In the book of Joshua 18, we find Joshua asking the children of Israel ‘how long are you slack to go in and possess the land which God has given you?’ You see, they had wondered in the wilderness for 40 years while all the time the Promised Land awaited them. It belonged to them all they had to do was possess it. God had given them the command to go in and possess all He had for them years before, yet they continued to wander around and around in the wilderness. We would probably ask why someone was wondering around in the wilderness living day by day when such an inheritance belonged to them. Now even God was saying ‘when you are going to take what I have given you? When?’
Yet, the body of Christ, for the most part is doing the much of the same thing. Through the cross of Jesus Christ, God provided all we could ever need, He put dominion over the whole earth back in our hands, as it was from the beginning. In the beginning, God gave Adam dominion over all the earth. (Genesis 1:26) Dominion means lordship, rulership, ownership. Now, think about that for a moment.
Adam had ownership over all the earth. Can you agree then that when Jesus took back dominion and gave it to us that we now have ownership over all the earth? For most of us that it simply too big to imagine however it is entirely true. We are in control of what happens in our lives, we always say ‘God is in control’ but according to the Bible, God placed that dominion in our hands. Therefore, God allows what we allow.
God allows what we allow, this statement is proven in Matthew 18:18. The Bible says ‘whatsoever we bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever we loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’
Adam had dominion then gave it to the devil, through disobedience. Jesus, the last Adam, took it back and handed it to us. Now God is waiting on us to take our legal right to ownership over the whole earth. I know that sounds big but remember Psalm 115:16, it says ‘the heaven, even the heavens are the Lords: but the earth He has given to the children of men.’ That’s us! He has given the earth to us. But what happens if someone doesn’t take ownership? Let me explain.
I once heard a story about a woman who believed God for a house. God made the way for her to build her home. But after many attacks, she consulted with a minister and said, ‘Brother, the enemy keeps attacking, when I finish one room then something goes wrong with another room, then when I take care of that problem something else bad happens.’ ‘I don’t know what is going on’ she said ‘I told God it was His house and I don’t understand this.’ The minister replied ‘well, that’s your problem, God gave you the house and you keep giving it back to Him, therefore it has no owner.’ ‘When no one has ownership the enemy can come in and do whatever he pleases, as he has done with your house.’ Wow! That was revelation to me! What did the woman do? She took possession of the home God had given her with her words and the enemy no longer had a right to attack. She completed the building of her home and enjoys the home God gave her.
Let’s look back at 1 Corinthians 3:21, the Bible says all things belong to us. All things. Everything. We have dominion over all things, I know I am repeating myself, but I want you to get this, we have dominion over all things. Does that mean attacks won’t come, no, but it does means the enemy has no legal rights to take anything of yours that you don’t freely hand over. God made the earth for us; it’s time we took ownership. It’s time to stop procrastinating and take our inheritance. It’s time to take hold of what God has for you. Don’t be slothful, possess your land. It is almost as if God is saying again, ‘how long are you slack to go in and possess the land which God has given you?’
The Bible says ‘all things are ours.’ What ‘thing’ do you have need of today? Do you need a home? Well, God wants you to have one and He even said you would own houses you didn’t build. That means that He will give you a house that you didn’t have to toil to build. Do you need a nice car? God said He would give you the desires of your heart. Do you need healing? He said ‘I am the God that healeth you.’ Do you need peace? Jesus said His peace belongs to you. You see, all things are really ours, we simply have to possess them. And no, it is not always simple, sometimes it is a fight. Sometimes the enemy will fight you with all he has but there is only one problem with that for him. All he possesses in no way compares to all God has and God has already given you all He has. When the fight comes, don’t back down. Stand still. Stand and trust God. I don’t care if it begins to look like you have lost, it’s a lie, he who stands with God and on His word never, ever loses. Just keep standing and you will see God come on the scene and you will see the fruit of standing firm on His unchanging word.
I heard a powerful statement the other day. It was on a movie about a village whose residents lived in peace, they lived by God’s laws and lived to serve one another. A man came from another village and said that he was going to attack them and that they couldn’t fight because they were a village of peace. The king of this village stood up and said ‘we will fight, for some peace only comes after war.’ Some peace only comes after war. Sometimes you must fight for peace. I promise you, if you are trusting God for something big, or if you are being effective for God, there will be a fight. But I have good news for you; the battle has already been won. We only have to do what Jesus did when the devil came to Him in the wilderness, speak the word of God. Say what the word of God says. That’s our fight. And His word never fails, victory is a sure thing.
Sometimes, the battle comes from other people. Often, it seems it is people coming against you, judging you, speaking against you. When these things happen, keep your eyes on God and know that it is the enemy working through them. While it is sad that they are allowing themselves to be used of the devil, it is still the devil behind it. He is trying to stop you, he is trying to get your eyes on the people attacking you, so that you get your eyes off the word of God. Keep your focus. Keep your eyes on Jesus. And remember, it is the enemy, not the person.
Remember Peter? When he was walking on water, as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus, he literally walked on water. But the moment he put his focus on the wind and waves he began to sink. Sometimes we do the same thing, an attack comes through someone and before we know it our focus is on the attack, today, get your eyes off the attack and get your eyes back on Jesus. Get your eyes off the person the enemy is using to torment you and walk on water. Walk on the water of the word of God. God said that ‘He would keep us in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed upon Him.’ That word ‘peace’ means wholeness, nothing broken, nothing missing. That means as you keep your eyes on Jesus, all those things that belong to you will come to you. All things. Nothing missing or broken. All things.
It’s your time, possess what’s yours! You have gone long enough around this mountain – go forward and possess your land.
