Shift 2020 Series – Part II
Number 13: 1 – 3, 26-33 NIV
1The Lord said to Moses,
2 “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.”
3 So at the Lord’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites.
26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land.
27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit.
28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there.
29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”
30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”
31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.”
32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.
33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”
This morning I would like to continue with the second part of the Shift 2020 series. In case you were not here last week we talked about 3 things from this passage of scripture.
- The people thought Moses sent them, but it was God sending them.
- They said Nevertheless, But, However.
- They based the promises of God on how they saw themselves.
We talked about how they we looked like grasshoppers ourselves and to the people that were in the land.
Then we talked about how Caleb stood up and said we can go in and take possession of the land that the Lord has promised.
That lead us to talking about how 2 people can see the same thing but have a different perspective.
The ones who said that we are not able to take the land and the ones who said we are able to take the land both saw the same land; they saw the same giants and they had the same God, but one said we can and the other said we can’t.
Why is that?
I said the reason is because of the way we look at the situation.
Then I talked about having a paradigm shift.
A paradigm shift is when you looked at a situation or a thing a certain way, but then you change your perspective and you see the same thing in a different way.
Then I gave us an opportunity to have a paradigm shift by putting some pictures and some of us had a I see it now moments.
Then we talked about having a shift in the way that we look at ourselves and situations that we face.
When before we looked at our self and though I don’t know if I can, but now we should look and say I can’t, but God can.
When we look at situations and think it looks impossible, we should look at that same situation with a shift and say God is able.
This Morning
Now this morning I would like to talk about what do you do once you and I have the paradigm shift.
The Bible says in Num 14:6-10 NIV 6 Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes
7 and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good.
8 If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us.
9 Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”
10 But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the LORD appeared at the tent of meeting to all the Israelites.
- Joshua had to face opposition.
Usually when you and I step out and do something for God there is going to be opposition.
Joshua and Caleb stood up and said we can go in and take possession of the land.
Now one would think that the people of God would have gotten excited with Joshua and Caleb because they wanted to go after the promises of God, but that is not what happened.
We see in verse 10 that the people wanted to stone Joshua and Caleb because they stood up and said we can take the land.
When you and I have a shift and we start moving for God we shouldn’t be surprised if everyone is not happy for us.
Let me just let you in on this one. Sometimes the haters are in the house.
I mean come on.
We expect the world to say, who do you think you are trying to go for the promises of God upon your life, but when it comes from within the House that is another story.
Joshua and Caleb didn’t allow what people said to stop them from stepping out.
There can be times when you and I don’t step out for God because of what people are going to say.
Even though people may talk just step out anyway.
We can’t change what people say, so if that is stopping us from stepping out then guess what, we probably will not ever step because it is not going to change.
We can’t change what people say, but we can change we do.
If we are not careful, we will use what we can’t control as an excuse not to do what God has called us to do.
That is deep neh?
Let me break it down for you.
It reminds me of a lady who is know a successful business lady, but it wasn’t always like that.
She shares how she would go almost everyday saying I want to help under privileged kids, but I just don’t have the money.
She kept saying how she wanted to help under privileged children, but what was stopping was something that she had no control over.
Until one day she said if I am not going to make a difference with what I have now then I need to STOP saying I want to make a difference.
Ok maybe I don’t have the R5,000 right now to help an under privileged child or a big house the kids, but I do have R50 that I can use to take a child for lunch.
So if I am not willing to use the R50 I have now then I need to stop saying I want to help kids.
Now she is a very successful business lady because she stopped letting what she couldn’t control stop her from what she could do now.
See many times you and I will say we have a desire to do something, but we excuse our self from doing it because of what we don’t have to get our dream done. Notice I said desire and then I said dream. We have a desire to do, but don’t have resources for the dream.
Example: this lady had a desire to make a difference in under privileged children, but had a dream to do it in another part of the world at a big scale.
Even though she had the desire to make a difference she excused herself from doing it, because she didn’t have the resources to do it at the scale, she wanted to do it at.
Many people go throughout life with that mentality of “ If I would have had then I would have done.”, but the key is “what can we do now with what we have.”
Ministry Business Talents.
- Caleb followed God passionately
[Num 14:24 KJV]
24 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.
Numbers 14:24 [The Message]“But my servant Caleb—this is a different story. He has a different spirit; he follows me passionately. I’ll bring him into the land that he scouted and his children will inherit it.
Another thing that you and I should do when we have a shift and go after what God has for, is we should follow God passionately.
Not only did Joshua and Caleb say that we are able to go in a take possession of the land, but they followed God passionately.
How many want to follow God with everything you have?
Come on now.
One thing I think is important to know when you and I decide to follow God and His plan that He has for our lives, is following God is a process.
We don’t become who God wants us to be overnight.
Can I hear an amen?
The good thing about following God is we don’t have to be perfect and get everything right on the first try.
Yes, we do our best, but we also know that God allows room for us to grow.
Did you know sometimes people don’t step out and go for what God has for them because they don’t want to make mistakes?
We think what if I don’t do it right?
Even when it comes to using our talents, we can think what if I don’t do it right?
What if I stutter when I preach, I sing the wrong note when I sing, I make a mistake while ushering and on and on.
I have come to realize that we are not so much concerned about making mistakes, I think sometimes we are more concerned what people are going to say when we make a mistake.
Here is the good news, we are not going to get it right every time, but God’s Grace is sufficient for us.
Anybody that has every stepped out and done anything for God know you will not get everything right the first time.
Not only that, but anybody who has ever stepped out and done anything new knows you probably won’t get it right the first time.
Example:
We didn’t learn how to ride a bike the first time we tried.
Since we know we didn’t right the first time, we aren’t going to judge you for not learning how to ride a bike the first time, because we know it is a process.
Now If they do judge you, then they probably forgot where they came from.
The ones who usually say things and come against you are the ones who aren’t doing anything. Why, because they don’t know it is a process because they haven’t ever done anything.
That is why it is good to be around people who are moving and doing things for God because they are going to encourage you to keep moving and keep pushing even when you don’t get it right the first time.
The challenge is to keep moving in the process.
Illustration:
Let me try to illustrate it the best I can.
Call someone up to follow what I do.
Whatever I do I want you to follow me ok.
Wherever I go, I want you to follow me ok.
He is probably thinking, how am I going to look if I don’t get it right?
What are people going to say, if I don’t get it right.
Ok let’s try.
Now before we try this, there is one important thing that I want you to know.
I chose you and no matter how much you mess up or don’t get it right just keep following me, because I chose you, I am not going to give up on you.
Thank you.
I think it is important to know that while we are following God, we might not get it right all the time, but God’s Grace is sufficient for us.
He said He will never leave us nor forsake us. He said He chose us, we didn’t choose Him.
So, when we do step out for God and don’t get it right all the time, He knows we are in a process.
The challenge is to keep stepping.
I would like to close with this.
We are talking about following God.
Once we do have that paradigm shift and we see what God has for us, we should be willing to go after all that God has for us by following Him.
Now I want to read a portion a scripture to you. You don’t have to turn there but it should be on the screens.
[Mat 4:18-19 KJV]
18 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
We see Jesus’s first words to Peter were follow me.
[Jhn 21:19, 22 KJV]
19 This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me. …
22 Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what [is that] to thee? follow thou me.
In John we see Jesus’s last words to Peter were follow me.
Jesus knew the process that Peter would go through.
Peter had some short comings, but he also did great things, because he was in the process.
Was told get behind me Satan – Yet Had a revelation and Jesus said upon this rock I will build my church
Cut off the soldier’s ear – the first one to take the gospel to the gentiles (Acts 10:28 – Acts 11:18)
Slipped in a few choice words yet Walked on water.
Denied Jesus 3 time yet Preached to thousands and 3,000 got saved.
Tell your neighbor just keep following Jesus, because He is not going to give up on you.
