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INTRODUCTION
I enjoy journeys and going to new places. I have enjoyed following the Lord because that is where the faith, the fight, and the victory are. Never forget that. There is no victory without a battle. God has called His people to live on the mountaintop and to experience the blessings, possessions, and purposes of His design. If you are a believer and follower of the Lord, He has bigger and brighter things than you have ever imagined for your life.
In this passage of Scripture God had brought His people to Kadesh-barnea. Many of us are familiar with the story. Moses sent twelve spies into the Promised Land for forty days. When they returned, ten bore a negative report while only two were positive about God’s plan for possessing their new land. The people chose to believe the negative reports; only Joshua and Caleb believed the Israelites could possess the land and do what God had called them to do.
What made Caleb different from ten of the other eleven spies? What caused Caleb to have victory in his heart and believe the Israelites could possess their possessions and fulfill what God had planned for them?
Before we have a mountain in our hands, we must first have it in our hearts. We will never possess it physically until we possess it spiritually. Many of God’s people do not have a mountain in their hearts, only a wilderness. God wants each of us to have a mountain in our hearts and know how to make it happen.
WE MUST SURVEY OUR CHALLENGES
The first step in having a mountain in our hearts is to survey our challenges. Israel was facing a lot of challenges. There is nothing wrong with surveying the challenges. Jesus talked about counting the cost. Before we launch out, we must count the cost, understand what it will take, and be willing to pay the price. We need to survey our challenges. Israel’s challenges were fourfold.
1. The enemy was strong in pride. Three names were mentioned in verse 22. The reason the Word of God lists these three names is because of their meaning. Ahiman means “what I am,” Sheshai “who I am,” and Talmai “what I can do.” Nephilim was saying to the Israelites, “Come over here, and we will show you cannot defeat us.” They knew they were a strong and gifted people. They were strong in pride. The battle to which we are called is one of much difficulty. Many in the world know who they are and what they can accomplish. Understand it—the enemy of our soul is strong in pride.
2. The enemy was strong in position. The Bible says Nephilim had walled cities located on mountaintops. They had a very advantageous position of strength. They were saying to the nation of Israel, “We have leverage over you.” Today there are people in high positions who do not want the Bible or a spiritual awakening, but I remind you—nothing is too difficult for Almighty God.
3. The enemy was strong in population. The adversary was strong in pride, in position, and in population. The Bible says, “They devoured the land.” They were so numerous they filled the land. Even today there are more people who do not believe in Jesus than those who do. There are more in Satan’s kingdom than those who are in God’s. The battle for souls is the greatest battle of life—overcoming the obstacles of the enemy and winning people to Christ.
4. The enemy was strong in proportion. These were giants who were eight and nine feet tall. They were part of the Anakims, a race of giants. The Hebrew people were small in comparison. It does not matter how large the crowd, where they are, or even who they are—God plus one always equals a majority. God is calling us to a fresh challenge to see the land, possess it, and go where He wants us to go.
As we survey the challenges, we must keep our attitudes positive before God and others. Whatever is happening around us, we can always choose to have the right attitude. Some people seem to be mostly optimistic while others appear to be mostly pessimistic. What kind of attitude do you have? I heard a story about the parents of nine-year-old twins. One twin was very optimistic about most things that happened in life while the other was very negative. Naturally, these parents were concerned and turned to a psychologist who suggested the parents try to balance the children’s personalities. For Christmas they should give the best gifts to the negative child and the not-so-nice gifts to the positive one. He also suggested they go to the extreme and give a box of manure to the positive twin.
On Christmas morning, the parents watched each child open his gifts. Sure enough, the negative child complained about the kinds and colors of his gifts and that his friends already had better gifts than these.
Noticing the positive child, they heard him laughing as he reasoned: “With this much manure, I am sure there is a pony in here somewhere.”
As we survey the challenges of the enemy, we must remember our attitude will make a difference. Try to see the challenges as bridges that will enable us to accomplish things for God. Not only do we need to survey the challenges, but we also need to stimulate our courage.
WE NEED TO STIMULATE OUR COURAGE
Courage is required for overcoming the challenges. Caleb had courage. Our prayer should be, “Lord, give us the courage of Caleb—courage to believe we can possess our possessions, conquer our Canaan, and enter into what God has for us.” How do we stimulate courage? By using the Word of God.
1. We must look at it from God’s perspective. We need to learn how to see things from God’s perspective. Israel had a grasshopper complex. The grasshopper complex is always looking up and seeing how large everything is. This complex does not allow us to look down on things. Instead of the Israelites’ talking about how big God was compared to the giants, they kept expressing how small they were compared to the giants. They had a complex and did not see things as God saw them.
Ephesians 2:6 states: “We are seated together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” If we are seated together in heavenly places with Christ Jesus, then we ought to be looking down on things rather than looking up at them. We ought to have the perspective God wants us to have.
Too often our outlook is negative and all we see are the giants of doubt, disappointment, and disease. We see the giants of depression, financial crisis, and broken homes. We see the crisis on the job or at school. When our eyes are not on the Lord, it is easy to perceive the giants. It is time for us to get our eyes off the giants and believe God can lead us into victory.
Because the people of Israel did not see things from God’s perspective, they all died in the wilderness except for Joshua and Caleb. It is possible you may think your problems are too big. If so, you will miss the victory and die in the wilderness. I have seen some Christians resist the move of God in their midst and dig in their heels as if to say they do not want what God wants to do. God will then look for those who are willing to trust and follow His leading.
Even though Caleb was in the wilderness, he had a mountain in his heart. He had seen the land flowing with milk and honey. He had seen the mountains and the beauty of the land. He kept that mountain in his heart.
You may be living in the wilderness and there may be difficulties and problems in your life, but there can be a mountain in your heart. See what God can do with a people who are willing to go with the Lord. Caleb had God’s perspective and thus he made it. Learn to have the heavenly perspective about everything in life.
Some time ago a lady was taking her first flight on an airplane. Shortly after taking a seat by the window, she began to say, “It’s true! It’s true! It’s true!” She closed her eyes and continued, “I can’t believe it’s true! It’s true! It’s true!”
The man sitting beside her said, “What do you mean, ‘It’s true’”?
“I’ve always been told people look like ants from a plane.”
“Lady,” the man said, “those are ants. We haven’t taken off yet.”
Giants can look like ants from God’s perspective. To stimulate courage, we must look from God’s perspective and purpose.
2. We must look at it from God’s purpose. God has a purpose for problems and giants. Numbers 14 gives understanding of God’s purpose as it relates to going into Canaan and conquering the possessions He has for us.
5“Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all of the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel. 6 Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; 7and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, ‘The land which we passed through to spy out is exceedingly good land. 8If the LORD is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us—a land which flows with milk and honey. 9Only do not rebel against the LORD; and do not fear the people of the land, for they shall be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.’ But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then the glory of the Lord appeared in the tent of meeting to all of the sons of Israel.”
The King James says, “These giants are bread for us.” The New American Standard says, “The giants are prey for us.” Giants are the food of champions. They are the food that makes us strong and courageous and gives us faith. They are the food that helps us understand how big God is.
Some of us may be facing the toughest problems we have ever faced. God wants to walk with us through all these things because He is building up our faith and character. We will be better people for learning to walk with God during these times. God wants to turn burdens into blessings. He wants to build us up in the most holy faith. You know the phrase already—if there were never a battle, there would never be a victory. Without the valleys, there are no mountains. God gives us balance in our Christian life. Regardless of what we are facing, God is bigger than our giants.
There are more than 9,000 promises in the Word of God. Caleb was claiming the promises of God. Sometimes we fail to keep our word, but God never fails to keep His word. Israel was afraid to take God at His word. I do not believe God wanted them to stay any longer in the wilderness but to go into the Promised Land at that time. Because they would not see the situation through God’s perspective, purpose, and promise, they died in the wilderness.
Let us make up our minds that not only are some going in but every one of us is also going in. I like what Moses said to Pharaoh when he was getting ready to bring the people out: not one person or one of their herd was going to be left behind. Not only was every man and woman leaving, but all their children, herds, and other possessions were also. The Lord was going to lead them out of bondage and into a land of freedom, all for the glory of God.
Survey the challenges. Stimulate your courage. Finally, if we want to have a mountain in our heart, we must secure our conquest.
WE MUST SECURE OUR CONQUEST
How did Caleb live forty years in the wilderness and keep a mountain in his heart? Despite these years of wandering, bickering, complaining, and fussing and fighting around him, he kept the picture of the mountain alive in his heart. The older some Christians get, the faster their dreams die. They are less motivated and less determined and say they are going to settle down and let younger people take over. You will not find approval for this anywhere in the Word of God. Caleb was 85 years old when he finally possessed his possession (Joshua 14:6-12).
6Then 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. 7I 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. 8Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear; but I followed the LORD my God fully. 9So Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance to you and to your children forever, because you have followed the LORD my God fully.’ 10Now 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. 11I 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. 12Now 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.”
At age 85, Caleb said that for forty years he had maintained a dream that he would someday possess his mountain. He said he was as strong now as the day he first saw it. He was ready to take the hill country and all the fortified cities. He believed God would give him the victory. It is time for us to make up our minds that we are going to secure our conquests. How do we do it?
1. We must have an undying faith. Caleb had an undying faith. He did not let the wilderness take away his mountain. A lot of people allow their emotional, mental, and physical conditions determine what is going to happen around them. The battle is inward, not outward. First, we need to get a mountain in our heart. Next, we need to make up our minds that God will bring the victory.
Regardless of what happens in your marriage, your school, or your church, God will fulfill His Word. If you want to have the touch of God upon your life, you must have the mountain, the dream, the vision in your heart. When God says it is time to go, we must go in the expectation that He will give us our mountain and perform miracles, if necessary, to make His promises a reality. Nothing is impossible for God Almighty. We need an undying faith and an unqualified devotion in our hearts.
2. We must have an unqualified devotion in our hearts. Caleb said he had fully served the Lord and had given his best to God all his life. We cannot have one foot on the mountain and the other in the wilderness. We cannot have one foot in the church and the other in the world. We cannot have one foot in the Spirit and the other in the flesh. We cannot be a Canaan-conqueror and a wilderness-wanderer at the same time. We cannot expect to conquer our mountain if we are halfhearted and slothful in our commitment and dedication to the Lord. It will require a complete and total surrender of our lives every day. We must have an undying faith and an unqualified devotion to God.
3. We must have an unending strength. It is amazing that an 85-year-old man, Caleb, was ready for war. As Christians, we too are in a spiritual war—a war for the souls of men and women. We must see mighty miracles happen. If we plan to exit the wilderness, cross the Jordan, and possess the promises of God, we are going to have to wage war with the enemy of our souls.
At 85, Caleb climbed and conquered his mountain. He did what God had put in his heart. Regardless of our ages, God wants to help us reach the mountains that are in our hearts—mountains of hurting families or jobs or financial situations or spiritual matters that need to be conquered. Do not let your mountain die regardless of where you are right now. Make up your mind that you are going to conquer it in the strength and might of Jesus Christ. God is looking for people who will say, “Lord, give me that mountain.”
CONCLUSION
On May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary attempted to climb Mount Everest, the highest mountain on earth at 29,151 feet. He did not accomplish the feat the first time he tried. A short time afterwards, he was speaking at an event in England. Someone asked him how it felt to fail in climbing that mountain. He walked to the edge of the platform and with a determined point of his finger at a picture of Mount Everest said, “Mount Everest, you defeated me the first time. However, I want you to know that you’ve grown as tall as you’re ever going to grow, but I am still growing. There is coming a day when I am going to conquer you.” One year later, he became the first man to climb to the top of Mount Everest. Why? Because he had a mountain in his heart.
Keep a mountain in your heart and do not let anyone take away that dream.
