Take the Land

Tags

Christianity, church, Jesus, kingdom of God, Land, leadership

In the Old Testament, Israel was commanded to take the physical land of Canaan and all the other lands the Lord was giving to them as their inheritance. Each tribe was given a section of land that was designated as theirs. They had to conquer kingdoms, fight giants, tear down walls and keep advancing in order to take the land that Yahweh was giving to them. The Lord even went as far as to say, wherever your foot treads, that land will be yours (Deuteronomy 11:24/Joshua 1:3). So, Israel marched in and took over land from other peoples who were enemies of Israel and were squatting on land that belonged to Israel, for the Psalmist tells us, “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;” (Psalm 24:1, NIV). But when Jesus came to the earth, there was a significant change that took place, but that many, if not most have missed it.

In John 2, Jesus is having a discussion with some Jews after He turned over tables in the temple and this is what Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body” (NIV). Jesus makes a significant shift in understanding from the temple being brick and mortar to the temple being His body, He now was the temple. Then Paul takes the thought one step further when he says, “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God?” (1 Cor. 6:19, NLT). So, there is a shift that takes place from that which used to be outside of them to it being inside of them.

As New Testament believers everything that Israel obtained in the natural or outside of them, like land, like defeating of enemies, like building temples, all of these things are what the Lord has placed inside of us. Think about this for a minute, Jesus prayed in Matthew 6, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”. Who is the earth Jesus is referencing? Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:7 that we have this treasure in earthen vessels. Is it possible, Jesus was praying that the kingdom of God would advance inside of us, that God is seeking to take ground in our hearts, in our lives, not in the earth, but in people? Think about this for a minute, Christ in you is the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27), then from what direction is the Lord seeking to advance His kingdom, outside of you or inside of you? Where is your real battle, is it outside of you or inside of you? James says, “For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice” (James 3:16, NIV). James, Paul, Jesus all say that everything is inside of us.

The land the Lord is calling us to take is inside of us, not outside of us. The battles we face are not outside of us, they are inside of us and inside of others. The only way anything is outside of us is if it comes out of our mouths (Luke 6:45) or our actions. The fruit of the spirit is inside of you, the spirit of God is inside of you, the kingdom of God is inside of you. Everything you need is inside of you, but it all starts with you allowing the Lord to advance the kingdom of God within you. Many people are not successful, not effective, not because they have not had a door open, or an opportunity arise, but because they have resisted the advancing of the kingdom of God in you. 3 John 2 says, “May you prosper and be in good health, even as your soul prospers” (NIV). The land the Lord is trying to take is inside of you, so who controls how much land is taken, you do. Let Jesus, Take the land!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!