No. 1648:
As believers we must, and shall, take authority over our own lives, ministry, marriages and all the relationships we stand and live in!
Numbers 13. 26 They went and found Moses and Aaron and the whole congregation of the children of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh, and told them and the whole congregation what they had seen, and showed them the fruit of the land.
Here as an illustrative picture the scouts show what they brought back to Moses.
Here a large cluster of grapes, which shows that the land abounded.
Everything that God has is life, and life in abundance.
https://blog.janchristensen.net/2012/06/nr-443-demonene-invaderer-hele-verden.html
1 Pet. 5. 8 Be sober and vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
9 You must resist him and stand firm in the faith, for you know what suffering your fellow believers are going through in the world.
We will never experience Satan up close
But we will experience him as believers more or less throughout our lives.
Then through other people.
Through circumstances, through his demons and in our own thought life.
God also speaks, then through his word first and foremost!
Therefore, we will find everything in God's word, as an "instruction book."
How to win victory and move forward in life and service with and for God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
A classic example is when the children of Israel were to take the land of Canaan and sent in 12 scouts in advance!
Numbers 13. 1 And the Lord spoke to Moses and said:
2 Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel! You shall send a man for each tribe of their fathers; each one shall be a leader among the people. Deuteronomy 1:22
3 So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran by the word of the LORD; all of them were heads of the children of Israel.
16 These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land; but Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua.
17 And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Go up this way into the south, and go up into the mountain:
18 And see what the land is, and whether the people that dwelleth therein are strong or weak, few or great:
19 And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad: and what the cities that they dwell in, whether they be in villages or in fortresses:
20 And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be trees in it, or not. Be of good courage, and take of the fruit of the land with you: for it was the time of the first ripe grapes.
21 Then they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near Hamath.
It was not God's perfect Will that Moses should send in these 12 spies!
When God wanted them to walk by faith, and not by sight.
2 Cor. 5. 7 For we live by faith, and not by sight.
But when Moses first chose to send in 12 spies – 1 leader for each tribe – this was God's will.
Where the 12 spies were to go in and see the land.
To return to give their victory reports.
For God it was a simple matter for the children of Israel to take the land.
He had been with them and delivered them from the greatest power of the time, Egypt.
Then these tribes in the land of Canaan were the opposite of what was claimed by those who returned the report. After they had spied out the land.
It was the children of Israel who were the powerful.
Joshua 2. 8 Before the spies lay down, she went up to them on the roof,
9 and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are perishing for fear of you. Exodus 15:15-16 Exodus 23:27 5:11-25
10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. Exodus 14:21-31 4:21-24
11 As soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no longer any spirit left in us to stand before you; for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. Deuteronomy 4:39 Joshua 5:1
It was clear that the children of Israel were superior even though the giants lived there in the land of Canaan. Those whom the children of Israel later completely exterminated.
These half-human, half-demons were of course fearsome.
But with God's help and hand, nothing is too difficult or hard for God. And those who go with him, Amen in Jesus' name!
Numbers 13. 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we."
32 And they brought up a bad report among the children of Israel about the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land which we passed through to spy out is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are tall men; Numbers 14:3 ** *devours: by the wars that are waged there; Numbers 14:3.
33 There we saw the giants, the descendants of Anak, who come from the giants, and we were in our own sight like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them. Deuteronomy 9:2
Joshua and the children of Israel destroyed them, and there were some survivors who were destroyed during the time of King David.
Joshua 11. 21. At that time Joshua came and destroyed the Anakim in the hill country, in Hebron, in Debir, in Anab, and in all the hill country both in Judah and in Israel; Joshua destroyed them and their cities with a curse.
But what happened?
When they entered the land, there was a divided group that returned.
There were 10 of the spies, had a report. Everything was impossible.
We read.
Numbers 13. 25 At the end of forty days, they returned from spying out the land.
26 They went and found Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh, and they told them and all the congregation what they had seen, and showed them the fruit of the land.
27 And they told him, saying, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and, behold, it floweth with milk and honey; and, behold, the fruit thereof. Exodus 3:8-17
28 But the people that dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fenced, and very great: and we saw the children of Anak there.
29 The Amalekites dwell in the south; and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea side, and along the Jordan.
31 But the men that had gone up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.
32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is a land that devoureth its inhabitants; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature; Numbers 14:3 ** *devourer: by the wars that are fought there; Numbers 14:3.
33 There we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, who are the descendants of the giants, and we were in our own eyes like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.
But there were two others, Joshua and Caleb, who saw it as God saw it all.
We read.
Numbers 13. 30 But when the people murmured against Moses, Caleb tried to stop them, saying, “We will go up and possess the land; surely we will get it in our hand.” Numbers 14:6-7
One group said that it would definitely go to defeat.
While Caleb said the following:
“We will go up and possess the land; surely we will get it in our hand.”
We also read further.
Numbers 14. 6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that spied out the land, rent their clothes Numbers 13:30
7 And spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceeding good land.
8 If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us, a land that floweth with milk and honey. Numbers 13:27
9 Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither be ye afraid of the people of the land: for we shall devour them as bread: their defence is taken from them; and the LORD is with us; be ye not afraid of them. Deuteronomy 20:3-4 Psalm 56:5
Why so great a difference? As night and day.
We read in the scripture.
2 Cor. 4. 13 For we ourselves have the spirit of faith, according as it is written, ‘I have faith, and by it I speak.’ We also have faith, and by it we speak. Ps. 116,10
14 And we know that he who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us and present us before Jesus.
15 All this has become yours through his overwhelming grace. Therefore be grateful for the great abundance of glory that will be yours from God.
It is the restful spirit, thoughts and attitudes that occupy us.
Here the following is stated as the great decisive difference.
“For we ourselves have the spirit of faith, according as it is written, ‘I have faith, and by it I speak.’ We also have faith, and by it we speak.”
How do we take this glorious, wonderful and biblical position where the spirit of faith can control us? Where we go from victory to victory as believers?
2 Cor. 3. 17 For the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
18 But we all, with unveiled face reflecting the glory of the Lord, will be transformed into the image and glory of the Lord; the glory that comes from the Spirit of the Lord.
In other words, we will become completely like Jesus, this we can become when God is allowed to work freely in our lives. This happens through the Spirit of the Lord. But to get there, you have to do something yourself too. It is to stick to the Lord 100%, not 99% or less.
How do we do this? Among other things, the apostle says the following:
2 Cor. 10. 3 For though we live in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.
4 The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God, who can tear down strongholds.
5 For we will tear down reasonings and every wall that rises up against the knowledge of God. We take captive every thought that is not obedient to Christ.
6 And we are ready to punish all disobedience until you are fully obedient.
It is primarily in our mental life that the battle takes place.
Therefore, we must and should fill ourselves with the word of God morning, noon and evening.
It is in and through the word of God that we win the victory.
Therefore, Paul says the following:
“For we will tear down reasonings and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. We will take captive every thought that does not obey Christ.”
It is also there that the people of the world suffer defeat, when Satan and the demons have free access to their spirit, mind and thoughts, says the scripture.
We read:
Eph. 2. 2 For you once lived according to the spirit of this world, according to the prince of the air, the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience.
3 You also once lived in the lusts of the flesh. You followed the desires and thoughts of the flesh. You were by nature children of wrath, just as the rest of us were
Eph. 4. 17 This I say and testify in the Lord, so that you no longer live as the rest of the Gentiles do, for they walk in the futility of their minds.
18 Their understanding being darkened, they are alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them and the hardness of their hearts.
19 They have become shameless, having given themselves over to sensuality, leading to all kinds of impurity and greed.
20 But such people do not know Christ.
21 For although they have heard about him, they have not learned the truth about Jesus.
Here there is much, but mostly negative about the old man.
The people who live without Jesus and let the word of God influence them.
But if we do the same as we read, for example, in Deuteronomy 28. Where there is the opposite, there is much to be learned here.
It says about unbelievers that Satan and demons are allowed to control them through, among other things, the following:
"You followed the will and mind of the flesh. For they walk in the futility of their minds.
Your understanding is darkened, and they are alienated from a life with God because of their ignorance and their hard hearts."
They follow their flesh, which is controlled by their empty minds. Alien to God and his will. Why? In short and to the point. They do not let the word of God control them.
This is exactly where the victory for all of us lies, that the word of God is allowed to control us in everything.
Therefore, it is so important that we first fill ourselves with the word of God,
Read, hear and take to ourselves the word of God.
Secondly, take every thought captive and reject that is not controlled and is in accordance with the word of God.
The victory for us believers lies in the extent to which we fill ourselves with the word of God, and let it control us! No victory without the word of God, and what the word of God says!
Final Comment:
James 1. 22 Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23 If then a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a mirror.
24 He looks at himself and goes away. And immediately he turns and forgets what he was like.
25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, not becoming a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he has done.
This is what is crucial. See what God's word says, believe it.
Speak it and stand firm in it. That is the clear guidance of the scriptures.
Read the word of God, believe it as it is.
Then confess it openly, clearly and distinctly out loud with your own mouth.
It works, that is what the scriptures say we should practice and live by as believers.
This is what is crucial. See what God's word says, believe it.
Speak it and stand by it. It is the clear guidance of the scriptures.
Read the word of God, believe it as it is.
Then confess it openly, clearly and distinctly out loud with your own mouth.
It works, that is what the scripture says we should practice and live by as believers.
Read as it is, believe as it is. And confess the word of God as it is.
Read what the scriptures say.
Rom. 10. 6 But this is the righteousness that is of faith: ‘Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ That is, to bring Christ down. Deuteronomy 30:12-14
7 Or, ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ That is, to bring Christ up from the dead. Deuteronomy 30:13
8 It says, ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.’ That is, the word of faith that we preach. Deuteronomy 30:14
9 For if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved.
11 For the scripture says, ‘Whoever believes will not be put to shame.’ Isaiah 28:16
12 And there is no difference between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call on him.
13 For ‘Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ JOE 3:5
