FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY!
Part 8
“Behold, the Lord thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged” (Deuteronomy 1:21).
We have begun listing the things that keep us from possessing the land. We continue today…
- Discouragement keeps us from possessing the land. (Deuteronomy 1:28)
Satan loves to discourage us. Why? Because it immobilizes us. When we are discouraged we don’t accomplish anything. We are no good to our husband, no good to our children and no good to ourselves! Of course, I know that you are tempted to be discouraged in your land of motherhood—lack of finances, difficulties with children, inadequacies and daily challenges. But God does not intend you to live in the land of discouragement. God does not discourage; He encourages! Instead of dwelling on your problem, look to the Lord who is your sufficiency and strength. He is with you night and day to help you.
Do you remember when David and his men came back to his city of Ziklag and found their city burned with fire and all their wives and children taken captive? They were distraught! They wept until they had no more strength to weep. But in the midst of all the men wanting to stone David because of their loss, David “encouraged himself in the Lord his God” (1 Samuel 30:6). When he turned his heart to the Lord, instead of wallowing in despair, God showed him a strategy.
This is the secret. You’ll never find a way out of your discouragement when you keep thinking discouraging thoughts. But when you turn your heart to the Lord, and confess your trust in the Lord, you will then be in a place for God to show you what to do. Sometimes He will give you a strategy to deliver you from your situation. Other times He will give you His anointing and grace to live in victory in your difficult situation. In David’s case, God told him to smite the Amelikites and they recovered everything that was taken from them—wives, children and all the spoil!
Kick discouragement out the door and don’t invite it back in.
- keeps us from possessing the land.
Numbers 14:24 says, “But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went and his seed shall possess it.”Joshua and Caleb were the only two of their generation who entered the Promised Land because they followed the Lord fully, even in the face of all obstacles.
We only possess the land of motherhood when we embrace it fully. When we try to keep our feet in different worlds we will never enjoy either. Wifehood and motherhood are not part-time jobs. They are our life!
- Assimilation keeps us from possessing the land.
Leviticus 20:24-26 says “Ye shall inherit their land and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the Lord your God, which have separated you from other people… And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.”
Assimilation is one of the greatest temptations of the enemy. It is so easy to want to be like everyone else around. In fact, you can assimilate without even realizing it. God’s plan for you is to be separated from the world--not from the people of the world of course, but from the deception, evil and materialistic spirit of the world.
God does not want mixture in His land. It is not like other lands. Do you feel an oddball in the area where you live? Or even in your church? Are you the only one who is homeschooling? Don’t feel inferior. You are saving your children from being another statistic that is indoctrinated with humanism and socialism.Do you have more children than anyone else in your street? Don’t be ashamed. You are walking in the perfect will of God as you embrace God’s children for His purposes and glory. Do you have a holy standard in your home, different to the worldly-minded around you? You don’t have to apologize! You don’t have to be similar to everyone else. On the contrary, you are called to be uniquely different. Hold on to your difference and refuse conformity.
NANCY CAMPBELL, Above Rubies
PRAYER:
“I thank you, dear Father, that you are the great Encourager. Help me to recognize that discouragement comes from the enemy. I thank you that my whole perspective changes when I turn my heart to you. Amen.”
AFFIRMATION:
I am free to be who God created me to be. I do not have to do what everyone else is doing around me.
Look up the Scriptures that tell us to POSSESS THE LAND.
Leviticus 20:24; Numbers 14:24; 33:53; Deuteronomy 1:8, 21; 2:24; 4:1, 5, 14, 22; 5:31-33; 6:1, 18, 7:1; 8:1; 9:1 10:11; 11:8-11, 31; 12:1-2, 29; 15:4; 19:1; 23:20; 25:19; 30:5, 16; 31:3, 13; Joshua 1:11; 18:3; 23:5; Judges 2:6; 18:9; Isaiah 57:13b; 61:7 and Jeremiah 30:3.