Good Morning My Beloved Family!
It's such a honor and a privilege to have each one of you here today.
All praise and glory to God!
Heavenly Father,
"As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in. Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said."
Joshua 14:11-12
“Give Me This Mountain” was Caleb’s final answer.
Caleb appears first in the Bible as a member of the twelve spies who were sent by Moses to explore the Promised Land.
The spies were to report on the people, the cities, and the land and to bring back some samples of the fruit of the land.
They were supposed to encourage Israel and show them by these
samples of fruit that the land they were about to posses was worth
fighting for.
The spies were not sent to test the strength of the enemy, but they were sent to test the hearts of the Israelites.
The twelve spies were chosen from the twelve tribes, one spy from each tribe.
Caleb represented the tribe of Judah. The Name Judah Meant “Praise.”
These men were chosen in recognition of their leadership in their tribes, every one of them was a ruler in each tribe.
Caleb was a nobleman, or prince, in Judah.
When the spies returned to the camp, ten of them gave a negative report.
They said, the land is fertile; it is flowing with milk and honey.
But the inhabitants are strong and many. They told them about the
great walled cities and reported even seeing giants in the land.
When they gave this negative report, fear gripped the hearts of the people.
So Caleb steps to the front to give his report from Joshua and himself.
He did not disagree with the facts presented by the other ten spies.
But he did assure the people that there was nothing to fear.
He reminded them of how God brought them out of Egypt
He reminded them how God parted the Red Sea just in time to escape Pharaoh's army.
He reminded them that God had given them victory over Amalek.
He reminded them of how God supplied manna for them and their
children to eat when they thought they would starve in the wilderness.
Then he reminded them of the manifestation of God on Sinai.
He told them, “God is with us, therefore we will overcome the walled cities and any giant that gets in our way.”
Lets go right now and possess it.
But the other ten spies said, we cannot do it.
These men accepted defeat without a battle.
They accepted the spirit of forfeit without even trying.
Listen to me right now, You will never fail until you quit trying!
Most of the battles you will lose in your life, you will lose right here, in your mind.
And when you've lost the battle here, you've lost it there!
You haven't lost the battle until you've stopped fighting!
Listen, You are not a failure until you quit!
All the ten spies saw, were the problems.
All they saw were the obvious shortcomings.
All they noticed were the reasons why it couldn’t be done.
You cannot focus on your problems and be an over comer!
We cannot dwell on every challenging task, every difficult situation that is going on in our lives and expect to have victory in our lives.
We need to dwell on the promises of God.
“For He is able to do exceeding, abundantly, above all that we ask or think according to the power that works within us.”
What’s that talking about?
It’s talking about our faith!
"So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if
you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move
from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible
for you."
Matthew 17:20
Have any of you even seen a mustard seed?
They are incredibly small.
"If you have faith as a mustard seed"
Wow, Jesus is saying that if we have even a tiny amount of faith, we have been given the power to move mountains!
So what exactly is faith?
The Bible defines faith as
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
Hebrews 11:1
"But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."
Hebrews 11:6
No matter what your mountain is, you can conquer it.
How do I know this?
Because the Bible says so and if the Bible says it, that settles it!
“You are of God , little children, and have overcome them, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”
1 John 4:4
Just meditate on that for a few moments...
Allow it to sink in...
It is in the darkness that faith lights the lamp for us to see the goodness of God.
The psalmist also wrote, Psalm 34:19,
"Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivers him out of them all."
Look, everybody has trouble in their life.
It’s just part of life.
But if all
you ever think about is the bad stuff that goes on in your life, then you’re
not going to be a very faithful person ... or happy one!
David wrote in Psalm chapter twenty-seven in verse thirteen
"I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living."
I have often heard many Christians running around saying, "I am a faithful Christian."
Is your Faith - Full???
"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you."
Philippians 4:8-9
We cannot conquer the mountains in our life until we learn how to think positively and with hearts full of faith.
Let me tell somebody, that you can be forgiven and set free from sin.
Romans 6:22 says that we are now made free from sin, and become servants to God.
Romans 8:1 reads, There is therefore now no condemnation to them
which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit.
"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth)"
Ephesians 5:8-9
The words were and now indicate that the promise has become real.
There is a big big BIG difference between were and now.
Someone said to me years ago,
“There’s something different about you..."
A difference? In me? There sure is!
I was without hope.
Now I living by faith!
I was stressed and worried.
Now I hold fast to the promises of God!
I was caught up in sin.
Now I am saved!
I was fearful and anxious.
Now I have peace and joy.
I was living in Hell.
Now I am living a life in Christ!
Is there a difference in me?
Oh you bet there is!
I'm a child of God!!
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Now if there’s a huge problem in my life, Now, I have Faith that God is going to work it all out.
Before I knew Jesus, I was without faith.
Before I knew Him, I was always trying to figure how I was going to take care of things
But now, I have Faith in God and trust that He will take care of it all!
I was drowning my sorrows.
Now I am cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ!!
I’m not the same guy I used to be!
There has been a crucifixion!
My old self died with Christ!
That's what baptism is all about!
I was inviting people to the club, Now I invite them to get to know Jesus!
And yeah, I’m still living in this flesh, but now I’m living in this flesh with the realization that Jesus loved me so much that He died on the cross for me!
And He did the same for you too!
The difference between what I used to be and who I am now is Jesus!
If you don't already, You can have it too!
If you'll just accept His open invitation, won't you consider it now?
I awaken each day with confidence!
I will win the battles of my life when I know that HE is on my side!
And THAT is my final answer!
What's your final answer?
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Brian Monzon Ministries