But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. Numbers 14:24
The Lord had freed ancient Israel from four centuries of bondage in Egypt, opening up for them what had once been an unthinkable opportunity to inherit “a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8). But at a key moment in their pilgrimage to Canaan, a majority of Israel’s population shrank back from the daring endeavor of claiming God’s promise. They chose the safer route, the more easily explainable route, the more reasonable and protective route, rather than the guaranteed, take-no-prisoners route that led to conquering a whole new realm of territory for themselves and their children.
That’s why only two of the the original two million travelers — Joshua and Caleb — ended up walking as victorious landowners on Canaan’s soil. Factor it down, and you have a profound spiritual equation. Individually, these men were one in a million. And what set them apart, the Scripture says (of Caleb, but surely of Joshua too), is that they possessed “a different spirit.” They didn’t need to fit in. They didn’t need to be liked. They didn’t base their conclusions on the majority report.
They didn’t depend on the approval of their friends for determining which path they would choose to walk. They simply hit the dirt road toward the Promised Land and never looked back. They believed that the same God who could bring a mighty Pharaoh to his knees could do the same to any other enemy who stood in the way of His plans being fulfilled for His people. As a result, these two — and only these two — who’d begun their lives as slaves in Egypt were able to complete them as free men in God’s country. Because…they were different.
Abundant living mandates different living — different even from other believers who may be complacent with their freedom, lulled to sleep in their wilderness wanderings. To experience everything God intends, a difference is required. One in which your thought processes, self-disciplines, and most pressing choices carve out a narrow road that is not often tread. One on which you will nearly always walk alone. Alien. Stranger. Sore thumb. Are you willing? To be the one in a million?
The traveling conditions are rarely smooth sailing when heading into the direction of abundant living. The places where God’s presence and provision — His milk and honey — abound are where bold belief in His promises takes priority over man’s acceptance and affirmation. Ask the Father — the Deliverer — to give you the kind of courage by His Spirit that would make you willing to stand out form the crowd when called for. The difference will be worth it.”
Priscilla Shirer in Awaken: 90 Days with the God who Speaks (Nashville: B&H Publishing, 2017) reading for Day 10. Special thanks to my friend and brother, John Cochran, for sharing today’s post with me.
Generous people are different people. They have a different spirit. While those around them aim at accumulation, they daydream about distribution. When most give lip service to the teachings of Jesus on money and stockpile wealth on earth, they set goals for sharing and storing up in heaven instead. These people know God’s promises are trustworthy because they depend on Him for their daily bread and everything else. They have a different spirit. They are one in a million.
Likewise, in my GTP work, when I see people willing to set standards of responsible stewardship in contexts riddled with corruption have a different spirit. It’s one thing for a group to say that a culture has trappings, that is, sinful patterns, and it’s a whole different story for them to be willing to confess openly, “This is wrong! God forgive us. We must chart a new course.” That’s the ‘Caleb spirit’ I see in the testimony of a small group of Brazilians that I am working with this week. They have a different spirit.
What about you? Do you have a different spirit? I am convinced that the Promised Land in the Old Testament foreshadows the eternal heavenly kingdom in the New Testament. Only those who have a different spirit and are willing to go against the flow and live differently will find it. Is that you? Grasping abundant living now and eternal joy later is about the daring adventure of walking the narrow road no matter what everyone else is doing.