𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗠 𝗨𝗣

• Share something that you consider unique about yourself.

• Have you experienced going against the flow? What was the outcome?

• How do you respond to people who want to do things differently than what you prefer?

𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗

“𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘣, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘵.” 𝗡𝗨𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝟭𝟰:𝟮𝟰

(Read also 𝗡𝗨𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝟭𝟯:𝟯𝟬.)

God promised to deliver His people who have been slaves in Egypt for hundreds of years, suffering oppression. We can imagine each generation wishing to see the fulfillment of God’s promise in their lifetime. God brought His people out of Egypt and promised to lead them into a land flowing with milk and honey. However, despite their miraculous deliverance, the Israelites saw the giants they had to overcome to claim their inheritance and lost faith in God. Today, let’s look at how Caleb and Joshua’s trust in and passion to follow God’s word burned brighter among their generation and how God showed His faithfulness to them.

𝟭. 𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗱𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁, 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗯 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗝𝗼𝘀𝗵𝘂𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵.

“𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘯𝘢𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.” . . . 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘣 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, “𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘨𝘰 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘱𝘺 𝘪𝘵, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘵.” 𝗡𝗨𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗦𝟭𝟯:𝟮𝟴,𝟯𝟬

As the Israelites planned to enter the Promised Land, they sent twelve spies to scout it. Ten of them gave a bad report upon seeing giants they would need to defeat, discouraging others from pursuing God’s promise. But Caleb and Joshua responded in faith. As young as they were, they fixed their eyes on God who gave the promise, not on the challenges ahead. They boldly declared their confidence in God and what they could do through Him. In the same way, we can be in faith that God can give us the power to fight for His promises, regardless of what others say. Is there a promise from God that you fought for? How did God enable you to receive this promise?

𝟮. 𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗱𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗲𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗠𝗼𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗚𝗼𝗱’𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲.

“𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘌𝘨𝘺𝘱𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘸.” 𝗡𝗨𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥 𝟭𝟰:𝟭𝟵

Because of the bad report, many of the Israelites grumbled and rebelled against God. As their leaders from the older generation, Moses and Aaron could’ve let them suffer the wrath of God as a consequence of their rebellion. But they, out of reverence for God, interceded on behalf of the people. Likewise, those who are no longer part of the younger generation can still take part in God’s work, fighting for and alongside them in different ways. Why is it important for older generations to intercede for and stand with the younger ones? What are some ways that the older generation could fight for and help the next generation?

𝟯. 𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗱𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘂𝗻𝗳𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, “𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥. . . . 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘣, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘵.” 𝗡𝗨𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝟭𝟰:𝟮𝟬,𝟮𝟰

In spite of the Israelites’ lack of faith and rebellion, they received God’s mercy and were spared from being wiped out. They still inherited the Promised Land, but only the next generation would be able to enter it. We also see how God honored Caleb’s faith, rewarding him and his descendants. Only he and Joshua were allowed to enter the land from their generation. In his old age, Caleb recounted the faithfulness God showed him (Joshua 14:10–12). What does Deuteronomy 7:9 say about the faithfulness of God?

Today, we saw how two generations worked together to see God’s promises and plans fulfilled. May we have the same posture of working together to advance God’s kingdom here on earth.

𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

• God is calling every generation to be actively involved in sharing His promises, plans, and purposes to the next generation. Write three ways you can do so.

• Take time to honor and thank those from the older generation who mentored you and helped you in your walk with God. Pray a prayer of blessing over them.

• Ask God to use you to help someone from the younger generation. Pray for God to lead you to that person this week and use you to bring hope and encouragement.

𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥

• Thank God for using us to fulfill His plans and purposes. Ask God to open more doors for you to encourage people to trust God’s faithfulness throughout all generations.

• Ask God to show you how He has been faithful to you. Pray that He will enable you to respond in faith, regardless of the circumstances that surround you.

• Pray for faith to intercede for others. Ask God for people you can pray for this week and for opportunities to encourage them with His word.