The Lord was leading those who had been wounded through the trials of life’s circumstances inflicted by the enemy to meet with Him. Many of His people felt so defeated that they had begun to give up on their relationship with God! The daily grind of the day to-day tribulations were slowly wearing down these saints from seeking after Him with all their heart, soul, strength, and mind. The purpose of God meeting His people in the wilderness was to turn the trials meant for their harm into their good! The Lord did not want to punish or make life difficult for the saints, but to draw them into a closer relationship in order to increase their desire to wait on the Holy Spirit so they could learn to overcome through a relationship based on the revelation of Christ’s accomplishments rather than by their own strengths and abilities.
There is “a voice of one who cries: Prepare in the wilderness the way of the Lord (clear away the obstacles); make straight and smooth in the desert a highway for God!”

MY PANORAMIC VISION

This declaration was followed with a panoramic vision, as if I were looking from an airplane window. A bright and glowing light illuminated the picture that I saw. Everything in the vision had the appearance of being white, and yet was transparent. I could see through every object in the spirit that would have been made of solid matter in the natural, making it impossible to see through them in the flesh. I then saw an opening in the heavens between the clouds. Out of the opening appeared two very large arms with hands that wore thin white gloves. One hand was grasping a bow while the other hand was pulling an arrow back against the tension of the string in order to release it high into the heavens.

When I looked to see where the arrow was going, I was surprised to see hundreds maybe even thousands of arrows that had already been launched into the heavens. Once an arrow was launched it would multiply into many arrows of differing sizes. Some had peaked in the air so that they were beginning to plummet toward the earth. All the while, there were still different groupings of arrows preparing to hit at different times. Some were not far from hitting the surface of the earth, while others were much higher up, and some were still preparing to peak in the air before they plummeted back to the earth. All the while arrows were continually being launched one after the other.

At first it appeared as if these arrows would land randomly throughout the world. As I looked closer, the majority were landing within the borders of the United States, although there were pock-ets of arrows hitting other people groups and nations. Some of the arrows that were previously launched had already hit the earth. I then felt the Holy Spirit whisper, “What you are seeing in this vision cannot be seen by many of those who call themselves My people not allowing them to discern the spiritual realm while they are living out their daily lives in the natural realm. They have become paralyzed from interpreting the things that I am saying to them through the Spirit, resulting in natural interpretations to spiritual problems! It is causing My people frustration because they think that what that they are seeing is Me (God).”

For those who cannot see in the Spirit, it is like the clandestine arrows that were used at night for surprise attacks back in the French/English war. Often they would shoot arrows that had been lit aflame into the night air at the opposing force for all to see. When they wanted to catch their enemy off guard they would launch these arrows into the dark without any flame so that the enemy they were aiming to hit could not see or even know what was coming until the arrow had already pierced their body. I asked the Lord, “What does the vision I am seeing mean?”

THE MEANING OF THE VISION

He explained to me that He was going to use the enemy’s own weapons against him by allowing these attacks to prepare His Church to be a pure and spotless bride. I understood that by pure and spotless the Lord was referring more to the state of our hearts than our actions. He was looking for people with hearts that were perfect toward Him. He was not looking for people who never make mistakes. He was looking for people whose hearts would become fully devoted to Him. These were people who had committed their hearts one hundred percent to Him alone. I heard the Holy Spirit say that: Without purity there would be no power to overcome! I have already begun to prepare My Church by developing them in relationship with My Spirit resulting in the purity of heart to walk in the necessary revelation and power to experience the abundant life to usher in the emerging agenda of my end time harvest.

THE LORD CONTINUED:

Those who cannot see the arrows are those who confess to being born again by the Spirit, but they only live and make decisions by what they see with their natural eyes. Since these are spiritual arrows, they never even see them coming. It is important to understand that I have not called My people to live by what they see or understand in the natural. “For we walk by faith (we regulate our lives and conduct ourselves by our conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, with trust and holy fervor; thus we walk), not by sight or appearance.”

I have called My people as a spiritual people. My desire is to relate to them by My Holy Spirit. I want them to ascend in the Spirit to gain revelation through relationship, and then to descend to the earth imparting revelation into their natural circumstances and lives. It is impossible for My people to do this without intimacy with Me.”
In Matthew 16:17-19 (AMP), Jesus says: .Blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) are you, Simon Bar-Jonah. For flesh and blood (men) have not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter (Greek, Petros- a large piece of rock), and on this rock (Greek, Petra- a huge rock like Gilbraltar) I will build My church, and the gates of Hades (the powers of the infernal region) (or be strong to its detriment or hold against it) shall not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whateveryou bind (declare to be improper and unlawful) on earth must be what is already bound in heaven: and whateveryou loose (declare lawfully) on earth must be what is already loosed in heaven.

In this passage Jesus says that Simon Bar-Jonah did not understand who He was through mere human understanding, but by revelation given to him by His Father. As a result of Simon Bar Jonah receiving revelation, Jesus finds it necessary to give him the new name Peter meaning rock. The name Peter was to be a monumental reminder to all the Church for all ages about the importance of receiving revelation from heaven, rather than just information from the flesh. His new name was to represent the rock of revelation. It was on this rock of revelation that Jesus said, “.I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” If that is true, then the antithesis is also true, that without revelation the gates of hell will prevail against the Church!

REVELATION, FAITH AND POWER

If we are the Church, then our ability to prevail is determined by our ability to obtain revelation through our relationship with God. The Lord showed me that if we are to bind or loose something on earth, we will have to ascend into heavenly places to obtain revelation in order to know that you have authority to bind or loose on earth. We are able to bind and loose on earth by speaking and agreeing with those things that have already been revealed in heavenly places. The Lord was showing me that there would be no reason to try to bind something in the natural world in order to change something in the spiritual world. The spiritual world has authority to change the natural world.
The Lord continued to reveal to me that those who cannot see are constantly being hit by these arrows, thinking that life is always giving them a hard time. They get knocked down feeling discouraged, confused, disillusioned and ready to give up. When they finally pick themselves up off the ground again, they begin to strive in the same manner they did before they got knocked down. Since they cannot see these arrows, it is only a matter of time before they go through this process all over again. After experiencing this cycle repeatedly, they finally decided to give up, defeated, weary and discouraged, never able to possess the promises of God.

AT THIS POINT, I HEARD THE LORD SAY:

“Many of My people are in this place because they have not been equipped to walk by faith. Many of them have come to believe that if they confess the information of My written Word over their circumstances that I will perform for them. “…Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Faith comes by receiving the very words of Jesus from the heavenly realm concerning our circumstances through the Holy Spirit. Unless they get a revelation of
My written word for their lives and circumstances through a relationship with the Holy Spirit, it will not keep the gates of hell from prevailing against them! It will continue to produce confusion, discouragement, deception, and disillusionment about the legitimacy of the Word of God robbing them of the opportunity to live the abundant life!”

THE LORD CONTINUED:

“This is not my work. It is the work of the accuser. It is the enemy who has disguised himself as an angel of light. So “.take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” Remember the white gloves that were being worn on the hands that gripped the bow and the arrow? They were being worn to keep there from being any identifiable or traceable evidence in the natural of where the arrows had originated from in the spirit. Even though the arrows were producing many manifestations in the natural arena, many of my people had no discernment as to whether the spiritual origin was based in truth or deception. They could not see into the spiritual realm. Since it is coming from the heavens they automatically assume that it is Me (God).”

The names written on the arrows were accusation, selfishness, criticism, pride, independence, deception, frustration, confusion, disillusionment, past hurts, fear of failure, fear of man, false judgment, defeat and division that would result in manifesting difficulties through circumstances that were bringing hardships into many believer’s lives. All the while, the Holy Spirit is turning these experiences that the enemy had intended to use for the destruction of His people to good! He was releasing revelation through relationship to warn His people of harm in order to lead them into His promises so the saints would learn to trust in the accomplishments of Jesus Christ rather than in their own strengths and abilities to possess His promises.

REVELATION AND PROTECTION UNDER HIS SHADOW

Notice that there are pockets where the arrows are falling that have much larger arrows than other surrounding areas. The territories in which you see larger arrows falling are geographical areas where the names of the spirit on those arrows are gaining more control and power resulting in more darkness. Some of the results were manifesting in rising crime, higher divorce rates, child abuse, drug and alcohol abuse, economic collapses, war and even terrorist attacks. I asked the Lord “How could this happen?”

Where there is a decrease in the unity of my people and relationship with the presence of My Spirit there is an increase in the power of darkness in the spiritual realm that will manifest in the natural realm. The Lord reminded me from Ephesians 6 that this is a spiritual battle in which much of His Church has been trying to fight in the natural. It says, Put on God’s whole armor (the armor of a heavy-armed soldier which God supplies), that you may be able successfully to stand up against (all) the strategies and the deceits of the devil. For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood, (contending only with physical opponents), but against the despotisms, against the powers, against (the master spirits who are) the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.

Therefore put on God’s complete armor, that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day (of danger), and having done all (the crisis demands), to stand (firmly in your place). Stand therefore (hold your ground) having tightened the belt of truth around your loins and having put on the breastplate of integrity and of moral rectitude and right standing with God, and having shod your feet in preparation (to face the enemy with the firm-footed stability, the promptness, and the readiness produced by the good news) of the Gospel of peace. Lift up over all the (covering) shield of saving faith, upon which you can quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked (one). And take the helmet of salvation and the sword that the Spirit wields, which is the Word of God. Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all (manner of) prayer and entreaty. To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints (God’s consecrated people).
Then I saw arrows falling from the sky and trying to pierce other people, but the arrows could not touch them, bouncing off just before piercing them. I asked the Lord “Why are these arrows not penetrating these people?” From all natural appearances there did notseem to be anything different about those who were being penetrat-ed by the arrows and those who were able to repel the arrows. The Holy Spirit said: These are those who have been waiting on Me in fellowship. These are those who are in a genuine relationship with me resulting in overcoming revelation to experience the abundant life. The arrows cannot touch those who are intimate with Me because they walk in My power!

Then the Lord brought the scripture to my mind in Acts 5:15 AMP where it says: So that they (even) kept carrying out the sick into the streets and placing them on couches and sleeping pads, (in the hope) that as Peter passed by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them. The word shadow here is the Greek word episkiazo. It means to cast shade upon, to envelop in a haze of brilliancy, or to invest with preternatural influence. It is the same word that is used when the
Spirit of God overshadowed Mary when she conceived in her womb Jesus Christ, the Son of God. .The angel said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you (like a shining cloud); and so the holy (pure, sinless) Thing (Offspring) which shall be born of you will be called the Son of God.
This was not just an ordinary shadow! It is the very surrounding presence of God that provides protection as well as power. Literally, those who are surrounded by the presence of God have a shield that surrounds and covers them so that the enemy and his arrows cannot penetrate their lives, allowing them to overcome and possess their promise land. “.You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory and the lifter of my head.”

FOR RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM, WAIT ON HIM IN PRAYER!

Then Holy Spirit brought me to Acts 2:4 where the disciples were filled with the Spirit. He said, “The baptism of the Holy Spirit was never meant to be a one time experience like many of My people have understood.” This experience was as a result of Jesus instructions: .while being in their company and eating at the table with them, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for what the Father had promised, of which (He said) you have heard Me speak. For John, baptized with water, but not many days from now you shall be baptized with (placed in, introduced into) the Holy Spirit.

The word wait here is the Greek word perimeno. It means to stay around, and to wait for. It implies waiting in fellowship through relationship with the Holy Spirit. The Greek word for baptism here is the Greek word baptizo. It means to make overwhelmed. The idea is to continue to repeat the same process until the object is fully saturated and overflowing. It is often illustrated by the picture of a pickle being saturated in dill brine by dipping it over and over again.

Then the Holy Spirit took me to Acts 4:31, AMP where it says: And when they had prayed, the place in which they were assembled was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they continued to speak the Word of God with freedom and boldness and courage. The Holy Spirit was showing me that the power they received was a result of waiting on Him in prayer. Then He said something that I had never understood before! “The disciples were all filled with the Holy Spirit after they had already been filled with the Holy Spirit!”

The Holy Spirit began to reveal to me that those who have been overshadowed by the presence of God are not being touched by the arrows of the accuser. They had made it a lifestyle to continually fellowship in relationship with Him. The result is revelation to see into the spiritual realm and receive protection in the natural realm, all while manifesting His supernatural power to experience the abundant life. The Holy Spirit said: I Am” beginning a new season in which I am going to shake the places where My people fellowship in relationship with Me! Everything that can be shaken on earth that is not of Me will be shaken through relationship resulting in revelation and power to manifest heaven on earth! I will “.shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” through the Spirit living in My children. They will testify to the world that I am alive by overcoming every obstacle and possessing their inheritance!

At approximately 9 weeks into her pregnancy she went to see a doctor to get relief from a sinus infection that she had been fighting for about two weeks. During the visit she found out that her blood pressure was two hundred and five over one hundred fifteen. The doctors told us that her health situation could possibly cause a stroke or a heart attack. Furthermore, because she was in the early stages of her pregnancy, the doctor was concerned about the survival of the baby. So she was sent to the obstetrician doctor to determine if the pregnancy was in danger, and for further diagnoses of her condition.

At this point Tammi called me on the phone to tell me about the doctor’s report while on her way to see the obstetrician. I heard Holy Spirit say, “Tell your wife that the baby is healthy.” I told my wife that I believed that the baby was healthy and that I would meet her at the doctor’s office immediately. We determined at that moment to believe God’s Word together over the report of the doctor.

When I arrived at the doctor’s office they performed an ultra-sound on my wife confirming the report of the Lord! The doctor then sent my wife to the emergency room for intravenous medical treatment for her high blood pressure. While my wife was in the emergency room one of the nurses told her that she was sent there in case her heart stopped as a result of trying to bring down her blood pressure. Five hours later she was admitted to the hospital for further medical treatment, testing, and monitoring over the next three to four days. After being admitted to the hospital she was constantly in pain and vomiting.

Several doctors continue to rotate the visitation schedule around the clock. Each one tries to prepare my wife with reports for all the possible negative future scenarios. She had only felt congested before her initial visit to the doctor’s office. My wife and I joke that she had to come to the hospital to get sick!

Putting on the Armor

In times like these the Bible says: Put on the whole armor (the armor of a heavy-armed soldier which God supplies), that you may be able successfully to stand up against (all) the strategies and the deceits of the devil.1 The phrase, “Put on…” here isn’t about something we do by our natural effort. It is a reminder not to forget that our identity is found in the accomplishments of Christ. This means we aren’t limited by our natural abilities to stand up against the deceits of the devil. This phrase is best illustrated by the picture of a soldier standing over a battle field that he has already been conquered.

The word here for deceits is the Greek word methodia. It means method, trickery, and to lie in wait. In other words, the devil lies in wait scheming for any opportunity to trick us into doubting the Word of God. The reality is that the devil does not have any real power over those who have received salvation in Jesus Christ. So, he tricks us into believing that things are not as we have believed. He deceives us through the appearance of our circumstances that appear in the natural to contradict God’s Word. His goal is to get us to agree in fear with the appearance of our circumstances instead of agreeing in faith with God’s Word.

My wife’s circumstances gave us the opportunity to put on the full armor of Christ’s accomplishments so that we could successfully stand against all of the strategies of the devil in order to receive our promises of salvation. The more we prayed and believed for Tammi’s health, the worse she seemed to get! It was so extreme that we knew that the devil was trying to trick us into believing his report about her health circumstances over the report of the Lord! The devil had overplayed his hand!

We were not going to play around with the enemy any longer! We were going to another realm! For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood (contending only with physical opponents), but against the powers, against (the master spirits who are) the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.

Always Ready to Fight

I remember sitting by my wife’s bed watching her fight mentally, physically, and spiritually for her health, when I realized once again that our only hope is in Christ’s accomplishments. I wanted to try and find a way to fix everything, but it was only an illusion in my head. I was unable to change my wife’s health cir¬cumstances no matter how hard I chose to fight in my own strength. I had to learn again that there are battles we have to fight in the promise land, but striving to work harder will never lead us to victory. Christ’s accomplishments cannot be earned…they can only be received as a gift!

Joshua and the Israelites had to fight natural battles in the promise land in the same way we have to fight spiritual battles while living the abundant life. Joshua had just conquered the impossible by leading the people of Israel across the Jordan River and into the promise land. As he steps into the promise land he is already looking at his next battle with Jericho. He is standing there in the promise land when he saw a man, “…near him with His drawn sword in His hand…”

Joshua was in the midst of thinking about his next battle plan when a man he does not know appears out of nowhere with a drawn sword. He is about to go to war, and this man could be one of the adversaries. Joshua is startled and prepared to fight his potential enemy, so he approaches and asks Him, “…Are you for us or for our adversaries?”

The man replies, “…No (neither)…” and then reveals His identity saying, “…but as Prince of the Lord’s host have I now come…” Joshua is starting to get a revelation from God. He is beginning to realize that his victory over the city of Jericho has nothing to do with his own abilities, but with the supernatural abilities of His God. Joshua is beginning to understand that being on God’s side is much more important than determining who is on his side.

Joshua falls on his face and worships the Lord asking; “…What says my Lord to His servant?” The Lord replied, “…Loose your shoes from off your feet, for the place you stand is holy…” Joshua takes off his shoes realizing that he is standing on holy ground as God teaches him the right way to prepare for a fight. Then the Lord begins to share His plan to take the city of Jericho with Joshua saying, “You shall march around the enclosure, all the men of war going around the city once. This you shall do for six days.”

At this point Joshua is probably full of excitement, knowing that on God’s side he will be victorious in the battle over Jericho. If he is anything like most of us, he is probably even a little excited that God is going to make him look good as a leader in front of all of the other Israelites. In the midst of his thoughts, Joshua can still hear the Lord telling him his battle plan: …Seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns; and on the seventh day you shall march around the enclosure seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. As the Lord continues with His plans, Joshua probably switches his thoughts to the upcoming fight. He is a warrior waiting to hear his fighting instructions. He wants to know his role in the fight. He desperately wants to get past all of the preliminaries and into the action plan. He wants to know the bottom line for conquering Jericho.

The Lord Continues:

When they make a long blast with the rams’ horn and you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the enclosure shall fall down in its place and the people shall go up (over it), every man straight before him.

In other words, the Lord said that all Joshua and the Israelites had to do was to march around the city for seven days and then shout to be victorious over Jericho in their battle. God would take care of the rest on His own! He did not need Joshua to fight for Him in order to win the battle. He did not want Joshua to try and make something happen for Him on his own! Joshua’s earlier revelation with the Prince of the Lord’s host is now beginning to become a real¬ity in his heart. Joshua was a warrior ready to fight, but God was telling him to march and shout according to the revelation that he had already received.

Why are We Always Looking for a Fight?

So Joshua and the Israelites marched around the city of Jericho once each day for six days not saying one word. Joshua told the Israelites before they started marching just as the Lord had said: You shall not shout or let your voice be heard, nor shall any word proceed out of your mouth until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout. By the seventh day the people probably knew something was going to happen out of the ordinary!…They rose early at daybreak and marched around the city as usual, only on that day they encompassed the city seven times. With a warrior like Joshua being their leader, the people of Israel were probably anticipating a fight. On the seventh day, on the seventh time around the city …When the priests had blown their trumpets. Joshua said to the people, Shout! For the Lord has given you this city.

The Lord had already given them the city of Jericho! It was a part of the promise land. It was a gift from God. Jericho could not be conquered through the Israelites own abilities to strive and work hard. So all the people of Israel shouted just as Joshua had said: …And (Jericho’s) wall fell down in its place, so that the (Israelites) went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.

The walls of Jericho fell down! They had never been penetrated by anyone in the history of their existence. The people of Israel did not even touch the walls of Jeri¬cho. They only marched and shouted according to God’s plan. They did not have to do anything to conqueror the city of Jericho during the bat¬tle. God conquered the whole city on His own!

Spiritual Blessings Without Formulas

East of the Jordan we still have to strive in our own strength to get results. It is a place where we are still striving to work hard in our own abilities to receive the promises of God. It is a place where there is no reward for our efforts. It appears that the promises of God are for everyone but us. No matter how hard we strive to work in our own strength and abilities we never seem to experience the promises of God for ourselves. We are still trying to make things happen that Christ already accomplished. It is living on the wrong side of the cross!

In the promise land we actually get things done by resting in the revelation of Christ’s accomplishments. It is a place where we no longer have to strive to work hard in our own strength and abilities to receive the promises of God. It is a place where we are actually experiencing the promises of God in our lives. We are experiencing the abundant life for ourselves!

We are resting in the things that Christ has done on our behalf: …having (freely) forgiven all our transgressions, having cancelled and blotted out and wiped away the handwriting of the note (bond) with its legal decrees and demands which was in force and stood against us (hostile) to us. This (note with its regulations, decrees and demands) He set aside and cleared completely out of our way by nailing it to (His) cross. (God) disarmed the principalities and powers that were ranged against us and made a bold display and public example of them, in triumphing over them in Him and in it (the cross).

Jesus already overcame every obstacle that we will ever face at the cross. Anything that could ever oppose us from receiving God’s promises was cleared completely out of our way and nailed to the cross. We cannot do anything in our own efforts that will improve upon the things that Christ already accomplished in His death on the cross, and His resurrection from the dead. Jesus triumphed over every enemy who could ever oppose us! He does not need us to perform for Him in order to see all the promises of God accomplished in our lives. He does not need us to fight in our own strength in order to overcome our circumstances to make something happen for Him. He has already finished executing His plan that was prepared at a time in the past to make us victorious.

There are no special formulas or legalistic rituals that will help us to receive those things He has already given to us. Many Chris¬tians follow a religious formula trying to get their desired results rather than building an intimate relationship with Christ. After awhile we get tired of believing for things that we never seem to experience for ourselves. All of the information that we have received about Christ does not seem to work for us, because we have not learned to rest in Him.

God never intended for us to do anything for Him, He intended to do things through us based on our revelation of His accomplishments. The abundant life is not about a religion, it is about a relationship with Christ. We have already been set free from the bondage of striving and working hard in order to inherit the promises of God.

For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through your faith. And this (salvation) is not of yourselves, (of your own striving), but it is the gift of God. Not because of your works (not the fulfillment of the Law’s demands), lest any man should boast. (It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.) For we are God’s (own) handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, (born anew) that we may do those good works in which God predestined (planned before hand) for us (taking paths which He prepared ahead of time), that we should walk in them (living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live.)

We have been saved by free grace – it does not cost us anything. It is a gift from God based on God’s merits and favor. Notice that grace isn’t just about forgiveness of the past based on His merits, but it’s also about the power and favor of God to accomplish your future destiny. It’s time for believers to quit living in part of His grace, and to start living in the fullness of His grace.

The Greek word for saved here is sozo. It means to make safe, deliver, protect, heal, preserve, save, do well, and be (make) whole. Salvation includes much more than a future destination called heaven, it also includes everything that we need during this life to overcome the curse of sin – setting us free to live the abundant life!

Salvation includes our eternal life as well as our healing and success. It includes our preservation as well as our deliverance and protection. We receive all of the attributes of salvation at one time. We receive healing and favor at the same time that we receive eternal life. Our deliverance and prosperity are all received the same way we receive eternal life. Salvation is received through faith, not as a result of a person’s striving, works, or ability. It is a relationship with the Holy Spirit that results in the revelation of our salvation in Christ. All of the accomplishments of Christ are included in our salvation!

The Fullness of His Grace

Despite the early attacks on my wife’s health during the ninth week of her pregnancy, Tammi and I learned to exercise our faith to magnify the power and authority of the name of Jesus over the circumstances of her pregnancy. One of the doctors even implied that she should consider aborting the baby due to her condition, and the history of her health regarding her three previous pregnancies. During this time the Holy Spirit spoke to my wife that she was to continue to believe Jesus’ report for divine health in the continuation of her pregnancy over the report of the doctor. In addition, the Holy Spirit promised her that she would be able to go into labor on her own for the first time without having to be induced.

Later in her pregnancy, Tammi had called me on the phone after one of her regularly scheduled appointments with the obstetrician doctor. She was excited to share the confirmed report of the Lord. During her visit, the doctor told her that “she was a walking miracle.” Tammi told her, “Jesus answered my prayers to heal my body during this pregnancy!” The doctor replied that, “There was no other explanation for it!” The doctor continued to say that she never expected Tammi to make it this far in her pregnancy without being transported to another hospital in another city for premature delivery and care.

Similar conversations between the doctor and my wife continued about the miraculous state of her health for the next several weeks. At one point the doctor told my wife, “I would like to talk with you more about this prayer thing that you’re doing to stay so healthy.” She continued to say, “I should consider using you to train all my high risk pregnancy patients in prayer to see if they would receive the same miraculous results as you!”

On the first day of week thirty eight of my wife’s pregnancy she went into labor naturally on her own as promised by Holy Spirit. Tammi gave birth to Josie Grace Reanier at 1:57 p.m. on September 24th, 2007 without any complications. She was our fourth baby girl weighing 6 lbs. and 15 ounces with a length of 20 inches long. She weighed more than any of our other four girls at birth even though the ultra sound report two weeks prior said that she was only about 5 lbs.

The name Josie means, “God adding to His favor!” Grace means, “God’s favor through His operational power.” Put it altogether, and the name Josie Grace means God adding favor to His favor through His operational power. Josie truly is living proof of God adding favor to His already established favor in our lives through the operational power that resides in the magnified name of Jesus to accomplish our destiny!

The Israelites wandered in the wilderness on the wrong side of the Jordan living in the flesh, bondage and defeat because they trusted the appearance of their circumstances more than they trusted God at His word. It is the same way for us as believers today when we choose to live the Christian life by trusting in our own strengths and abilities rather than trusting in relationship with Christ and His accomplishments on the cross. Joshua was able to finally lead the Israelites to possess their promise land when they had learned to trust God at His word over the appearance of their circumstances. Similarly believers can experience the abundant life when they learn to trust in a relationship that is based on the revelation of Christ’s accomplishments more than on their own wisdom, strength, and abilities.

One side of the cross represents living as if Christ never actually paid the total cost for our sin. It is the side of the cross where we are still trying to earn the things that Christ already paid for on the cross. It is the side of the cross where we try to overcome impossible things on our own. If we choose to live on this side of the cross we will never experience the abundant life.

On the other side of the cross Jesus has already defeated every enemy. He has already fought every fight we would ever need to fight. We have already been given everything that we need to live in the promises of God through Christ’s accomplishments. If we choose to live on this side of the cross we will experience His promises in our life!

As Joshua, gets ready to lead the people of Israel into the promise land after forty years of wandering in the wilderness, he faces one of the greatest challenges of his natural life. He’s leading God’s people across the Jordan River. It is the only thing standing between the Israelites end to wandering in the wilderness and the possession of their promise land. The Jordan River represents an impossible obstacle in Joshua’s life that has to be overcome in order to possess the promises of God. It is impossible because there is nothing that he can do in his own strength and ability to lead God’s people across the Jordan. If he leads the people of Israel across the Jordan in his own strength and ability then the people of God will never live to see the promise land. Joshua is in a place of total dependence upon God.

At this point Joshua is standing by the side of the Jordan looking at the impossible obstacle that he is facing. He is waiting for God to do something when he hears the Lord say, “…This day I will begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, so they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.” 30 Joshua has finally received the word of the Lord! All he has to do is trust in God’s word over the impossible obstacle standing before him in the natural realm. In the natural realm nothing has changed and the Jordan appears to be just as impossible as ever to cross. If Joshua is successful then the people will determine that the favor of God is with him and they will follow him just like they followed Moses. If he is unsuccessful then the people will probably determine that the favor of God is not on Joshua and they will not follow him as their leader.

God told Joshua “…take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. When the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord of all the earth shall rest in the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan coming down from above shall be cut off and they shall stand in one heap.” 31 So Joshua steps out in faith and obedience according to God’s word activating the anointing of God in the supernatural. Joshua puts his trust in God’s abilities over his own abilities releasing the authority and power to overcome the impossible!

When the feet of the priests that were carrying the ark touched the Jordan, “…the waters which came down from above stood and rose up on a heap far… …and the people passed over opposite of Jericho. And while Israel passed by on dry ground, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, until all, the nation finished passing over the Jordan.” 32 God actually parted the waters of the Jordan just like he parted the waters of the Red Sea for Moses, allowing Joshua and the Israelites to finally overcome an impossible obstacle in order to finally possess their promise land.

Everything is Possible

There is a young couple in our church named Jesse and Lyndsey, who recently discovered how to overcome an impossible obstacle in their life so that they could begin to live on the right side of the cross. “We had decided that we wanted to have a baby, but two and a half years passed by without any success. Finally, Lyndsey decided that she wanted to go to the doctor and have some testing done to make sure that everything was working properly with her body. I decided to get tested as well.

Our tests results came back free from any negative results, but were told that the help of medication would be necessary for Lyndsey to get pregnant. The doctor told us that if Lyndsey wasn’t pregnant within three months, then we should come back for more extensive testing. Three months came and went, and we still didn’t have any baby. It was especially hard for Lyndsey since she works in a family practice clinic and sees pregnant women everyday.

We had become discouraged and started speaking the wrong things over our lives by agreeing with what the world and the enemy said about us. We finally turned to the word of God. Mark 11:23 said that we could have what we speak if only we would not doubt. I showed Lyndsey how Romans 4:16 tells us that we are the seed of Abraham and the heirs of the promise through faith in Jesus. I then took her to Deuteronomy 7:14-15 showing her that none of the seed of Abraham shall be barren, and God will remove all our afflictions.

She took possession of that word, and accepted it as a rhema word for herself. She decided not to go back to the doctors anymore for testing; she quit taking the medication and established God’s promise in her heart and words. Our friends and family had been praying for us for months. Many at the church had prayed for us and had faith when we had none, but it wasn’t until we accepted God’s word for ourselves and started speaking in agreement with it that we actually experienced His word come to pass in our lives.

Once Lyndsey accepted that word for herself, God turned her anxiety into peace and our discouragement into trust. Instead of wondering if Lyndsey would get pregnant, she started talking about when she got pregnant. The doubt was gone, and the words from her mouth agreed with God’s word, according to Matthew 18:16 which says, ‘In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word is established.’ Our words are powerful containers of God’s power!

I want to encourage people that God wants His power to manifest in your life, but you need to be speaking the right words in your life for it to be established. God’s promise is that if we will agree with Him in our heart and with the words we speak, everything is possible for us. Two months after Lyndsey quit her medication standing on the word of God, Lyndsey was pregnant. This testimony isn’t that Lyndsey is pregnant; but that there is real power in our relationship with God and the words that we speak! Start speaking words that agree with God and you will experience God’s power in your own life!” 33

Mixing the Message

What impossible obstacle is in your life is keeping you from experiencing the abundant life? Is there something in your life that you can’t accomplish in your own strength and abilities? Is there an area of sin in your life that you have tried to overcome many times, but now have given up altogether? Is fear of failing one more time keeping you paralyzed from moving forward in your life? Then it’s time to cross the Jordan. It’s time to start mixing the message of the Gospel with faith so that we can start living on the right side of the cross!

“For indeed we have had the glad tidings (Gospel of God) proclaimed to us just as truly as they (the Israelites of old did when the good news of deliverance from bondage came to them); but the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not mixed with faith (with the leaning of the entire personality of God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness) by those who heard it;” 34 The Israelites heard the message of the good news but it didn’t benefit them because it was not mixed with faith. What is faith? Here it says that it is the ability to lean on the entire personality of God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness.

Faith is a result of building a trust relationship with God. It’s not enough to hear the information from the message of the Gospel alone. We must mix our hearing of the Gospel message with a relationship resulting in revelation so that we can have faith to trust Him in order to experience the benefits of living on the right side of the cross! Many Christians are still living on the wrong side of the cross.

We are fighting battles that have already been defeated by Christ. We are still trying to accomplish what Christ has already accomplished on our behalf. We could spend our whole lives fighting, and never inheriting the promises of God if we take what Christ did on the cross and make it invalid by trying to accomplish for ourselves all that He has already accomplished for us. When will we stop fighting battles that Jesus has already given us the victory? We’re living on the wrong side of the cross!

We could experience the promise of God because Jesus has already given us everything that we need to experience the abundant life. Instead we know deep down inside of ourselves that we are still trusting in our own abilities rather than in a relationship based on Christ’s accomplishments. As a result, we live in fear of facing the impossible obstacles in our lives that would allow us to live in the promises of God. We can look across the Jordan and see those that have trusted Him experiencing the abundant life as we make excuses to ourselves saying one day we will trust God and overcome the impossible obstacles in our lives in order to experience the promises of God for ourselves.

The problem is that it isn’t easier to trust God one day when everything in our life is put together just the way we want it. If we can’t do it now, we probably won’t do it later. You have been called to live the abundant life. You don’t have to wait until tomorrow. You could start living it today. You have been called to rest in the promises of God because of what Christ has already accomplished on your behalf. It is already finished. We’ve all tried to make things happen in our own strength and abilities. The authority of Christ rests solely on what He accomplished at the cross! It’s time to start living on the right side of the cross!

In the midst of this wrestling match the bible says that when God, “…saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him.” Jacob was a young arrogant man who thought that he could accomplish just about anything on his own including God’s plan for his life. After all he was successful in stealing his brother’s birthright and manipulating his father into speaking his brothers blessing over his own life. The only problem is that no matter how hard he worked and strived to be successful things never seemed to get any easier.

Now Jacob was trying to manipulate God into blessing Him by saying, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” So then God asks him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob. And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob say’s to God, “Tell me Your name, I pray. And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there.”

Why did God want to know Jacob’s name? The name of a person represented a person’s identity. In the Old Testament knowing someone’s name was to essentially have control over that person’s life. In essence, when Jacob finally surrendered his name to God, he was surrendering the control of his life to God!

God would not give Jacob His name. Jacob is beginning to receive a revelation here about relationship, dependency, and having strength in Him during weakness. It’s when Jacob finally surrenders control that he receives his blessing from God. . So, “…Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”

In other words, it was a place of revelation. Jacob received a revelation of God. He received a revelation that he belonged to God! He also received a revelation of His spiritual resources when God blessed him with His promises, and preserved his life.

It was an event that Jacob or the children of Israel would not soon forget “…as he crossed over Penuel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip. Therefore for to this day the children of Israel do not eat the muscle that shrank, which is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip in the muscle shrank.” The word shrank here is the Hebrew word nasheh. It means in a sense of failure, rheumatic, or crippled.

As a result, Jacob goes on to accomplish more for God as a crippled man with a dislocated hip, than he was ever able to accomplish in the full strength of his own abilities. It’s in a sense of failure that we develop a genuine relationship of friendship with Jesus. It’s that place where we realize that we are crippled in our own abilities. It’s where we can learn to be dependent upon God and His accomplishments.

As we surrender the control of our lives we can finally be trusted with the authority and power of His promises. As His heart and agenda becomes our heart and agenda, Jesus says, “I do not call you servants (slaves) any longer, for the servant does not know what the master is doing (working out). But I have called you my friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. (I have revealed to you everything that I have learned from Him.)”

Just like Jacob, many of us find ourselves wrestling for control of lives in relationship with God. Often we want to be relationally independent thinking that we can accomplish just about anything on our own including God’s plan for our life. We tend to leave our state of relational dependency on God to take back the control that we once surrendered to Jesus. It’s like we tell the Lord, “Thanks for the help when I really needed it, but I can handle the rest from here!” The only problem is that no matter how hard we work and strive to live the abundant life, it never seems to become a reality.

As a result, we often settle for what looks good now, rather than waiting in dependence on Him for the fulfillment that is only found in His promises. We make major decisions in regards to the direction of our lives based on our current circumstances, perspectives, and feelings. Often it seems that we settle for less than the abundant life just so that we can live where it’s comfortable, convenient, and familiar. There are things in this world that appear to be good for our lives, but they aren’t the promises of God!

Many Christians just want their life to get a little better. They settle for less than God’s promises for an improved way of life. They are willing to trade the promises of God, if they can find relief from their current set of circumstances. They just want to experience a little more peace at home. They just want to experience a little less pain in their body. They are willing to forfeit the promise of God, if things could get a little better!

Children of God

John 1:12 says “…as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority (power, privilege, right) to become the children of God, that is to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name.” AMP When we receive and welcome Christ into our heart and life it says that we are children of God. As sons and daughters of the living God we have been given authority to receive the abundant life. We have been given His authority to destroy every obstacle that opposes the promises of God in our life. We don’t have to settle for things to be a little better in our life. We have a right to the privileges of God. He has given us the power to possess our promises by trusting in Him!

The New Testament word for believe in this passage of scripture has nothing to do with the existence of someone or something. It is the Greek word pisteuo. It means to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing). It implies entrusting one’s spiritual well being to Christ by adhering to, trusting in, or relying on Him.

In other words, our ability to believe in God requires a relationship with Him. A relationship with someone is a necessary component in order to adhere to something someone has communicated to us. It is vital to have a relationship with someone that we know to be trustworthy before we can trust them. We must have a relationship with someone that has been found trustworthy before we feel like we can rely on them with faith!

A relationship requires that we make some effort to spend time with someone and communicate with that person. It is an exchange of hearts. Sometimes we will talk to a person that we are in a relationship with and they listen to us. Other times a person that we are in a relationship with will talk to us and we will listen to them.

Imagine if I had married my wife and then quit having a relationship with her where I didn’t spend time together talking with her or listening to her! We wouldn’t have a very healthy marriage relationship. My wife probably wouldn’t be happy with the status of our relationship. She would probably feel like we didn’t have a relationship. I wouldn’t really know her thoughts or feelings. We wouldn’t really know each other well enough to trust one another!

The same thing is true in our relationship with God. I have to personally know Him to be trustworthy in order to trust in His name. The true substance of our relationship with God is found in our daily ability to believe in His name. As a result, we are given authority including the power, privilege, and the right to become the children of God. We become heirs in the promises of God. “In Him we also were made (God’s) heritage (portion) and we obtained an inheritance…” We already obtained an inheritance that can only be found in Christ! This heritage is the key to releasing the favor necessary in order to experience the abundant life!

A Royal Priesthood

There is much confusion in the body of Christ today about what it means to walk in faith, authority, and the inheritance of God. Many Christians just don’t know who they are in Christ. “…You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation (God’s) own purchased, special people, that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people (at all), but now you are God’s people; once you were un-pitied, but now you are pitied and have received mercy.” We are God’s very own chosen people set aside and called for the very purpose of manifesting the light of God that lives within us by doing His works and displaying His likeness.

Many Christians spend more time contemplating the plans of the enemy than developing faith in the plans of God for their lives. It is essentially giving the enemy authority in our lives that he does not have the right to exercise. The one who has all authority lives in us and has already defeated the enemy. He has given us His authority to manifest His works and display His likeness. As Christians we need to spend more time focusing on what God is doing rather than what the enemy is doing! Spending our whole life in spiritual warfare is to settle for less than the abundant life!

A story about Martin Luther helps to illustrate this point. One night he was fast asleep when he heard some noise in his room. In the dark he lit a match in order to see what all the commotion was a about. His response may be somewhat of a surprise. He said, “Oh, it’s just you Satan!” As he proceeded to blow out the match and lay down to go back to sleep!

Living in Deception

Did you know that you are the only one that can give the enemy authority in your life? He has always been successful in keeping God’s people from understanding their true identity in Christ so they will hand over their authority to him. He tried to deceive Jesus in the desert saying, “If you are the Son of God…” He was able to deceive Adam and Eve into giving him the authority that God had given to them by telling them that they could be like God. Even though they had already been made like God in His image.

Essentially, we do the same thing when we acknowledge that Christ has already accomplished everything we need for victory, but then make excuses of why it won’t work for us! “…Be doers of the Word (obey the message), and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves (into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth).”

For most of us there is a difference in what we believe and what we are actually experiencing in our lives. Often as Christians we don’t pray over our children when they are sick for fear that we may fail one more time! God has called believers to a place where we would experience the things that we say that we believe. “Faith without action is dead.” We must walk in the things that we believe in order to experience the abundant life and reveal that Christ is alive in us.

We betray ourselves into deception through our own reasoning that is contrary to the Truth! As we believe that we can live by faith in a relationship with Christ based on information received through our physical senses. The problem with the nature of deception is that we don’t know that we are being deceived. It is the fruit that comes only out of our relationship with Christ that results in revelation to know and understand His purposes. So that we will put them into practice in order to appropriate His promises for our lives. It is the evidence of a genuine relationship with God!

Jesus said, “I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in Him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me (cut off from vital union with Me) you can do nothing. If a person does not dwell in Me, he is thrown out like a (broken-off) branch, and withers; such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, and they are burned. If you live in Me (abide, vitally united to Me) and My words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. When you bear (produce) much fruit, My Father is honored and glorified, and you show and prove yourselves to be true followers of Mine.”

This week one of our partners wrote to us about the manifestation of this abundant fruit saying, “A man you decreed healing over when you were in Moorcroft, Wyoming was just declared healed of aggressive prostate cancer! When he went to the doctor there was NO, NONE, Nothing—all cancer gone…” The Father was once again honored and glorified by His answer to the things that we asked that day!

East of the Jordan

There is an interesting passage of scripture in the book of Joshua that illustrates how we as believer’s can settle for living short of our promises in God. Joshua addresses “…the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh…” He tells these two and a half tribes of Israel to “…remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, the Lord your God is giving you (of these two and a half tribes a place of) rest and will give you this land (east of the Jordan). Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle shall dwell in the land which Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan, but all your mighty men of valor shall pass on before your brethren (of the other tribes) armed, and help them (possess their land) until the Lord has given your brethren rest, as He has given you, and they also possess the land the Lord your God is giving them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession and possess it, the land Moses the Lord’s servant gave you on the sunrise side of the Jordan.”

Moses has just died and Joshua has been chosen by God to take his place in leading the people of Israel into their promise land. To understand this passage of scripture it’s important to look at the history of Moses and the Hebrew people. God had called Moses to deliver his people from slavery and bondage in Egypt, and to lead them to salvation in the land of Canaan. He was able to lead the people of God successfully to the edge of the Jordan River. There he sent out twelve spies to explore the land that God had promised His children. The bible says that they spied out the land for forty days. All of the spies came back agreeing with the report of the Lord. They told Moses that “…the land to which you sent us; surely it flows with milk and honey.”

If only this had been the end of the report for the twelve spies. Instead they continue to give a negative report in direct opposition to the word of the Lord. They began to speak a report filled with doubt and unbelief based on the appearance of their natural circumstances. They told Moses that the land was exactly as God had promised. “But the people who dwell there are strong, and the cities fortified and very large; moreover, there we saw the sons of Anak (of great stature and courage).” Ten of the twelve spies then began to list off all the reasons why they would not be able to possess the promise of God. They incited fear in the people of Israel saying, “…we saw the Nephilim (or giants), the sons of Anak, who come from the giants; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”

Out of the twelve spies that Moses sent to explore the promise land only Joshua and Caleb continued to believe God at His word over the circumstances that they saw with their natural eyes. So in the midst of the negative report to Moses and the people of Israel, “Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once and possess it; we are well able to conquer it.” He quieted the ten spies who were speaking fear and doubt and began agreeing and declaring faith with God’s word.

As a matter of fact, “…Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among the scouts who had searched the land, rent their clothes, and said to all the company of Israelites, The land through which we passed as scouts is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land flowing with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord, neither fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their defense and the shadow (of protection) is removed from over them, but the Lord is with us. Fear them not.”

A Grasshopper Mentality

Ten of the spies that searched out the promise land developed a grasshopper mentality as they convinced the people of Israel to believe in their circumstances rather than to believe God at His word. Israel chose to believe a report filled with fear based on the appearance of the natural over the report of God’s word. It caused them to see themselves as small and defeated rather than strong and victorious. They choose to doubt God’s supernatural word and believe the report of natural. As a result, Moses and the people of Israel are sent back into the wilderness to wander for forty years (a trip that can be walked in 11 days)!

So God waits for a whole non-believing generation to pass away before leading His people back to take their promise land. Only Joshua and Caleb are allowed to live long enough to possess the promise land because of their faith in God’s word. God even says Caleb “has a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring Him into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.” Forty years later Moses attempts to lead God’s people into the promise land once again. The Israelites have been in this aimless state of wandering when they are finally presented once again with an opportunity to go live in the promises of God. Instead of rejoicing over the opportunity they would rather keep living the same way that they have already been living. They want to settle for less than the promises of God!

The Israelites were camped on the east side of the Jordan River just before crossing into the promise land. While they are there the leaders of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manassah come to Moses and request to receive the land east of the Jordan for their promised inheritance. They plead with Moses “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not take us over the Jordan.”

In response to this strange request Moses returns a question for a question asking, “Shall your brethren go to war while you sit here? Why do you discourage the hearts of the Israelites from going over into the land the Lord has given them? Thus is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the hearts of the Israelites from going into the land the Lord had given them.”

So God is angry because the Israelites are about to cross the Jordan and possess the promise land that he swore to their forefathers when these two and one half tribes approach Moses to tell him that they do not want to go with the rest of God’s people to possess their inheritance. They want to stay right where they are! The first time Israel approached the promise land, they had acted in fear and unbelief. Now a whole new generation of God’s people arrives at the edge of the promise land wanting to settle for less than the promises of God. So Moses rebukes them saying, “…You have risen up in your fathers’ stead, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel. For if you turn from following Him, He will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will again destroy these people.”

As a result, the leaders of these two and one half tribes make a proposal to appease God by making a commitment to fight with Moses and the people of Israel saying, “…We will be armed and ready to go before the Israelites until we have brought them to their place. Our little ones shall dwell in the fortified settlements because of the people in the land. We will not return to our homes until the Israelites have inherited every man his inheritance. For we will not inherit with them on the west side of Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side of the Jordan eastward.”

Moses agrees to their proposal saying, “If you will do as you say, going armed before the Lord to war, and every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before the Lord until He has driven out His enemies before Him. And the land is subdued before the Lord, then afterward you shall return guiltless (in this matter) before the Lord and before Israel, and this land shall be your possession before the Lord.”

It was Moses who was supposed to bring the people of Israel into their promised inheritance, but the Lord would not let Him live long enough to set one foot in the promise land. We find out the reason why in an earlier conversation where the Lord tells Moses “…Because you did not believe in (rely on, cling to) Me to sanctify Me in the eyes of the Israelites, you therefore shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.”

Only Joshua and Caleb had stood up before the people of Israel while tearing their clothes to speak in opposition to the report of the ten unbelieving spies and to declare their belief in the word of the Lord! So Moses is not allowed to enter the promise land, but only to see it. God shows Moses the promise land before he dies saying, “This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying I will give it to your descendants. I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.”

When Moses dies it is Joshua who receives the mantle of leadership to bring God’s people into the promise land. Joshua begins by preparing Israel to make provisions within three days to cross over the Jordan to finally possess the land that God had already given them. It’s here that we return to find Joshua reaffirming the agreement between the leaders of the tribe of Reuben, Gad, and the one half tribe of Manasseh with Moses, to allow these tribes to receive the land east of the Jordan as their inheritance in exchange for their willingness to fight with the rest of the Israelites to possess the promise land. Essentially they had come to Moses by their own initiative saying, that they wanted to relinquish their rights to the promise land for personal convenience so that they could live on the east side of the Jordan. The promise land is on the west side of the Jordan, but they want to live on the east side of the Jordan!

They are willing to go across the Jordan and risk their lives fighting in order to help the other nine and one half tribes conquer the promised land of Canaan, but after they have possessed the promise land they will not take their share of the inheritance. They will go back and live on the east side of the Jordan. They chose not to live in the fullness of what God would have for them. They chose to settle for less than the promises of God. The land east of the Jordan may look like the promise land, but it isn’t the promise land. It is a place where we can see all of the promises of God, but never actually experience the fulfillment of those promises for our self!

The Abundant Life

The promise land is a prophetic picture of what it means for a believer to live the abundant life in the New Testament. The abundant life is about experiencing what you believe about God and His word for yourself. It’s where you are actually experiencing your faith working in your everyday life. In John 10:10 Jesus says “The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).” AMP

Notice that Jesus doesn’t say that I came that they may believe to enjoy life, and believe to have it in abundance. Jesus says, “I came that they may have…” He came that we would experience life and the joy of life in abundance, to the full, and even until it overflows. Jesus wants us to have life and to enjoy our lives. He wants us to have life and enjoy our lives so much that it will overflow out of our lives and into the lives of people around us. He doesn’t just want us to believe that we can have life and enjoy our lives. Jesus wants us to experience it for ourselves. It may be difficult for some religious people to understand that Jesus wants us to enjoy our lives, but that is what the bible says is God’s plan for our lives!

Several years ago I went on a short mission trip to Jamaica. During one of the outreaches we were doing some prayer walking throughout one of the towns. We were in the midst of passing by one of the homes there when we were engaged in conversation by the parents of a young boy of about the age of eight. They began to explain to us that their little boy was unable to walk. The Holy Spirit led us to lay hands on him and pray for his healing. Instantly to our amazement this boy was healed immediately as he struggled to his feet and began to walk! On that day in Jamaica we got to experience the abundant life!

If we had been afraid to trust God that day in Jamaica we would have never experienced the miraculous. It was in the midst of having to risk failure in our own abilities that we learned to be dependent upon God to accomplish the impossible based on His abilities. The things that we believed about healing were manifested right before our eyes! The abundant life can only be experienced through a relationship of dependency and trust with God.

You have been called to live the abundant life. You do not have to wait until tomorrow. You could choose to take a risk and trust Him at His word in order to start living it today. You have already been given everything you need to experience the promises of God for your life right now!