Claiming The Promises

Claiming the Promises

Pastor Glenn Newton 9-10-2000

Joshua 14:6-15

JOS 14:6 Now the men of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, "You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. 7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, 8 but my brothers who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear. I, however, followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly. 9 So on that day Moses swore to me, `The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly.’

JOS 14:10 "Now then, just as the LORD promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! 11 I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. 12 Now give me this hill country that the LORD promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as he said."

JOS 14:13 Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. 14 So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the LORD, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly. 15 (Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba after Arba, who was the greatest man among the Anakites.)

Then the land had rest from war.

You Know Your Getting Old When.....

Almost everything hurts. What doesn’t hurt doesn’t hurt anymore. It feels like the morning after the night before, and you haven’t been anywhere. All the names in your little black book end in M.D. You get winded playing chess. You look forward to a dull evening. You still chase women but have forgotten why. You turn out the lights for economic, not romantic reasons. Your knees buckle and your belt won’t. You are 17 around the neck, 42 around the waist, and 126 around the golf coarse. You sink your teeth into a steak and they stay there. You try to straiten the wrinkles in your socks and you find you aren’t wearing any. A little old grey-headed lady tries to help you across the street, She’s your wife.

If you didn’t feel old when you walked in, now you do, am I right?

This morning my message is not going to be on age, as much as attitude. I have found a man who didn’t allow his age to affect his attitude, and He didn’t allow time to rob him of his Promise that was given to him. One of my many favorite OT characters, remember he was one of the 10 spies who Moses sent out to look over the Promised Land, and It was Caleb and Joshua who said, Yes We can take the Land with God’s Help, and of coarse the other 8 told of all the dangers and obstacles, .... but because of their Faith, Caleb, then forty years old and Joshua were the only two who of the original group of Israelites who was allowed to enter the land.

When Nola and I were trying to decide on names for the twins that were on the way, we were told there was a chance that it was a boy and a girl, and Caleb would have been the boy’s name we would of choose, of coarse Caleb turned into Karinda

This morning what we see in our passage is a man, 45 years later, at the age of 85 is still willing and ready to conquer new territory. My question today, Are We Willing and Ready to Conquer New Land, to go to New Places that God has for Us?

Let me tell you what is going to happen in the next couple of weeks. By Sept. 15th, this coming Friday we will know if we are going to get an offer for this building or not. If we get an offer it will have to be $70,000 or more or we won’t even consider it. Our property has been valued at $80,000 and were not going to give it away.

Let me tell you what I think is going to happen. If we get an offer, I’m pretty sure it will be well below the amount that we are asking. So starting this afternoon at our board meeting we will be making plans to move full steam ahead towards remodeling this building to be used for our Daycare ministry called Next Generation.