A DIFFERENT SPIRIT: HOW CALEB DEFEATED WEARINESS AND UNBELIEF

5/25/2023

Dear Friends,

This week, I felt such a burden in the Lord’s heart for those facing weariness and discouragement as you wait for certain promises to come to pass.

Knowing that God is “there,” aware, or omnipresent isn’t enough when you’re weary or facing severe trials. You must have a personal, authentic faith-connection with God in order to keep drawing His strength into your life!

As I talked with the Lord about the disappointment and delays I know many are facing, He took me back to the story of Caleb, revealing fresh insight about what it means to be faithful to God for prolonged periods of time.

Believers often focus on the strength of Caleb, which is a dominant theme in his story. Although Caleb is not listed in the Hebrews 11 ‘Hall of Fame,’ it is Caleb’s FAITH - and ongoing faithfulness - that he should be commended for, not just his physical strength. In truth, we usually discover God's strength in our weakest moments!

One timely, revelatory word from God can change everything when you feel like you’re at the end of your rope. Jesus says: “My Words ARE Spirit and they ARE Life!” Romans 8:11 adds that the Spirit of resurrection power can give life even to your mortal body.

In Joshua 14:11, 85-year-old Caleb says he still has enough strength for WAR, not just for the daily tasks of “coming and going.” He knew it would take a war to claim his promised territory, and it did. He won that war despite the advanced age of his body! (See Joshua 15 / Judges 1.)

WHAT WAS CALEB'S SECRET?

Caleb tells us: “My brothers who went up with me (the other spies) made the hearts of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the Lord my God” (Lit., “Jehovah Elohim,” which speaks of the self-existing God of might).

Moses confirms in Joshua 14:9 that it was not Caleb’s PHYSICAL strength that guaranteed his inheritance (although that certainly helped!), but the fact that he “Wholly followed the Lord his God.”

STRENGTH is a byproduct of FAITH.

The Passion Translation of John 6 expands on this thought: “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you - they are full of the Spirit and life. But there are still some of you who won’t BELIEVE.”

While Jesus doesn’t mention this specifically, His statement is especially interesting when you consider the curses listed in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 8:17-20. For those who do not listen to or obey the Lord, God says:

“And I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies…they shall flee… they shall fall when none pursues. They shall stumble… And you shall have NO POWER to stand before your enemies.” (Leviticus 26)

The Lord contends for the faithful, but sends strength into our enemies when we disobey (Judges 3:12). God allowed Caleb and Joshua to live while an unbelieving generation died. They saw these curses in action!

Today, there is still a connection between the condition of your heart and physical strength or endurance. Wilderness seasons will strip you of any reliance on self. Yet you, like Caleb and Joshua, can be found to have faith at the root.

I hear the Lord saying that just as He did with Caleb, God wants to release STRENGTH to you today in every place where you apply your FAITH!

A DIFFERENT SPIRIT

The “different spirit” that was upon Joshua and Caleb is the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. It’s the same Spirit that dwells in you as a believer: the Spirit of the Lord!

As Caleb steps forward to claim his promised allotment of land, he recounts his journey with the ten spies years earlier.

Caleb tells the nation of Israel: “I brought word again as it was in my heart.”

This means that Caleb reported the facts about Canaan as he interpreted them in his “inner mind;” or as he saw the land with spiritual eyes of faith. Today, we would say that Caleb had a “Kingdom mindset.”

Ephesians 3:20 confirms it is “according to the power at work WITHIN YOU” that God can do abundantly more than you ask or imagine.

Jesus says it will be done unto you “according to your faith.” (Matthew 9:29)

WILL YOU FOLLOW?

The Lord emphasized to me that when Jesus called His disciples, He used the words: “Come, follow Me.” Our Lord used the same word Caleb did to invite a new generation of disciples into a walk of faith in God!

Unfortunately, most people will not walk by faith. They will choose what their eyes can see over what their hearts can believe:

“‘Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt in fear. They say, ‘The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.’” (Deuteronomy 1:28)

Ephesians 2:2-3 reminds us that those who do not walk by faith are "following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience - among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind."

There is a strong call being issued from heaven today to wholeheartedly follow the Lord right through impossible, fiery trials.

God is enabling those who trust Him to receive supernatural assistance, strength, and endurance in some of the most evil and challenging times we have ever known. He is anointing a new generation of faithful Calebs and Joshuas to take back the land!

THE PROMISE IS FOR YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN

Acts 2:39 reads: “The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

I believe the Lord is highlighting Caleb because He wants to emphasize the unbreakable nature of His promises to you in a difficult time.

Caleb’s name means “dog.” Biblically, this is an unflattering term for an uncircumcised gentile or heathen!

A deeper study of Caleb’s life reveals that Caleb was not a Jew. He was the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, a Gentile who voluntarily joined himself to the tribe of Judah at some (unknown) point.

Caleb is not the only foreigner who joined Judah’s tribe: Rahab and Ruth also famously became part of the line of David by faith. Even in the Old Testament, God shows His willingness to graft Gentile believers into Israel.

In a beautiful, prophetic portrayal of the One New Man, Gentile Caleb and Jewish Joshua joined together in the Spirit of the Lord - a different spirit - not only to scout out but also to inherit the Promised Land of Canaan!

I believe the Lord wants you to know: whether you are believing for healing, deliverance, family salvations, or turnarounds of impossible situations, there is nothing that can stop you from decreeing and stepping into your inheritance in Christ. It’s always time to let go of weariness and unbelief, taking hold of your promised land by faith! When the fight takes longer than expected, strengthen yourself in the Lord and His Word, which never fails.

YOUR FAITH IS MEANT TO INSPIRE THE NEXT GENERATION

I love the resolute, even competitive spirit of this “giant” of faith - Caleb - as he determines how he will take down the Anakin giants occupying his land. 85-year-old Caleb issues a challenge with a reward to his family and friends!

'Then Caleb said, "Whoever attacks Kirjath Sepher and takes it, to him I will give my daughter Achsah as wife." And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah as wife.

Now it happened, when she came to him, that she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, "What do you wish?"

So she said to him, "Give me a blessing; since you have given me land in the South, give me also springs of water." And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.' (Judges 1:12-15)

You can see faith rising up in the next generation of Caleb’s family. Even a woman was empowered, against cultural traditions, to boldly request land as she followed in her father’s footsteps!

CALEB'S STRATEGIES FOR TODAY

BOLDLY REQUEST your inheritance. (Heb. 4;16; James 4:2-3; Joshua 14:12.) When all the other tribes were waiting for their inheritance to be portioned out by lot, only Caleb said: GIVE ME THE LAND I have waited for! (Joshua 14:12)

REMAIN submitted to God and God-given authority. (James 4:7; Romans 13:1.) Every leader Caleb had known in the wilderness died before he saw his promised land. Moses was gone. Miriam and Aaron died in their 40th year in the wilderness. The only remaining leader was Joshua, who now led the nation. Caleb humbly requested and received Joshua’s blessing prior to taking the land.

DECREE the promises. (Job 22:28.) Caleb says five times in Joshua 14: “The Lord spoke.” He decrees God’s Word over and over again, and you can be sure he didn’t start decreeing that day!

~He decreed it when nearly every leader around him fell in the wilderness.
~When family and friends died for their disobedience.
~With every passing birthday.
~In the face of every disappointment.

It took longer than Caleb thought and he was certainly humbled by the wilderness process, but he walked in the Spirit and saw his inheritance given to him as a reward!

All God’s promises are “yes” and “amen.” Believe and decree until you see your promise manifest!

In Him,
Deborah