“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.” (1Jn 2:15-16).
To know and enjoy God’s will for us on earth requires that our minds be constantly renewed to align with God’s word (Rom 12:2). God loves us so much that, He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus (Eph 1:3). He does not want us to live fruitless and unfulfilled lives on earth. His plans for us are always good. He wants us to enjoy every part of His plans for us, therefore, He commands: “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” (Col 3:2). How we respond to this command will make the difference between a life of defeat and a life of victory for us.
The Israelites lost the promised land because they had a mindset that was in conflict with God’s will for them. “And I said to you, ‘You have come to the mountains of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. 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.’” (Deut 1:20-21). Israel actually reached the borders of the land which God had promised them. They were face to face with their inheritance when their long-held negative mentality resurfaced, and obstructed their chances of possessing the land.
All the children of Israel needed to do, according to God’s word, was to go up and possess the land. As far as God was concerned, the land was theirs; He had already given it to them. But they failed to possess it because of their unbelief. This is an important lesson for us: what God has given us positionally may never become ours experientially, if we do not “go up and possess it.” No wonder God said the following to Joshua: “Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses.” (Josh 1:3). Joshua and those he led could only possess in experience the places they were willing to tread upon, nothing more, nothing less. Similarly, our willingness to take God at His word determines the limits of our experience in Christ.
Israel’s failure at this point in their history resulted from their fear and consequent discouragement—the very thing against which, God had warned them. “… do not fear or be discouraged.’” (Deut 1:20-21). Fear and discouragement are usually the result of a wrong mindset. If the mind is set on the world, of which Egypt is a type, it inevitably results in unbelief. Though the Israelites had left Egypt, Egypt had not left them, because they kept thinking about it with nostalgia. They held onto their mentality of slavery. They needed to be transformed by the renewing of their minds, like we do too.
The devil will always subtly introduce his destructive ideas into our thought processes, with the hope of distracting us from God and, thereby, hindering our progress in plans for us. We should never expect anything to the contrary as long as we live on earth, for whatever will reduce God in our consciousness, delights the devil. He knows that if he can convince us to focus on his distorted assessment of life, we will come under his destructive influence. As long as the Israelites kept their focus on the negative and unpleasant things around them, they gravitated towards destruction. Hence, we cannot afford to let ideas that contradict God’s word concerning us to gain ground in our hearts. His word should be the object of our constant meditation (Josh 1:8). For until God’s word fills our minds, it will not reflect in our lives. God’s word has to occupy our thoughts in order to influence our choices and actions. Whatever we are mindful of dictates our behaviour, and defines our reality.
It is tempting, but dangerous to reject the word of God because of the testimony of our senses. This is because God’s word represents reality on a higher plane than the testimony of our senses does. “Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven.” (Ps 119:89). Our senses and all they can perceive were created by the word of God: “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.” (Heb 11:3). Material reality came out of invisible, spiritual reality. To reject God’s word, therefore, is to settle for less. And like the Israelites, we do this when we set our minds the things of the flesh and the world, which is exactly what it means to live according to the flesh— to be so mindful of your senses and reason (Rom 8:6 AMP) that you ignore or neglect the Holy Spirit. This condition has dire consequences, as the scriptural text above, concerning the children of Israel, reveals. Shalom.
