The Under 20 Generation

Imagine being born and raised in a quarrelsome neighborhood. One where the people clearly and directly oppose God and stand up to leadership. They say men of God are fake and ultimately they reject Godly authority in their lives.

This must be the situation the young people of Israel found themselves in. Their elders wrangled with the Lord until the Lord had no option but to disinherit them. They were cast out of the blessing. It’s so cold outside the blessing; never go there, not even for a brief visit.

They went to wars, but they were routed and defeated – outside the blessing.

They created internal strife, and God sent a plague, in a moment in time, 14000 people were killed by the anger of God (Number 16)…

Now think of these under 20s, tagging along. Being fed the poison of propaganda. Imagine how much more their parents would be complaining and murmuring in their own homes, if the word says, after the plague, the people complained and said Moses had caused innocent people to die, how much more would they have spoken in the privacy of their homes (Numbers 16)…

God took a decision to immediately start a process of elimination, until they were all to be finished.

Now think about this Under 20 generation. As they grew up, all they knew was that God was unfaithful, God had failed his people, God had killed his people in the wilderness. Their parents would never openly admit that it was they who had failed God instead, never!

I believe the only profession and skill they learned besides complaining was being undertakers. Think of it, 3million people were to die in a space of 40 years. This means on average 206 people were to be buried everyday…

Who did the burying, the under 20 Generation!

Now you think you have had a difficult childhood or life! Look at these kids, they did nothing wrong but they were in wilderness, suffering. On the surface it would seem that these kids had nothing going for them…

Allow me to show you that although it looked like they had nothing good going their way, they infact had everything they needed; a prophetic word from the Lord and  3 Covenant promises from the Lord.

He said through Moses:

Say unto them, [As truly as] I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness…

But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. Numbers 14:28-31

The LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye [are], and bless you, as he hath promised you! Deut 1:11

They had a word of promise from God and we know that God watches over his word to perform it (Jeremiah 1:12).

 

May I speak to the church now…

What is your background, what is your situation, what are the circumstances of your life? Do you sometimes feel like you are a home grown, unpaid undertaker yourself? Have you had to bury everyone that matters to you? God still has a destiny appointment for you and according to His word it is a good plan (Jer 29:11) .

You may have been born where there is absolutely no family, or no love, or no hope, or no whatever. On the surface it may look like there is nothing good that can come out of your life. Here is the great news God is here and His word is all you need. His word is a sure foundation (Heb 11:3). 

A few steps, which worked for the Under 20 Gen in Israel

1. Take Heed
1. Pay attention to the word of God
2. Prepare to do the word at all times
3. Disregard every other message from anywhere or anyone else

Remember the word says  Joshua 1:8, Psalm 1 and John 6:63

2. Remember

This speaks about speaking to yourself and reminding yourself what the lord has done in your life but also what He has promised to do. … (See how Moses reminded them of the promise in Deut 31)

Malachai 3:16,17 & 1Cor 14:26 and Heb 10:25 Show why it’s important to attend church, so that you can be taught the word but also so that you can remind others and be reminded of the word.

3. Internalize that you are great and you belong to greatness

Make the word a part of you!

Deut 4:7,8,9(a)

We are so great because we have a great God

We are so great because this great God is so near to us

We are so great because we have great statutes or life instructions. Our life has come with a manual…

Success is therefore guaranteed, failure is a choice.

Our greatness is not of our might and power but it is of The God we serve, therefore get to know His word and meditate upon it and do what it says.

4. Remember that there is always help

Deut 4:29-31

If you get into the Promised Land and sin, and depart from God, bad things will befall you, but if you repent and come back, he will accept you and change your story.

-          Its not God who took you down there! It’s either yourself or the devil. But it is God who will take you out, and you aint coming out empty handed…

Therefore keep in mind that there is always recourse. 1John 1:9 and Heb 4:16

Your God is merciful

There is thus hope, there is support in the kingdom! 

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People with a “Different Spirit”

When the nation of Israel would not obey God, when they would not do his will or proceed to take up the land promised of God, the Lord had to disinherit them. But in that process he immediately prophesied to Moses a new nation:

Numbers 14:12 I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they

MSG v12… But I will make you into a nation bigger and stronger than they ever were!

Similarly when the 10 spies brought an evil report, God condemned the 10 and said they won’t see the Promised Land. But he gives a special exception to Caleb and Joshua, saying, “But my servant Caleb—this is a different story. He has a different spirit; he follows me passionately. I’ll bring him into the land that he scouted and his children will inherit it. (Numbers 14:24, MSG)

We thus see two kinds of people who qualify eventually to enter the Promised Land, that is, the children who were below 20 at the time of the rebellion and two gentlemen – Caleb and Joshua, because they dared believe in the midst of all unbelief in the camp.

For the under 20s children, the Lord allowed them into the Promised Land because they said nothing! Isn’t it funny! The older people shouted, yelled, complained and created strife in their hearts. This became totally incompatible with God’s nature. But when the little children said nothing, the word of God could still work in their lives. The promises of God which are yes and amen in Christ, which were already activated by the prophetic could proceed and obtain result for the little children. But not so for the elderly because they actively frustrated the word of God. But we will look more at this on our next blog. Lets look at the other group that entered the Promised Land.

Only two attributes seem to have qualified Caleb and Joshua:

i.                    They had a different spirit

ii.                  They followed God fully or passionately (MSG)

A lot of times success and prosperity are not products of many great things, but a positive and strong spirit… Where your current IQ can't take you, where your certificates can't take you, where your education, connections, physical strength can’t take you, the positive and strong spirit will. In fact the scripture calls it “confidence”! Faith is confidence nothing more or less! If you are confident in the Lord, in the ability of the word of the Lord, then you are in the faith that is of God. It is not confidence in your own self, but in God! The 10 spies wanted to rely on their own abilities and quickly realized the limits thereof and this hurt God. But Caleb and Joshua realized they had to primarily lean on God’s ability and hence it was easy for them to say, “let us go up at once and possess the land for we are well able"!’

Isn’t it amazing that the bible never refers to Joshua and Caleb as extra ordinarily gifted soldiers? It simply states that they believed. Sometimes we have over exaggerated the importance of our own abilities. The ability of God will place you much higher than your own abilities ever will. Let us rely on him. David says in Psalm 34:2 “my soul shall make her boast in the Lord.”

The second element is a passionate pursuit of God. The MSG version said Caleb followed God “Passionately”, while the KJV says “Fully”. I am not sure how many people do get to fulfill the plan of God 100%. I know that our God is a God of just, he judges people’s hearts rather than physical actions.

He approves David for his ‘perfect’ heart though he had faults in the natural. This verse does not demand perfection, it demands an excellent, passionate and surrendered heart! Because we are all not perfect. God is not demanding perfection all he seeks is a perfect heart. He is demanding a total yield to his spirit and his leadership. He has given you his spirit. He is our guide and counselor.

I believe that God is still looking for a generation that would rather be silent than offend God. A generation that would rather be innocent or novices in disbelief and mature in faith! The camp of Israel became so sensitive of their slavery and suffering that even when an opportunity to live life free from bondage in a land flowing with milk and honey, their negative experiences clouded their judgment.

  

My simple encouragement to you today is to stay in faith. Stay in scriptural confession. Guard your heart and endeavor to keep a positive and faithful heart. At all times, seek after the heart and purpose of God! The Bible says in Psalm 8:2, “out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength”. There is power in keeping your heart pure and clean. Don’t allow fears, failures and negative experiences of life to contaminate your heart and ability to trust God. 

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The Power Of The Right Mindset

Last week, Pst Mk began on conditioning for victory and showed how we must see in His light and today we go deeper and explore how we should also change the way we think till it is in line with His word. 

Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals, and its new attitude] so that you may prove [for yourselves], what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you]   -Romans 12:2 Amplified

After the children of Israel had been taken out of Egypt (out of slavery), something that did not leave them instantly was the mental conditioning they had received after so much time spent in captivity. The situation they were in was one of limitation and in that limitation they had developed a comfort zone and as such they were content in that horrible situation, so much so that after seeing the 10 signs and wonders God had wrought to get them out of Egypt and were now at the Red Sea with Pharaoh’s men behind them and the sea infront of them their response was one based on the old mentality (read Exodus. 14 11-12).

That same mentality is seen in Numbers 13 & 14, when they have had a glimpse of the promised land and seen the opposition they will have to fight against in order to posses the land the same old mentality that sought comfort kicked in (Numbers 14:1-4). The results of this mindset can be seen in Numbers 
14:22-23 and verse 28-30. God’s promise failed to be manifest in the lives of many not because the devil stole it but because these folk had the wrong mindset, they held onto the slave mindset (Numbers 14:4) while God was trying to take them from them slavery and make them a mighty people (Selah).  

However despite the negative mindsets surrounding them 2  young men rose up, with a totally different way of thinking. In the midst of a multitude of people screaming “Lets go back into our comfort zone”, Caleb and Joshua adopted a way of thinking that was in line with God’s way of thinking and this was evidenced in their words Numbers 14:7-9.

 

Likewise, when we received Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, the promises of God became a reality to us, however the way we think can either help or hinder the manifestation of those promises in our lives that is why Romans 12:2 becomes of utmost importance to us if we are to walk in victory. This is why it is also important to spend time in the word, because the more of it we take in the more we make our minds new (renew your mind) and adopt His way of thinking (thinking that is in line with the word of God).

Did you know that the word says “We have the mind of Christ” (read 1Corinthians 2:16). Isn’t that awesome, let it sink in for a while! Last week we learnt that as He is so are we, and that encompasses the way we think too.

So, what is the right mentality and how do you know you have it.

1.       The right mentality sees differently.

In Numbers 13 & 14 the spies were sent into the same land but 10 saw the opposition while only 2 saw the victory that God was preparing for them. To them the enemies were “bread”, that is, easy walk-overs.

In 1 Samuel 17, David gets to a situation where the generals and the king are afraid of a giant, yet David did not see a giant but someone who when compared to God was insignificant.

In the two examples above it is awesome to see how God overlooks those who appear to be qualified, or those we think have the experience all because of a mindset. He also completely ignores the multitudes because the difference is not in the age, the qualifications or the numbers but it is in the mindset.

Do you see giants or do you see your stepping stones to promotion?

Good news is by getting into the word and meditating upon it, you are equipping yourself with the tools to begin to see differently.

2.       The right mentality hears differently.

The people who heard the report back from the spies focused on the negative things they heard, “the giants are in the land…….we were like grasshoppers in their sight”, while 2 young people focused on the fact that the land was an exceedingly good land. How often do we hear the mob give us a negative report (you know when your friends say “It cannot be done”) and because we think so many people can’t be wrong, go with the flow?? Have you read Romans 3:3-4?

Similarly in 1Samuel 17, David did not hear the many exaltations that the giant was receiving from the armies but instead He heard the reward the man who shall kill the giant  would get.

What do you hear when the giants of unemployment, of poverty or teenage HIV stats are talked about, do you hear the voice of those who say they cannot be overcome or do you hear of the rewards that will come to those who stand and kill these giants (every giant you face you will overcome and get a reward)

Remember “The unbelief of many shall not change the faithfulness of God”, Hear the word of the Lord!!!!!

3.       The right mentality speaks differently

Notice how in all examples where the wrong mindset is present those who posses it always are vocal in negativity, even to the point of violence when they are challenged. (Numbers 14:10).

The mentality you posses will always be evidenced by the words you speak, so we will always know the by your words whether or not you have the right mindset.

What many people seldom know however is that because as He is so are we, then whatever we speak will come to pass. Notice how the words that the children of Israel spoke were brought to pass (Numbers 14:28-29), yet in the same breath see what happened to those who spoke differently (Numbers 14:30).

Wow, see how important the right mentality is? It determines what you see, what you hear and what you speak which ultimately determines what will come to pass in your life. God has already given you the victory but have you changed your mindset to begin to see, hear and speak inline with that?

Developing the right mindset is as easy as spending time in the word.

Take some time and breeze through Last Months Blog Posts to see and get started on renewing your mind.

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