Follow the Lord
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Sermon
Pastor Gearl Spicer, March 9th, 2025
Part of the Bridge to the Future, Lessons from Joshua series, preached at a Sunday Online service
Joshua 14
These are the inheritances that the people of Israel received in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the people of Israel gave them to inherit. 2 Their inheritance was by lot, just as the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses for the nine and one-half tribes. 3 For Moses had given an inheritance to the two and one-half tribes beyond the Jordan, but to the Levites he gave no inheritance among them. 4 For the people of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim. And no portion was given to the Levites in the land, but only cities to dwell in, with their pasturelands for their livestock and their substance. 5 The people of Israel did as the Lord commanded Moses; they allotted the land.
Caleb’s Request and Inheritance
6 Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me. 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 him word again as it was in my heart. 8 But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the Lord my God. 9 And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God.’ 10 And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. 11 I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. 12 So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said.”
13 Then Joshua blessed him, and he gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance. 14 Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the Lord, the God of Israel. 15 Now the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-arba. (Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim.) And the land had rest from war.
Sermon Notes
What does it mean to follow the Lord?
God chose to align Caleb’s heart with the Lord and fulfilled His promise!
Alignment—-Allowing our whole heart to be centered in Him
*Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear; but I followed the Lord my God fully. So Moses swore on that day, saying, surely the land on which you foot has trodden will be an inheritance to you and your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God fully. Joshua 14:8-9
*I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me, as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and going out and coming in. Joshua 14:11
*But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he has entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it. Numbers 14:24
When we align our entire hearts fully we experience an irrefutable inheritance!
The secrets of Caleb’s life:
His heart was aligned with God’s purpose—vs.6
*When God speaks we don’t forget His promises!
II. His view was aligned with God’s promise—vs.9
*When you step out in faith you encounter His blessings!
III. His humility was aligned with God’s provision—vs.10-11
*He never forgot the reason he was allowed to live!
IV. HIs energy was aligned with God’s power—-vs.12-14
*God empowers those who live inside of His plan!
Is your heart aligned with a choice to obey?