Joseph Prince - Ask Big, Ask Bold

You know, just the other day, I remember running some errands. And I was going towards the car park where my car was parked. It was a large outdoor car park. And as I was walking out, just, you know, my mind, I was musing on something. And I was wearing a cap, you know, with a large brim of the cap. And I was looking down and I walked towards my car. And all of a sudden, all I knew was this, that my cap flew out of my head in a somersault way and I caught it. So, something hit my brim of my cap to make it flip out. And I look around and it was actually the bar of the car park, all right? And I didn't even realize, I thought I was going by the side into the open-air car park, when actually I swayed to where the bar was. And the bar actually came down precisely at the moment where I walked towards it. And it hit the brim of my cap, somersaulting it, and I caught it. All I can think of is that Psalms 91, amen, the Lord protected me.

So, you know, you know that kind of thing can cause head damage. So, I thank God for your prayers, and I thank God that we must not take things for granted. Thank God for Psalms 91 because in that psalm, it tells us about the times we live in. You know, God gives an indication. I know that people say the chapters and all that are not inspired, but there's something there about Psalms 91, verse 1, amen. "You are in the secret place of the Most High," 9-1-1, which is the emergency call number in the US. And I believe God is saying in volumes that we need to live in Psalms 91. Praise the name of Jesus.

If you look at Psalms 90 that precedes Psalms 91, it's talking about Moses under the law, the people of God under the law. It talks about their days will be days of 70 years old, and by reason of strength, it is 80 years old, and that's it. But over here in Psalms 91, the promise is for the people in the new covenant under grace. It says, "With long life," there's not even a measurement like 80 years old. "With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation," which is actually the final word of Psalms 91. It's actually Jesus. "Show him my Yeshua". Praise the name of Jesus.

As I was preparing for this message, I'm so excited about God's Word because God's Word is our inheritance. You know, when we study God's Word, God has so many things in store for us, and he has prepared riches, riches of his grace. The Bible calls about the riches of his glory, riches of his grace that he has prepared for us in his Word. And we need to seek out God's Word. Like in the book of Proverbs it says, "If you seek her as silver, amen, dig out the gold of God's Word, you'll find the knowledge of the Lord," amen, find the wisdom of God. Hallelujah. And when you get wisdom, not knowledge, you know, people of the world can receive knowledge, they can get experience, they can read books and acquire the expertise that they need for certain field, but knowledge is not wisdom. Wisdom cometh from the Lord, "For the Lord giveth wisdom," the Bible says, "out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding".

So, every time we go into God's Word, you know, we are searching out God's wisdom. And his Word is so alive, and because his Spirit is involved, it's not just the Word itself, but the Holy Spirit's involved. He brings out from the written Word, the now Word for us. Hallelujah. How cool is that? Amen. The Word that we need, perhaps for this week, perhaps for the next day, even for this very day, he can speak to us from the written Word and make the written Word the living Word. Praise the Lord. You know, I'm reminded of the story of Caleb. And Caleb, that man who said, "I'm as strong this day at 85 years old as I was when Moses sent me when I was 40 years old. My strength is still the same as the day". Forty-five years ago until now, his strength has not diminished, it's undecayed, amen, unfailing strength. If anything, he's increasing in strength. He asked for the mountain of Hebron to be his possession at the age of 85.

Well, this same man has a daughter called Achsah, and let's read about it. It says, "Caleb said, 'He who attacks Kirjath Sepher'", very interesting. Every name in the Bible has a meaning and has a meaning for us today. You know, I just want to pause here and just show you this from 1 Corinthians chapter 10. It says, "Now, all these things", now, this a New Testament verse, right? But it says this, "Now all these things happened to them," referring to the Old Testament people, "as types". As what? "As types". The word there in the Greek is "tupos," types. "And have been written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come". So, even all those things in the Old Testament, they are written for our admonition. So, in other words, it is not just when God tells Joshua to sort of set out the boundaries of the territories that he has given to the children of Israel, and this tribe will inhabit this portion, and the other tribe will inherit that portion.

Every name on every city, every mountain, every stream, every valley, every name has a meaning for us today. And perhaps it is an area that we have neglected that has caused us to suffer in that area. And perhaps it's something that God wants to bring us to our attention because there's yet very much land to be possessed. That's the word today. There's yet very much land to be possessed, and God wants to give you the secrets, amen, of possessing your possessions. Praise the name of Jesus. So, in Caleb's story, it says, "Caleb said, 'He who attacks Kirjath Sepher'", now, even Kirjath Sepher has a meaning. This city means, literally, "Kirjath" is city, "Sepher" is book, "City of the Book". And whoever attacks the city of the book... now look at this. The Bible, the Word of God, is the book, amen. It is the written Word. But watch this. "'He who conquers Kirjath Sepher and takes it, to him I will give Achsah my daughter as wife.' So Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it; and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife".

Othniel, his name means "lion of God". Achsah, her name means "anklet". And whenever it talks about the ankle or the foot, it speaks of possessing the land: "Every place the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours". "Now it was so, when she came to him, that she persuaded him to ask her father for a field". Now obviously, she has married Othniel in this context here. "So she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, 'What do you wish?' She answered, 'Give me a blessing; since you have given me land in the South, give me also springs of water.' So the father Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs".

So, we see here that names have meanings. Othniel means "lion of God". I see a picture here of the Lord Jesus taking the scroll, the book, he conquered, amen. He conquered the city of the book, and he received. And who is worthy, amen, "Who is worthy to loose the seals thereof"? And he's the only one who took the book. And the Bible, only there, the Bible describes him as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. And Othniel means "the lion of God". And he conquered the city of the book, Kirjath Sepher. And the Bible says that Caleb named the city, later on, Debir. So, Kirjath Sepher became Debir. Debir means, you know, "dabar" means God's Word. Literally, he who conquers the city of the book, the written Word, he who really masters this book, amen, will have the living Word of God. Only then can you speak, amen, as the oracles of God. Literally the city of the book became the oracles of God. "Debir" means the oracles of God, the spoken Word, amen. But there is no spoken Word unless we spend time in the written Word. Praise the Lord.

You know, I'm very intrigued by the fact that our children are affected by our faith. We know that Caleb is a strong man of faith. And it's wonderful to see that she married a man of faith as well, Othniel. Actually, Othniel was her cousin. And I can just see her, Achsah, when she was a little girl. They were traveling in the wilderness. And in this context we read just now, Kirjath Sepher is in the Promised Land. Through Joshua, they had come into the land, and she's a young woman now married. But I can just see her when she was traveling with her father as a young girl. And at night, they would just sit around the campfire. And Caleb, that mighty man of faith, will talk about the good land. He will say how wonderful that land is, and how the grapes there are luscious. You know, those cluster of grapes are huge. And I can just see Achsah, his daughter's eyes becoming really big. And then across the fire is the cousin that she will marry, Othniel, the lion of God, as a young boy.

You know, parents, it is important that we share the Word of God, not in a fashion like, "Sit down here, I'm gonna share with you the Bible," but in a very natural way, as you're walking with them, as you're playing with them, as you are even eating, while eating with them. You can always share God's Word in a simple way, but stir up the interest. Stir up the love for God's Word. As I can just see, you know, Achsah's eyes becoming really big and just wondering how good to have those grapes in her hands and possess it. And the father says, "I cut down those grapes myself. I was in the Promised Land. I saw beautiful trees and flowers. And I saw mountains from which we would dig brass," the Bible says, "and God said that to me". And you know what? That is our inheritance. Children, that is our inheritance. And that's where we are going in. And we'll not be satisfied until we possess our possessions. So, that stirred in Achsah's heart a desire for the land. And finally, we just read she has the southland. The Father gave her the inheritance of the southland.

Now, the southland of Israel is quite arid and dry, even though there are a lot of great things in the Bible that happened there. Historically, it's rich, amen. But she possessed the southland, but she needed what? Because it's a land that's exposed to the sun that brings forth precious fruits, brings forth great things, amen. And the Bible says that although that, all right, it's the southland, the great possession, she needed springs of water. And so, she asked the father, "Give me also springs of water". Would to God that we would produce children bold in their faith, strong, amen, to ask God. Just like Othniel, he was bold in warfare. His wife, Achsah, Caleb's daughter, was bold in petition. She asked her father. She never felt like, "You know, my father already give me a southland. It'd be too much for me to ask him for extra land where springs of water are flowing. And I think I'd be imposing. It's like I'm asking too much". She never felt that way.

And child of God, if you have the spirit of sonship, amen, you honor God when you ask big. Don't ask small. When you ask small, you don't honor God. Faith pleases God and God is pleased with faith. And she asked her father. We can ask our Heavenly Father. You know what the father gave? The father exceeded her request and gave her the upper springs and the lower springs, springs that come out of the mountains and springs that come out of the valleys, amen, gave her this inheritance. And these are pictures of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, you know, after I share with people the Word of God and all that, and I felt like, you know, today I didn't feel the the anointing. I didn't feel like the flow was there. I will go back and I'll tell God, "God, give me springs of water. Give me springs of water from now on. When I stand up, I want springs of water, not just the knowledge of the Word, but springs of water to preach by".

And that's the Holy Spirit. So, the upper springs refer to the Spirit upon. The Spirit upon comes upon you for a certain task, just like Samson, you see in the Bible, Gideon. The Holy Spirit will come on them at certain times for a certain exploit and then it's a successful exploit. By the way, the word there, "tsalach," the Holy Spirit tsalachs on them. And the same word is used for "prosper" in the Bible. Whatever he does shall tsalach, shall prosper. The same word, the Holy Spirit comes on you. And it's usually when the Holy Spirit comes on you, it's for preaching, it's for sharing the Word. You know, you can share with your colleague; the Spirit of God will come on you, and you can share. And you'll find words and that you never realized that you have those words in you, and you will start using illustrations that you never even thought of then and there, because you know what? You are no more operating in your own natural strength.

Right now the Holy Spirit is anointing you and giving you the words. You don't premeditate to say certain things, but it comes out because your Father will give you the words to speak in the same hour. And none will be able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which you speak. Because right now, springs of water are flowing out of you. So, child of God, we have all these things. These things are our possession. And don't be complacent, amen. Don't be just satisfied with the southland. Ask for the springs of water, hallelujah. If you're feeling dry, the sun is taking its effect, ask for springs of water, springs of water, amen.

So, the father gave her the upper springs, the spirit anointing upon, the Spirit upon, which is for assignment for a certain task, and then the lower springs. Lower springs is what is in us, and that abides permanently. The Spirit upon comes and goes. The moment you finish your task, it lifts, amen. And I know what it's like, amen. When it lifts, you are just a mere, like, a mere man again. But the Spirit within, the Spirit within, leads you every single day. It is the anointing within. That one remains forever. But that is not enough for ministry. When there's ministry, you need to ask God for the anointing upon, amen, by which you will perform with his strength, with his wisdom, by his grace, amen. And you become, in a sense, at that moment, supernatural. Praise the Lord, hallelujah. So, ask God for the upper springs and the lower springs.

Now, I want to share with you this particular word that God gave me. There's yet very much land to be possessed. Child of God, don't be satisfied. There's yet very much land to be possessed. Don't just say, "I understand the gospel of grace. I know what Pastor Prince is saying about the gift of righteousness, and I know that we need to confess it". But child of God, there's yet very much land to be possessed. Let's look at Joshua 13. It says, "Now Joshua was old, advanced in years. And the Lord said to him: 'You are old, advanced in years, and there remains very much land yet to be possessed.'" And this is ringing in my spirit. There remains very much land, not just land, but very much land yet to be possessed.

Now, do you want to just live your life and then you find out in heaven one day, there was so much land that God actually gave you, your possession that was unpossessed, that was not claimed, that you didn't enjoy? It's one thing for God to give you the gifts and his blessings. It is another thing to be able to enjoy them, literally enjoy them. See, the Bible says in the book of Joshua, it's actually a type of what book in the New Testament? Ephesians. Literally, it's a type of the book of Ephesians. Where it begins, in the book of Ephesians chapter 1, it begins with this: "Blessed be God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places," notice that, "in Christ Jesus in heavenly places". That's why we are blessed.

But notice that phrase "in heavenly places". That same phrase appears again also at the end of the book of Ephesians where the warfare, where the powers of darkness are involved. In Ephesians 6, it says, "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spiritual hosts of spiritual wickedness," amen. Notice, where? Where are they? In the heavenly places. So, they attack us where our blessings are supposed to be. They will not rest content for you to enjoy what has been given to you. The same place where God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places, the enemy comes to attack. The enemy will attack you every step of the way. They will not allow you to enjoy the blessings of God with ease, okay? They will try to attack you. But here is where the wonder of his grace comes in. God has ordained that in every difficult place in your life, there is food there, there is nourishment there, there is good there.

God will turn everything, and those "everything" there includes all the difficulties, all the attacks, into something good for you. We are about to see that. But just know this, that the very place in the heavenly places where God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing, that's the place where the enemy will also attack us. And thank God that we have the armor of God, and he's not able to touch us. Even our shield of faith quench how many fiery darts? All the fiery darts of the wicked, amen. And we have the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Praise the name of Jesus. Hallelujah. Hallelujah, praise the Lord. And God continues to say to Joshua, and God says, "There remains very much land yet to be possessed. This is the land that yet remains". This is the land that yet remains, and God began to open up the land that yet remains.

You know, child of God, you and I have an inheritance. And it's one thing for us to have the inheritance, to have the gifts, and not enjoy them. So, God is talking about, "You're not enjoying it. You're not possessing it. You're not making it yours. You are reading about it. You hear about it. You know that I've promised my servants Moses and Joshua this land, but you're not possessing it". So, God says, "This is the land". Now, it's very interesting because there are no insignificant details in the Bible. Like I said, this whole chapter, Joshua 13, goes on all the way to the end of Joshua, talking about just elaborating and elucidating on the mountains, the streams, the boundaries, the names of the cities and the different tribes and all that. And every one of them has a meaning for you and I, just like "Kirjath Sepher" means "the city of the book".

Do you remember the Valley of Achor? There's a place called Achor, and the Bible says that's where Achan was stoned. And in the Valley of Achor, it says here in Hosea, God says, "I will give her, Israel, her vineyards from there, And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope". Now, look at this. If you just look at it in the natural, in the Valley of Achor, it's just a valley called Achor. But there God promised a door of hope. I need to know where I can find this door of hope. Hallelujah. Praise God. God has opened a door of positive expectation of good in my life, but it's found in the Valley of Achor. But we look in the Hebrew, "Achor" means trouble. "Achor" means trouble.

So, in your trouble, look for the door of hope. And the Bible continues to say that you will sing there as in the days of your youth. There's gonna be a renewal of your youth that you will find a youthful vibrancy to sing, just like you did when you were young, amen. God says in that door of hope, you will find your springtime again. Hallelujah. So, where is the door found? In the valley of trouble, in the valley of trouble. Usually, valleys are always a picture of trials, and in the valley of trouble... are you going through a valley of trouble right now? There is a door of hope. The Bible says God will not allow you to be tested above. I know that many Bible says "temptation," but the word there can be "test" as well in the Greek. "There's no temptation or testing that has overtaken you but such as is common to men". But God is faithful, why? God will not suffer you to be tested above that you are able, but will, with the testing... notice, with, not without. With the testing in the valley of trouble, with the testing, God will what? Give you a way of escape. God will make a way of escape. With the testing, God will make a way of escape.

So, that's your door of hope. Praise the Lord. So, you find that in the meaning of the place, Achor, right? Now back to Joshua again. God says, "This is the land that yet remains: all the territory of the Philistines and all that of the Geshurites, from Sihor, which is east of Egypt", we'll stop there. But let's look at what he says here about the land that yet remains: "All the territory of the Philistines". Now, who are the Philistines? Again, we look at the names, Philistines. So, in the Old Testament, a lot is hidden in the names. You know, the Old Testament is the shadow. The New Testament is the substance. Or you can say the Old Testament is a type. The New Testament is the antitype, the substance. Praise the Lord.

Just like Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Jesus himself interpreted that as, in John chapter 3 to Nicodemus, as himself. So, that bronze serpent is the type. Jesus raised on the cross is the antitype, amen? So, you can say that in the Old Testament, you have the New Testament. In the old, the new is concealed. In the new, the old is revealed. Praise the Lord. In fact, I find that many of the details of the doctrines in the new covenant in the New Testament, I find the details of something, the Bible just tells you generally what it is, but doesn't go into details. You know why? God has given us the Old Testament for that, amen? So, we search the Old Testament. Just like the way Jesus used the Old Testament on the road of Emmaus, he expounded in them, not the do's and don'ts, not the laws, but the things concerning himself, especially hidden in the types.

So, here we see that God mentioned the land of the Philistines is the first not yet possessed. God mentioned, "This is the land that yet remains: all the territory of the Philistines". So, what does the word "Philistine" mean? Philistines, this group of people, Philistines. We know that Goliath was a Philistine, and they caused a lot of trouble to Israel. So, what is Philistine? "Philistine" actually literally means "p'liysh'tiy" in Hebrew, it literally means wallowing in the dust, wallowing in the dust. Now, what does that tell you? Wallowing in the dust or ashes? Some translation put down "ashes," all right, it's the same thing, dust. You know when someone is grieving about their sin, someone is, you know, so condemned over their sins, you know what they do in those days in the Old Testament? They would take dust or ashes and they'd put it on their heads. They'll put it on their heads as a picture of, you know, "I'm not worthy to even be the lowest of the lowest". And it's a picture of grief. So, they cover themselves with dust.

Now, it's a picture of condemning yourself. The Bible says, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ". Whenever you are being condemned, whenever you are being attacked, just like Goliath who came against David, David's name means beloved. It takes someone who knows he's the beloved to knock down Goliath. And Goliath, by the way, his name means stripped, exiled. Someone who is an exile, exile means that he has been routed from his inheritance, right? He's routed from his country. He's an outcast, and he's stripped. So, the Bible says Jesus stripped the devil, having spoiled... the word "spoiled" there is "disarm or strip the devil". Amen, principalities and powers, he has stripped. How did Jesus strip it? At the cross. His death deprived the devil, disarmed the devil of all the weapons he has used against you and I, amen? And now you can look at the devil, and you know that he's stripped of everything that he could use against you.

Now, there's one thing that he still has, and that's deception. If he can use your own power against yourself, for example, your words. You know, the power of life and death is in the tongue, but if the devil can use that for you to speak against yourself, like, you know, when we see a piece of cake that we yearn to have, we say, "Wow, look at the picture of the cake. I'm dying for the piece of cake". No one says, "I'm living for the piece of cake". Makes sense, right? If you're dying, you can't eat the cake, right? But why is death so programmed? Even in Chinese, you know, we say sia, sia, you know? Mati-ah, mati-ah, die, die, you know? We're very prone to say death. Why is that so? Why is that programmed into man's words? I believe it's something more sinister happening. It's not by chance. I think the devil has programmed that down through the years, because the power of life and death is in the tongue.

So, the devil wants you to use your power against yourself, okay? You condemn yourself. "I'm so lousy. You know, I don't think I have what it takes," you know? You condemn yourself, you condemn yourself. And the Bible talks about this. In 1 Corinthians 12, it tells us that there are those in the body of Christ who have this condemning self-attitude, who have inferiority complex. And child of God, this is actually a form of looking at yourself. Well, you know, when you condemn yourself, you know that you're not looking to the Lord, because if you look to the Lord, you will see that he is your righteousness. Amen? He's altogether lovely. And as he is, the Bible says in 1 John 4:17, as he is, so are we in this world, amen? But instead of that, your eye is not on him. Your eye is on yourself. You are looking within, introspection. You are obsessed with yourself. You are looking at what you have done wrong and what you have not done right or what you have not even done enough.

And the devil will come and say, "You've not done this enough". Even if you do something good, he will say you've not done it enough. You do something bad, of course, he'll point out to you. He wants you self-focused. The Holy Spirit wants you Christ focused, Christ occupied, hallelujah, and every preaching that points you to Jesus Christ is actually a ministry of the Holy Spirit, amen, anointed of the Holy Spirit because they point you to Jesus, hallelujah, not point you to yourself, what you have done wrong, what you need to do, what you need to do right. It is always you, you, you. It's not you. The law is you-focused. Grace is Christ-focused, and don't misunderstand me. Our behavior is important, amen? Our good works are important. Our morality is important, but all that comes about, as you behold the glory of the Lord, you are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, transformed by beholding, wow, transformed by looking at him, and you don't put in the effort. It is by the Spirit of the Lord that you are being transformed into his glory, hallelujah. Praise the Lord.

So, those in the body of Christ who say, "Oh, because I am the ear and I am not the eye, therefore I'm not part of the body". Of course not. You're still part of the body. I remember saying to my wife when I was dating her, and I gave her some flowers and I wrote a note saying, "Those eyes made me do it". Romantic, huh? Okay, "Those eyes made me do it". I didn't say your ears made me do it, amen? No one looks into a girl's ears and says, "You know, you've got lovely ears, man. The shadows just blend so beautifully. I wonder what goes on inside there," amen? You don't say that. You look into her eyes and you say, like, "I could plumb into the depths of your eyes, you know, and it's like a fountain of sparkling stars". Hallelujah, something like that, amen? Come on, people, get some romance in you, will you, in Jesus's name? Praise the Lord, hallelujah.

So, the Bible says, "The ear cannot say 'I'm not part of the body because I'm not the eye.'" It is still part of the body, and we know the ear is very important, amen, especially when your eye is being deceived or your eye is focused on that direction, your ear can save you. Praise the Lord, hallelujah. And likewise, we look at the next portion of the land that yet remains to be possessed. After the Philistines, we have the Geshurites. Now, who are the Geshurites? Very interesting. In Hebrew, literally, it is the proud beholder, proud beholder. So, it's a pride. Every perspective, every time he looks at someone, he compares with himself as greater. He will look at someone, and this is someone who is especially legalistic, holier than thou. You know, "I'm better than that person". He never compares with Jesus.

Again, the problem is taking your eye off Jesus. Again, it's a form of looking at yourself. So, there are people who look at themselves and condemn themselves, amen? And start feeling inferior. But there are those, also, when they look at themselves, they look at their good points, at least they esteem it as their good points, amen? And then they always compare themselves with others in terms of beholding how they are better, amen? Looking at the faults of others. So, to make themselves feel better or be better, they will try to find the faults of others. So, these are people that always criticize other people but never bring up their own faults. Proud people, do you know the people like this? So, notice that both, the one who is condemned, amen, the one who is under this wallowing in dust, and by the way, the Bible says that the enemy, the devil, his food, in Genesis, God says, "Dust you shall eat".

So, child of God, you wanna shake off this dust, amen. You wanna shake off this condemnation. It doesn't belong to you, amen? Shake it off because the Bible says that Satan's food is dust, amen? The serpent's food is dust, so shake it off, amen? Don't be one that is devourable. Let the devil seek whom he may devour. Thank God, whom he may means he can't devour every believer. Whom he may... he's looking for the... so, I believe one of the things that makes a person devourable is to wallow in condemnation. Amen, praise the Lord. Start hearing messages of grace, hallelujah. Start seeing what Christ has done, amen, and then on the other hand there are those who are looking at themselves, and it produces pride. They are proud beholders. They're Geshurites. Again, it's a problem of looking at themselves, but in this way: this one looks at the bad in himself, and this one looks at the good in himself. Both are self-obsessed. Both are not looking at Christ. Both are not being transformed into the image of Jesus, because that comes by beholding him.

So, the Geshurites and the Philistines have possessed your land. That's why you can't enjoy your land, amen, the place of rest, that place of peace, that place of wholeness and health, that place where you find that everything just flows by the Spirit. You know, the Spirit is likened, like, oil is a type of the Holy Spirit, why? If a door is creaking, right, you just put some oil in the hinges, and it creaks no more. It's smooth, amen? When the anointing comes on you, everything becomes smooth. Your work becomes smooth. Everything you do, your parenting becomes smooth, amen. The conflict, the friction is no longer there, amen? You're operating by the wisdom of God. There is supernatural ease to what you are doing. Praise the name of Jesus. So, likewise, this land that you are supposed to possess, we call them squatters. These squatters have the Philistines and the Geshurites have sat on your land. You need to remove them.

And notice that the way to remove them is not to look at this problem that you have. By the way, the Geshurites in 1 Corinthians 12, they are promised, not the ear telling the eye, but the head telling the foot. Notice the head is higher than the foot. So, the head is telling the foot, "I have no need of you," a superior complex, a superiority complex. I have no need of you. I am better than you. So, here the ear is telling the eye, "Because I am not the eye, I'm not part of the body," it's inferiority complex, and here you have a superiority complex. "Because I am the head, you are right below there, I have no need of you". And that's found in 1 Corinthians 12. The Bible says, "We all have need of one another. If one member rejoice, we all rejoice with him," amen? "One member is honored, we are all honored together". That member is honored, praise God. And the Bible says that if one is sad, we all, you know, we mourn with him because of the body ministry, hallelujah.

You cannot say, "I have no need of you. Oh, I'm not affected. Oh, I'm not part of the body". We are all together in Christ. Praise God, thank you, Jesus. So, the proud one will say, you know, the head will tell the foot, "I have no need of you". Well, the foot can always say, "All right, let's see where you are going from now on. You can say all you wanna say, amen, you ain't going nowhere without me," right? We all need one another, amen? We all need one another. In fact, the Bible, in the same chapter, goes on to say even the parts that we deem unnecessary, God bestows greater honor. You can read all about it. So, these are the lands, the squatters have sat on your land. The Philistines and the Geshurites, because of time, I'm just gonna cover a few, from Sihor, which is east of Egypt. Now, Sihor is, in Hebrew, darkness. And Egypt is Mitsrayim in Hebrew. It means, notice the plural, Mitsrayim. Every time there's an "-im," -im, it means plural, like Elohim, triune God, right? Elohim, Mitsrayim. Mitsrayim, Egypt, means double stress. Wow, double stress.

So, you put them together, the darkness of double stress. Every time you are feeling stressed, it is the enemy not wanting you to possess your inheritance, not wanting you to enjoy what God has given to you, amen? So, there's a darkness of double stress. You know, they say that stress is behind a lot of diseases. They say that even people, like, I remember reading about an experiment one time where they injected some pigs with, like, you know, artery-blocking kind of solution or something like that, and then both group of pigs, but one group of pigs was exposed to extreme stressful situation. They had dogs barking at them. You know, they were kept in a cage, but they were stressed out, double stress, amen? And then over here they kept the other group of pigs, they kept them outside where it was peaceful. But both of them had been injected with this solution that can precipitate a heart attack. Guess which group of pigs suffered the heart attack? It was this group of pigs.

And there was something that I read many years ago. It was very interesting. It shows how stress,you know, Hans Selye, the father of the, you know, actually, the doctor that sort of discovered how stress is related to sickness, he actually was injecting some mice with some solution, and it was an experiment for something else, amen. But through the course of the mice slipping through his fingers, and he's trying to find them, and then he gets them back again, and then he tried to, you know, and the mice is always, wiggly and getting out of his fingers. He found out that those mice that were treated so, and they were stressed when he handled them, they had larger adrenal glands. They were more prone to sickness and disease, and that caused him to start thinking about our personality types, you know, the Type A, you know, the people that are always going, going, and people that are always, you know, not resting, these are the people more prone to heart attack. It's not just a condition in your body. It's more than that. It triggers a heart attack, so the darkness of double stress.

Aren't you glad that God delivered his people from Egypt, Mitsrayim, a place of double stress. Literally, the Bible says that. Okay, then we look at something very interesting. By the way, you can go on reading, all the land to be possessed is an entire chapter, this entire chapter. And it goes on to the next chapter and on to the end of the entire book, okay? I want to call your attention to one particular city that God actually wants. It was the first city to possessed. Now, it's not Jericho. Jericho, they conquered and they devoted to the Lord. And then it's not Hazor. There are many, many cities that Joshua conquered, but they are not cities to be possessed. The first city to be possessed, guess which city is it. Let's read this. By the way, we go back to the story of Caleb. And here we find this story in the very next chapter of where we have been reading about the land to be possessed.

We read Joshua 13 just now, and this is just the next chapter, Joshua 14, where we find Caleb coming to Joshua, and Caleb telling Joshua, "Today, I'm as strong this day at 85 years old, as I was when Moses first sent me 45 years ago". You and I, God promised us that we'll enter the land., because Caleb says, "I have wholly followed the Lord my God". And Caleb stood strong. Let me just read to you the very words that Caleb spoke. "And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in".

Now by the way, the Bible never says that God said to Caleb, "Caleb, you are now old and advanced in years". God said that of Joshua. You look at Joshua 13 we read just now, verse 1, "Joshua was old, advanced in years. And the Lord said to him: 'You are old, advanced in years.'" Now, this is Joshua 13. In the very next chapter, we have Caleb his partner. But Caleb says in verse 11, "I'm as strong this day", at 85 years old, "as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then so now is my strength for war". Wow, he can even fight. And later on, we'll see that he's gonna fight the Anakims on a mountain. "Both for going out. My strength is not only for war, but both for going out and for coming in," in all the affairs of life. Hallelujah. So, there's no decaying of his energy. There's no diminishing of his powers. There's no fading into the sunset like growing old.

But even Joshua, God says, "You are now old and advanced in years". Whereas the very next chapter, and I think the Holy Spirit put them side by side for us to compare and contrast. Both of them pleased God. When, you know, Moses sent them as spies to spy out the land, they're the only two ones that came back and they said, literally they said this, "The land that we went in to spy is an exceedingly good land". Now in the Hebrew, it says Towbiah ha'aretz me'od me'od. Hear the word me'od me'od doubly, doubly used? Me'od means exceedingly. Actually in the Hebrew, it's used twice, me'od me'od. Now, Young's brings that out. It says, "The land which we have passed over to spy is a very, very good land". It's not just a good land. It's a very, very, me'od me'od, exceeding exceeding. This is the counterpart of the New Testament where sin increased, grace much more abounded, amen. All ready me'od means like exceeding, overflowing abundance. And then grace says, and much more on top of it. Hallelujah. It's a very, very good land.

So, the perspective of Joshua and Caleb is to see God's inheritance as very, very good. Do you see that all the books in the world cannot compare with all the wisdom that you find in the Word of God? Do you see the Bible as something that it's a privilege for us to go in and study? It's a privilege for us to read. In all the affairs of life when it comes to your own life, it comes to your marriage, it comes to parenting, it comes to your business affairs, it comes to everything, your relationship with people, amen, and especially your walk with God, it is all found in this Book. Praise the Lord. It is your inheritance. It's not just a good book. It is a very, very good book, why? All books in the world is man inspired. You won't find God in it, in the world, but this book is God throughout, amen.

And that is the missing element to what the world is looking for today. They are missing out because they don't see God. Even in this pandemic, we need to see God behind all this. Do you know that as a church, amen, right now we are stepping into a time in our church where we are seeing a revival already? And one of these days we'll just share with you, it's like the sun, the noonday is shining on us so brightly in our church, that right now we are experiencing revival we have never seen. You know right now if we have physical gatherings, this place cannot hold the people that would come, amen. We have never seen such growth, such a revival, such interest in the Word of God like we are seeing right now. We're entering, we're just entering into it. And maybe one of these days we'll share, you know, give you the statistics and all that. But I'm a bit averse to that because I don't like to talk about numbers and all that. But you know, it's amazing. We've never had this. And for sure if we have physical gathering of all these people that come, that's what revival looks like, amen. Praise the name of Jesus.

So, the Word of God is a very, very good book. Possess it. There's yet very much land yet to be possessed, okay? Praise the Lord. Thank you, Jesus. He says, "I'm strong today at eighty-five as I was forty-five years ago, and not only for war, but for daily life". Then he goes on and ask this, "'Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, that the cities were great and fortified. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said.' And Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance". Now something about Hebron. Do you know Hebron? The Anakim were in the Promised Land. That's what the spies saw many years ago. Remember that? That's the reason why they say that these are, "These Anakims will eat us up". Whereas Joshua and Caleb actually said this, "They are bread for us".

Now, I want you to listen carefully. I believe that part, "very, very good land" was spoken by both of them. But the part that goes on to say, "These enemies", let's read that, "They said, 'Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.'" Notice, they looked at their difficulties, they looked at their enemies, they looked at the Anakims in the land as what? Our bread. Hallelujah, amen? This warfare with the Anakims, amen. This original Star Wars, the Anakims, this warfare with them, actually Caleb and Joshua said, "No problem. We see them stripped". Just like Goliath, his name means stripped, exiled, and he's from Gath. Gath is the winepress where it speaks of God's wrath, the place of God's judgment. It's stripped under God's judgment. That's how the Spirit of God was portrayed to David.

And David's name means what? Beloved, whenever you have a sense that you are beloved, amen. Praise the Lord. Just like the secret of John the Apostle, he always calls himself the disciple whom Jesus loves. The disciple whom Jesus loves. Five times in the Gospel of John, he calls himself the disciple whom Jesus loves. So, he's more conscious of the Lord's love for him than his love for the Lord. That's New Covenant truth. Hallelujah, amen. If you're conscious of the Lord's love for you, you will end up loving the Lord. We love because he first loved us, and we also love people, amen, because he first loved us. So, in the New Testament, it is not a command. In an Old Covenant, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart. In the New Covenant it's realizing his love for us that makes us love him. Hallelujah, amen?

And then we love one another, which is a New Testament command, amen. That's the only command that we have in the New Testament. One is to believe on the name of Jesus Christ, and the other is to love one another. Praise the name of Jesus. Hallelujah. So, we find very clearly here that they saw the difficulties as bread. But I believe that this part here is actually from the mouth of... It's not possible for them to both say the exactly the same thing, but this part here, I believe, came from Caleb's mouth. He saw his difficulties as bread, and I'm gonna prove that to you that it's from Caleb, because Caleb goes out looking for difficulties. And I think that's the secret of his youthfulness, his perpetual perennial youthfulness. I believe the secret is in the stressful parts of your life, are you faced with a difficulty right now? You know what you need to do? Amen. See it as something that will strengthen you.

There is food, there is bread in this difficulty. That's what Caleb's perspective was. He saw every difficulty, instead of stressing him out, instead of eating him up like the other spies would say, it actually strengthened him. He looked forward for difficulties. He looked forward to eat more bread, because these enemies, these difficulties, these people that hinder me, this stress is I will eat it up, amen. So, you know what? In every situation, life itself will present a lot of difficulties. Every day, there are difficulties, right? So, but what if your perspective of these difficulties is like what Paul said by the Holy Spirit in Romans? "Now, being declared righteous, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ". And then he goes on to say, "And we rejoice," you keep on reading, "rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, we rejoice in trouble".

Wow, we rejoice in trouble. That's a perspective that Paul had. And throughout the Bible, Paul talks about, "I rejoice in my weaknesses, in my infirmities, in my difficulties. For when I'm weak, then I'm strong. I look forward for difficulties. You know, I don't grow, I don't get powerful through ease. I don't learn anything through situation that is easy, but I learn through difficult situations". Not only that, there is a supernatural part that comes in. Now, this is not true for the people of the world. When they face difficulties, instead of becoming better, they become bitter. All right, but for a child of God, if they have a perspective that every difficulty in my life is for me to eat up, there's bread in this difficulty, there's opportunity in this difficulty, there is nourishment, amen, to strengthen me, no wonder he grew stronger and stronger, amen. He never grew old. His energy and strength, the energy of his faith never diminished, amen. His bodily strength never failed, why? Instead of that, it's ever increasing, why? Because every trouble that he sees, he wants to eat up. Not only that, he asked for trouble, amen, he asked for difficult situations.

Let's go back to Joshua. He says, "Now therefore," he told Joshua, "give me this mountain". Give me this mountain. What mountain is that? The mountain of Hebron. And who are they in the mountain of Hebron? Anakim. "So, Joshua blessed him and gave Hebron to Caleb. Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb. And the name of Hebron formerly was Kirjath Arba". Look at this, Arba was the greatest man, the greatest warrior. The greatest man means the most powerful man among all the Anakims. He's Darth Vader himself, amen. The most powerful man in Hebron on this mountain of all, you know, the whole land was filled with Anakims, right? But he chose the most difficult one. The most difficult place was Hebron. And Caleb says, "Give me this mountain, where the greatest of the Anakims live". His name is Arba. Kirjath Arba, city of Arba. Arba in Hebrew means four, and he has three sons, so all four of them, amen. He was the greatest, and he had three sons.

And you know what? At 85 years old, Caleb went in and routed them all out. Praise the name of Jesus. He routed them all out. And Kirjath Arba became Hebron. And the name of Hebron formerly was Kirjath Arba. That's what the Anakims call it, after the greatest man of the Anakim, Arba. But Joshua and Caleb calls it Hebron. Then the land had rest from war. The word Hebron is very interesting. It comes from the word habar. Habar. Okay, Hebron, habar. Habar means an association, alliance, fellowship, a joining together. This very interesting, you know why? Because Hebron is a noun. Habar is a verb. And from habar, you have another feminine noun, the word habura. Why do I bring this up? Because do you know that in Isaiah 53 when he talks about our Lord Jesus Christ and his atoning work, amen, his redemptive work, it says, "Surely he has borne our diseases and carried our pains; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him".

And watch this in Isaiah 53, verse 5, "And with his stripes we are healed". And the word stripes there is the word habura from the word habar, which makes up the word Hebron. Habura is a feminine noun, same word. It means what, habura? It can mean stripe. Yes, it does mean stripe even in the Hebrew. It's a primary expression for stripe is habura. But habura, you can ask any Hebrew-speaking person, habura is also an alliance, just like Hebron, a joining together. So, put it this way, we all know by his stripes we are healed. Praise be to God. And that's true, amen. Hallelujah. By his stripes we are healed. But it can also mean this, as we dig deeper, we also know that word, same word for stripe, habura, is the word alliance, joining together by fellowshipping with him, by identifying with him. Actually it means identify, associate with him. It's not just knowing about him. It's to be associated with him, to be one with him, to be joined to him.

By our joining together with him by his habura, we are healed. He became you at the cross by his habura, alliance with you. He became you at the cross that you might become him. At the cross he became sin, that you might be made the righteousness of God in him. At the cross he became diseased and sick. He became you, that you might become the health and the wholeness of God. Hallelujah. Praise the name of Jesus. Habura, habura, where you get the word Hebron, another noun. And the feminine noun is habura from the word, the verb habar. Now, habar is very interesting, because we know the story of Jehoshaphat. "And Jehoshaphat he had a war the likes of which he'd never seen before. When the enemies pressed him in he praised the Lord and began to win". Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Drums roll. People sing. Okay.

Anyway, Jehoshaphat, look at this in chapter 18 of 2 Chronicles. "So Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, 'Will you also go with me against Ramoth Gilead?'" Now, let me tell you this. During this time, there are two kingdoms, kingdom of Judah, south, and kingdom of Israel in the north. All right, they were divided. But nonetheless, all right, here we have Jehoshaphat being very friendly with the king of Israel, which is a very wicked king. He's Ahab, Ahab the king of Israel. And Jehoshaphat is a godly king, a righteous king. And God gave him, the Bible says, victory in his warfare. And God blessed him. He had riches and honor in abundance, the Bible says, from the Lord. God favored this king. He's a good king, a godly king. But this happened, Ahab king of Israel came to Jehoshaphat king of Judah and said, "Will you go with me against Ramoth Gilead"?

Now this is coming against the Assyrians in the north. And he answered him, "I'm as you are, and my people as your people; we will be with you in the war". Notice, he allied himself, he actually joined himself to this wicked king of Israel, Ahab. He says, "I am as you are". Now, this sounds very familiar, isn't it? Because we tell the Lord, "As you are, so am I in this world". Look at 1 John 4, verse 17. "Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world". Remember these nine monosyllables, "As he is, so are we in this world". As he is right now, not as he was when he walked by the shore of Galilee. That's good enough, but as he is, crowned with glory and honor, the glorified one at the Father's right hand. As he is, so are we in this world.

Listen carefully. Whoever you identify with identifies with you. Whatever you identify with, you partake of. When you say, "As Jesus is, so am I in this world," not when one day, you know, I passed on to be with the Lord in the sweet by and by. No, right now in this world, "As he is at the Father's right hand, so am I in this world".

One day I was meditating on this many years ago, I got this revelation, and the Lord said to me, "You're not just one with me in spirit, you are a member of my flesh and my bones". You know, I never had anyone preach that. And I searched the Scriptures and I found this in Ephesians chapter 5. It says, "For we are members of His body, of His flesh," in case you're trying to spiritualize it. No, we are members of his flesh and of his bones. You see, flesh and bones is so literal, amen. The Bible says we are members of his flesh. Not only are we joined to the Lord in one spirit, but we are members, partakers of his flesh and of his bones. Does he have healthy flesh? Does he have brittle bones? No, as he is right now. And sometimes I just love to say, "Lord Jesus, as you are healthy in every part of your body, so am I in this world".

And I began teaching this many years ago, and one of the ladies in our church was diagnosed with lumps in the breast that they suspect might be cancerous. And she got hold of this teaching, and she began to confess, "As Jesus is, so am I in this world". She came back and met me with her report, medical report. And she wrote down, "As Jesus is, so am I in this world. Does Jesus have any lumps in his breasts? No. As he is, so am I. I'm also free from lumps in my breasts". And she says that she wrote all these things down. She showed it to me over her medical cert. She went back to the doctor. Every day she was confessing, "As he is, so am I in this world". Guess what. The doctors cannot find the lumps. And since then, her story has been the catalyst to many, many, many other testimonies coming in. I shared some of them also in my books that I've written. And amazing how this one testimony has brought forth so many testimonies of people believing God.

You know, just like the woman with the issue of blood, she was the one that touched his garment. And from then on, you can keep on reading, all right? All the people will just be looking to just touch his garment. "If I can just touch his garment". She broke through for the rest, amen. That's why our testimonies are so important as a catalyst, as an impetus, to have faith of others, because they know that person is just like me, and if she can receive, I can receive. Hallelujah, amen?

So, they tried to copy her, and everywhere Jesus went, they want touch the hem of his garment. And as many as touched, the Bible says, were made whole. So, are they gonna see, before I preached on this, it was my meditation, that as Jesus is, so am I in this world. I began to confess it and confess it, amen. As Jesus is young, so am I in this world. As Jesus is righteous, so am I in this world. As Jesus is under the Father's unclouded favor, so am I in this world, amen. As Jesus is strong, so am I in this world. And you know what? The more you say it, you're not transforming yourself by your own efforts. This is not autosuggestion, amen? It has nothing to do with you, but the more you behold the glory as he is, we are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even by who? Not our efforts, but by the Spirit of the Lord.

The Spirit of God wants you to see. He needs for you to see, then he will work, amen? His working is no problem, but it's thwarted when you see yourself, amen, you see yourself all the time, or you hear sermons, amen, that talk to you about you, you, you, and you're obsessed with yourself, instead of Jesus, amen. We need to preach Jesus, people, amen, the glories of his person, amen, the excellencies, his excellencies, his beauties, amen, his perfection and his complete work at the cross, amen. Nothing added. Amen, it's complete, completely complete, perfectly perfect. As we behold his glory, we are being transformed by the Holy Spirit. Now, I wanna read to you a testimony, and this brother is from Australia.

I was smoking dope, taking LSD trips, and using heroin at 14 years old. After nine years of heavy drug use, I was born again at the age of 23. I heard the gospel taught in a powerful way, and my eyes were opened for the first time to the truth of Jesus. After being born again and filled with the Holy Spirit, I was delivered from my drug addictions and went through a huge lifestyle transformation. However, I was stuck in legalistic teachings and did not have knowledge of Daddy God's unmerited favor. Through God's unconditional love taught to me by Joseph Prince and various other teachings, I was set free from my old mindset of performance-based Christianity and self-righteousness.

A number of years ago, I found out that I had hepatitis C as a result of my heroin-injecting days. I had to go for regular blood tests and checkups for my condition. One day, my liver specialist made me undergo a liver scan that revealed I had cirrhosis. Although the hepatitis-C infection was cleared up, he was concerned my liver could suddenly shut down, so he scheduled me to go for a liver biopsy a week later. I've been reading the testimony of the lady who had lumps in her breast and had written on her report, "As Jesus is, so am I in this world. As Jesus does not have lumps in his breast, neither do I."

So, I wrote down on my report, "As Jesus does not have cirrhosis, neither do I." On the way to the biopsy, I also prayed in tongues and declared out loud, "I am not trying to get healed because I've already been healed by your stripes at the cross 2,000 years ago. I am standing on your Word today, amen." A week later, I went back to the specialist and he was completely dumbfounded by the biopsy results. Not only was there no cirrhosis, but there was also no scarring on my liver, which is typically impossible with hepatitis C. What can I say? But all thanks and glory to Jesus.

Hallelujah, amen. As Jesus is, so am I in this world, amen. Now, back to the story of Jehoshaphat. You know what he says? "I am as you are". You know what happened to him? He nearly died. You see, whoever you identify with, whoever you're joined to, you ally with, amen. The word habar, every time you join with someone, whatever his fate is becomes yours. If it's a bad person, amen, even though you're a good person, and you're a good person in the sense that you are the righteousness of God in Christ, amen, what is his fate can still come on you because you say that, "I am, as you are". You know, Jehoshaphat nearly died. Drop down, and you see what happened. "Now the king of Syria," whom they were battling with, "had commanded his men the captains of the chariots, 'Fight with no one small or great, only with the king of Israel.'"

And you know, by the way, do you know the Ahab actually convinced Jehoshaphat to wear his attire? I mean, I don't know why, what possessed Jehoshaphat to agree to such an open, cunning, you know, maneuver from this King Ahab. And actually, Jehoshaphat went into the war as the king of Israel, dressed in the clothes of Ahab. And Ahab went in disguised. So, when you say, "I am as you are," you take on everything that the guy is, and you suffer his fate. His fate becomes your fate. Whoever you associate, you partake of his fate, amen? I associate with Jesus, I partake of his fate, of his lot, of his inheritance. Hallelujah. There's yet very much land to be possessed even in seeing all that Jesus is, so that we can possess our possessions, amen? "So it was, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, 'It is the king of Israel!' Therefore they surrounded him to attack; but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him. He cried to the Lord, and the Lord helped him. And God diverted them from him".

And then one of the men actually took an arrow, one of the Syrians took an arrow and just shot at random and hit the king of Israel, Ahab, who was in disguise, and he died. So, God delivered him even though he said, "I am as you are," and would have suffered the fate of Ahab, which was death in the battle. Now, you would've thought that Jehoshaphat would have learned by now, but actually, you go on reading. And a few chapters after that, chapter 20, "After this Jehoshaphat king of Judah allied himself with Ahaziah, another king. Ahab has died and now it's Ahaziah king of Israel, who acted very wickedly". And this word "allied" is the Hebrew word "habar," where you get Hebron and habura, alliance, association. "He allied himself with Ahaziah and he allied himself with him," again habar, the word habar, "with him to make ships to go to Tarshish".

Remember, whoever you ally yourself with, whoever you identify yourself with, you partake of that person's portion, amen. In the Septuagint, the word is actually koinonia, which is the word for fellowship, joint sharing, joint partaking, joint partnering, amen. When you got a joint partner, you enjoy the same benefits, the same privileges, the same profits as your joint partner, right? Amen. So, your joint koinonia. You're a joint partner with Christ, amen. And here is the word "habar" in Hebrew. "He allied himself to make ships. But Eliezer the son of Dodavah," this guy is a prophet, "he prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, 'Because you have habared yourself, allied yourself with Ahaziah, the Lord has destroyed your works.' Then the ships were wrecked, so that they were not able to go to Tarshish". Remember this?

Whoever you identify with, you identify also with his destiny, with his fate, amen. Who do you identify with today? Let's identify with our Lord Jesus because he has identified with us, amen. He loves us. The Bible says that he came as a man, why? To identify himself, amen. God is not a man. God made man, but Jesus came as a man, amen. The second person of the Godhead, our Lord Jesus Christ came as a man, partook of flesh and blood, that through death, he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and delivered those who through fear of death were all their lifetimes subject to bondage. The way he delivered you and I is to identify, is to identify, amen. If there's someone that you love, amen, one of the best ways of communication is to identify with their feelings, what they're going through. The more you identify, the more you are in alliance. The more there's communion, amen. The more there's true sharing, amen. And may you do that with your children, may you do that with your spouse, amen.

Learn to listen, but especially not just listen objectively, but listen subjectively, amen. Identify with what they are going through. Put yourself in their shoes, amen. Identify their feelings, amen. Praise the Lord. It's the key to their deliverance. Amen, amen, amen. Whoever you identify with, and that's why it's so important that you don't get obsessed with watching movies that are dark and depressive, or reading reports that are always negative and bleak, you know. You know why? Because you can identify yourself with that without realizing you're identifying yourself with it, and then you become depressed. By watching a movie that's depressive, all right, you'll come out depressed, you know? Or you counsel someone, or you spent time, you know, having coffee with someone who is sharing dark secrets, you can actually leave the person feeling like there's a heavy weight on your shoulders.

So, child of God, there's yet very much land to be possessed, amen. You know, I've not shared everything that I wanna share but, you know, suffice for now that God is saying to you there's yet very much, not just land, but very much land yet to be possessed. Let's ask the Lord, you know, "Lord, where is my area? Where have I not looked to the Lord Jesus"? And say, "As you are free from that addiction, I've never said that Lord, but this is the first time, Lord, that I wanna possess this land. I wanna be free from this addiction. As you are, so am I in this world. As you are free from this addiction, so am I free from this addiction," amen? Not just disease or sickness, amen, but in any area, amen? Praise the Lord.

If you need the anointing of God in your life, you know, to do a certain task to glorify the Lord, amen, an anointing, when it comes on you, it always ends up to the glory of God, amen. Just tell the Lord, "As Jesus is anointed, so am I in this world," amen? You need the favor of God, just say, "As Jesus is under the Father's unclouded favor, so am I under the Father's favor. Hallelujah. Everywhere I go, as Jesus is, so am I in this world". You feel like you're weak, you're always constantly tired, keep on confessing, "As Jesus is strong at the Father's right hand, so am I in this world," amen? Praise the Lord.

Well, if this has blessed you, child of God, I want you to do two things, all right? It's an experiment, amen. Yeah, experiment with it, amen, amen? Number one, make it like your homework this week. Number one, see all your troubles and the challenges and the difficulties like Caleb's perspective, all right, these are difficulties that I wanna feed on. He asked for the most difficult place. This man devours difficulties, like Caleb, you know? He asked for the most difficult place that has the strongest Anakim. He asked for difficulties, amen, to devour it. He knows the secret of youthfulness, amen, the secret of overcoming stress in every area. Will you do the same? Don't forget this man, Caleb, who was a slave in the plains of Egypt, became a prince on the mountain of Hebron, so can you, amen, regardless of your background. Hallelujah. See, every difficulty as something to feed on, something to draw nourishment from. Hallelujah.

Number two, throughout this week, when you see areas of lack where you're not possessing what you know God wants you to have, praise the Lord, just say, "Lord Jesus, as you are free from this condition, so am I in this world". If you got a bad temper say, "Lord Jesus, as you are free from bad temper", and we all know he is, amen. That's the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. He's a wonderful person. As you see that, amen, and the Holy Spirit transforms you when you say, "As you are, so am I in this world". You behold him free from it, and then you are free from it. Praise the Lord.

You know, child of God, God wants you to possess your possessions. Why not do that right now? And if you've never received Jesus Christ, this wonderful, glorious one at the Father's right hand, as your Savior and Lord, why don't you do so right now? I'll help you in this prayer. Christ died on the cross for your sins, and he rose from the dead without your sins, without your addictions, without your diseases, amen, so that you can be identified with him and rise from your dead, your dead position into life, resurrection life, amen. Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now? Praise the Lord. Say:

Lord Jesus, I thank you that you love me and died on the cross for all my sins. I confess you, Lord Jesus, as my Savior and my Lord.

Hallelujah. Now say:

Father God, thank you that when you declared me righteous, you raised Christ from the dead. Thank you, Father God, that Jesus Christ is now my true identity. So, help me discover more and more all that he is, Lord, the glories of his person, so that I can be more practically like him, in Jesus's name, amen.

Child of God, that's what you are right now. God is now your Father. All your sins are forgiven, amen. Old things have passed away. You are now a brand-new creation, amen. Praise the name of Jesus. So, those of you who are suffering in any way in your body or whatever, I want you to start confessing from this day, amen, right, as he is free from that disease, so are you in this world, amen? Will you do that? Praise the Lord, amen?

Stand to your feet, church. Hallelujah. I wanna bless you for this coming week. Regardless of what you see in the papers, in the news, and all that, what is happening around the world, it can get very bleak and depressive, amen, but child of God, be confident, be bold. Have the spirit of Caleb, amen. Even in this pandemic, we can thrive. We can flourish, amen. We'll be like the tree planted by the rivers of water. Hallelujah. We're not in the desert. Amen, amen. And then you can be like Joseph, prospering in the midst of famine, amen.

The Lord bless you and the Lord keep you. The blessings of God will manifest in your life throughout this week. You will see them pop one by one. Acknowledge them and thank the Lord for them. The Lord keep you, preserve, protect you and your loved ones throughout this week from the COVID-19 virus and from every disease and from every danger, harm, and from all the powers of darkness in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord make his face to shine on you. Behold him. As he is, so are you. His face is full of glory shining on you, granting you his favor. Everywhere you go this week, favor surrounds you like a shield. The Lord lift up his countenance on you and grant to you and your families his shalom peace. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. God bless all of you.