Embrace change

without murmuring. The Israelites complained so much at almost every step of the way out of slavery. They didn’t like the food. They were thirsty. They were afraid. God was too strict.

Then they said it. We were better off in slavery!

Can you imagine someone wanting to go back to slavery?

Ultimately, their bad attitude kept them from entering the Promised Land. The first generation died wandering in the desert. Their children possessed the good land.

If you’re in great upheaval right now, praise God for the trial. Try not to complain. I know it’s hard.

Image source: Beautiful pictures on Google+. I don’t own the rights to this image, and I’m not making any money on it.

When my soul becomes parched

God turns the desert into lush forests.

If you are passing through a desert — a time of trials, of lack of finances, of marital strife, of sickness, of despondency, of dryness of soul — God will turn it completely around.

Your words = your reality

Biblical authors rightly reasoned, inspired by the Spirit, that if a person’s negative words could convert into reality, a positive confession would also.

The first instance of confession-prophecy was when the Israelites complained to Moses that God had brought them out of Egypt only to die and not inherit the Promise Land. God responded: So be it; your negative confession shall be a prophecy.

As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very things I heard you say: In this desert your bodies will fall–every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me — Numbers 14:28-29 NIV.

But the principle works both ways. If negative words could lead to bad, positive words would also be honored by God. So in Jesus’ time, if you confessed faith in Jesus, He healed you. The proverbist said: Death and life are in the power of the tongue — Prov. 18:21 KJV.

When you pray today, make a positive confession.

From 40 days to 40 years

It should’ve taken 40 days to traverse the wasteland from Egypt to the Promised Land, but instead it took 40 years for the Israelites. A lack of GPS was not the problem. The problem? Grumbling.

Grumbling and ministry are a noxious blend. Because of grumbling, the Israelites ticked off God so bad He punished them, sent plagues on them, swallowed some of them up in the Earth, and finally sent them back into the desert for 40 years.

Their grumbling may have been justifiable. They were formerly slaves, so their education and cultural level was low. They behaved like what they were, not what God had made them. They refused to release their clutch on the past. So we make a case for comprehension.

Be that as it may, the bottom line is that their grumbling derailed them from the destiny. No matter how justified you feel for grumbling, don’t do it. You could get stuck in the desert.

Out of thin air

Practical. That’s what we are. It’s only natural that we look to logical sources of income: church members who tithe, donors, special offerings. etc. We do our accounting with precision.

So it was natural that the Israelites would complain: Why did you bring us out here in the desert – to die? There was no identifiable source of food out there in the God-forsaken desert. Just scrub brush, sand, rocks, sun – lots and lots of sun. Wind. Where were they going to get grub from? Slavery in Egypt was bad. But dying of starvation was certainly worse.

But God is NOT practical. He operates outside of our dimensions. He is NOT limited to logical sources of income. When he provided manna for the Israelites, he manufactured it — out of thin air. Einstein taught E=mc². The equation tells that material can be converted from energy and the speed of light. I don’t know if God used Einstein’s equation. But when he brought angel’s bread, he conjured it out of nothing.

This is the kind of miracle we need. We need money for ministerial urgencies now. Where is going to come from? Out of thin air. Don’t be discouraged about impossibilities. God will bring in the money you need, and you needn’t worry about the origin of the money. He can make it out of thin air.