Wholeheartedly

Matthew 5:⁸ “When you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right, then you can see God in the outside world.” (MSG, emphasis added)

Joshua 14:⁸ “…For my part, I wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God.” (emphasis added). The state of your heart determines the level of your access to God’s promises and God’s presence. It is all about the heart, Caleb’s heart was with God, so he followed God completely. And guess what? Your attitude tells us what is in your heart. Your attitude is the incense that flows out of your heart. Smoke will always flow out. So, do not tell us you have faith when all we can see is fear. Do not tell us you believe God when your attitude, your words, and your disposition is the complete opposite. And that is why people do not enter into the promises of God.

Hebrews 3:^7-8,10-11 “That is why the Holy Spirit says, “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested me in the wilderness… So I was angry with them, and I said, ‘Their hearts always turn away from me. They refuse to do what I tell them.’ So in my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest.’” (emphasis added). When the scriptures say, “the Holy Spirit says…” who was he referring to? He was referring to Psalm 95:8-11. It is all about the heart. Hebrews 4:^1-2 “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” (KJV).

They could not enter into the promise because of the state of their hearts. It is all about the heart. Caleb is telling us that the mountains we will take depend on the state of our hearts, depend on our attitude. Are you familiar with what is called the ‘Can Do Attitude’? it is all about your attitude. The first thing Caleb teaches us is that a promise delayed is not a promise denied. Keep the promise fresh, keep it in front of you, and hold it before God, particularly this season. The second thing we learnt from Caleb is, your attitude truly determines your altitude.

The third thing we learnt from Caleb is, Make Bold Claims. We have to make bold claims. I studied the scriptures, Moses never said it was Hebron that was for Caleb. He just said the land of the Canaanites. But in the process of traveling the land, Caleb said, since Moses gave me a blank cheque, Hebron is where I want. Caleb was making a bold claim. Joshua 14:¹² “So give me this mountain [hill country, higher ground] that the Lord promised me.” (words added).

Prayer: Father, by Your Spirit, help me get my mind and heart put right, so I can see God clearly and make bold claims that align with God’s heart, in Jesus Mighty Name. Amen!