Saturday, February 5, 2011

Count your blessings

Count your blessings

S -
Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, "You know the word which the Lord spoke to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh-barnea.7 "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 word back to him as it was in my heart.8 "Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear; but I followed the Lord my God fully.9 "So Moses swore on that day, saying, 'Surely the land on which your foot has trodden will be an inheritance to you and to your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God fully.'10 "Now behold, the Lord has let me live, just as He spoke, these forty-five years, from the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, when Israel walked in the wilderness; and now behold, I am eighty-five years old today.11 "I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for going out and coming in.12 "Now then, give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the Lord will be with me, and I will drive them out as the Lord has spoken."13 So Joshua blessed him and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance.14 Therefore, Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite until this day, because he followed the Lord God of Israel fully.15 Now the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath -arba; for Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim. Then the land had rest from war.Josh 14:6-15 (NASB)

O -
Caleb's request is, "Give me this mountain," or Hebron, because it was formerly in God's promise to him, and he would let Israel knows how much he valued the promise. Those who live by faith value that which is given by God's promise, far above what is given by his providence only
   —Matthew Henry Concise
Caleb was 85 at the time he requested Hebron as his inheritance.  He was one of the few dissenting members of the original 12 spies that Moses sent to survey the promised land, and it was his faithfulness in the fact that God would deliver the promised land that allowed him to survive the 40 years of wandering the desert as a result of Israel distrust and disobedience.   Caleb in faith,  at 85 was part of the Army that took the promised land over 40 years later.

A -  The application for me is to understand and model my faith after Caleb, who trusted fully in the Lord and His promises.    I need to learn , understand, and value the promises of God, and rejoice even more when what I receive is a from a promise from God.  To often I value what I have earned, and not what God has provided,  I need to shift my paradigm and recognize that which I have received which I did not earn (my salvation) is  what I should value the most.   As Jim Collins once said,  "count your blessings... literally count them... in  a spreadsheet.    So that you can account for the good things that have happened to you  that you had nothing to do with.

P -  Dear heavenly Father, thank you for today's lesson, may it be sealed to my heart.  I pray Lord that you would help me to start a new accounting system in my life, one that counts, celebrates, and values the promises received and yet to be received that have come from you and not from me.  I pray this in Jesus name, Amen.

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