When the Husband delivered this message straight from his heart, ripe from his study and fresh from the Word to our church a couple of weeks ago, I was overjoyed and deeply thankful for the sound of his voice , and the sound of the Heavenly Father’s voice that reminds us of our rich inheritance in Him, and how it challenges us to take possession completely of the land He has conquered for us – and not shrink away – not withdraw in fear – for what truly belongs to us … our inheritance though not a giveaway, are ours by possession, and this battle that we fight – it belongs to the Lord!
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Joshua 23:5
“The Lord your God will push them back before you and drive them out of your sight. And you shall possess their land, just as the Lord your God promised you.”
God has a promised to give you a specific boundary for your life. You need to understand what the boundary actually is. Whether it’s in your emotional, physical, spiritual life, God has destined for you to have a certain boundary.
The great news – if you go to conquer that land, you will have God on your side, so you cannot lose. On the other hand, if you presumptuously go and attack a land of your choosing, God is under NO obligation to help you. There are enemies there too!
He is faithful… to His word. Not to your whims and fancies. He will come through based on his covenant with You.
The possession here is not given to us like an estate is given to the beneficiary. The word possess here denotes a dispossessing of the enemy and effort to conquer that land. Christians, we are told to fight for the promised land, not just wait for a handout. That Godly marriage that you’ve been promised needs to be fought for. The salvation of your family, needs to be fought for. Having a regular quiet time with God that keeps you walking close to Him – needs to be fought for.
We are also told to take over the land… completely.
The Israelites left some of the plains alone because the Canaanites had iron chariots. It was probably harder for them to conquer that land than the hilly country. So they just left the Canaanites there.
From a human point of view – why bother fighting for the plains when you have enough space on the hills to live? The problem though is that God had told them to take over ALL the land and to remove ALL of the enemy.
Without taking over all the land, it allowed the enemy to eventually lead them to destruction as their hearts turned to false gods.
Just like a surgeon leaving a bit of a cancerous lesion behind in the body, we sometimes want to leave a little bit of sin in our lives. If cancer is left behind, before long, it will grow to destroy the body. If we have a bit of disobedience in our hearts, this enemy of our souls will eventually destroy us.
So whatever seemingly little compromises you may have in your life – please, get rid of them completely. They are getting in the way of your possession.
I encourage you, in every area of your life, God wants you to take possession of it completely. You must remove the enemy and boldly take ownership of that land.
In Chapter 18, Joshua asked 6 of the tribes who had not yet taken hold of the land, “How long?”. These guys had been cruising along because their brothers had taken a lot of the land already. They didn’t need to necessarily possess the land for themselves, as they could just pack up and leave any time they wanted and yet had safe places to be. However, timing is critical. God had told them to do it and as they were taking a long time, Joshua had to prompt them to do it now! Any more meandering could have lead to the destruction of Israel as there were plenty of enemies still floating around waiting to destroy them.
Take ownership of that land now because the window of time is limited as God has called your name.
The Groom is waiting for his bride.
The possession of the land occurs in parallel to the possession of our hearts. The more of our heart that God has possessed, the more land we possess on the outside on His behalf. If we hide parts of hearts from God, then we will leave bits of land unconquered.
For example, if God has chased you down, and you yield it all to him in your heart except for a bit of pride, then in your ministry, you may be able to influence some people, but you are held back by that same pride. That little bit of pride can seep into your ministry to people so that you are sensitive to criticism, so you start to shrink back from doing things God’s way.
When we hold back from God, it is like the Bride is now interested in another man, and in creeps a spirit of infidelity. Our love must be 100% devoted to our one lover, not shared with any other worldly interests.
Allow God to take possession of your heart as you take possession of the boundary that He gives you.