TAKE the Land!

All of us have wilderness seasons in our lives. The Bible says we go from glory to glory to glory…and that is true. However, it often looks like this: glory…(wilderness)…glory…(testing)…glory…(maturing)…glory! At least that is what it has looked like for me. (smiling)

Let’s face it, we don’t permanently land on/in glory until we get to Heaven. As long as we are on the earth, we will always have room to improve and grow!

Keeping this in mind, it is a lot easier when you arrive in your current promised land, (fulfilled promise) because that’s where the real work begins. Yes, you had to fight to get there and endure the wilderness, testing, etc., but the promised land is still work. It is not easy nor for the faint of heart. Even the fruit of the land takes work to harvest! It’s so BIG! (to whom much is given much is required) Think about it this way; all through the process of getting you to the promise, you sowed. You sowed, obedience, discipline, grace, whatever you had to do to get there. Everything we do is a seed…so sowing good things in the wilderness will not only bring about good fruit, it brings about GREAT fruit. (Numbers 15:23) Think about it, when we go buy grapes we don’t need an extra person and a pole in order to carry them to the car! That is some GREAT FRUIT! Great fruit grows from great seed. (hmmmmm, thinking about that one!)

There are also giants in your promise land. It’s YOUR land and you have to take them out. They don’t just leave because you showed up! The enemy has held up blessings for generations and when we take it back, he doesn’t just go quietly. He does not play by the rules. Yes, it was fear/unbelief that kept the Israelites from entering their promised land, but I also think there was some laziness in there. They had just been delivered from their captivity and saw the hand of God move on their behalf. I think some people thought “I am tired and simply do not have the strength to fight any more or to harvest that kind of fruit!” I believe they expected to walk in and simply live.

In Exodus 23:20-30 the Lord told them exactly what to do and what He would do. He also told them He wouldn’t just drive out all the (other) inhabitants right away because they (the Israelites) needed to be able to increase enough to possess the whole land. (increase in numbers, and even strength) So when they saw the Giants, they should have realized, oh – that is OUR land, so we have authority and the Lord is with us.

When we arrive at a season of our promised land, we have to take the Giants out of their place… displace them… evict them… render them harmless. Kill the giants and you can take their spoil. Some spoil will be obvious – but some you will have to dig for. I mean, do you keep your valuable stash out in the open for easy prey? Neither do they. But the treasure is there and plenty of it.

No, the promised land is not for the weak- but for those who have come too far, went through too much, to let some loud mouthed uncircumcised philistine keep them from what is rightfully theirs. When you arrive at the place of your promise, gird your loins once again, check your armor and run towards the battle! RUN towards your giant just like David did! I believe when David ran towards Goliath, it took him by surprise, so that when David slung the rock- his guard was down and he was defeated!

This is why it is called possessing your land. Possessing is an action word. If you didn’t see giants in your land, perhaps you have not made it as far as you thought? The enemy always wants what is ours. And just because we put up a No Trespassing sign, don’t think you won’t have to enforce it!

Caleb and Joshua said the giants are bread for us…. how is that? In the Strong’s concordance one of the meanings is PROVISION. Think about it, displacing the giants allows you to gain their possessions AND strengthens you spiritually, which gives you confidence for the next fight. As Rick Pino says…. we cut off the giant’s head and eat giants for your bread! (see link at bottom)

“We cut off the giant’s head, we eat giants for our bread”

Rick Pino

The wilderness is tough and leads you to your promise, but don’t make the mistake of thinking it’s all sunshine and roses. Once you make it to the land you will need to possess it!

Now, don’t get me wrong, I believe there will be much victory and celebration in this promised land too! Remember the fruit that took two men and a pole to harvest? The spoils are great! Victory will be assured if you stay with God and follow His leading. After all, it is YOUR promised land. And it is there you will defeat the enemy, eat, and grow! The battles in the promised land are not the same as the battles in the wilderness. The wilderness is dry and barren and hot and tough! The promised land has milk and honey for refreshing, and lush green fields and shade and angels to help you enforce what God has told you to do.

Possessing is a process and one designed for our success. Don’t allow what you see to cause you to turn back into the familiarity of the wilderness. Go, full, head on into your promised land with all the confidence and strength of the word of God and covered by His blood. We were meant for victory!

• Date - April 4, 2019
• Author - David Chisholm