A teaching by Rev. Barbara Williams, President of the Ministry of the Watchman International
Week of September 14-18, 2020
MONDAY
Look, the Lord your God has set the land before you; go up and possess it, as the Lord God of your fathers has spoken to you; do not fear or be discouraged.
Deuteronomy 1:21
God has spoken. Have you obeyed? James tells us to be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving ourselves. Deception is a pretty serious thing. It keeps us from knowing the reality of life in the Spirit of God. Somehow people who sit and hear the word and refuse to do it become judges. That is the only thing left to do with the word if you are not in subjection to it. You wind up judging the word. You give long speeches on whether or not you agree with certain things that are said. The Pharisees were like that. Always judging the ones who were doers, like Jesus. How not to be a Pharisee in one easy lesson: be a doer of the word of God. Doers know how to move with the unction of the Holy Spirit. They are alert to seek the timing of God in all things.
We see here the children of Israel have received a command from God: “Go up and possess the land which I have given you.” No other group of people on the whole earth ever received such a mandate. Sometimes that is the problem. What God tells you to do may be unique and unusual. Many people may not be doing the same thing He has spoken to you. This is not unusual and unique for God. If He tells you to possess because He has given it to you, then possess. What difference does it make what your neighbors, co-workers and friends are doing? He has told you to possess. What are you going to do?
If you are in need of healing, there is good news! Proverbs 4:20-22 SAYS:
My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
So there is life and health in God’s word. Since God’s word is medicine, we must take it like we would a prescription. I suggest three times a day, like you would your food. Remember, healing is the children’s bread. Consider this your “dose” for today. Remember, read, and meditate three times a day the following:
Rx: Mark 2:10-12 ~ “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—Jesus said to the paralytic— “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
2 Timothy 2:15
If you’ve never studied the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, we invite you to join us as we read through the Bible in a year. Read and meditate on these chapters this week:
September 14: 2 Samuel 10, 2 Corinthians 3, Ezekiel 17, Psalms 60-61
September 15: 2 Samuel 11, 2 Corinthians 4, Ezekiel 18, Psalms 62-63
September 16: 2 Samuel 12, 2 Corinthians 5, Ezekiel 19, Psalms 64-65
September 17: 2 Samuel 13, 2 Corinthians 6, Ezekiel 20, Psalms 66-67
September 18: 2 Samuel 14, 2 Corinthians 7, Ezekiel 21, Psalms 68
September 19: 2 Samuel 15, 2 Corinthians 8, Ezekiel 22, Psalms 69
September 20: 2 Samuel 16, 2 Corinthians 9, Ezekiel 23, Psalms 70-71
TUESDAY
And they departed and went up into the mountains, and came to the Valley of Eshcol, and spied it out. They also took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us; and they brought back word to us, saying, ‘It is a good land which the Lord our God is giving us.’
Deuteronomy 1:24-25
Oh, I see, you need a confirmation. You need natural evidence that what God is speaking is true. No, you couldn’t think that… you know God can’t lie. I know. You’re not sure that that was God who told you that. Okay, go into the word some more. What do you find? You find Him repeating the same instructions over and over again.
Oh, I guess He meant what He said. He really does want to bless me. He really does love me. It’s interesting that Israel, living in the desert, would doubt that anyplace God would have them settle would not be good. After all, here they are in the middle of nowhere, nothing but sand all around them, eating a strange food that miraculously appears every morning, and this huge rock appears everywhere they go and it provides water. How is it that they so easily forget the goodness of God? How is it that we so easily forget the goodness of God?
So they get their confirmation. God protects the twelve spies from all harm and danger and they come back with grapes so big it takes two men to carry one bunch. Their report is, “the land is good, but…”
WEDNESDAY
“Nevertheless you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God; and you complained in your tents, and said, ‘Because the Lord hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. Where can we go up? Our brethren have discouraged our hearts, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.” ’
“Then I said to you, ‘Do not be terrified, or afraid of them. The Lord your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place.’”
Deuteronomy 1:26-31
Don’t tell me you’ve never done this. “Gee, God, I know you said you’d give me that promotion, but…” Then begins a list of your deficiencies and the opponent’s strengths. Okay, for the sake of argument, let’s say He never specifically told you that He would give you that promotion. Did He not say that He would give you the desires of your heart? What do you want from God? Did He not say that everything you set your hand to would prosper and not fail? Can we add? That’s two confirmations. How about supplying your needs with abundance? Sound familiar? I’m only trying to help here, don’t get mad at me.
What has happened here happens to all of us. The entrance of God’s word brings light. Light scatters darkness. The darkness in our souls gets stirred when God’s word enters. All the negative ideas that were dormant before God said to possess suddenly emerge from their hiding places. We begin to “murmur in our tents,” or our thoughts.
We look for someone to blame for our weakness and doubt. We shrink back in fear, but God continues to encourage us, just as Moses did the children of Israel. He reminds them that the last time they stepped out boldly to possess land that God had given them God delivered them through mighty signs and wonders. He has confidence that God will do the same thing. He encourages them to move now, while the unction of God is upon the work.
THURSDAY
Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see that good land of which I swore to give to your fathers, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him and his children I am giving the land on which he walked, because he wholly followed the Lord.
Deuteronomy 1:35-36
Time’s up for that bunch. “But Barb, God understands, He wouldn’t be that cruel. That doesn’t sound like my loving Father.” Do you know what love is? Love is providing everything for a person. You know what evil is? It’s refusing to obey someone who loves you and has given everything to you. We’ve got it reversed. All disobedience is sin.
I am amazed sometimes how we cannot consider this disobedience on our part the way God does. Sometimes we think that since the blessing will help our lives, we have the choice of disobeying God. Everything He does for us benefits us, but there are other issues involved here as well. Those leaders in Israel held a whole nation back because they were afraid and turned their hearts to speak evil against God.
Talk about major sin! Parents, hear me! Bosses, hear me! Spouses, hear me! Everybody hear me! Other people are depending on your obedience for their survival, happiness, progress, and livelihood. Imagine the disappointment on that whole nation to know that ten of their leaders did not trust God. Trust brings on the anointing and unction to possess and conquer. Trust brings the Lord of Hosts upon the scene. Trust brings all the forces of heaven to your attention.
Quick obedience to God’s unction to move will bring in the promised results. Is it possible to wait too long, or to miss God’s timing? Of course it is.
FRIDAY
“Then you answered and said to me, ‘We have sinned against the Lord; we will go up and fight, just as the Lord our God commanded us.’ And when everyone of you had girded on his weapons of war, you were ready to go up into the mountain.
“And the Lord said to me, ‘Tell them, “Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; lest you be defeated before your enemies.” ’ So I spoke to you; yet you would not listen, but rebelled against the command of the Lord, and presumptuously went up into the mountain. And the Amorites who dwelt in that mountain came out against you and chased you as bees do, and drove you back from Seir to Hormah. Then you returned and wept before the Lord, but the Lord would not listen to your voice nor give ear to you.”
Deuteronomy 1:41-45
Attempting to possess without the unction is moving in presumption. You presume that God is still with you in this thing. You also assume that you can appease God instead of submit to Him. This is legalism. The children of Israel knew that God had said He would disinherit them all except for two men: Joshua and Caleb. Because these two men spoke up and declared God’s word in the midst of fear, doubt and unbelief, they would remain alive to possess the land. God simply wants to bless those who are obedient, and He intended that land to be inhabited by His people. This is just as true now as it was then, after so many generations have come and gone.
Israel moved in fear and presumptuously went up against the enemy. They could have moved in faith and possessed the land, but they did not trust God. Presumption is caused by an evil motive. Perhaps the ten leaders changed their minds when they heard that Joshua and Caleb were being singled out and they could not stop God from blessing those who are faithful. Perhaps they were moved by the fear of dying in the wilderness.
These motives are not the same as faith in God, and God will only give us the unction and anointing when we move by faith. Perhaps they should have gone to God and asked for a second chance. They could have waited for the mercy of God to come back into their lives, instead, they went up like pagans, trying to appease an angry God, and they were overtaken by the enemy in doing so. Their concept of who God is was all wrong. God is good, and loving, and kind, but most of all, He is holy. Holiness means that he keeps His own laws. He cannot violate the law of faith even while His people were under the law. Simple repentance and waiting on a new decision from God my have made all the difference in the world. God wanted them to have the land.
Is God working on your behalf? What things has He told you to possess that are still on the shelf? Begin to meditate on the Word considering these things. I believe that when your faith in God has increased to obtain these things, then the unction to possess will come upon you. Begin to confess what He has promised you. Rehearse it in your ears. The unction to conquer will come upon you. We have a new covenant, based on better promises than Israel had. Rekindle the faith to possess. Receive the unction.