Encouraging one more.

Caleb clearly encountered God throughout his life.  He believed God at His word.  He trusted God’s promises and followed God’s instructions.  When facing giants, Caleb drew courage from God, made that courage real, and then lived out God’s call in his life with the courage God gave him.  Remember, the people of Anak were the same giants who terrified the Israelites enough to keep them from entering the promised land.

According to the commandment of the LORD to Joshua, he gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh a portion among the people of Judah, Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron (Arba was the father of Anak). (Joshua 15:13 ESV)

At 85 years old, Caleb was as strong and courageous as he was in his earlier years.  Now, he is ready to take over the land that frightened off his entire generation of peers.  Caleb would reclaim that land for God.  Caleb was walking together with God.

Caleb knew, though, that 85 years young also meant less than 85 years left.  God had already limited our time to 120 years by this point.  It is great to walk together with God, but that only lasts here as long as we live here.  Caleb knew this.  So, he began building a courageous walk into more.

And he went up from there against the inhabitants of Debir. Now the name of Debir formerly was Kiriath-sepher. And Caleb said, "Whoever strikes Kiriath-sepher and captures it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter as wife." And Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, captured it. And he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife. When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she got off her donkey, and Caleb said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Give me a blessing. Since you have given me the land of the Negeb, give me also springs of water." And he gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. (Joshua 15:15-19 ESV)

How about you?  Do you encounter God, make that God-encounter real, and live out God’s call?  Do you walk together with God?  Do you want that walk to last here longer than your lifetime?  Do you build a courageous walk into others? Do you encourage one more?

Make courage real.

Have you ever been in a situation where you fought for the right and then you were given it?  Perhaps you tried your best in that interview and then you got the job.  Maybe you fought for the promotion and then you were given it.  Maybe you proposed marriage to your spouse and the answer was, “Yes!”  It took courage to ask.  Once they said, “Yes,” your courage was transformed into a reality.

Then Joshua blessed him, and he gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance. (Joshua 14:13 ESV)

Caleb understood this feeling when Joshua followed through on God’s promise to give him the land that he walked upon.  The only problem with this land is that it was inhabited by the very giants who terrified the other 10 spies over 40 years ago.  These giants are the very reason that the Israelites did not go into the land promised to them.  These giants are the reason a whole generation would not enter the promised land, but would die in the wilderness instead.  Caleb asked for that very land, with the giants still living there.  When Joshua said, “Yes,” his courage got very real very fast.

How about you?  Have you ever had someone say, “Yes” to a request that transformed your courage and things got very real very fast?

Draw courage from God.

We can only encourage others when we are encouraged ourselves.  Courage from God is unlimited.  That means there is always a surplus available to share with others.  When God is sufficient to fill our needs, God has plenty to fill their needs as well.  Caleb understood this and he consistently drew the courage he needed from God.

And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the LORD spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. So now give me this hill country of which the LORD spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the LORD said." (Joshua 14:10-12 ESV)

How about you?  Do you draw enough courage from God to fill you up and remove all fear?  Do you think you would do that at 85 years old?  Does God provide you enough courage to flow through to others around you?  Do you draw courage from God?

Remember what the LORD said.

Walking with God really is a lot easier than we often realize.  It starts with remembering what the LORD said.  We turn to the stories and instructions from the past because God tells us this is a part of His instruction to us, even, today.

"If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, 'Let us go after other gods,' which you have not known, 'and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.”  (Deuteronomy 13:1-4 ESV)

Joshua and the Israelites knew this.  The instructions were given to them by Moses earlier in their own lifetime.  This was nothing new.  That’s why they were uncomfortable and asking questions of the Gibeonites as they were being deceived.  They felt uncomfortable because something wasn’t matching up with the Word of God.

The same is true today.  We find ourselves uncomfortable when something doesn’t match up with the Word of God.  We are uncomfortable, that is, when we know the Word of God.  Sometimes, God will allow people to come into our lives who try to deceive us.  That is God’s way of testing us to see if we were listening to God’s previous instructions.  Joshua had listened to God.  So had Caleb.  They were they only two of the twelve original spies who did.

Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, "You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart. But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the LORD my God. And Moses swore on that day, saying, 'Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.' (Joshua 14:6-9 ESV)

Joshua and Caleb trusted God at His Word.  How about you?  Do you take the time to learn what God has instructed in the past?  When you hear someone trying to lead you in a different direction, do you find yourself uncomfortable?  Do you remember what the LORD said?

Walking with God

Last week, we watched as Joshua and the Israelites learned a hard lesson.  Victory in battle only comes with leading from the LORD.  They tried to make some good decisions based on the evidence in front of them.  When they did this, they were deceived.

So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the LORD. (Joshua 9:14 ESV)

Once they realized that they had made a bad decision (and that the decision was bad because they had not checked with the LORD first), then they turned back to God.  They look for the LORD’s direction for the next battle they faced.

And the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. Not a man of them shall stand before you." (Joshua 10:7-8 ESV)

Joshua and the Israelites learned to fight the right battles the right way: God’s way.  They started checking in with the LORD before going into battle.  Clearly they followed God’s plan for their lives and, as a result, God gave them victory over and over again.

And these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the people of Israel defeated on the west side of the Jordan...in all, thirty-one kings. (Joshua 12:7a, 24b ESV)

How about you?  Do you check with the LORD before going into spiritual battle for your mind, your heart, your family, or your friends?  Do you work to follow God’s ways with each decision you make? Are you walking with God?