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Go in and possess the land!

The Sunday before we left for Vancouver I watched a live video stream of a church I'm pretty fond of. The bonus was that Chris Caine, founder of The A21 Campaign which I've written lots on, was in town speaking this weekend. I could not have started my Sunday any better than hearing her pour her heart out on that stage. I'm still reeling from her message! God is SO at work in my right now, and I just had to share some of her message for y'all!

She was talking about Moses, Joshua, and the Israelites when God led them into the promised land. If you know the story about the Israelites, you know that God promised their ancestors land for their descendants. He led them out of Egypt and out from under the rule of Pharaoh, and sent them on the journey into this new life set aside for them. What was supposed to take just 11 days, took over 40 years.

Here's where her message picked up.  Deuteronomy 7:1 says, "When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are about to possess and occupy, he will clear away many nations ahead of you." The Israelites were able to wipe out many nations along the way even though these nations were bigger, stronger, and more powerful. The Lord went before them and gave them victories they could not have had on their own.

She talked about how too many churches are just trying to maintain things the way they are, waiting it out until Jesus comes again. More churches need to "go in to possess" new land for Jesus. We have to do 5 things when going in to posses new lands.
1. Cut away some things
Joshua 5:1 (2nd circumcisions for the Israelites) Every generation has to pay a price. The new generation born while in the wilderness weren't going to go in a reap the benefits of their elders without paying their price.
Hebrews 12 Throwing off weights and sins. Sometimes you have actual sin to get rid of. Other times, it's not necessarily sin, but weights you need to throw off. She mentioned how people could be those weights. Good people, but people that are holding you back from stepping into all the things God has called you in to.
2. Fill yourself with Jesus
We're filling ourselves with reality TV, movies about the very things that sent Jesus to the cross instead of filling ourselves with Jesus. A fantastic quote from Chris, "Get off facebook and get your face in the Book!"
3. Move on from where you are now.
The Israelites got all the way to the Jordan River where they were about to walk into the Promised Land, but hesitated, looked back. Sometimes we focus so much on things of the past that we miss the future God has for us NOW.
4. See what He sees.
God doesn't move in the same way always. He sees the bigger picture. He sees the end of the story.
5. Say what He says.
Take hold of God's promises. His Word is true. If He has promised it, say what He has promised, and take hold of that truth.

A couple other things she said that was just so on point. "Doubt and unbelief KILLS destiny." The Israelites had been promised this land by God, led through the wilderness, fed by God for 40 years, given many victories, and STILL they had doubts about whether it could be done. They assured themselves the last few nations were too strong to overtake because they forgot that with God, all things are possible! They were destined to reach their Promised Land. Doubt and unbelief KILLS destiny. She also said, "doubt dies unborn if it's unspoken!" The Bible is filled with verses about the power of our tongue. We give doubt power when we speak it. We shape our future with the words we speak. She asked some very challenging questions about the future we're shaping for our families, ourselves, our children by the words we speak over them.

I was so encouraged and so challenged by her message, but I know my frantically scribbled notes don't do justice to the pure gold that was coming from her mouth, so I encourage you to go listen to her message here

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