Daily D – Numbers 32:10-12

by | Feb 24, 2023 | Daily D | 0 comments

David G Bowman Logo

Numbers 32:10-12  “Then the Lord was very angry with them, and he vowed, ‘Of all those I rescued from Egypt, no one who is twenty years old or older will ever see the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for they have not obeyed me wholeheartedly. The only exceptions are Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they have wholeheartedly followed the Lord.’” (NLT)

Mavericks who go their own way and play by their own rules are popular in all the stories. Truly exceptional individuals are not rebels but faithful followers of God who make the good life possible for everyone. They lead not from a sense of brokenness but from a place of trust in the God Who Does Not Fail. 

Truly Exceptional are two words that sound like a boutique shop in a trendy mall. What if these words were applied to you for all the right reasons? What if your boss, when speaking about you to others, called you Truly Exceptional?

What if your work products were deemed by others as Truly Exceptional?

What if your grades and insights in your continuing education were considered Truly Exceptional? 

What would it take for you to hear God say about you what he said about Caleb and Joshua, that you are what they were, Truly Exceptional?

Caleb and Joshua were the Positive Alternative to the other ten spies whose names you cannot recall. Those men saw all God promised was true but fell into a league of fear. Their negative orientation toward life turned them into critics who caused an entire generation to die short of inheriting all the goodness God had in store for them. 

You and I can live with a Negative Orientation like everyone else, or we can be the Positive Alternative.

We can fall in line with the Unfaithful Majority, or we can join the ranks of the Truly Exceptional. 

George Herbert said, “Living well is the best revenge.” Those who quote this quote and apply this application often do so in complete opposition to what George Herbert actually meant. 

Herbert was a poet and a priest. He was not referring to fine clothes, luxurious surroundings, and the fawning attention of servants and spectators. Instead, he referred to the kind of life Caleb and Joshua understood. He referred to the Positive Alternative. He talked about the Truly Exceptional.

Paul Harvey used to come on the radio on this particular day of the week and say, “Good morning, Americans. It’s Friday!” ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC-DpKmgpwg]) This was no lament at the end of a worn-out workweek. This was the triumph of expectation for all that lay ahead. Paul Harvey was the Positive Alternative. Paul Harvey was Truly Exceptional. 

Live as the Positive Alternative.

Live a life God will describe as Truly Exceptional.

I will live as the Positive Alternative and Truly Exceptional as I stride confidently into a life directed by God’s heart.

Our Father, how could we not live with positivity when we know you, your will, and your ways? How could we not experience truly exceptional lives when you are in charge, and we are about your purposes? Give us the same spirit Caleb and Joshua had. Empower us with their kind of confidence. May we live well today and every day as we know you and experience you and help others do the same. Amen.

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

CONNECT WITH ME!

Interested in learning more about Church Unique or Life Younique? Send a note through the Get In Touch box or Message me through the Facebook link above.

          Church Unique Logo          Auxano Logo

GET IN TOUCH!

READ MY BLOG!

Daily D – Judges 3:4

Judges 3:4 These people were left to test the Israelites—to see whether they would obey the commands the Lord had given to their ancestors through Moses.

Daily D – Judges 2:10

Judges 2:10 After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the Lord or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel.

Daily D – Joshua 21:45

Joshua 21:45 Not a single one of all the good promises the Lord had given to the family of Israel was left unfulfilled; everything he had spoken came true.

Daily D – Joshua 14:10-13

Joshua 14:10-13 “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. I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then. So give me the hill country that the Lord promised me. You will remember that as scouts we found the descendants of Anak living there in great, walled towns. But if the LORD is with me, I will drive them out of the land, just as the LORD said.”
So Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave Hebron to him as his portion of land.

Daily D – Joshua 9:14

Joshua 9:14 So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the Lord.