An introduction to the topic of God's goodness, joy, and peace as hallmarks of the Christian faith, setting the stage for the upcoming discussion.

Introduction: God's Goodness and Joy

A retelling of the story of the 12 spies in the Old Testament, emphasizing the importance of the account and preparing the audience for a deeper exploration of the verses.

The Account of the 12 Spies

Exploring the concept of the promised land and its relevance to the victorious Christian life on earth, with a focus on the battles and victories within the promised land.

Understanding the Promised Land

Discussing the deceptive nature of facts and the importance of applying God's truth to establish a good report, drawing inspiration from the story of the 10 spies in the Old Testament.

Applying God's Truth to Facts

Encouraging the audience to recall past victories and miracles as a source of faith and confidence in God's ability to bring about future breakthroughs and triumphs.

Remembering Past Victories

Highlighting the impact of words on the manifestation of miracles and emphasizing the responsibility to speak good words, pray good prayers, and support one another in faith.

The Power of Words and Responsibility

Our words have the power to start or stop someone else's miracle, and we have the influence to make the majority if we're saying what God's saying.

The Power of Words

Praying for righteousness to be exalted in the nation and obeying Jesus's command to pray God's will into the earth and our lives.

Praying God's Will

Encouragement to speak God's word over ourselves, our family, our town, and our business, and the assurance that God is on our side.

Taking Our Promised Land

Affirmation of being destined for greatness, victory, and overcoming through Christ, and the assurance of God's help in walking into the fullness of our promised land.

Destined for Greatness

The empowering nature of a Holy Ghost-guided imagination, imagining God's goodness, and framing our world with God's thoughts and Word.

The Power of Imagination

# The Promised Land: A Newsletter on Faith and Victory

## God's Goodness and the Story of the 12 Spies

God is good, isn't he? Hallelujah. Praise God. I love God, and I just love the fact that he has a sweet spirit and that he knows how to laugh with us, amen. And I'm glad that 1 of the primary things, I'd say hallmarks of the Christian is joy and peace and love. I don't know which 1 I love the most. I love all of them, amen.

### The Deion Sanders Anointing

What we'll just take is the Deion Sanders anointing and we'll do it all. Amen. And just enjoy everything that He's got for us because it's so good. You know, His mercies are new every morning. Hallelujah. And His goodness is never-ending. And He's not holding our human frailties or our human weaknesses or our sins against us because of the blood.

### The Power of God's Music

Do you love that blood song that we just sang? I could sing that all morning. It's so good. I mean, it's so powerful. And the truths in that music are so wonderful. I just love thinking about it. I love thinking about what he's done for us.

### The Story of the 12 Spies

Well, today I wanna share the story, the account of the 12 spies in the Old Testament. And what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna just share a bunch of verses to start with, and then we're gonna talk about the verses. So the first part is gonna sort of be story time with Ken, although it's a true story.

### The Account of the 12 Spies

In Numbers chapter 13, verse 1 and 2 it says and the Lord spoke unto Moses saying send thou men that they may search the land of Canaan, "'which I give,' says, "'which I give, "'which I give unto the children of Israel, "'of every tribe of their fathers shall you send a man, "'everyone a ruler or a leader among them. Then verse 30, or the second part of verse 3, all these men were heads of the tribes of Israel. Then the Bible goes ahead to list 12 leaders, which we're not gonna read for time's sake, each from a different tribe of Israel. 2 of the leaders were Joshua and Caleb, which I'm sure most of us are familiar with.

Then in Numbers chapter 13, let's continue with the story beginning at verse 17. "'And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountains, and see the land, what it is, and the people that dwell therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many, and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad, and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents or in strongholds, and what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein or not. And it says, be ye of good courage. Be ye of good courage. And so the Bible says that the 12 spies went and searched out the land thoroughly and returned after 40 days, 40 days of spying out that land. So they were gone for a month and 10 days.

### The Report of the Spies

Then they gave their report to Moses and the people. Yes, the land flows with milk and honey, exactly what God said. Then on verse 28 through 33, Nevertheless, the people be strong that dwell in the land. And the cities are walled and very great. And moreover, we saw the children of Anak there, and the Amalekites dwell in the land of the south, and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites dwell in the mountains, and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and by the coast of Jordan. And Caleb stilled the people before Moses and said, "'Let us go up at once and possess it, "'for we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, we be not able to go up against the people, for they're stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land through which we have gone to search it is a land that eats up the inhabitants thereof and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, And we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

### The Consequences and Lessons

At that, all of Israel was negatively affected by the evil report of the 10 spies. And they said, would that we had, would to God that we had died in Egypt. We're all gonna die by the sword in this miserable wilderness. In fact, they wanted to appoint a captain to lead them back to Egypt so they could go back and be slaves again. They were so discouraged because of the report of the 10 spies. So there were the 2 spies, Joshua and Caleb, and then there were the 10 spies.

Then over there in chapter 14, verse 6 through 9, and we're sort of heading up toward the end of this particular event or this account. And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes and they spoke unto all the company of the children of Israel saying, Land which we pass through to search it is an exceeding good land. If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey. Only Rebel ye not against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land, for they are bred for us." What do they mean by that? Meant we will swallow them up. Their defense is departed from them, and the Lord is with us, fear them not.

### The Outcome

At that point, the Israelites rose up to stone Joshua and Caleb, but God intervened. And so, in the interest of time, I'll just sum up the story here, the end of the story, by saying that God was extremely upset. He was mad and there was no getting over it. And even the New Testament talks about this event quite extensively, especially in Hebrews chapter 3. He decided that that was pretty much the last straw. And we're gonna find out. 10 of the spies suddenly died. The 10 spies that had the evil report, they went bye-bye. Joshua and Caleb lived. Everyone besides Joshua and Caleb who were 20 years old and up were never to enter the promised land. And this is the whole reason why the country, the Israelites kept going in circles in the desert for 40 years because God said, none of you are going to enter the promised land until everyone 20 years and up dies. And you're just gonna hang around. It would have taken them, people say, approximately 11 days to get from the Red Sea to the Promised Land. Instead, it took them 40 years, because God says, you will not enter into my rest. The reason why we're gonna talk about that, we're gonna talk about the difference between the 10 spies who died and the 2 spies who lived. We're gonna talk about the ones who never made it to the promised land. And we're gonna talk about the ones who made it to the promised land. Because I wanna be in that group, amen? Because there is a promised land for the people of God. Hallelujah. And it's there for us. And so that's what I wanna talk, that's the direction we wanna go today. And so they wandered in the wilderness 40 years until the older generation died out and the next generation could go in. That was hundreds of thousands of people. When they left Egypt, there was approximately 600,000 men. Well, that's a heck of a lot of people that were going through the desert. I can only, I can barely imagine. They organized them all up according to the 12 tribes and mobilized them and off they went, traipsing around the desert in circles and figure eights and up and down and up the mountain and down the mountain and in the valley and here and there and everywhere. And God kept them alive the whole time until the 40 years was up. And then the younger generation was allowed to go.

### Lessons from the Story of the 12 Spies

### We all have a promised land

- Some have said that the promised land is a type of heaven, but there are battles in the promised land.
- The promised land is a type of the victorious Christian life on earth.

### Our promised land is the promises, rights, and privileges we have in Christ

- We are right now to 1 degree or another in our promised land if we are born again.
- We choose how victorious we're gonna be and it's not all up to God.

### Facts can deceive you

- God's truth frequently contradicts facts.
- Apply the truth to the facts, and you will have a good report like Joshua and Caleb.

### Remember past victories

- Recount past victories and miracles that God has done for us and those that are close to us.

### Your words could stop or start someone else's miracle

- We're responsible to speak good words over each other and to pray good prayers over each other and believe good things over each other.

### The Power of Imagination

- What you focus on, you will empower.
- A Holy Ghost-guided imagination is incredibly empowering.

## Conclusion

As we reflect on the story of the 12 spies, let us remember to apply God's truth to the facts we face, recount past victories, and speak words of faith and encouragement to one another. Our promised land is within reach, and with God's help, we can overcome any obstacle and claim the victory that is rightfully ours. Let us walk in faith and continue to press into our promised land, experiencing all the goodness and miracles that God has in store for us.

Remember, God is with us, and His promises are true. Let's walk in faith and victory as we journey towards our promised land.

Hallelujah!

"Claiming Your Promised Land: Overcoming Obstacles and Walking in Victory"

- The speaker expresses love and gratitude towards God, emphasizing joy, peace, and love as hallmarks of Christianity
- The speaker shares the story of the 12 spies in the Old Testament, focusing on the report they gave after spying the land of Canaan
- The 10 spies gave a negative report, leading to the Israelites wandering in the wilderness for 40 years
- Joshua and Caleb were the only ones who lived and eventually entered the promised land
- The speaker emphasizes the importance of having faith and not rebelling against the Lord, in order to enter into God's rest.

- The speaker discusses the journey of the Israelites through the desert and relates it to the Christian life on earth.
- He emphasizes that the promised land is not just a future heavenly destination, but also includes the blessings and privileges that believers have in Christ.
- The speaker encourages the audience to operate in the fear of the Lord and to focus on God's truth rather than the facts of their circumstances.
- He emphasizes that God's truth has more power than the facts and that believers have the choice to accept or reject God's best for their lives.

- The speaker discusses the power of God's word versus facts
- Applying God's truth can change the outcome of facts
- Recounting past victories is important for faith
- The speaker shares a personal story of healing as a testimony to God's power
- Words can impact someone else's miracle
- The importance of speaking good words and prayers over each other

- Our words have the power to affect others' destinies
- We should speak God's will into our lives and the earth
- Don't worry if your voice is outnumbered, focus on the good report
- Use the power of imagination to empower yourself with God's Word
- Focus on God's promises and imagine them in your life

The speaker expresses love and gratitude towards God, emphasizing joy, peace, and love as hallmarks of Christianity. He shares the story of the 12 spies in the Old Testament, focusing on the report they gave after spying the land of Canaan. The 10 spies gave a negative report, leading to the Israelites wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. Joshua and Caleb were the only ones who lived and eventually entered the promised land. The speaker emphasizes the importance of having faith and not rebelling against the Lord, in order to enter into God's rest. He discusses the power of God's word versus facts, and encourages the audience to speak good words and prayers over each other. The importance of speaking God's will into our lives and the earth is emphasized, as well as using the power of imagination to empower ourselves with God's Word.

I love God, and I just love the fact that he has a sweet spirit and that he knows how to laugh with us, amen.

And I'm glad that 1 of the primary things, I'd say hallmarks of the Christian is joy and peace and love.

I don't know which 1 I love the more, the most.

What we'll just take is the Deion Sanders anointing and we'll do it all.

And just enjoy everything that He's got for us because it's so good.

You know, His mercies are new every morning.

And He's not holding our human frailties or our human weaknesses or our sins against us because of the blood.

Do you love that blood song that we just sang?

And maybe some morning we will sing it a few times.

And the truths in that music is just, are so wonderful.

I love thinking about what he's done for us.

I love thinking about that he's brought us out of the kingdom of darkness, out of the power of sin and the devil and made a path for us and made a path of righteousness for us, amen.

And he's working in us and empowering us.

He's not just putting the whole trip on us while you have to earn your way to heaven, Amen.

He's directing our steps, empowering us, speaking to us, encouraging us, and loving us all the way through the whole process.

Well, today I wanna share the story, the account of the 12 spies in the Old Testament.

And what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna just share a bunch of verses to start with, and then we're gonna talk about the verses.

So the first part is gonna sort of be story time with Ken, although it's a true story.

And so we're just gonna, we're gonna cover a lot of verses, the whole account here, it's gonna take a few minutes, but I encourage you to stick with me, and let's get through this account in the Old Testament in the book of Numbers, And after that, we'll just find out what we can find out from these scriptures.

Well, we're gonna start in Numbers chapter 13.

Father, in Jesus' name, I thank you for your word.

I thank you for your Holy Spirit, the great and mighty teacher.

I thank you that you're speaking to every person under the sound of my voice, and you're leading us and guiding us into all that you have for us.

We don't have to ask you to anoint the word or empower the word, because the word is already full of your power.

So we just prepare our hearts to receive that which you have for us and the word that you have for us by your Holy Spirit Jesus name everybody said amen.

So in Numbers chapter 13 verse 1 and 2 it says and the Lord spoke unto Moses saying send thou men that they may search the land of Canaan, "'which I give,' says, "'which I give, "'which I give unto the children of Israel, "'of every tribe of their fathers shall you send a man, "'everyone a ruler or a leader among them.

Then verse 30, or the second part of verse 3, all these men were heads of the tribes of Israel.

Then the Bible goes ahead to list 12 leaders, which we're not gonna read for time's sake, each from a different tribe of Israel.

2 of the leaders were Joshua and Caleb, which I'm sure most of us are familiar with.

Then in Numbers chapter 13, let's continue with the story beginning at verse 17.

"'And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountains, and see the land, what it is, and the people that dwell therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many, and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad, and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents or in strongholds, and what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein or not.

And so the Bible says that the 12 spies went and searched out the land thoroughly and returned after 40 days, 40 days of spying out that land.

So they were gone for a month and 10 days.

I mean, they were gone for a long time, 40 days checking everything out, checking out this land that God says is theirs.

He already said He had given it to them, and they were checking it out, spying it out, coming back with the report.

And so the Bible says they went and searched out the land thoroughly and returned after 40 days.

Then they gave their report to Moses and the people.

Yes, the land flows with milk and honey, exactly what God said.

Then on verse 28 through 33, Nevertheless, the people be strong that dwell in the land.

And the cities are walled and very great.

And moreover, we saw the children of Anak there, and the Amalekites dwell in the land of the south, and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites dwell in the mountains, and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and by the coast of Jordan.

And Caleb stilled the people before Moses and said, "'Let us go up at once and possess it, "'for we are well able to overcome it.

But the men that went up with him said, we be not able to go up against the people, for they're stronger than we.

And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land through which we have gone to search it is a land that eats up the inhabitants thereof and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature.

And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, And we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

At that, all of Israel was negatively affected by the evil report of the 10 spies.

And they said, would that we had, would to God that we had died in Egypt.

We're all gonna die by the sword in this miserable wilderness.

In fact, they wanted to appoint a captain to lead them back to Egypt so they could go back and be slaves again.

They were so discouraged because of the report of the 10 spies.

So there were the 2 spies, Joshua and Caleb, and then there were the 10 spies.

Then over there in chapter 14, verse 6 through 9, and we're sort of heading up toward the end of this particular event or this account.

And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes and they spoke unto all the company of the children of Israel saying, Land which we pass through to search it is an exceeding good land.

If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey.

Only Rebel ye not against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land, for they are bred for us." What do they mean by that?

Their defense is departed from them, and the Lord is with us, fear them not.

At that point, the Israelites rose up to stone Joshua and Caleb, but God intervened.

And so, in the interest of time, I'll just sum up the story here, the end of the story, by saying that God was extremely upset.

He was mad and there was no getting over it.

And even the New Testament talks about this event quite extensively, especially in Hebrews chapter 3.

He decided that that was pretty much the last straw.

The 10 spies that had the evil report, they went bye-bye.

Everyone besides Joshua and Caleb who were 20 years old and up were never to enter the promised land.

And this is the whole reason why the country, the Israelites kept going in circles in the desert for 40 years because God said, none of you are going to enter the promised land until everyone 20 years and up dies.

It would have taken them, people say, approximately 11 days to get from the Red Sea to the Promised Land.

Instead, it took them 40 years, because God says, you will not enter into my rest.

The reason why we're gonna talk about that, we're gonna talk about the difference between the 10 spies who died and the 2 spies who lived.

We're gonna talk about the ones who never made it to the promised land.

And we're gonna talk about the ones who made it to the promised land.

Because there is a promised land for the people of God.

And so that's what I wanna talk, that's the direction we wanna go today.

And so they wandered in the wilderness 40 years until the older generation died out and the next generation could go in.

That was hundreds of thousands of people.

When they left Egypt, there was approximately 600,000 men.

Well, that's a heck of a lot of people that were going through the desert.

They organized them all up according to the 12 tribes and mobilized them and off they went, traipsing around the desert in circles and figure eights and up and down and up the mountain and down the mountain and in the valley and here and there and everywhere.

And God kept them alive the whole time until the 40 years was up.

And then the younger generation was allowed to go.

Number 1, I wanna mention, is I got about 32 truths concerning this event, but we're not gonna talk about all of them, I don't think.

The first 1 is, we all have a promised land.

Some have said that the promised land is a type of heaven, but there are battles in the promised land.

You remember that when they did go to the promised land, they had to possess the land, you remember that?

And so they had all these other nations that were evil that came against them, they could not coexist.

And you know, there is a fight in the promised land.

The New Testament says, "'Fight the good fight of faith,' amen?" And so I'm not gonna tell you that your promised land is just sitting around, just relaxing, and mellowing out on a cloud and playing a harp, or whatever it is that you feel, or just sitting there watching TV, and being passive, because the promised land is not a place for passivity.

In fact, the promised land has enemies in it, and they have plans against you and against me.

But we're not ignorant of the devil's devices.

We can experience all that God has for us.

We don't have to be sitting around, wondering what's going on, and wandering through the wilderness, and thinking, you know, well, 1 of these days, you know, Jesus will come and rescue me and I'll get the Rapture Airlines out of this place and everything will be okay.

That's not God's path to victory in this earth.

He has a path to victory for us, and it's not us being passive.

It's not us being afraid of the battle, and it's not us just ignoring the things of God.

It's not us fearing to go into all that God has for us.

For God doesn't give us a spirit of fear, but a power and a love and a sound mind.

And he's given us the ability to win in life through Jesus Christ and not sit around and act like sinners, amen.

He's given us the ability to act like heaven and enjoy heaven on earth and enjoy his love and his favor and his goodness and his forgiveness and his grace and his miracles on the earth, amen?

God is a God of miracles and part of pressing into your promised land is gonna be miracles.

I'm saying miracles, I'm saying the miraculous, I'm saying the gifts of the spirit.

I'm talking about God doing supernatural stuff for us on our behalf that only we can give glory to God for, amen?

It's a type of the victorious Christian life on earth.

We are right now to 1 degree or another in our promised land if we are born again.

If we have received Jesus as Lord of our life.

Now, that is wonderful, but we choose how victorious we're gonna be.

Me say, well, you know, I was just born on the wrong side of the tracks, or, you know, my dad did thus and such, and my grandpa did thus and such.

And this sin was just sort of generational.

And so I guess it's left up to me to operate in the same losing ways.

You have a, and HIS NAME IS GOD ALMIGHTY.

YOU HAVE A NEW ELDER BROTHER, AND HIS NAME IS JESUS CHRIST.

YOU HAVE A NEW ADVOCATE, SOMEBODY WHO'S YOUR COUNSELOR, SOMEBODY WHO'S YOUR CONFIDANT, SOMEBODY WHO WILL ALWAYS HAVE...BE THERE TO COUNSEL YOU, and that's the Holy Spirit.

And so you are a part of a new generation.

You are a part of the people who can follow God and enjoy God and experience all that he has for you on this earth, not just in heaven, amen.

You know, religion would like to put all the blessings of God to the past or in the future, but in the meantime, just have a suffering complex and see if you can get through until you die.

And thank God that's not what God is telling us we got to do.

So we're going to win in that promised land.

Number 2, Israel's promised land was and is a geographic location.

Our promised land is the promises, rights, and privileges we have in Christ.

Are we operating in all that God has for us?

Well, to 1 degree or another we are, but I just want more, amen?

And I'm not gonna let the devil say, don't be so selfish, it's all about you.

The more of his goodness I experience, the more joy I can give to somebody else.

And so the kingdom of God is not me to drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

I want all the righteousness He has for me, all the peace and all the joy in this earth.

And you know, I just, the spirit of the fear of the Lord, the Bible talks about it in the book of Isaiah.

And I think that's a major part of walking into our promised land.

I know you've forgiven me of all my sins.

I know that you've made me righteous and cleansed me.

I know that you made me your child, but Lord, there's something on the inside of me that really, really wants to live this life your way.

There's something inside of me that is stronger than what my flesh desires and the way I've lived in the past.

And God, I thank you for the spirit of the fear of the Lord.

The spirit of the fear of the Lord is not being afraid of God, a fear as in He's going to hurt you.

The biblical term of the fear of the Lord, like I said, is a holy desire to, or desire to not, or to please God, to please God.

And I believe, you know, the Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

And my point is, without the holy fear of the Lord, the dread of displeasing God, we will not be able to enter into the fullness of our promised land.

And so the Holy Spirit on the inside of us will lead us and guide us that way.

I'm not here to be the Holy Ghost police.

And as you read the word and as the Holy Spirit speaks to you and encourages you, convicts you and me, guides us, brings us into all truth, why, He'll lead us into a holy path.

He'll lead us into stuff that's so good, so much better than anything this world has to offer.

We'll be so grateful that we just operated in the spirit of the fear of the Lord.

I don't know why I said that, but man, I like it.

So we've been given the choice to accept or reject God's best in this life.

And today what I'm talking about is accepting God's best for you.

We all come to Him the same way, by the blood of Jesus.

We're all made righteous the same way, by the gift of salvation that Jesus gave us.

And so it's not that, well, you know, Ken, you know, you're a pastor and it's easier for you?

It's not easier for me It's all the same.

We all have to live on this earth but there's keys to success in the kingdom of God and there's keys to being able to take your promised land.

Number 2, our promised land is the promises, rights, and privileges we have in Christ.

You know the 10 spies just recited what they saw.

They didn't lie to the best of their ability.

They reported the facts as they saw them.

Yet God called it an evil report and he got extremely irate about it.

Because they didn't acknowledge the truth.

I thought you just said that they acknowledged the facts.

Not necessarily, because a lot of times God's truth contradicts what you're looking at.

And the key here is this, if you're gonna possess your promised land, we need to learn how to do this.

We need to learn how to take the facts and look at them and apply God's truth to those facts because the facts are subject to change.

And so when we operate in God's truth and we focus on that, and we're not ignoring the facts.

We don't have to ignore what the devil's doing.

We don't have to ignore what circumstances we're dealing with, but what are we focusing on?

What do we believe has more power, God's word or the facts?

And the Bible says in 2 Corinthians, it says, the things that are seen are subject to change, but the things that are unseen, that's God's principles and God's truth, is eternal and it'll never change.

So let God be true in every fact, a liar.

However, when we apply God's truth to establish facts, the facts are subject to change.

Apply the truth to the facts, and you will have a good report like Joshua and Caleb.

God's truth frequently contradicts facts.

It's like applying medicine to a sickness.

It's sort of like being a thermostat instead of a thermometer.

You can always, a thermometer always tells you what the temperature is.

But a thermostat is calling for something that is not there yet, but it is making that change subject to, that temperature subject to change, amen?

We gonna whine about what's going on and whine about the circumstances?

Or are we gonna be somebody that says, nope, nope, nope, I'm calling for something else because the word says something different, Amen?

Number 4, and I love this, remember past victories.

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