That tough spot

[dawid]

I received this from Andrew W Roebert. Reference is at the bottom and he mentions that this can be shared.

I am now there in front of the river. Visa approved. No job in Australia, house in the market and the planning of what and how to pack, the emotions and what-if's

I really want to share this with you.

Regards

Dawid

Scripture Reading Joshua 3

1. MOVING FROM A 'DISPOSSESSED' MENTALITY TO A 'POSSESSING THE LAND' MENTALITY

Dispossessed means to be deprived of homes, possessions, and security. To be deprived means to have something taken away from you. That which you are entitled to has been removed. This is something people seldom recover from. I know some people that were disinherited many years ago. It dramatically affected their lives and left them with a ‘dispossessed mentality’. To be disinherited means to be deprived of natural or human rights or of previously held special privileges. We need to move from the one mentality to the other. People who have a ‘dispossessed mentality’ display attitudes like these: negativity, criticalness, moaning and bemoaning life, they feel they have been ‘short-changed’, bitterness, hardness and regret and opportunity is seen as an impossible challenge. People who have a ‘possessing the land mentality’ display attitudes like: courage, boldness, constantly expecting breakthrough, hope, expectation and forward approach and they usually see opportunity and believe they can do it. When the spies were sent into the Promised Land, these two attitudes were displayed. The majority of the spies said:

Numbers 13:27 This was their report to Moses: “We arrived in the land you sent us to see, and it is indeed a magnificent country—a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is some of its fruit as proof. But the people living there are powerful, and their cities and towns are fortified and very large, and what’s more, we saw giants there’.

But Joshua and Caleb saw things in a different light:

Numbers 13:30 But Caleb tried to encourage the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,†he said. “We can certainly conquer it!â€

Can you see the difference between the two mentalities?

2. DON'T GET USED TO THE WILDERNESS

The wilderness was never meant to be the final destination. God uses the time we spend in the wilderness. In the wilderness – God provides. But we must move through the wilderness. Don’t get used to or become comfortable in the wilderness. But your destiny and goal is ‘THE LAND’ and possessing it! You are not meant to live in the Wilderness forever. The Wilderness was a place of movement without progress. There is nothing more demoralizing than movement without progress. Don’t get used to the wilderness!

3. LIVING IN NO-MAN'S LAND

This is the stage just before possessing. You are standing on the edge and the future looks daunting and the past looks more secure. We can even begin to long for Egypt! Quote from Robert Schuler: ‘How sweet it is to stand on the edge of tomorrow!’ But, and here is my quote: ‘How disappointing it is to STAY on the edge of tomorrow!’ We can’t camp at the Jordan River forever. At some stage we must cross and enter and take the ground and possess the land. Sometimes we get so close. The Promised Land lies right in front of us but for whatever reason we hesitate and hold back and this can cause us to miss the opportunity.

4. THE DANGER OF LOOKING BACK

Looking back robs us of what God has prepared for us. Looking back has the potential to bring us back to a place of bondage. Regret is a debilitating emotion. The ‘good old days’ always look good, because over time we have conveniently remembered the positive and overlooked or forgotten the challenges. With God the best is always ahead of us. We have to believe that the best still lies ahead, no matter what the past may have looked like. The ‘rear view mirror approach’ is not where things are happening. That should be your concern. The size of the windscreen in a car is much larger than the size of the rear view mirror. The reason for that is that there is far more ahead than behind and that should be our focus and priority.

5. THE DANGER OF LOOKING TOO FAR AHEAD

The Red Sea can only be parted when you get there. The Israelites could not expect the Red Sea to be parted while they were still in Egypt. The future may not be as easy as was hoped. After all, the Promised Land was occupied and in order to possess the land there were some major challenges and battles. There is a lady who works at my place of work. For all her life she has lived in a small, self-constructed, wood and iron house. Recently the government built her, as part of the government’s reconstruction campaign, a complete brick and mortar house. But even after it was completed she did not move in. She was so concerned about getting curtains and cleaning the windows and packing her goods that she, in the process, continued living in her wood and iron home, when, just a few meters away stood her new home. She was waiting for the Red Sea to part (all problems solved) before moving. You cannot see everything that lies ahead, you cannot prepare for every contingency that may be ahead. Don’t let that stop you from moving into the future and don’t let that stop you from possessing what God has for you!

6. POSSESSING THE LAND CALLS FOR:

1. Courage As opposed to Fear

2. Stretching Inflexibility

3. Uncomfortable Settling for what you are used too.

4. New battles Just waiting for something to happen.

5. A new mindset A negative mind set (The spies).

6. Hard work Resistance to effort

7. The ‘land’ is usually occupied! As opposed to the wilderness.

7. GOD'S PRESENCE SHOULD GO AHEAD OF US

Joshua 3:14-16 When the people set out to cross the Jordan, the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them. Now it was the harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river’s edge, the water began piling up at a town upstream called Adam, which is near Zarethan. And the water below that point flowed on to the Dead Sea until the riverbed was dry. Then all the people crossed over near the city of Jericho.

God wants to lead us. He wants His presence to go before us. The Ark represented the presence of God. Don’t go anywhere, if you are not sure that the presence of God is leading you in that direction. Without the presence of God in our lives, no land is worth possessing!

8. GOD'S PRESENCE SHOULD GO AHEAD OF US

We can’t do this on our own. We have to give ourselves to God. Perhaps this is the challenge? We are so full of our own opinions and ideas. But we must move away from this to a place of wanting what God wants more than what we want.

Joshua 3:5 Then Joshua told the people, “Purify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do great wonders among you.â€

God uses those who are dedicated and set-apart to God. Those who are surrender to Him. Those who have consecrated their lives to Him. When this happens, we set ourselves up for what God has in store and we are ready to possess the land. Giving ourselves to God is where it all begins. Then we can step into the future with boldness!

By: Andrew W Roebert

Email: andrew@alivetogod.com

Website: www.alivetogod.com

POSTAL ADDRESS: Box 32190 Glenstantia, Pretoria, South Africa, 0010

These notes may be shared with others.

[MichelleO]

Thanks for this Dawid. It spoke right to me and was definately something I needed, especially this week.

[Kiepie]

I received this from Andrew W Roebert. Reference is at the bottom and he mentions that this can be shared.

I am now there in front of the river. Visa approved. No job in Australia, house in the market and the planning of what and how to pack, the emotions and what-if's

I really want to share this with you.

Regards

Dawid

Scripture Reading Joshua 3

1. MOVING FROM A 'DISPOSSESSED' MENTALITY TO A 'POSSESSING THE LAND' MENTALITY

Dispossessed means to be deprived of homes, possessions, and security. To be deprived means to have something taken away from you. That which you are entitled to has been removed. This is something people seldom recover from. I know some people that were disinherited many years ago. It dramatically affected their lives and left them with a ‘dispossessed mentality’. To be disinherited means to be deprived of natural or human rights or of previously held special privileges. We need to move from the one mentality to the other. People who have a ‘dispossessed mentality’ display attitudes like these: negativity, criticalness, moaning and bemoaning life, they feel they have been ‘short-changed’, bitterness, hardness and regret and opportunity is seen as an impossible challenge. People who have a ‘possessing the land mentality’ display attitudes like: courage, boldness, constantly expecting breakthrough, hope, expectation and forward approach and they usually see opportunity and believe they can do it. When the spies were sent into the Promised Land, these two attitudes were displayed. The majority of the spies said:

Numbers 13:27 This was their report to Moses: “We arrived in the land you sent us to see, and it is indeed a magnificent country—a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is some of its fruit as proof. But the people living there are powerful, and their cities and towns are fortified and very large, and what’s more, we saw giants there’.

But Joshua and Caleb saw things in a different light:

Numbers 13:30 But Caleb tried to encourage the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,†he said. “We can certainly conquer it!â€

Can you see the difference between the two mentalities?

2. DON'T GET USED TO THE WILDERNESS

The wilderness was never meant to be the final destination. God uses the time we spend in the wilderness. In the wilderness – God provides. But we must move through the wilderness. Don’t get used to or become comfortable in the wilderness. But your destiny and goal is ‘THE LAND’ and possessing it! You are not meant to live in the Wilderness forever. The Wilderness was a place of movement without progress. There is nothing more demoralizing than movement without progress. Don’t get used to the wilderness!

3. LIVING IN NO-MAN'S LAND

This is the stage just before possessing. You are standing on the edge and the future looks daunting and the past looks more secure. We can even begin to long for Egypt! Quote from Robert Schuler: ‘How sweet it is to stand on the edge of tomorrow!’ But, and here is my quote: ‘How disappointing it is to STAY on the edge of tomorrow!’ We can’t camp at the Jordan River forever. At some stage we must cross and enter and take the ground and possess the land. Sometimes we get so close. The Promised Land lies right in front of us but for whatever reason we hesitate and hold back and this can cause us to miss the opportunity.

4. THE DANGER OF LOOKING BACK

Looking back robs us of what God has prepared for us. Looking back has the potential to bring us back to a place of bondage. Regret is a debilitating emotion. The ‘good old days’ always look good, because over time we have conveniently remembered the positive and overlooked or forgotten the challenges. With God the best is always ahead of us. We have to believe that the best still lies ahead, no matter what the past may have looked like. The ‘rear view mirror approach’ is not where things are happening. That should be your concern. The size of the windscreen in a car is much larger than the size of the rear view mirror. The reason for that is that there is far more ahead than behind and that should be our focus and priority.

5. THE DANGER OF LOOKING TOO FAR AHEAD

The Red Sea can only be parted when you get there. The Israelites could not expect the Red Sea to be parted while they were still in Egypt. The future may not be as easy as was hoped. After all, the Promised Land was occupied and in order to possess the land there were some major challenges and battles. There is a lady who works at my place of work. For all her life she has lived in a small, self-constructed, wood and iron house. Recently the government built her, as part of the government’s reconstruction campaign, a complete brick and mortar house. But even after it was completed she did not move in. She was so concerned about getting curtains and cleaning the windows and packing her goods that she, in the process, continued living in her wood and iron home, when, just a few meters away stood her new home. She was waiting for the Red Sea to part (all problems solved) before moving. You cannot see everything that lies ahead, you cannot prepare for every contingency that may be ahead. Don’t let that stop you from moving into the future and don’t let that stop you from possessing what God has for you!

6. POSSESSING THE LAND CALLS FOR:

1. Courage As opposed to Fear

2. Stretching Inflexibility

3. Uncomfortable Settling for what you are used too.

4. New battles Just waiting for something to happen.

5. A new mindset A negative mind set (The spies).

6. Hard work Resistance to effort

7. The ‘land’ is usually occupied! As opposed to the wilderness.

7. GOD'S PRESENCE SHOULD GO AHEAD OF US

Joshua 3:14-16 When the people set out to cross the Jordan, the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them. Now it was the harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river’s edge, the water began piling up at a town upstream called Adam, which is near Zarethan. And the water below that point flowed on to the Dead Sea until the riverbed was dry. Then all the people crossed over near the city of Jericho.

God wants to lead us. He wants His presence to go before us. The Ark represented the presence of God. Don’t go anywhere, if you are not sure that the presence of God is leading you in that direction. Without the presence of God in our lives, no land is worth possessing!

8. GOD'S PRESENCE SHOULD GO AHEAD OF US

We can’t do this on our own. We have to give ourselves to God. Perhaps this is the challenge? We are so full of our own opinions and ideas. But we must move away from this to a place of wanting what God wants more than what we want.

Joshua 3:5 Then Joshua told the people, “Purify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do great wonders among you.â€

God uses those who are dedicated and set-apart to God. Those who are surrender to Him. Those who have consecrated their lives to Him. When this happens, we set ourselves up for what God has in store and we are ready to possess the land. Giving ourselves to God is where it all begins. Then we can step into the future with boldness!

By: Andrew W Roebert

Email: andrew@alivetogod.com

Website: www.alivetogod.com

POSTAL ADDRESS: Box 32190 Glenstantia, Pretoria, South Africa, 0010

These notes may be shared with others.

Hi Dawid,

Net toe ek net wildernis raaksien,sien ek jou boodskap.

Ek het Februarie besluit om Oz aan te pak.Nogal n groot inpak as jy skielik uitvind van al die papierwerk ens.sodra die aanvanklike adrenalien verdwyn, begin die paniek en die gevoel van onbereikbaarheid jou oorval.

Toe kry ek hierdie skrif: Jesaja 43:14-21

Maar moenie net aan die vroeere dinge dink en by die verlede stilstaan nie.Kyk, ek gaan iets nuuts doen.

Deut 7:1 Die Here jou God,sal jou bring in die land waarheen jy oppad is.....

Awesome!Nou het ek weer moed.En stap ons treetjie vir treetjie vorentoe in geloof.

Baie dankie

Have a blessed day

Gwenda

[dawid]

Dit is "awsome" hoe die HEre se tydsberekening is en hoe Hy lei.

In geloof neem ons die stap.

Groete

[TMB]

This is the day the Lord has made, be glad and rejoice in it.

Thank you for posting that Dawid.

mel

[Orion25]

HI Dawid,

Thanks so much for your post, it has just once again confirmed that we have made the right decision and just need to push through, and keep our eyes on the Lord after all it was only Him who kept the doors open for us so long in the turmoil of the last 5 months.

Regards

O