Saturday, March 30, 2013

Caleb a Man of God (Josh. 14:6-15)



10/22/2009 8:50 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                       Focus:  Caleb a man of God

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  Joshua 14:6-15 

          Message of the verses:  “6 ¶  Then the sons of Judah drew near to Joshua in Gilgal, and 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.”
            Caleb is one of my favorite people in the Bible and the reason why that Caleb is had great faith in the Lord and he stood up for what the Lord had promised him.  He reminded Joshua of what Moses had told him when he, Joshua and the other ten spies came into the Land to spy it out, and of course this was the turning point of the children of Israel as they believed the other ten spies and so all of the first generation with the exception of Joshua and Caleb died off during the next thirty-eight years of wondering in the wilderness.
            Caleb was from the tribe of Judah and was given a very important piece of property, for Caleb was given what is now known as Hebron and it was because of Caleb’s great faith that he was able to conquer this land.  Verse fourteen sums this up:  “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.”  
            Lesson number three in Warren Wiersbe’s book “Be Strong” from this section states:  “We are never too old to make new conquests of faith in the power of the Lord.  Like Caleb, we can capture mountains and conquer giants if we wholly follow the Lord.  No matter how old we become, we must never retire from trusting and serving the Lord.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  One of the great joys that I have is to read of someone who has great faith in the Lord and follows the Lord such as Caleb did, and therefore he is someone that I want to copy my life after for he fully followed the Lord and He had great faith for the things that the Lord had promised him and then went out and acted on that faith and was rewarded because of it.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

  1. Trust the Lord to protect me through the putting on of the spiritual armor; the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, taking up the shield of faith, and putting on the helmet of salvation, and taking up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
  2. Trust the Lord to guide my path today.
  3. Continue to learn contentment.
  4. Keep my mind set on the things above where Christ is seated.

10/22/2009 9:26 AM
           

No comments:

Post a Comment