TAKING OVER WHAT IS YOURS
by lISA MAKI
“The tribe of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, Why have you given (us) but one lot and one portion as an inheritance when (we) are a great (abundant) people, for until now the Lord has blessed (us)? Joshua replied, If you are a great people, get up to the forest and clear ground for yourselves in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim, since the Ephraim hill country is too narrow for you. The Josephites said, The hill country is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites who dwell in the valley have iron chariots, both those in Beth-shean and its villages and in the Valley of Jezreel. And Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and to Manasseh, You are a great and numerous people and have great power; you shall not have only one lot but the hill country shall be yours; though it is a forest, you shall clear and possess it to its farthest borders; for you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots and are strong (Joshua 17:14-18).”
Those who know their rightful place in God’s kingdom understand that God desires to prosper us. We know that God has set aside a good inheritance for us, His children. We are claiming His promises for us, and believe that we are entitled to all these. Yet, we often find ourselves so far from where God promised us to be. And so we keep claiming and believing.
We also complain to God in our prayers and just like the Josephites, we probably tell God … “Why have you just given us this Lord? We are your children and you promised us that You’ll pour out your blessings upon us. Why have you not fulfilled this yet?” And God will reply in the same way that Joshua did, “If you really believe, and if you are really My child, get up to the forest and clear ground for yourselves”.
God will not do everything for us. It is His part to give us the confidence to believe that He has great promises in store for us. It is our part to go and take over those promises. Our forests are opportunities we have in front of us, but which we don’t see clearly because of its impossibilities. Our forests are also the promises we want for ourselves, but which seems difficult to achieve at the moment. If we are claiming for financial prosperity, the forest can be a business opportunity we see but which is impossible at the moment because of our lack of resources.
Just like the Josephites, we also get overwhelmed by the way our forest looks like. We see the impossibilities more than the opportunities. We see the difficulty more than the victory.
Just like Joshua, God is telling us, “You are my child. You have power through the Holy Spirit. What you have now is more than what I want you to have. More things will be yours. Though what you see now is impossible, I want you to go there and possess it to its farthest borders. You will overcome because I am with you.”
Those who know their rightful place in God’s kingdom understand that God desires to prosper us. We know that God has set aside a good inheritance for us, His children. We are claiming His promises for us, and believe that we are entitled to all these. Yet, we often find ourselves so far from where God promised us to be. And so we keep claiming and believing.
We also complain to God in our prayers and just like the Josephites, we probably tell God … “Why have you just given us this Lord? We are your children and you promised us that You’ll pour out your blessings upon us. Why have you not fulfilled this yet?” And God will reply in the same way that Joshua did, “If you really believe, and if you are really My child, get up to the forest and clear ground for yourselves”.
God will not do everything for us. It is His part to give us the confidence to believe that He has great promises in store for us. It is our part to go and take over those promises. Our forests are opportunities we have in front of us, but which we don’t see clearly because of its impossibilities. Our forests are also the promises we want for ourselves, but which seems difficult to achieve at the moment. If we are claiming for financial prosperity, the forest can be a business opportunity we see but which is impossible at the moment because of our lack of resources.
Just like the Josephites, we also get overwhelmed by the way our forest looks like. We see the impossibilities more than the opportunities. We see the difficulty more than the victory.
Just like Joshua, God is telling us, “You are my child. You have power through the Holy Spirit. What you have now is more than what I want you to have. More things will be yours. Though what you see now is impossible, I want you to go there and possess it to its farthest borders. You will overcome because I am with you.”
