienced – Lk. 5.39.

After experiencing the goodness of God for a while there is the tendency to be relaxed and not to be all out as it was at the beginning just as Israel had spent years in military expedition of the land of Canaan and now seemed to be relaxed. But God spoke: it is not time to relax yet. There are more awaiting us than the familiar, and more to be experienced than both the seen and the imagined. There are still very large areas of land to be taken over (NIV); to be conquered (NLT); or to be possessed.

Standing out of these verse are two distinct words: ‘land’ and ‘possess’. The word possess means ‘to have or own’, to take control of, to gain or seize, or by its sense in Latin, ‘to sit on as head’. The word land however stands in the text for an area, territory, or region that belongs to or inhabited by an individual or a people, or which they regard as their home or as possession.

The present territory fits into the current sphere of our experience; ability; provision; degree of influence. Each of these areas of our life does not constitute all that is to be, there is more to be possessed, taken, or conquered, just like God spoke to Joshua.

UNDERSTANDING DIVINE DIRECTION

Pro 16.9; Jer. 10.23-24; Jn. 10.1-5; Rom. 8.12-16

The subject of flourishing came up in Ps. 90.12. There the Psalmist made it clear that the righteous shall flourish, thrive, increase, prosper or do well. His assertion came in the same vein as the words of that has the implication that the righteous should be told that it shall be well with him – Isa. 3.10-11. That statement is simple for it connotes that flourishing is what the righteous does (naturally). The illustration with the palm is exact. The same way the palm flourishes irrespective of the weather is the way the righteous also does. We therefore need to consider the key or the reason why the righteous' life and experience is not conditioned by the environment or circumstances: we call it divine direction.

Divine direction is an experience everyone should have, for God created man to seek after him and to find him. There is a vacuum in man which God must fill. When God is not there, man experiences emptiness. This is also the reason why today even God’s people fall into all forms of error, just like the Israelites that learnt the way of the people around them instead of knowing the ways of God.

Man’s style is vain – useless, worthless, and inconsequential. Feeling a vacuum in them needing to be filled by God, they got involved in searches that is futile in all attempts. They grope around if possibly they might find God – Acts. 17.27. They grope in the noonday as in the dark. They could not find God, and so in effect they created what they felt was representative of God which actually wasn't. Every man walks in his (vain) way. Our inventions and discoveries are not sufficient to bring us to the point where we can be independent of the Lord. If what excites those who do not seek after God is what excites us, then what they fear would be what we would fear, their troubles and worries shall also be ours. To escape the crisis that accompanies ma's independence of God, we need to know that ...

THE WAY OF A MAN IS NOT IN HIMSELF

In Jer. 10.23 the prophet gave a profound revelation that the way of a man is not in himself. The word ‘way’ connotes the life we live; the work we do; and the path we follow with our life. This means the life I live does not belong to me (NIV): hence it is not to be directed; determined; or controlled by me (TEV). I am not the master of my own destiny. Jeremiah admits that punishment is appropriate for the man who attempts to go his own way. However, he does ask the Lord to correct, i.e. “to discipline” or “to instruct,” so that he might be in conformity to the word and will of God.

WE NEED TO BE LED OF GOD

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. This is one characteristic quality of all who are truly of God (born again). They are constantly and habitually led by the Spirit of God (Mt 7:20; Jn 13:35). As they consistently cultivate fellowship with God, they are prone to receive direction from him. In his earthly days Christ was dependent on the father’s direction. He did only what he saw the father doing, and spoke only what he heard the father saying – Jn. 5.17-19. No wonder he had the abiding presence of the father – Jn. 8.29.

In like manner God will lead us today like sheep. Our safety and security will come through this. He will not force us to do his will by driving us. He said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me” (John 10:27). They are the ones who follow Him. They are led by the Spirit of God. They hear His voice because they have a new nature, and they follow Him. This direction comes to those who shall discover their need of it. It shall come to those who shall submit themselves to God for it. The voice of a stranger, he said they shall not follow.

It is my prayer that from now on in your life confusion shall give way to clarity; and that you will recognise and follow the voice of the father, not to be confused again about where to go; what to do; or by the strangers’ voice.