“East of the Jordan in the territory of Moab, Moses began to expound this law, saying: The Lord our God said to us at Horeb, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the mountains, in the western foothills, in the Negev and along the coast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the Euphrates. See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land the Lord swore he would give to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—and to their descendants after them.”
Horeb, a place of fire, a place where God revealed Himself to Moses (Exodus 3:2), and to the people (Deuteronomy 4:10), a place of covenant (Deuteronomy 5:2), as well as a place where God’s wrath is provoked (Deuteronomy 9:8).
I can only imagine what has been going through the minds of people. Asking what will 2020 look like? So many have gone through many problems and currently asking, will it be the same struggles, same battles, same old or God has something different this time. It may be fearful for some, still others may be excited. 2019 has come and gone. We must thank God irrespective of how it went. We cannot change what happened, but we can impart the future. We can press on by focusing on what is ahead, learning from the past, and trusting God to help us. Life is full of ups and downs; we must be able to create and settle in a spiritual atmosphere that help us to stand still and worship God irrespective of the circumstances.
Right at this time, God is saying move out and explore new territories, new revelation, new grace, new anointing, new oil, new perspective of a relationship with Him. There seem to have been so much familiarity around this place which may make you miss the promise land. Where you are right now is not your destination but your path to your destination. Stop being comfortable. Move out, look out, and move on.
The best way forward is to do some checks and balances. The problem is people become very familiar and settles for whatever is around. It is important to examine what has been achieved spiritually, how it was achieved, what went wrong, how can that change, where can there be improvement and how to move forward. This may be taking a look at two crucial things: prayer and the Word. Have you become so familiar that your prayer life and time in the word is directed by familiarity? What is the call of God? Your service to Him irrespective of what that may be? Is it based off on being seen or waiting to be acknowledged?
Numbers 9:15-19 “On the day the tabernacle, the tent of the covenant law was set up, the cloud covered it. From evening till morning the cloud above the tabernacle looked like fire. That is how it continued to be; the cloud covered it, and at night it looked like fire. Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped. At the LORD's command the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. When the cloud remained over the tabernacle a long time, the Israelites obeyed the LORD's order and did not set out.”
The Word of God says, the presence of the Lord shall go with us as stated in above scripture Number 9:15-19. However, we must have attentive ears to hear, spiritual eyes to see and we must be sensitive enough to understand where God is leading us to. The Word of God says in Deuteronomy 1: 8 “See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land the Lord swore he would give to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—and to their descendants after them.”
The Lord is commanding us to move away and out of familiarity, complacency, pride, anger, unforgiveness, selfishness and self-centeredness, unrighteousness, laziness, gossips, slander, envy, malice, Jealousy, telling lies, prayerlessness, disrespect etc., this list cannot be exhausted. Take some time to sit down and allow the Holy Spirit to download what is in you. For us to move with God and take possession of the land, we must let go all of the above, else they will weigh us down.
The Land of our inheritance is occupied by giants so we must chase them out with the weapons of war. 2 Corinthians 10: 4-5 says “the weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We tear down arguments, and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ”. This power is only from the WORD OF GOD. These giants are the stronghold that Jesus mentioned in Matthew 12:29 “Or how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.” That is why Ephesians 6:10-18 must be applied in every aspect of the journey.
We must go in confidence knowing that the victory is already ours. God will never ask anyone to move into a place where He has not been there to know what it looks like. Isaiah 45:2 “I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron.” Deuteronomy 31:8 says “The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." Deuteronomy 9:3 “But be assured today that the LORD your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the LORD has promised you.”
Finally, there is sufficient grace that God releases to assist us along the way. Just trust Him to do what He says He will do. We serve the God of ALL GRACE. There is enough to be released in every kind of circumstances. 1 Peter 5:12 “With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it”
Happy New Year
Ennette Heaggans