Take Possession

"On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into Canaan, drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places. Take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess.

“‘But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live. And then I will do to you what I plan to do to them.’”
Numbers 33:50-53,55

"For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.

These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it."

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

The account of the children of Israel was given to us as an example of our spiritual walk with God. 

As we walk with God, we are to "take possession of the land." This is not a one time act. We must take possession regularly in prayer. 

What exactly does this mean? Let's break it down.

1. Drive out all evil in our world. Our walking, eating, talking, going to work world. Our relaxing, down time world. Our resting, family time world. Our own personal world, our thoughts, our heart.

2. Destroy all idols of any type. Internet addiction, Netflix, Youtubes, hobbies, etc. Whatever may be eating up precious time. Even our jobs, businesses or busyness can be idols. These things may not be terrible. Actually, they may be positive things. However, if they come between God and us, they can become idols.

Hmmmm. What if you are a mother with babies or children at home? Taking care of your family is God's work. Taking care of your family is not idol worship. Your families are souls who will live forever. They are spiritual beings. 

Sometimes there are seasons in our lives in which we are pouring into those who need us. Maybe we struggle a bit with time for prayer and Bible Study. This is not idol worship. This is simply life. Pray and study scripture whenever you can, however you can. God will lead you.

Idol worship is being led by our flesh. Instead of prayerfully going about our days. 

"So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you." Romans 12:1-2 MSG

3. Once everything is driven out, we must take posession of our land. Walk confidently with Christ, knowing that He is with us everywhere we go and we are victorious in Him. 

Yes, there will be hard times. We are in a crisis right now. Most of us have never been shut ins in our homes before. Many of us are very concerned about how we are going to pay rent or our house payment and provide food for our families. 

We have an opportunity right now to pray longer and harder than ever before. God is going to turn this crisis into good. I don't have any answers because I have never been here before. But I know that God knows, He sees and He is working for our good.

4. If we fail to drive out the evil in our land, the evil will be like "splinters in our eyes and thorns in our sides." 

I don't like confrontation. I prefer to ignore negativity and hope it goes away. This never works out in the long run. If there's evil going on in my family or my heart, I must get rid of it immediately. Prayerfully. I must ask God how to drive out the evil and He will lead me, step by step. If I dont drive out the evil, I will be harassed for the rest of my life, according to Numbers 33:55. Plus, In verse 56, I read that God will do to me what He planned to do to them. 

Is this scripture telling me that I can be a "good" Christian and yet be lost for eternity? Yes. If I don't make a habit of cleansing my home and my heart regularly. If I allow a little bit of seemingly harmless evil in my life or in my family, I will be cast away by God. This is a scary thought, but true.

"They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness."

1 Corinthians 10:5

You may be in a situation where you live with an unbeliever. Are you supposed to drive them out? Not necessarily. This is a time to pray, pray, pray. God will give you wisdom. 

I had a friend who was married to an alcoholic for many years. She started praying spiritual warfare prayers every morning. She started fasting. She really believed that her husband would be saved. She prayed that the evil spirit of alcoholism would be cast out of her home. Instead of her husband turning to Christ, he left, and they were divorced. God answered, just not in the way that she had hoped. 

This is heavy stuff, but I must address this daily in my life and in my heart.

"Dear Jesus, I ask You to help us all. Help us to use this shelter in place time wisely. Help us not to be fooled into thinking that if we pray and watch online church services, You will overlook evil in our lives or in our homes. Help us to get serious about "possessing the land". Help us to take to heart these scriptures. We don't want to wind up being the focus of Your holy anger as so many of the children of Israel were. How we love You, Jesus, We pray these things in Your name, AMEN."