Caleb, the son of Jephunneh

March 14th- Joshua 16-18
15th- Josh 19-22
16th-Josh 23-24
17th -Judges1-2 
18th - Judges 3-5
19th - Judges 6-7
20th - Judges 8-9

Early morning hours reading in the book of Joshua, chapter 14 we bump into Caleb again, the Lion-heart of Numbers 14, the spy that dutifully reported the land was, indeed filled with giants, but it was also an exceedingly good land.  "If the Lord delight in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land, for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD  is with us: fear them not."

Caleb is not only not worried about the outcome, he knows it is not the people of Israel against the giants and peoples of the land, it is the God of Israel against the giants and peoples of the land - huge difference!  He's saying " Come on, guys, this is a piece of cake!  God keeps His promises!  We can do this!"

45 years later, he is still persuading with his faith front and center.  Only now he is 85 years old.  He has been in the desert for 40 years, and dispossessing kings and hordes from the land before Israel for five more.

And all this time, he has been dreaming of the land he saw - the mountains of Hebron, where the Anakim, the giants lived - the most difficult of all the inheritances to conquer.  The others had said that after seeing the Anakim, "we became as grasshoppers in our own sight."

What does Caleb say to all this? (my paraphrasing here) " Joshua, you know how the LORD sent us out to spy, and the others made the hearts of the people melt with fear - but I wholly followed the LORD, and He promised me where the soles of my feet trod, that was my inheritance. I was 40 years old then. And, yes, I am 85  years old today, because the LORD kept me alive these 45 years - and yet, I'm as strong for war today as I was then! Soooo, give me this mountain that the LORD promised me that day - and yes the Anakim are there, the cities are great and fortified - but if the LORD will be with me, I'll be able to drive them out." 

Period.

The only condition that concerned Caleb was "...if the LORD be with me..."  He knew God would keep His word.  He knew Hebron would be his.

So how did this all turn out?  Did Caleb get his land?

Joshua 14:14 reads:
"Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb, son of Jephunneh the Kenezite unto this day, because that He wholly followed the LORD God of Israel."

I've been thinking about that in these early morning hours.  Am I following Him wholly?  Or are the Anakim of my life making me "become as a grasshopper in my own eyes?"  If I am allowing anything to be put on the shelf and not pursued because of fear, I am saying that the Anakim are stronger than God, able to fight Him and win - because the LORD our God is with us wherever we go.  Caleb's lion-heart came not because he was a positive thinker, or figured he had enough men to conquer anything - Caleb's lion-heart came from knowing that the LORD God of Israel could not lie; he knew God would go before him, and fight for him.

And He would win.

So how trustful am I?  Are the things facing me overwhelming me into grasshopper status?

Or is there a lion-heart pounding in my chest right now, ready to follow Him wholly - no holding back, trust front and foremost, knowing He has already won, and nothing and no one can crush the power of the cross, the power of the Blood, the power of Jesus, the Christ, the Annointed.

And dear one - what is pounding in your chest?  It doesn't matter if our bodies are ill.  The power never rested in us.  It rests in Him.

Anakim, watch out!