A Promise Kept

Joshua 14: “Remember what the Lord said to Moses, the man of God, about you and me when we were at Kadesh-Barnea. 7 I was forty years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh-Barnea to explore the land of Canaan. I returned and gave an honest report, 8 but my brothers who went with me frightened the people from entering the Promised Land. For my part, I wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God. 9 So that day Moses solemnly promised me, ‘The land of Canaan on which you were just walking will be your grant of land and that of your descendants forever because you wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God.’ 10 “Now, as you can see, the Lord has kept me alive and well as he promised for all these forty-five years since Moses made this promise—even while Israel wandered in the wilderness. Today I am eighty-five years old. 11 I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then. 12 So give me the hill country that the Lord promised me. You will remember that as scouts we found the descendants of Anak living there in great, walled towns. But if the Lord is with me, I will drive them out of the land, just as the Lord said.”

Caleb was calling on God's promise when the land was being divided and he made a compelling point "He had believed in God being able to take the land when He and the other spies investigated the land of Canaan and only the weakness of the other spies held them back from taking that land. Now it is time for Caleb to get his portion and he wants the very land where the giants of Anuk lived, still believing that God would go before him in his old age and defeat them. Caleb believed in the promise kept and a group of giants weren't going to scare him off! Here is what happened after he went to Joshua for that land.

Joshua 14:13 So Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave Hebron to him as his portion of land. 14 Hebron still belongs to the descendants of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite because he wholeheartedly followed the Lord, the God of Israel. 15 (Previously Hebron had been called Kiriath-arba. It had been named after Arba, a great hero of the descendants of Anak.) And the land had rest from war.

I am 69 years old and have been in the ministry now for over 43 years and I have seen some great victories and quite a few defeats. But God has been faithful and kept me strong in the Word and strong in His will and I praise God for it. Our God is faithful and true and even though I have had my doubts from time to time, His promises are real and they are kept. Early on in my call, I realized that a lot would have to take place for God to lead me where I needed to go and His leading took me on quite a journey. We have ministered from coast to coast and met some wonderful people who truly love Jesus, but there is still much more to do. So much more life to live, and I believe in God's promise kept for me too. I still have a voice after two major vocal surgeries. I can still move around pretty well with a replaced right hip. My memory is hanging in there, even in the midst of a weird church world. And I can look back on how God has blessed the work I have done with changed lives and great encouragement. To quote Nacho Libre "My life is Good! Really Good!!"

Like Caleb, I am believing in God to still fight my battles against the giants in this life and in the life to come and He is faithful. Isaiah said it this way in Isaiah 41:10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you.  I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. VICTORIOUS RIGHT HAND!!

I live in the victory of the cross every day and if you are born again, so do you. Time to claim the promise from the promise maker, waymaker, and giant defeater. He is Almighty God, our God, and His promises are true. So stand up by getting on your knees and begin to believe again and see what God will do in your life.

Caleb went through all the other tribes getting their land and then it came time for him to get his land and he claimed a land where the fighting would still be going on. But look at what happened at the end of that chapter in Joshua. The last verse of Chapter 14 says this  And the land had rest from war. There will be a time to rest from the battles of life. It just isn't now!! So fight. Share the gospel. See the lost continue to get born again and see God's Spirit move as never before!! All because of The Promise Kept....

The Pigrimage Continues

David Warren