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Could it be that the opportunities we miss today are the stepping stones for future generations? Let’s embark on a journey to uncover the hidden potential within the biblical directive “Seize the Moment.” Through the lens of scripture, likened to peeling layers of an onion, we explore the profound implications of aligning with divine opportunities and the consequences of letting them slip by.

Our conversation leads us through a reflection on “God’s Promises and Obedience,” where we confront the church’s struggle against worldly skepticism. Drawing lessons from the Israelites’ journey after the Red Sea, we examine the dangers of disobedience and the importance of grounding our faith in the scriptures. As we journey further, we explore “Seeking God’s Promises Through Preparation,” emphasizing the critical role of prayer and proactive pursuit of divine guidance—paralleling the biblical story of Moses and the exploration of Canaan with practical life decisions.

In the chapters “The Evidence of God’s Promise” and “Overcoming Doubt and Seizing Opportunities,” we delve into the narratives of courage and faith, confronting fears that hinder our growth. Inspired by Caleb’s unwavering belief, we are reminded to trust in the divine path laid out for us. We conclude with a heartfelt discussion on “Generational Consequences of Disobedience,” encouraging listeners to seize the blessings meant for them and future generations by embracing courage, faith, and decisive action in their spiritual journeys.

Where to dive in:

(0:00:01) – Seize the Moment (13 Minutes)

This chapter explores the importance of seizing the moment and recognizing the opportunities that come our way. I share my experience with using an AI app to generate the title “Seize the Moment: The Opportunity You Miss Today Will Belong to Tomorrow’s Generation,” which encapsulates the essence of the message. We reflect on how, biblically, opportunities may not always come again and how vital it is to recognize God’s direction in our lives. I discuss how scripture is a living, active force that offers fresh insights each time it is read, likening it to peeling layers of an onion. The focus is on understanding God’s instructions and aligning with His plans, emphasizing the importance of not opposing God’s direction. By using relatable metaphors, I highlight the significance of being on God’s side and the consequences of missing divine opportunities meant for our blessing.

(0:13:03) – God’s Promises and Obedience (11 Minutes)

This chapter explores the importance of grounding one’s faith in scripture amidst a culture of misinformation and doubt. I reflect on the tendency within the church to accept worldly skepticism, echoing the serpent’s challenge to Eve in the Garden of Eden: “Did God really say that?” We must actively engage with the Word, living according to its teachings to ensure a victorious life aligned with God’s master plan. The discussion transitions to the story of the Israelites in Numbers 13, highlighting their journey just 11 days after crossing the Red Sea. Despite witnessing God’s miracles, including the ten plagues and the parting of the Red Sea, the Israelites quickly fell into disobedience and impatience. I emphasize the dangers of allowing non-believers to influence faith and the importance of recognizing God’s past deliverances as a testament to His plan for our lives.

(0:24:31) – Seeking God’s Promises Through Preparation (6 Minutes)

This chapter explores the significance of seeking God’s guidance in pursuing big dreams and promises. We emphasize the importance of prayer and being proactive in seizing opportunities that God presents to us. Drawing parallels with the biblical story of Moses sending spies to explore the land of Canaan, we discuss the need to thoroughly investigate and understand the challenges and blessings associated with our goals. By comparing this to practical life decisions, like buying a house, we stress the necessity of being diligent, gathering information, and trusting God’s unique path for each individual. The journey may be filled with unexpected routes, but it’s designed to prepare us and ensure we don’t turn back. We encourage taking responsibility, especially as leaders in families, to seek out and embrace the promises God has made, trusting in His wisdom and timing.

(0:30:41) – The Evidence of God’s Promise (6 Minutes)

This chapter focuses on the importance of courage and faith when facing challenges, as illustrated by a biblical story where God instructs His people to explore a land He has promised them. Despite the presence of formidable inhabitants, God commands them to be courageous, emphasizing that He is with them and has already provided for them. The narrative highlights how the spies, who explored the land for 40 days, were told to bring back evidence of its abundance, specifically the fruit, which served as proof of God’s promise. The extraordinary size of the grape cluster, so large it required two men to carry it, symbolizes the bountiful blessings awaiting them. This chapter encourages us to focus on the positive evidence of God’s work in our lives and reminds us to have faith and courage as we pursue the promises He has given us.

(0:36:28) – Overcoming Doubt and Seizing Opportunities (8 Minutes)

This chapter explores the powerful narrative of faith and courage versus fear and doubt, using the biblical story of the spies sent to explore the Promised Land. We discuss the initial optimism upon seeing the land flowing with milk and honey and how it quickly turns to fear as obstacles and challenges are perceived as insurmountable. Drawing parallels to personal experiences, we examine how doubt can prevent us from seizing opportunities, much like the Israelites who doubted their ability to conquer the land despite God’s promises. The conversation emphasizes the importance of stepping out of our comfort zones and trusting in a higher power to overcome challenges. Through the story of Caleb’s unwavering faith, we are encouraged to listen to what God is saying to us and to take action, lest we remain stuck in our current circumstances, missing out on the blessings intended for us.

(0:44:53) – Overcoming Fear and Despising God’s Word (15 Minutes)

This chapter explores the story of the Israelites from the Bible, focusing on their reaction to a negative report about the Promised Land and the consequences of their lack of faith. I highlight the significance of trusting in God’s promises and the dangers of allowing fear to lead to rebellion. Drawing parallels to modern times, I encourage us to adopt a mindset of faith and confidence as we face new challenges and leadership. By remembering past miracles and trusting in God’s truth, we can overcome negative words and obstacles that suggest we are unworthy of the blessings God has in store for us. I remind us that through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice, we are offered a life of abundance and blessing, urging us to reject doubts and embrace the divine promises available to us.

(1:00:16) – Generational Consequences of Disobedience (9 Minutes)

This chapter challenges us to seize the promises of God and to act in obedience to avoid the pitfalls of faithlessness that affected previous generations. By referencing biblical verses, we explore the consequences of not trusting in God’s promises, highlighting how disobedience can cause our children and future generations to miss out on blessings meant for us. Through reflection and prayer, we are encouraged to embrace courage, repent for any past disbelief, and actively pursue the blessings God has promised. The importance of listening to God’s instructions and taking decisive action to live in the promise, not just for ourselves but for our descendants, is emphasized. As we move forward with faith and determination, we are called to seize our moments and claim the good things God has in store for us.

About your host: Jaime Luce’s testimony has daunting personal mountains and treacherous financial valleys. She was trapped in day-to-day stress and couldn’t see a way forward. But how she started is not how she finished! And she wants you to know God has a plan for your life too, no matter how tough it seems. Today, Jaime has been married to the love of her life for almost three decades, owns two companies, and has become an author and podcaster. God’s way is always the blessed way!

Free chapter of Jaime’s new book: You Don’t Need Money, You Just Need God: https://jaimeluce.com/book/

Connect:

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Full Transcript

This transcript is auto-generated and not perfect. We hope it blesses you.

0:00:01 – Jaime Luce
Welcome to the Jaime Luce podcast. Thanks for tuning in today. I was really debating today on what to call this message, this teaching this, finding these golden nuggets that are so beautifully poured out in scripture for us. Us and I went to my little. I’ve never done this before, so this was a first. I downloaded an app that’s one of those AI apps.

I am not technically savvy. I am very much technically challenged. If it’s in the house and it’s a TV or a blinking clock or those kinds of things, I’m the MacGyver of the house and I can do that. But when it comes to new, brand new technology, it does not come naturally to me and I just I kind of avert it and I just thought people act like this is easy and they just do it. And so I Googled some information and found out you just have to download an app. I did that and I asked this chat GPT. I kind of put together a phrase and I said what title would you give this? And let me tell you what chat GPT said that the title of this message should be. I hope you like this Seize the moment.

The opportunity you miss today will be long to tomorrow’s generation. And that’s basically what I told it to say. But that’s exactly this. Today we are going to be talking about seizing the moment, and there are many, there are many reasons for that, and it is not because because it makes us those kind of people who are just the winners and we’re the ones who are always moving and active. And you know, sometimes you can have so much that you’re trying to get done that you don’t even think you have time to reach for the other thing, the bigger thing, because of all the little distractions and all the little things that are going on and in the way. And I have taught on this particular passage of scripture many times before, but there were several things that stood out to me this time that I wanted to really concentrate on. There’s a lot here and I’m going to try to condense it all and make it easy for you to digest, but I want to challenge you today by using the simple title that I gave you Seize the Moment. What opportunities you don’t take today, the ones you miss today. The truth is, biblically speaking, at least in this passage of scripture, you don’t get another opportunity. You have opportunities that come by. There are smaller little opportunities that pop up all the time, and you know, sometimes we miss one and here comes another.

We like to say to comfort ourselves and I’m not saying this isn’t true, because sometimes it is true this is what people say they say when God closes one door, he opens another. That itself is true. If God closes the door, that means God didn’t want you to walk through that door, and if he closes that door, he has a different door that he will open for you. That is absolutely always true. What’s not true is that just because a door closes doesn’t mean another door will open. If God’s not involved in it, who knows what doors will open and close? That has nothing to do with God.

Right, but here’s another truth and another layer. It’s you know, the scripture is living and active. It is always breathing fresh. It is fresh manna, it is fresh bread that, no matter how many times you have read the scriptures, you can read the same passage over and over and over again and see something different every time. And it’s beautiful that way, because it speaks to us right where we are. It’s not like I had fresh bread for the circumstance I was dealing with yesterday and today. That word no longer works for me and that doesn’t help me today.

Today, you could actually read that same portion of scripture and it give you a fresh, new understanding today, a new instruction for today, a new insight and perspective, a new depth to it. And the scripture is like peeling an onion. I mean, there’s just always seems to be this other layer in there, and some of the layers are film thin and you peel that off and then here comes another one, and some of them are thick and hardy and heavy and they’re meaty. And as I was reading this today, that’s what I felt. I felt like there was these layers coming off, um, some of them thinner, some of them thicker. But what we tend to miss and this is one of those layers is that there are things that God will instruct us to do for our blessing sheer promise, keeping sheer blessing, like it is just meant to totally bless you.

And if I disobey in that thing, if I don’t have the, if I am not attributing to God the possibility of those things, even if they seem impossible in the natural, if I stand, then in opposition to him, if you were to picture a football game, you have your offense on one side, you have your defense on the other. If God is saying I’m going this direction, okay, I’m going this direction. I’m going this direction, okay, I’m going this direction. And I say, no, that’s impossible, I can’t go that direction. I have now put myself on the opposite team. I am now in opposition to God and his plan.

That is not a a light thing. That is not me just saying because we are really good at justifying ourselves. We don’t even really need to try that hard. We come up with all kinds of ways to justify ourselves and to take the easy way out. And in that justification we will simply say and in that justification we will simply say no, I’m not fighting against God, I would never stand against God. No, I’m on God’s side, god’s on my side.

We like to say and if you’re like the angel who appeared to Joshua, he said no, I’m not on anybody’s side, you need to be on my side. I’m sent from the Lord, end of story. There is no other side. I’m sent from the Lord, end of story, there is no other side. So if you don’t join me, you are standing in opposition to me. It’s not even just disobedience. Disobedience is as rebellion. It means I have rebelled against you, I am now pushing against you and man. That’s like a slap in the face, some nice cold water to hit us to help us understand our decisions and our willingness to seek God and to seek his will and follow in that plan is serious business. It is not something that I choose, you know. For this particular plan, I think I should involve God. I’m going to ask him and then I’m going to follow his instructions on this one, because this one’s really big, but these other ones, I got this, I got this. I don’t need help. I’ve done this before. I know how to do this.

There’s a trap we fall into, especially if it is something that we do regularly, something we are comfortable with, we tend to in our everyday lives, the things we do all the time. We don’t tend to ask God his opinion about that, because we just roll with our regular motions of what we do. We know how to do that we don’t realize. In doing so we are closing ourself off from valuable input and information that I could need, because the Lord knows you know what, Jaime, today, in your normal day, it’s not going to go exactly how it went yesterday. It’s not going to be completely normal like yesterday. There are going to be some things today that are different than yesterday. And no, you don’t know it all, don’t we need that reminding? Yeah, I don’t know it all, as much as I like to feel confident. The scripture tells us that we’re not to cast away our confidence, but that means our confidence in who we are, in him and what he’s done for us, not in our own flesh and in our own abilities. That’s different. That’s a whole different thing.

It has become the norm in Christianity to live a very watered down, lukewarm life and think that that is normal Christianity. And then somebody who actually lives actively pursuing God’s will every day in their lives and it doesn’t mean they get it perfect, but they are actively pursuing God. Their mind is on the Lord all the time. They live to please him. They want to advance his kingdom. They’re all about doing it God’s way in every aspect of their life.

Those people are considered to be extreme. They’re considered to be oh, what’s another hot word we like to use? We are those who are. We take things too far. We are those who are, we take things too far. We just, you know, we go way too far in that and we demand too much in that. And we have this unspoken? Well, it’s spoken nowadays. It’s not even unspoken, it’s spoken nowadays. What we speak and how we treat people are on opposite poles. We are polar, we are two poles, we are bipolar On one end of the spectrum.

We are now as a society, as a full society not even talking about just Christians as a full society we are either extreme left quote unquote or we are extreme right, quote, unquote and in that spectrum we try to label one another as being extreme, as being dangerous in our extremities right, I mean, that’s how we do it and we have to be careful, because the church was supposed to affect culture and we have allowed, for the last couple decades, culture to affect the church. I mean, this has been throughout history, but we’re seeing it so much more right now in our culture that we allow what’s happening in the culture to affect how we think about scripture, what we agree with, what we disagree with, and we have made our own little religions to say, well, I believe this part of the Bible, but I don’t believe that part, and instead of doing the um, the work of study, and actually and this is a sign of society too we look at a clip and we just assume because we saw it on social media that it’s true and we repeat it. We have major this should this should shock us, but we’re so used to it. Right now we have major news organizations going out and giving information without doing their homework to check and see if it’s accurate or what dates it pertain to, to know that it’s valid for what they’re saying, the thing they’re attributing it to, and they’re not doing it on purpose. They are misleading on purpose folks so that people think one way it is used to manipulate.

And in the church we have taken on the same mindset that we. Because of our culture and because of phones, we have this mindset that we can look at something and scroll through, we just assume that it’s true, we pass it along and we don’t correct it. If we find out we’re wrong, we don’t go back and correct what we got wrong, and then what we do is then in the church, when it comes to scripture, we let the world tell us that’s outdated. No, that’s not what it says and literally what the devil said to Eve. Did God say we allow the world to tell us, did God really say that? And we believe the question, and then we don’t go and look to see what did God say, what did he actually say?

Somebody who wants to live a Christian life and be victorious, to be an overcomer. You have to live this word. You have to live this word. You have to know what this says and you have to do what it says. If we do that, then we are living according to the master plan, the one who created it, the one who knows how it works and the one who can supersede anything that was created, because he simply created it. So if he wants to create something else and do something else, he can. If I’m in relationship with him and what he says, then I know my end is victorious. The end result will be a great result if I do it according to his plan.

The problem is we don’t attribute that to him. We don’t attribute the awe-inspiring power and omniscience and omnipresence and his glory. We don’t give God the glory for who he is. We’re not really believing he created it all. He’s real and he has a plan for my life and the children of Israel. We’re going to be in Numbers, chapter 13,. And I might give you some extra scripture besides that. Chapter 13. And I might give you some extra scripture besides that maybe in some 14 and and maybe in exodus, but the children of Israel have come out of a culture that did not believe in God.

And as I was doing some digging, do you realize that when the children of Israel, the very first time that God says, okay, I want you to send spies in to go see this beautiful promised land that I have for you? This, this blows my mind and this is why we have to seize the day when the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea, literally only 11 days had passed. 11 days, folks, that’s not even two weeks. In 11 days they came up to the brink of the promised land. 11 days and I started thinking about that Now. Not 11 days before they took it, 11 days before. It was the very first time they were going to spy out the land. Only 11 days had transpired.

In that 11 days, the children of Israel had done a lot. They had already come to the mountain, received commandments on how to live. When the commandments were given, they had already made a golden calf. They already had an orgy down at the bottom of the mountain. When the glory of God is right there at the top of the mountain with Moses, they had a grumbling fest about their food, went through their God giving them quail, and they had rabble razzers amongst them who had cravings, who had wrong cravings, who didn’t want God, who didn’t. They weren’t the children of God, they weren’t Hebrews and because of that they didn’t have any history of the knowledge how to serve God.

And this group of people came along for the ride when they because they saw what God was doing, the miracles that God was doing I mean this is kind of mind boggling. If you’re the children of Israel and you have just watched on a massive scale, god do and take you through and protect you through 10 massive plagues, 10 plagues of Egypt, and take them out and then not only spare them from the army coming after them, but watch the army get destroyed. While you walk through the middle of the Red Sea on dry ground with walls of water beside you that you are literally looking at impossible things, literally walking and seeing impossible things take place. You come through and you’re not even out there for two weeks and you’ve already disobeyed everything that God said, because you were impatient in those 11 days and completely acted a fool during that time, complaining the whole way, complaining the whole way, listening to those who know nothing about God, allowing them to influence you. And then God brings the quail, but while it’s in your teeth, a plague hits and the scripture says that it killed all of those who had the craving he was killing off because it was so detrimental to them. The ones that were in the group, that did not belong in the group these were people who were tagging along were most likely Egyptians, or at least they were sojourners in Egypt along with the children of Israel, and they brought their cravings with them, not knowing how to stand and deny their flesh and understand that God has their best interest in heart, and he’s made that evident by the way that he has delivered them.

This group of men that God says it’s time to send you in and take a look at the promise that I have for you. Look at chapter 13. And we’re going to read. Let’s start with verse 1. And we’ll read 1 and 2.

The Lord spoke to Moses saying, and we’ll read one and two the Lord spoke to Moses saying send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving the people of Israel. It’s time to look at it. I’m giving it to you, I’m giving it to you. I’m the same one who had the power to take you through and deliver you from 10 plagues, and to take you through a red sea and swallow up your enemy and bring you to a new place.

Same God, one you watched do all the miraculous things, impossible things watched God’s mighty hand do miracle after miracle after miracle this group of people who saw this with their own eyes. This is the first thing that grabbed me. This was one of the first layers that just because I have seen God do the miraculous does not mean that I am prepared and safe for the next thing, unless I stay surrendered in in what God is telling me. I need to probably explain that a little bit more. My experience with the moving of God in my life does not automatically mean that I will attain the promises of God in the future that the right doors quote unquote will open to me. Just because I’ve seen God move before is not a guarantee that I’m going to see him move in the future. The only guarantee that I’m going to see him move in the future is if I continue to do and go where he tells me to do and go. That is what guarantees me that I will see him move again in the same way in my future. Same way in my future.

It is predicated on my obedience and my um desire to live a surrendered life, going and wanting and desiring what God is saying for me. Now I know that there’s a real big. Now I know that there’s a real big well, I don’t even know what to call it. It’s a. I guess it’s a theology, an ideology, maybe I don’t know in the Christian realm, about you know, going after your dreams, and that’s. We use Joseph a lot, because Joseph was given a dream and God fulfilled that dream. But we have to remember that God gave Joseph that dream. Joseph didn’t come up with this dream on his own.

I would challenge us to think about the things that we’re wanting to build, the things we’re wanting to conquer, the things we’re wanting to do, wanting to build the things we’re wanting to conquer, the things we’re wanting to do, and submit them to the Lord in prayer and say Lord, is this what you have put in my heart? Have you placed this desire in me? Because if you put it here, then my job is every time I hear you say take the next step, do the next thing, go this direction, talk to this person, whatever that is, take this class, learn that thing, get connected to you. Know, whatever. If I hear those instructions, that’s me as a child of God in the wilderness, heading towards my promised land and taking the cues from the leading of the Holy Spirit on how to get there. I’m following the cloud. Okay, I’m following the cloud on how to get to my promise, and God will be faithful to do that and lead me there, and I will continue to see the miraculous take place all along the way. If I do that, what I can’t expect to happen is that, just because I do things, that God’s going to do all the miracles and make it all happen. That is predicated upon whether that’s what God has for my life, what he wants for my life.

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You can pray, and we have a right to pray this and you should pray this Lord, bless the work of my hands, that whatever my hand finds to do, I do it with all my might, and that it produces fruit, that it is blessed, it multiplies. God spoke to us as his creation that we are to be fruitful and multiply. But I am specifically talking about the really big things here. The really big things, and these are the things that we hear God say do this, I have this for you. And then we want to go and do those things. I’m talking about big stuff here. The big dreams, the big promises. Little ones are all along the way and there are many things the Lord allows us to just do through the day, do it unto. Whatever I’m doing, I do it unto the Lord. If I’m living unto him and I am being a blessing, I am being blessed and I am being a blessing. Yes, you will see the Lord and his evidence all over that.

But when you need the big impossible things, the big impossible things, let’s read this again the Lord spoke to Moses saying send men to spy out the land of Canaan which I’m giving to the people of Israel for each tribe of their fathers you shall send. Okay, first point here we are to. If you are the head of your home, you are to spy out what God is speaking to your heart about. Check it out, learn what you need to learn, go in and find out all about it in every possible way. Seize the moment, because if you don’t, another generation will, it’ll pass you by another and we’ll get there. But you have to go, look at it, and it needs to be the person who is the chief among you. So if you have a dream, let’s say you’re married and you are the wife and you, you need to be discussing this with your spouse, and the one who is head of the family needs to be going before God and asking the Lord for his direction. But then the one who is able, who’s being called, the one who’s being called is the one, the chief who’s going to be doing this, whoever the action is for, this person needs to start being prepared to go check things out.

Okay, I’m going to drop down to verse 17 and it says Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them go up into the Negev and go up into the hill country and see what the land is and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, and whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities where they dwell in are camps or strongholds, and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. Be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land. Okay, there’s a couple things here. God is basically instructing them through Moses go in and find out about everything. Find out about what kind of land it is, the people, the produce, the strength and the weakness, what’s already in it, what needs to be brought to it, check, just learn everything, and when we’re going to do something for the Lord that is is bigger than us. We’ve never done it before.

It’s a promise of God and he’s saying go check it out. Go, have that dream. That’s okay, I’m giving this to you, go. It’s like if you’re going to buy a first house and God, you know God is going to bless you and give you the ability and he’s telling you I’m going to help you, I’m going to get you into a house. Well, you got to go looking at all the houses. You got to go look at the neighborhoods. You got to check out the schools. You got to know where the grocery stores are. You got to know what’s in it, what’s not, what kind of people live there, what’s what’s a value to you in that land and what’s missing in that land, and find out all about it. You go on a search. Right, he’s taking them on a search and I’m challenging you.

Whatever the thing is that you’ve been waiting on God. You think you’re waiting on God half the time. He’s waiting on us. He’s made a promise and we’re on our little journey and sometimes we’re on detours because he knows we’ll be too afraid. Do you know the reason? The children of Israel even had to go through the Red Sea Was because if he would have taken the other way, even though it was shorter, he knew that they’d get afraid and they’d go back. So he had to take them through an impossible way to show them he’s with them but also make it so they can’t go back. So many times we think, god, why are you taking me through this and why am I going through this, and why did I have to go this way and why didn’t I get to go that way? And wouldn’t that have been easier if I had done this?

But the Lord knows you better than you know yourself and he knows what ways will help you to actually get where you’re going, so that you don’t forfeit it all or get rid of it all or decide that it it’s not valuable enough and you don’t attribute to it what you should. He’s trying to help you get there. But in that getting there, you need to be one who is diligent. If you are laying hold of it, if you believe God, if you’re saying Lord, I hear you, I believe you, I am setting out to take hold of my promise that you’ve given to me, then that means I have to find out everything I need to find out about it. I need to get real curious about everything that I need to learn, and I can’t leave that to somebody else. It has to be for the one who’s chief, the one who’s going to be doing this, the one who’s giving instruction, the one who, if you’re in your family and this affects people behind you you got to have all the information, because they’re banking on the information that you’re bringing to them. We’ll read that too.

But the Lord does something interesting here. He gives them a very specific instruction. After telling them what to look for, he tells them be of good courage. He’s telling them you saw me work before. You know, I’m the one sending you. I’m giving you what you need. This is my gift to you. I’m sending you Look and find out how strong this the people are who were in there, cause you’re going to end up having to get rid of them. So let’s see what’s what’s in there and how strong a battle is this going to be. But at the same time, he’s telling them but you don’t have to be afraid, I’m the one sending you, I’m the one giving this to you.

Okay, so be of good courage. Be, he’s. It’s a command. Be. He’s not saying go in and see and make your decision based off of what you see. I don’t know, it might be really tough, may really be hard to do this, I don’t know. Let that little negative way, you know, doubt come in, that, being tossed by the winds of the sea, just flip floppy. Oh well, I don’t know, we’ll find out. If you go in with that kind of attitude, there is no courage. That’s going to find itself in your thought process, in the way that you think about it, in the way that you process the possibilities. So you have to determine, before you even go, that you are going to be of good courage.

Fill yourself up with faith, make sure you’re ready to go, check it out. If God before you, who can be against you? This land is actually? It’s. The Valley of Eshkol is where they went and they brought back the giant. I actually looked at pictures of this today. Brought back the giant. I actually looked at pictures of this today. I’ve always seen the kind of grapes here in California where they grow on the vines from the ground and you know they’re cutting them from the on the stakes in the ground. But in this area, in the valley of Eshkol, which is still there today and they still grow wonderful grapes there. This is the land same name. You can look it up yourself. This is still there. But what? The cluster of grapes.

When they brought back the cluster of grapes, according to what God told them to do, because what God was saying was I want you to go in and I want you to bring back. When you bring back a report, when you let everybody know what you have seen and they were gone for 40 days they spied out the land for 40 solid days. 40 solid days. That’s morning till night, looking at everything. Think about those hours. Okay, think about those hours daylight hours, not sleeping hours but they were committed for 40 straight days, all day long, to finding out about the promise of God. That might challenge you. How much time have you spent, how much time have you actually poured into attaining the thing that God has spoken to you about?

Then God tells them when you go in and you look for all this information and you spend all this time. He only instructs them to bring back good. He doesn’t say bring back the tree that’s wilted and show everybody the land that needs work and bring back something that shows how big the giants are. And you know, he says bring back the fruit. What is fruit? Fruit is evidence of something that God has already done. He was telling them. I want you to bring back proof of who I am and that I’ve already given this to you. It’s the fruit of it, it’s already the manifest fruit of it, the evidence that I’ve already given it to you and that it’s a blessing. Bring that back with you when you speak. Bring back fruit. And he tells them to bring back the grapes. And so they literally, and they also. They brought back not just grapes, but they brought pomegranates and figs back with them as well.

And the cluster was so big that it had to be carried because it was the season of grapes this is the first season of reaping and they had to bring it back and carry it between two men on a pole. Well, the pictures that I saw you know a cluster of grapes. You’ve probably seen what a cluster of grapes looks like. What they brought back was a cluster, that is, it grew from above and came down and it’s a ton of those clusters that make a giant cluster. It looks like the same, it looks just like a cluster of grapes that you could hold in your hand, but it’s giant and it’s all the clusters of grapes together on one giant vine and it comes down and makes a giant cluster of grapes. That’s how big it was. It was huge and they had to carry it on a pole between two men to get it back. So God is also showing them. The fruit that I’m giving you is massive. I have a promise for you that will be hugely, hugely beneficial to your life, theountiful, and this is evidence, before you even go in, that I’ve given it to you. It. Okay, let me keep going.

If you jump down to verse um 25, it says at the end of 40 days, they returned from spying out the land and they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land and they told him we came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey and this is its fruit. I mean, it sounds like a good start. Yeah, all this possibility is there. Yeah, there’s possibility there. Yeah, that’s a great opportunity. Yeah, that company, that building for our company. That’s the perfect size company, that’s the perfect building, it’s in the perfect location, it has everything that we’re gonna need. But, but confidence out the window.

Here comes the report. Yeah, that’s true, it has those good points. Yeah, there’s a couple good points there. But those good points, yeah, there’s a couple good points there. But and this is what they say in verse 28 however, the people who dwell there in the land are strong and the cities are fortified and very large, and besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negev, the Hittites, the Jebusites, the Amorites dwell in the hill country and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, along by the Jordan.

But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said let us go up at once and occupy it. Occupy it, that means go, take it, go live in it, go do it. He’s saying at once, for we are well able to overcome it. Go live in it, go do it. He’s saying at once, for we are well able to overcome it. That’s somebody who believes that God’s going to do it, and God said it and he’s brought us here and he’s done all these miracles, and he’s full of faith and he’s full of confidence and says let’s go, we can do it. Then the men who had gone up with him said we are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are. So they this is kind of like those with.

I can’t talk to them. They’re smarter than me, I don’t have enough education, I haven’t been doing this long enough. They have the experience. I don’t have the experience. All of those things, all of those things. I could have said all of that when writing my book. I could have said I’ve never written a book before, I don’t have connections to the different publishers, I don’t know anything about editing and I don’t know anything about structure, book structure and how do you put together and do a cover for a book. And those people they all know this stuff, people who do this, they have connections, they have experience, they were schooled in this, they have degrees. You could come up with every reason why you cannot.

Folks, if you do, if you allow that mindset into your heart, you will never live in the blessing of God and you will live out your days in the wildernesses of your decisions Not to go in, when God said go in, not to believe him that he’ll make a way that he’ll provide for you what you need when you need it. The way he gave them manna so that they had food to eat. They were only supposed to eat manna for a couple weeks, a couple. Well, it would have been a couple months. The 40 days they spent they had 11 days and then 40 days, and then they were supposed to go in and start occupying the land. They weren’t supposed to live on manna for 40 stinking years. They weren’t supposed to have to do without. They weren’t supposed to have to go round and round the same stinking mountain.

If you’re dealing with the same financial issues over and over again, that’s not what God has for you. When you can’t make a move, make a change, do anything different, keep you stuck. God had to provide water out of a rock, but that wasn’t supposed to be the way it was for 40 years. You know, it’s one thing to see God do the miraculous. It’s another thing to sit there and the only way you survive every day, every year, is by God providing a miracle. That’s poverty. Now did God do it and take care of them Absolutely. He’s Jehovah Jireh. He always made a way for them until they died. Till they died the rest of their existence until they died. It’s amazing to me that we but that was not what he wanted for them. That was not the plan. He’s a better God than that.

We have to be willing, though, to do what he tells us to do. You have to not be so settled in your circumstance and in your knowledge and in you what you think is your ability. You have to step out of that. You can’t just say this is my lot in life and this is where I have to stay, and too much time has passed and I’ve wasted all. What is God saying to you? What is he saying to you? And do what he tells you. And if you don’t, then yeah, you’re going to get stuck there. It is going to be that way, it really will, and it will stay that way. It will stay that way If you don’t seize it, if you don’t take it. It’s going to go to the generation behind you. So let’s move on Verse 30,. But Caleb quieted them. Well, let me jump down. Let’s go to 31.

Then the men who had gone up with him said we are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are. So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land. A bad report of the land which, out of the first part in their mouth was it’s a good land, it’s flowing with milk and hungry I mean honey, milk and honey and fruit. It’s got everything you need. It’s beautiful, it’s bountiful. They brought a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying the land through which we have gone to spy it out is a land that devours its inhabitants and all the people that we saw it and are, um, that we saw in it, sorry, and all the people that we saw in it are a great height. And then we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim, and we seem to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seem to them.

So, basically, their inept ideas of what, how, god, who they were in God, and that they were the children of God, able to do great exploits because of God. Instead, we saw ourselves you’ve heard this a million times see ourselves as grasshoppers, see myself as ill-equipped, see myself as uneducated, see myself as not having the finances, seeing myself as not knowing how this works and not knowing enough educational, wise, whatever my background’s wrong where I, you know where I was trained isn’t right for this, whatever. These are the excuses that the people used, and they blamed the land and said it was no good. Essentially, what they’re doing is saying we can’t do it and this is impossible. So the land that God wants to take us to is a lie, it’s no good. They are attributing, then, god as a liar. I hope you understand this. When I say to God, no, I can’t do that, because of whatever that promise isn’t for me, I make God out to be a liar. Be very careful. Be very careful. Make sure you understand what you’re really saying. Think about what you think about. Think about what you’re saying out of your mouth and who you’re saying it to.

Because what happened next was then all the congregation raised a loud cry and the people wept that night, and all the people of Israel now believe this negative report, and they grumbled against Moses and Aaron wow, this is there’s so much and I’m leaving out stuff. Oh gosh, this is what they said. The whole congregation said to Moses and Aaron would that we had died in the land of Egypt or would that we had died in this wilderness? Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword. God never told them that I’m going to bring you into a land so you could fall by the sword that you’re going to get. You’re going to go to battle and all of you are going to die and you’re not going to make it. If that’s what God was intending, he would have allowed the armies of Pharaoh to kill them. They watched God do this very thing and if we would be wise, we would look back and watch and see again and remind ourselves again all the miracles we have seen God do. Who is he? And he is the truth.

The scripture tells us let God be the truth and every man a liar. God is the truth. He is the truth. The scripture tells us let God be the truth in every man a liar. God is the truth. He tells the truth. All truth comes from him. There is no truth outside of him. Everything else is a lie. They tried to stone. They wanted to stone Moses and Aaron, and Moses and Aaron had to fall.

Let’s go to verse five. Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation and the people of Israel, and Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes and said to the congregation of the people of Israel the land which we pass through to spy it out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, he’ll bring us into the land and give it to us A land that flows with milk and honey. Only, do not rebel against the Lord and do not fear, because they’re allowing fear to produce rebellion in their life. Do not fear the people of the land, for they are bred for us. Their protection is removed from them and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.

We need to even be thinking about this in society right now. We are under a new president, so a new term, new four years, is before us. It’s only been a few weeks and we need to have the mindset as God’s people. You know what God has taken us into this new time and he’s going to give it to us. He’s going to bless us. It’s going to be a good land. It’s going to flow with milk and honey. God has promises for us. He will be good to us.

Any power that the enemy had is being stripped from them. Their protection is being removed from them. Their protection is being removed from them and the Lord is with us, do not fear. We need to have that mindset about how we go forward right now and take the ground right now. We need to do like Caleb said let us go up at once and occupy. Let’s just begin to do it, and if we will, we will see God do the impossible, what we’ve seen him do before. He will continue to do on our behalf, because he’s the one who’s calling us to it.

It’s when we decide no, I don’t know that that was God. This doesn’t look good to me and we let fear produce rebellion in our hearts. The Lord said to Moses he was so, so upset. How long will this people despise me? The lord took their denial of his power and his gift and what he had spoken, his word, their denial of his word, the. The explanation of that to God. God’s understanding of that and he’s always right is that what you’re actually doing is despising me. That should shake us up that, if I am not believing God, that God’s feeling towards me is that I am despising him, I would never want God to think I despise him, never, never. That’s not just despise, that’s a hatred, that’s wanting to get away? A disgust, a despise. That’s a hatred. That’s wanting to get away? A disgust, a despise.

Folks, we have to be so careful to live as the redeemed that we are. We have been saved, even far better than the old covenant, with the blood of Jesus in the new covenant that washes us. We don’t have to do the sacrificial system and constantly be bringing sacrifices and constantly be asking God to forgive us and trying to make atonement for that. We could never make atonement for it. But his son, jesus Christ, came and made atonement for that. We could never make atonement for it. But his son, jesus Christ, came and made atonement for us. He paid the price for us, he gave his everything for us and he tells us I have this for you A life of blessing, a life of abundance in me. It’s available to us.

Folks, we have to look at our, our promised land, our mountain, our giant, the thing that we think that is in front of us, but that has this negative um word that says you can’t have this. Whatever that negative word is. If it’s a negative word that someone spoke over you, if someone has tried to put on you, you’re not good enough, you don’t know enough, you’re not smart enough, you don’t have enough. Whatever someone has tried, you’ll never. You know all of those things, those word curses that people have spoken over your life. We whatever those things are that are making you think that you cannot have what God has spoken for you.

Folks, we need to understand that those things, um, we cannot look at those things through our natural eyes. We must look at those things through what God has said, through God’s perspective, through God’s word, and you have to denounce those things and reject those things. If to ignore and to call bad what God calls good and to call the land bad when God calls the land good and says this is a promise I have for you and then for you to call it bad God calls that you despising him Then what we need to do is despise the thing that is standing in our way, despise the wrong words that were spoken to us, despise the giant that stands in front of us and says that I am so big, how could you remove me? Or the mountain that stands in your way, the mountain of evidence of things against you, whatever it is. We have to look at those things and speak to those things and see those things through the eyes of faith, through what God has said about them, not what the world says, not what the flesh says, not what my past says, not what history says. We have to despise those things and not despise God. Despise what stands in opposition to God. Don’t despise God.

Moses had to remind the Lord that he had said to Moses and you could read this back in Exodus, chapter 34, verses six through nine but the Lord said this of himself to Moses and you could read this back in Exodus, chapter 34, verses 6 through 9. But the Lord said this of himself to Moses the Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation. And this is Moses. Please pardon the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people from Egypt until now. Moses was trying to intercede on behalf of this people because God was ready to just simply say wipe them out. Nevermind, moses, I’ll raise up a new generation to you and I’ll take you in.

This is what God said in response to Moses’s prayer. This is verse 20. Then the Lord said I have pardoned, according to your word, but truly, as I live and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these 10 times and have not obeyed my voice. God is saying that in 11 days plus 40, these people had tested God 10 different times. I mean, in this amount of time, even Miriam and Aaron had come against Moses and God had to put leprosy on Miriam for a week just to show them how wrong they were. There’s such a great message in that story. We’ll do that another day. Have tested me these 10 times and have not obeyed my voice shall see the land that I swore to give their fathers, and none of those who despised me shall see it, but my servant Caleb, because he has a.

Oh. That’s so depressing to all of these people. This was their door, this was their window of opportunity. They chose to despise the Lord’s word, and now the instruction is tomorrow. And now the instruction is tomorrow. You’re going back to the wilderness, you’re turning from here but you’re not getting the promise I’ve said to you you don’t get to enter into this land. That’s a sobering thought. Go back to the wilderness, let’s take another lap. Take another lap around the mountain 40 years. Let’s just go round and round. We won’t ever leave this place. We won’t ever get to see what God had for us. We never get to eat that fruit again.

Can you imagine as hungry as they were for the quail, the taste of those grapes after being in the wilderness for 55 days, whatever it was 54 days, I don’t know. 55 days, the 40 days plus 11. I can’t do math in my head right now. The taste of the grapes and the pomegranates and the figs. They tasted it. They got so close they could taste it. If you get that close, folks do not despise the word of the Lord. The only place left to go is either into your promise or back into the wilderness. That’s the only option you’ve got. You got to choose one. And they had lots of tears. They they were so upset by what God said and that they’ve got it. They tasted it, and now they got to go back to the wilderness. And now they don’t get to take, they don’t get to have the promise. It’s gone, opportunity missed. End of story. Once in a lifetime, thing not coming again, dream of a lifetime.

There are tears of remorse and there are tears of consequence, and they are two completely different kinds of tears. Tears of true remorse are the kind that you don’t ever go that way again. They change your attitude, they change your decisions, they change your mind, they change your ways. You have remorse. You will not ever go that way again. You wish that never happened. Your heart is changed. Tears of remorse.

But there are also tears of consequence, and that’s the tears that people cry just because they got caught. Our prisons are full of them. People cry tears all the time because they got caught, but they wouldn’t. They had no plans of changing or doing it different. They would do it again the same way. They’re just crying because they got caught. Those kind of tears never lead to change. They don’t ever lead to a change of heart, change of circumstance, change of decision-making.

And these people cried tears of consequence and not remorse. How do I know? Because Moses told. Moses told them. God said turn and you’re going into the wilderness. He’s already decreed what’s going to be. And what did they do? The very next day they all get up and the scripture very clearly says that they went. This is a chapter 14, verse 44. But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the ark of the covenant of the lord nor moses departed out of the camp. And another same consequence happened then the amalekites and the canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them and pursued them even to Horma. They were slaughtered and defeated.

I want you to go back a couple verses, I want you to go with me, and then we’re wrapping up. Right now I want us to go to verse 30. And it says not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, the son of Nun, verse 31,. But your little ones? This is the next generation. But your little ones, who you said would become a prey if I went into that land, this will destroy my kids if I go here, your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I, god, will bring in and they shall know the land that you have rejected. If we don’t seize the moment, folks, it will be the next generation who gets to eat and enjoy the blessing and the promise that we could have lived our lives in.

There is no need To live in a wilderness For 40 stinking years. There’s no reason for it. But as for you, verse 32. Your dead bodies Shall fall in this wilderness and your children Shall be shepherds in the wilderness for 40 years and shall suffer for your faithlessness Until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. Wow, folks, if we don’t obey God, our children, the next generation, will suffer because of our faithlessness. They will, instead of growing up in the promise, they will have to wait until they are adults and have to do and start where you left off. Versus standing on your shoulders and living all those first 40 years in the promised land, they have to wait and let their children and that generation, your kids and your grandkids, will suffer because of your faithlessness. They can either reap the benefits of your obedience and your trust in the true living God who has made the promise, and in his ability to take you in and take out the giants and make that promise yours. In and take out the giants and make that promise yours, because the promise, if you go back and read when the promise was given is to you and your children and your children’s children. It affects three generations and we can either cause them to suffer or we can cause them to live blessed.

I hope you will take this today and walk away with the understanding that you must seize the moment, seize your promise. Whatever he says to you, do it. It produces the miracles. Just because you’ve seen God do miracles doesn’t mean you get the promised land. They saw the miracles and they didn’t go in. We have to stay in that same vein of following God in everything, always, not for a time, and then get comfortable, not for a season of trouble and heartache, to deliver us, but then not then to live in the blessing. God doesn’t want to just deliver you out of trouble, he wants to take you into the blessing. But the choice to go there is one of obedience and you’ve got to make that choice.

I hope that today, if there has been any disobedience, that you have tears of remorse and not simply tears of consequence. Make up your mind today, if you have not followed the Lord Jesus Christ, if you have disobeyed him, if you have, as he put it, despised him by not believing him, for calling bad what he called blessed and a promise. They called the promised land a bad land, a devouring land. When they even had the fruit in their hands, they tasted it. Oh God, forgive us.

I want to pray for you today. If this was you, in that you have despised the Lord. I want you to repent today and the Lord will be faithful, to forgive you. If you are facing a giant, a mountain, a promise in front of you, but there are things that seem scary and daunting, I want you to see them through the eyes of who God has called you to be. And if God says it’s yours, child of God, it’s yours. If God says it’s yours, it’s yours, and no devil in hell can stop that. If you will walk in obedience, god will destroy the enemy before you and give into your hand every good thing that he has promised you to have. But it’s going to take you listening to what his instructions are and saying yes and amen and following him into that promise.

Let me pray for you, father. We just thank you for the promises that you have made to us, for they are good. We say today they are good, your promises are good. You have good things for us, you have land for us, you have blessing for us, you have fruitfulness for us and we call it good. Father, we submit ourselves under your hand. Forgive us if we have not believed you, if we have walked in fear, if we have not walked in your promise, if we have despised your word. Oh God, make us lovers of your word, followers after you. God, forgive us where we have failed and give us strength. May we follow after the promise with hearts, just as you commanded us, that are full of good courage.

Let us walk in that commandment today. Let us put away what is yesterday and the lies of the enemy and everything that is contrary, and stand in faith today and say we are well able. Let’s go up and do what God has called us to do today. It starts today. Whatever you ask us to do today, lord, help us to do it and to seize it and take it in Jesus’ name, and we will get to live in the blessing and the promise, not just for us but for our children and our children’s children. Don’t let us go another day walking around in this wilderness that we would despise the thought of going in a wilderness for 40 years around the same mountain. God, call us out of this. Let us seize our moments today and we will give you all the glory and all the praise, because it is by your hand, it is your promise and it is by your hand that we take it. In Jesus’ name, we pray Amen.

Seize the moment, folks. Seize your moment. I’d love to hear from you If this was a blessing to you. Hit that like button, share this message. If you want to be notified of when new messages come out, just ring that bell, subscribe to the channel and you’ll get notified. You’ll get an email letting you know when the next one is out. We try to make sure and do that for you once a week. Every Tuesday, I believe, is a new episode that comes out for you. I’d like to hear from you. You can you know if you’re on YouTube. Leave me a comment. I’d be happy to comment back. If you want to send an email, you have a prayer request. Send that to my email address at mail at Jaimeluce.com. You can visit my website. You could read my blogs. Go to Jaimeluce.com for those as well. It was my pleasure spending some time with you today. We will see you next week. Bye-bye.