Joshua 14:12

New International Version (NIV)

Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day … the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.

For Meditation

Faith, commitment, and determination are the combination of disciplines that sets the extraordinary Christian from the ordinary. Faith receives the promise with gladness and joy. Commitment carries it along as far as possible. But it’s determination that moves a person to take hold and actualizes the promise in life. And determination must be audacious when confronted with serious handicaps.

Caleb exemplifies this truth in real life. He received the promise of God by faith at the age of forty in Kadesh Barnea (Nu. 14: 24-25). He committed to the cause of God and fought with the younger folks to possess the Promised Land. Forty-five years after Kadesh, Caleb stood to claim his portion of the inheritance. The land was set in the hills with large cities and fortified walls. The Anakites – the giants – lived there. That was a formidable challenge, even for a young man to claim, but eighty-five year old Caleb demanded it with audacious determination. “Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day … the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as He said” (Joshua 14:12). That was a determination that stood on faith and rode with commitment to overcome the odds and won him the victory. These are the disciplines we need for victorious and authentic Christian living today. The odds are stacked against us, but the Lord helping us, we will overcome for the glory of Christ our Lord.

1. Are you purpose-driven in your walk with Jesus?
2. What has the Lord promised you and for how long? Is the desire still burning in your heart?
3. Are you sure you still want it? Do you have the disciplines of faith, commitment, and determination to go for it, despite the serious obstacles you face?
4. Does Caleb inspire you? Does his audacious determination to take the hill country of the Anakites at age eighty-five years speak hope into your life (Joshua 14:12)?
5. Can you trust the Lord to help you scale those mountains; tear down those walls of hindrance; and to defeat those giants that have intimidated you for so long?  Can you be audaciously determined as Caleb at eighty-five?

I pray you will stop using age and the hurdles of life as excuses to give up on the promises of God for your life. They are all yes in Christ and through Him we say, amen “to the glory of God” (2 Cor. 1:20).

 So: May the Lord who works perseverance in us to perfect us in Christ (James 1:2-4) honor your determination to live for Him; and may the joy of the Lord strengthen you against every formidable opposition that confronts you in life.

Shalom