Date: Monday 20th August, 2018.

Topic: That Spot

Bible Reading: Numbers 13: 25–33 (The Holy Bible, New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.)

1. And they returned from spying out the land after forty days.

2. Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.

3. Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.

4. Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there.

5. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.”

6. Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.”

7. But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.”

8. And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature.

9. There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

Word for Today: Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.”. – v. 30.

Inspiring Commentary:

Joshua at God's command sent out twelve spies to explore the Promised Land. Ten of them came with a negative report: “…the land… does flow with milk and… But the people who live there are… stronger than we.” The Bible recorded it as an evil report. In other words, that tendency the vast majority of us have to dwell on negative things in situations, ourselves and other people is a devilish attribute. That may sound heavy. Nevertheless, when we observe the impact of the spies’ evil report and the total devastation and demoralization it brought to the Israelite camp, we see how the devil almost used it to thwart God's purposes.

Positive thinking from a scriptural perspective does not imply denying the existence of negative factors. The faithful spies, Caleb and Joshua, acknowledged that the enemies were strong giants. However, they did not focus on that, but on God's promise to give the land to them. It follows that God wants us to look beyond obstacles, faults or failures to what He has said and can do. Have you taken time to find out what God has to say about the events and people in your life? God wants you to be a possiblty-thinker.

Prayer: Father, thank you for creating me just as I am with special gifts to serve you and humanity. Help me make the best of all you’ve given me to be for your glory.