Outer Banks Community Church

Text: Joshua 14:6-14 (NKJV)

6 Then the children of Judah came to Joshua in Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him: "You know the word which the LORD said to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh Barnea. 7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought back word to him as it was in my heart. 8 Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the LORD my God. 9 So Moses swore on that day, saying, 'Surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children's forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.' 10 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. 11 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. 12 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, and 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." 13 And Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance. 14 Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel.”

Application: God blesses when you wholly follow!

Intro: When the tribe of Judah comes forward, there is a gray-haired, 85-year-old man in the midst of them. A man named Caleb steps forward to claim his inheritance. Caleb is a picture of the child of God who is not satisfied with the ordinary, but who wants all that God can give him. God saves us, and promises us that we can have a life of victory and intense spiritual joy, but rather than claim what is rightfully ours, we choose to live in a spiritual wilderness, defeated and depressed. As a result, we miss out on things like peace, joy, fellowship, power, and the glory of God. Many Christians are guilty of spiritual window-shopping. Now there is nothing wrong with window-shopping! Some folks like it and some don't.

As believers, we need to do more than window-shop with God's promises. Caleb pictures the Christian who is willing to pay any price, fight any battles in order to win the victories that God has waiting for him. In these verses, we are shown how we can claim our little part of Canaan and walk in victory day by day! In verse 12 of this text, Caleb walked up to Joshua and said, “Now, therefore, give me this mountain…” I want to take this text and point out some of the characteristics in Caleb's life that enable him to say “Give Me My Mountain.” If we want to be able to claim all that the Lord has for us, these same characteristics need to be true in our lives as well.

1st characteristics: for claiming your mountain: Commitment!

1. Caleb Was Committed: vs. 8-9, 14

“Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the LORD my God. 9 So Moses swore on that day, saying, 'Surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children's forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God. 14 Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel.”

The first key to Caleb success was that God had all of Caleb that there was! “Wholly followed the Lord.” The word “wholly” literally means “to fill.” It carries the idea of “filling a sail with air.”

Every inch, every ounce, every nerve, every fiber of Caleb belonged to God. If you're holding back on the Lord you should to be ashamed of yourself! If you are saved, you are all His anyway; you belong to Him. Too many Christians leave themselves an escape hatch back into their old lives of sin. We need to burn every bridge that leads back to the old life and set our minds to the task of following the Lord, conquering our Canaan, and being the Christians God saved us to be. Some people will go to extravagant lengths to avoid doing what they have promised the Lord they would do. Half-hearted Christians are faint-hearted Christians and they never learn to conquer the giants in their lives.

The story is told of a man who rode in his car as it was being towed to be repaired. When they arrived at the repair shop, the tow truck driver told him, “I didn't think I was going to make it up that big hill.” The man replied, “I didn't either. That's why I kept the brakes on.” To live without total dedication to Christ is the same as trying to go forward and to hold back at the same time. James 1:8 “he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

Jesus calls us to follow Him with a similar kind of commitment and courage, willing to risk all for His sake. The man who kneels before God can stand before anybody or anything. Our commitment to Christ affects all our other relationships. The more devoted we are to Jesus, the more faithful we will be to our churches, families, and friends. All Jesus wants from you is your total commitment. Anything less will keep you from reaching your Canaan victory.

All this comes down to one truth. If you, like Caleb, will close the gap between yourself and Him; if you will pursue God with every fiber of your being, you will find yourself closer to Him than you could have ever imagined - James 4:8 “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

1st characteristics: for claiming your mountain: Commitment!
2nd characteristics: for claiming your mountain: Confident!

2. Caleb Was Confident: vs. 12

“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, and 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." What was it that gave 85-year-old Caleb the idea he could be a giant killer? Caleb's confidence was in God's word: “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.” God made this promise to Caleb: “When the LORD heard your complaining, he became very angry. So he solemnly swore, 35 ‘Not one of you from this wicked generation will live to see the good land I swore to give your ancestors, 36 except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see this land because he has followed the LORD completely. I will give to him and his descendants some of the very land he explored during his scouting mission.’ Deuteronomy 1:34-36 (NLT)

I can see Caleb now climbing that mountain with a sword in one hand and a deed in the other while singing to the top of his lungs, “Give me my mountain!” Caleb knew God had given it to him so he claimed it. Faith is not positive thinking. Faith is not "name it and claim it.” Faith is not optimism. Faith is not looking on the bright side. Faith is simply acting on what God says. Faith is simply taking God at His Word and believing that He will do everything He has promised to do! Faith is more than saying that you believe what God says; faith is acting on what God says. It takes faith to win the spiritual victory. In fact, only faith can give us the victory. Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

Faith is never a blind leap, but a deep settled conviction that God will do what He has promised!

1st characteristics: for claiming your mountain: Commitment!
2nd characteristics: for claiming your mountain: Confident!
3rd characteristics: for claiming your mountain: Courageous!

3. Caleb Was Courageous:

In Caleb's life, commitment led to confidence, and confidence to courage. Caleb had to overcome three great obstacles in his quest for his Canaan.

• He Had to Overcome Grasshoppers

For Caleb to claim what God had promised he had to go against the majority. “We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!” Numbers 13:33 (NLT)

Jesus - He was usually alone in everything He did! There will always be someone saying that it can't be done, it's never been done like that before, we can't afford it. Sometimes you will stand alone, but if you are standing on the Word of God in the will of God, then you were never in better company!

• He Had to Overcome Giants

“And if the LORD is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey. 9 Do not rebel against the LORD, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the LORD is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!” Numbers 14:8-9 (NLT)

All of us have giants in our lives. Giants of discouragement, finances, sickness, family, distress, doubt and the truth is, we can't defeat them ourselves. We have two options. We can look at how small we are compared to our giants. This is the outlook of fear! – or We can look at how small our giants are compared to God! This is the uplook of faith!

When we are facing life's giants and are in danger of falling, the Heavenly Father comes alongside of us to help us carry on for His glory.

• He Had to Overcome Gray Hairs

“Now, as you can see, the LORD has kept me alive and well as he promised for all these forty-five years since Moses made this promise - even while Israel wandered in the wilderness. Today I am eighty-five years old.”

What does this tell us? When God makes a promise, he will give us the strength to see its fulfillment! Never count God, or yourself out. True faith looks beyond the present circumstance and sees the provision of the Almighty!

Comedian Jerry Clower tells a story about Uncle Versie Ledbetter who had a mule named Della. One day Della fell into a cistern Uncle Versie thought he had covered up but hadn't:“Uncle Versie had a problem. There was his best mule down at the bottom of that cistern and no way he could get the mule out of there. He didn't want her to stay down there and starve to death, so he decided he would get a shovel and cover her up. It would be cruel, but it wouldn't be as cruel and inhumane as to let Della starve to death in the bottom of that deep cistern. Uncle Versie took a shovelful of dirt and threw it down into the cistern and every time a shovelful of dirt hit old Della, she'd shake the dirt off and stomp it. It wasn't long before Della had shaken off enough dirt and stomped it so that she was high enough to jump out of the cistern.”

We're like that mule - either our problems will bury us or we shake them off and stomp them down until we rise above them.

When you boil all the fat away, courage can be defined in three letter: Y E S! All real Christian courage really is, is the willingness to say “Yes!” to what God is doing in your life.

1st characteristics: for claiming your mountain: Commitment!
2nd characteristics: for claiming your mountain: Confident!
3rd characteristics: for claiming your mountain: Courageous!
4th characteristics: for claiming your mountain: Conqueror!

4. Caleb Was Conqueror:

And Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance. 14 Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel.”

Caleb experienced what God had promised! He climbed the mountains and he defeated the giants - he claimed his possession. The name of the place Caleb inherited was named “Hebron.” This means “Fellowship”. Caleb refused to quit until he had obtained everything the Lord has for him! He refused to stop until he had obtained that place of fellowship with God. That needs to be our battle cry today! We must refuse to give up, back up, or shut up or be held up, until we have stood up, lined up, read up, prayed up, confessed up, stored up, spoke up, looked up, and filled up on everything the Lord wants to give His children! We ought to settle for nothing less than that place of perfect fellowship with the Lord our God!

What about you, have you entered your Canaan and claimed your possession? It isn't God's will for you to wander around in the wilderness of defeat forever. It is His will that you walk in victory and in His power. There will be trials? God had: a flood for Noah, a fire for the 3 Hebrews, a lion's den for Daniel, and a cross for Jesus, but there was victory in the midst of each trial for these and there will be victory for you as well!

God has a place of peace and power for you, but you must be willing the claim your possession. It isn't for the fainthearted, but it is for the faith hearted. Come claim your Canaan right now! There is a vast difference between a promise and a possession! God promised Israel the land, but they had to possess it before it became theirs. God has victory for His children that are His promise! That promise must be actively pursued and possessed before it will ever become a reality.