Fresh Manna
by Pastor Tim Burt
If you are anything like me, you probably have many characters from the Bible that you admire that have helped you in your faith. I know I do. Each of them have helped me know and understand the Lord as well as help strengthen my relationship with Him in different ways. One of those is Caleb. 
In Numbers 14:24, God said that Caleb had a “different spirit.” “But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.” The Lord said this to Moses at a time when He was pronouncing judgment on His people for casting all trust and faith in Him aside. What would become their destiny would not become Caleb’s. They would become a people who would never enter into the Promised Land or experience the manifestation of God’s promises in their lives. Why? Because despite how powerfully God would show them and demonstrate His presence and provision in their lives, they would not put faith in Him. They didn’t realize it but they were rejecting His love.
God was withholding judgment from Caleb (and Joshua). He proclaimed to Moses that Caleb had a different spirit. Why did God say that about Caleb? He said it because Caleb is the role model of a believer. Caleb was a BELIEVER. This term is used far too loosely. We say you are a believer of Jesus Christ if you understand that He lived and died and took the punishment that you and I deserve for our sins – if you renounce sin and Satan in your life and you repent for the life of sin you have led. If you do this and receive Jesus as your personal Savior, then you are a believer.
What I just described is the birth of a believer – what Jesus called being “born again.” Your faith in that truth is your entrance into Heaven. But do you think God meant for that to be the all-in-all of your relationship with Him? Not a chance! He wanted you to experience His love and power touching your life through your faith in His promises, every day. God wants that belief in Jesus to mature into trust and permeate every fiber of your being. His desire for us when we come to places of pressure, is not to panic or “freak out,” but to instead pause, look toward Heaven, take a deep breath, ask the Lord for help based on His promises, and then absolutely trust Him. Everyone comes to places of pressure but many never come to a place of absolute trust in the Lord. Why not? Because people don’t know God well enough to trust Him. That could be any believer’s dilemma. 
The Lord has said to us, “…those that seek Me will find Me.” The burden to know God is upon us. He is more than willing to reveal Himself and His love to those that will seek Him with all their heart. Once you really know God, then you really do move over to a place of trust and your faith becomes active and powerful – like Caleb’s. You develop that “different spirit.”
That is what made Caleb different. Nothing in scripture leads us to believe that Caleb was any different from you or me in gifting or ability. What made him different was that he based his entire life upon what God said and promised. Then he acted upon it. He held nothing back. God said He would help them conquer this new land of promise. He would give it to them and help them and bless they and their future generations in it. Caleb took Him at His Word. He believed it. It became settled in his heart. He didn’t spend a lot of mental anguish wondering, will God do this or won’t he. Instead he spent all his time believing and preparing himself and those in his sphere of influence to enter into the promised land of God.
How do I know that? Moses in pronouncing judgment on God’s people testified of Caleb. In Deu 1:35-36 we hear Moses speaking God’s words: “Not a man of this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your forefathers, except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the LORD wholeheartedly.”
Am I a bulldog when I write Fresh Manna and speak to you about faith and the promises of God? You better believe it! 
I am not moved by the unbelief of others. I am not moved by circumstances. I am moved by what God has promised you and me. It shapes my heart, my thoughts, who I am, what I believe and what I pursue. I desire to walk in and receive every promise of God. I desire to be fully equipped to help others know the gospel of Jesus Christ and walk in all that God has promised them. Be blessed as you become a Caleb believer – one who God would say has a “different spirit!”
In His Love,
Pastor Tim Burt
Published by Pastor Tim Burt
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