Take Our Place

Suppose a friend has promised you an amazing house - a house for you and your children and your grandchildren to live in forever. All you have to do is complete a challenge and then step onto the property. And your friend will even help you complete the challenge. What would you do?

Well, I hope you're not like the children of Israel who came out of slavery in Egypt. The God who rescued them out of slavery promised them a land overflowing with milk and honey. It was a land they and their descendants would be able to live in forever. He would help them overcome all the enemies who stood in their way.

But the children of Israel saw the size of their enemies. They saw their enemies, and they were scared. So instead of going into the Promised Land, they turned away and ran. They told their God, "We don't believe you can do this. We're scared. We don't want what you've promised us." (In essence anyway. You won't actually find that as a verse in the Bible.)

So what happened? They were made to wander in the desert for forty years. Until God had raised up a generation who would take Him at His Word. A generation with leaders who would step up and say they could win. With leaders who obeyed God. A generation who would take possession of their promise.

You see? There's a secret to receiving God's promises. God doesn't just give them to you. He makes them available and provides a way for you to possess it. But you have a part in it. 

You have to trust Him. You have to know what He says is true. You have to know that His promises are good. You have to know that He will help you take them.

You have to obey Him. When God says to go, you go. When He says to stop, you stop. When He speaks, you listen. When He says to believe, you believe. When He says to watch in wonder at the work He does, you watch in wonder as He does it.

You have to face the obstacles in your way. Getting to what God has promised you isn't always easy. There's normally something in the way of your promise. For the Israelites, it was the Canaanites and the city of Jericho. For you, it could be lack of resources or funds. It could be an extremely large task. Or it could just be that you are surrounded by people who don't believe what God told you. Either way, you have to look past it at what God has promised you. Then you have to trust that He'll move that obstacle out of your way, that He'll destroy anything that comes against you.

Finally, you have to actually take possession of the promise. When it is in your hands, in your grasp, don't let it go. Don't give your promise to someone God did not promise it to. It's your promise. Don't let someone else take control of it.

It takes a generation.

So, will you accept the promise? Will you possess it? God needs us to take back what He gave us.

So join with me. Let's be "a generation, rising up to take their place."