“… they spread a negative report …”
(Num. 13:32, CJB)
There are preachers and believers that strongly remind one of those of whom Num. 13:32 speaks, those who, once they’ve trudged through the desert, finally reached the promised land, and yet “they spread a negative report”. They clearly declare that this is a world “that devours its inhabitants”. God had promised them exactly the opposite, “an exceedingly good land … a land which flows with milk and honey” (Num. 14:7-8). This was exactly what Joshua and Caleb had witnessed. The other scouts had seen the same land in physical terms, but they could not notice, recognise, see deeper, and thus they did not want to enter into God’s promise.
Typologically the promised land represents the Christ, “the visible image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15, KJV). The Bride is called to learn how to inhabit Christ, like the Promised Land! This means there are immense mountains, depths, great challenges, enormous giants, but this is part of the process of possessing our inheritance. Thus the promise of God remains: “For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper. When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.”
But many believers ponder earthly things (Phil. 3:19). In Col. 3:2 Paul makes it clear: “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” Jesus admonishes Peter with the words: “you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men”. We are called to ponder the things of God, heavenly things, things of the heavens. Col. 3:1-4 explains this beautifully: “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” Note that the foregrounding of Christ happens no less than four instances! If we understand that the third dimension believer has not only been resurrected in Jesus, from the dead (the gate between the second and third dimension), we will have a better understanding of the hidden life that He uniquely manifests through each member of the Bride. That Christ life must be unveiled. You need to be able to “see” it before you can enter it (John 3:3 & 5), but most believers cannot enter, “because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.” (Matt. 13:13).
If you do not have enlightened eyes of understanding you will always remain focused on earthy events, and be unable to notice God’s greater plan. You are then necessarily alarmist and fearful about all world events: “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.” (2 Pet. 1:16).
One of the most important implications of this is that believers are eagerly expecting the second-coming, and thus vigorously preparing for what needs to happen before the second-coming can occur, and this future-oriented attitude prevents them from living today as the day of his appearance, “Today, if you will hear His voice …” (Heb. 3:7). Jesus was very firm about this: “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.” (Matt. 6:34). “The LORD’S mercies … are new every morning” (Ecc. 3:22-23). We need to admonish one another “while it is called ‘Today,’” (Heb. 3:13), or “Today, if you will hear His voice, we will not be able to hear His call for fulfilling our purpose. Calling comes into being as you are obedient to the voice of the Lord, today. In Scripture this is presented as the symbolic “seventh day,” the day of Sabbath rest of God, the day of rest in which ALL WORKS ARE COMPLETED, but it is only for today. Your calling can only be fulfilled today.
This truth will not only have immense implications for the unfolding of your calling, but it also has radical implications for your eschatological view. (Read the teaching of Day 1055 again.)
Thus – move away from those that feed you teachings, messages, articles, secret reports, and revelations, of the dangerous states that threaten the world, political unrest, human intrigue, economic downturn and the collapse of the financial system, conspiracy theories, pointing out antichrists, especially if it is concerned with Israel and the United Nations, political leaders and the pope, any speculation about the mark of the beast, forced implants and the resultant brain washing and control, the state of planets and star constellations, earthquakes, global warming, tsunamis, the increase of wars or earthquakes, prostitution and organised crime, growing drug abuse, the rapture, the great oppression, the terrifying rise in terror, the threat that Muslims pose, and secret Jewish organizations, Satanists, spiritual sensation seekers that feed on fear, spiritually masked people who, as end time preachers, make a good life from prophetic nonsense, that hexes many believers.
This strong last word is courtesy of Paul, and not me – “You poor and silly and thoughtless and unreflecting and senseless Galatians! Who has fascinated or bewitched or cast a spell over you …?” (Gal. 3:1, AMP). You’ll know the tree by its fruit – they spread a negative report! Job (24:13) notes: “There are those who rebel against the light; they do not know its ways nor abide in its paths.” Elsewhere Paul phrases it in equally stern terms: “If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself.” (1 Tim. 6:3-5).
Let every true son of God who has been born-again from the living hope (1 Pet. 1:3) answer these questions – is there any LIFE in the above-mentioned life? Does studying it allow you to grow in your identity in Christ, and in your intimacy with God? Does it help you to ponder the things above? Does it clothe you with Christ? Does it bring liberation and truth to your life? Does it change you to the image of God? Does it fill you with Godly wisdom, spiritual insight, righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit? Does it increase your authority in Christ? Does it weave your mantle? Is it true, but not necessarily the Truth? Isa. 5:22 – “Shake yourself from the dust, arise; sit down, O Jerusalem! Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, o captive daughter of Zion!”
- Selah: Which element on this list do you still believe? Deal with it.
- Read: Luke 7-12
- Memorise: Luke 7:28
