NUMBERS 33 DO NOT SETTLE FOR LESS THAN GODS BEST2021 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Numbers 33 Do Not Settle For Less Than Gods Best

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2021. Well, this evening, as we look at Numbers chapter 33, I've titled the message, Do Not Settle for Less than God's Best.

And I want to encourage you to consider that this evening, to make sure that in your life you don't settle for less than the best that God has for you. The nation of Israel has been working their way through the wilderness. And where we are here in Numbers chapter 33 is they're right on the border of the promised land again.

The first time they went to the border of the promised land, they got freaked out by the 12 spies or the 10 spies really and heard about the giants. They were not willing to trust God. They were not willing to obey God. And they didn't believe that God could give them the land that he had promised to them.

And so they've been wandering the wilderness for the past 40 years, and now the next generation is ready. They've taken the baton. They're ready to go into the promised land. They're right on the border. And now God gives this word to

to give some instruction about what they are to do as they head into the promised land. And so their journey has been long, but it's also just beginning. They're on the verge of a new phase, a new season of God's work, and things are going to change.

because up to this point, they've had their whole lives, this whole new generation pretty much, their whole life, they've experienced the cloud leading them by day and the fire by night. But as they head into the promised land, there's going to be a different way that God is leading them and different ways that God is going to move them and show them where he wants them to be.

Over the past 40 years, for most of their life, for many of them their whole life, they've had manna provided for them every morning by the Lord, just miraculously showing up on the ground, and they would collect that, and that was the food for them.

But as they head into the promised land, there's going to be a whole new way that God provides for them, the sustenance that they need. And those are just a couple examples of they're on the verge of something that's brand new, a whole new season where God is working in different ways and still providing for them, still leading them, but not in the way that he has before. And so there's new things they're going to experience in their relationship with God, new ways they're going to learn to trust God.

But here on the verge, as they're getting ready to head in, to enter in, God gives them this exhortation to help them to make sure that they don't settle for less than what he has for them. That there's going to be opportunity as they head into this new experience to go, wow, this is way better than we had it before, and to stop short of what God really wants to do.

And it's a great lesson for all of us. It's a great reminder and encouragement for all of us that God wants to do some incredible things in your life. The famous scripture, right? That eye has not seen, nor has ear heard, nor has entered into the heart of man what God has in store.

For his children, right? God has great things in store for you, more than you can imagine. He has a life in store for you and lead out for you that is beyond your capability of dreaming up. If you had a genie right now and you're able to make three wishes, you could not compete with what God has in store for you. You couldn't come up with three wishes that are so great that would be better than what God wants to do in your life.

But the important thing then is for us to continue to seek after the Lord, that we obtain, that we grasp hold of his best for us. And so he exhorts his people here on the verge of this promised land, saying, you guys, cross over, but then keep on going and receive fully what I have for you.

Well, Pastor John on Sunday shared about crossing into the promised land, right? Apparently, this is something God wants us to be focused on right now. This week is a week of crossing over, of thinking about those things that God wants to do as we move forward, as we step ahead. And of course, for us as a church, that's interesting to consider. As we celebrate 30 years and we rejoice and we think about, you know, all the things that God has done, at the same time, I

I really believe that this is a word for us as a body of Christ right now in this moment where we are at as a church is not, you know, we're at the tail end of the wilderness journey perhaps, but we're also on the verge of crossing over. And I'm not saying that, you know, in some way trying to make a prophecy of some sorts, but I feel that we are at this kind of place where the Lord is saying, look, I want to do some new things.

And we do want to rejoice and celebrate over all the things that God has done. And as we look forward to, you know, kind of things getting back to normal, that's a thing that we like to say right now, right? Can't wait till things get back to normal, right? And as we look forward to that, at the same time, I would say, man, let's really pray about moving into the promised land and not just resuming perhaps things that were, not just returning to normal, but let's maybe seek for more things

then what we might settle for. We might settle for back to normal, right? We might settle for the way things were and what we could do before. But maybe we need to trust the Lord for some new direction, for some new things. And so don't settle for less than God's best. In your life, for us as a church, let's commit to not settling for less than the full plan that God has for us.

Well, working our way through these verses, we're going to look at four points tonight to consider and to help us not settle for less than God's best. The first thing is found in verse 50 and 51. Here's point number one. Cross over into God's promises.

Looking at verse 50 and 51, it says, And he's going to go on to give them instruction then at that point. But here just zeroing in on that phrase there in verse 51, when you have crossed the Jordan.

When you have crossed the Jordan, God is saying, I expect you to follow the plan that I have set for you and to cross over the Jordan River. And he's expecting them then to take these steps and he's going to part the Jordan River and they're going to cross over on dry land. It's going to be a great miracle that leads them in and that reminds them of the God that they serve.

As they head into the promised land, there's great things, there's battles, there's difficulties, there's challenges, but there's also great victories and rewards that God has for them. And as we think about the promised land, of course, there's the...

the pictures there that are painted for us as believers. We often refer to the promised land as victorious Christian living and refer to Romans chapter 8, right? That the promised land is the life that is lived under the power of the Holy Spirit, under the leading of the Holy Spirit. And you and I can experience the promised land kind of life today by being led by and filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

And of course, that is a good picture, and that is something that we can talk about for quite a while. But this evening, I also want to broaden that a little, because as I was meditating on this and considering it and praying over it, I was thinking about how in different parts of our lives, we're in different seasons, and we find ourselves many times on the verge of new things that God wants to do.

And I would encourage you to consider that this evening, that perhaps right now, you're right there at the Jordan River. And perhaps you have been living a victorious Christian life, right? Perhaps you've been obedient to God and you're walking with the Lord. And so it's not like you haven't been in the promised land.

But at the same time, you might be on the verge of a new promised land because there's many promises that God gives to us. There's many plans that God has for us. And perhaps even right now, even though you've been, you know, faithful and walking with the Lord and experiencing the victory of the Holy Spirit, perhaps there's some new seasons that God has ahead for you.

And there's going to be a river to cross and steps of faith to take and things to accomplish for the Lord. And so as we think about entering into the promised land, you can be thinking about, well, perhaps going from a state of immaturity to maturity. Perhaps you're on the edge of this new season where God is saying to you, you know, you've been kind of in that stalled place of growth as a believer for a long time.

You've been in that place of immaturity. You don't really know me. You don't really know the scriptures. But you sense, you feel that God is calling you to know him. And it's time. And you know that it's time for you to really understand what God's will for you is. And there's a need for you to grow and to move from immaturity to maturity. And maybe you're on the verge of that step.

You're right there on the verge of the promised land, just like the children of Israel. Or maybe you're there and you know there's this thing that's on your heart. There's this thing that's in your mind. You've tried to forget it. You've tried to stop thinking about it. You've tried to change directions, but there's this step of faith in front of you.

And it freaks you out. It terrifies you. Perhaps, you know, like you're wrestling with it because although it sounds exciting and it seems exciting, there is uncertainty. There is fear. But you've tried to shake it. You can't. And you're coming to the conclusion now, this really is something that God wants me to do. And you're on the verge there. You're at the Jordan River. You're about to cross over. Perhaps you're on the verge of

fulfilling your role in the body of Christ. You're there and you are starting to get some clarity on your gifts and the way that God can use you to minister to others around you. And recently you've just, you know, had this awakening of understanding of your part in your role and how you're able to be a blessing to the people around you. These are just some examples of perhaps a

the Jordan River, the place of crossing over that you might be on the verge of. Maybe there's something else. And if it's on your heart, if the Lord's been speaking it to you, then you know, I don't have to make up an example for it. You know where you're at and you know there's a new season ahead from immaturity to maturity perhaps, or a step of faith that God has been prompting in your heart, a new role of serving perhaps, a new capacity in walking with the Lord, a new season of growth perhaps.

that he has for you. Many years ago now, when I was working at Paychex, when I first stepped in as the pastor here, I was working part-time at Paychex in San Bernardino, and then I, you know, was pastoring here, and going through the scriptures, going through the Bible, I think it was Bible in a Year at that time, the Lord spoke to me in Israel's position here, where they were on the verge of the promised land, and about to enter in, and

The Lord spoke to me at that time to take a step of faith and to quit my job and to just be dedicated completely to the church here for my full-time employment. And it was a thing that the Lord used at that point in my life to help me to take that step of faith. And it was a step of faith and the Lord used it and directed it at that time. There might be something like that for you right now. And I want to encourage you to cross over.

That's the thing about being on the verge of something. You're not actually in it yet, right? You're still on the other side of the Jordan. You're still weighing the pros and cons, perhaps. You have a clear sense of the direction that God is going. You have that move on your heart, but you're not yet taking the steps. You're not yet going in the direction. You're not yet stepping into the water to watch God work a miracle and part the sea.

Part the river and allow you to cross over and experience this new season that God has for you. Listen, I want to encourage you this evening. You sense that thing that God's been speaking to your heart, that God's been building up over time, and now you're there on the verge of it. Step into it. Don't hang out there on the border, still on the fence, kind of deciding, weighing back and forth, what am I going to do? Cross over.

Commit to the things that God is putting upon your heart. Commit to the things that God is moving upon you. Step into those things. Go forward and experience the promises that God has for you. Go experience all that God has promised to you. Go experience all that this new season that he has for you has to offer.

As the children of Israel are on the edge of the promised land here, they have been in the wilderness for a long time, journeying up to this point. And verses 1 through 49 here of Numbers chapter 33 kind of overview, recounts that time in the wilderness. And we're not going to cover all of those verses, but just to kind of give you a map view of that, a geographic view of that. Here you have

the children of Israel coming out of Egypt, where perhaps the land of Goshen was, crossing through the Red Sea, where God did that miracle, heading into the wilderness, and then camping out at Sinai for about a year. And so the book of Exodus, the book of Leviticus, the book of Numbers, we've been following along with them in this experience as they're making this journey.

Now, all of these verses here in verses 1 through 49 recount all these different names, and some of them we know exactly where they are, but most of them we can't see for certain where they are. But getting a general idea of where the children of Israel are at, God brought them out. He worked miraculously. He took them into the wilderness. He revealed himself in amazing ways there at Mount Sinai. And then after the tabernacle was built and they celebrated Passover, then they were to break camp.

And now they begin to move into or towards the promised land. And so they go north to Kadesh Barnea.

And there at Kadesh, that's where they send in the spies and decide we don't want to go into the promised land. And so there's that, you know, great event that happens. And we have reviewed that over the past couple of weeks. Now, what happens then is God says, okay, you're going to wander the wilderness. And so they spend the next 38 years just walking around, going to different places from camp to camp. And you can see that

going through here. They're walking through this time where God is still working, God is still moving, but they're waiting for that generation to die. And now the new generation, the next generation, is going to be the ones who take the promised land.

Well, here in Numbers chapter 33, that new generation is alive. The old generation has passed. They come to Kadesh Barnea again, and now it's time to enter into the promised land. And so the blue arrow there follows their route. They go around Edom and go up alongside the Dead Sea, and they're right there camped right at the top of the Dead Sea.

ready to cross over the Jordan, that little blue line right there. They're just going to cross over that, and then they're going to be in the promised land. Now, all of this to say, look at this journey, and the people who are there on the border, on the edge, can look back over the last 40 years and think about how God has brought them this far.

They can think about how God has provided for them and taken care of them day by day, miraculously providing food for them, day by day, leading them and guiding them. God has done all of these things. And here what the Lord is saying is, look, I've brought you this far.

Think about this journey that we've gone through. He takes them back to Egypt, right? Back to Goshen. Think about how I brought you out and we crossed the Red Sea. Think about our time there in Sinai. Think about our time in the wilderness and how I've given you victories and provided for you and spoken to you this whole time. I've brought you this far. Now, trust me, trust me,

That if you step now into the promised land, I'm going to continue to work. I'm going to continue to provide. I'm going to continue to lead and to guide. And you and I have this same history as well. Not exactly, you know, literally we have that same chart in the wilderness, right? But there's so many things that we can look back on and we can reflect that. Wow, God has been with me. God has been faithful to me.

God has been working. And so here I am on the verge of the promised land. And steps of faith are always steps of faith, right? As much as we try to get around that, steps of faith always require faith. There's always that battle with fear. There's always that battle with uncertainty. And it always is going to require faith to take a step of faith, and that's hard. But cross over into God's promises. Trust God. He's been faithful thus far.

Trust God and step into those things that God has for you. Don't settle for less than God's best. I think there's a direct reference there to Numbers chapter 32, where you have the tribes who decide, you know, this side of the Jordan, it's really nice. And so they go to Moses and say, why can't we have our inheritance here?

And there's the discussion that ensues, and I'm not going to get into the details of that. But eventually, there's some concessions made, and Moses says, okay, you can settle here as long as your guys come and battle with the rest of your brethren. It seems to be a big mistake for these tribes. Even if God wanted to give them that land later on, God's instruction for them right now was to cross over.

And these guys, this side of the Jordan, seems to be the ones who are first affected by idolatry, first taken into captivity, first having real issues in their relationship with God.

Because they stood on the verge, they stood on the edge, and instead of fully stepping into and crossing over into God's promises, they started to negotiate. What if we leave some people here and some of us go over, and they're negotiating out of a full commitment into the promises of God and the things that God has for them? For you and I, we can do similar things where we have some faith,

And we settle for that. We've experienced some of God's work. I'm like, okay, that's enough. I've experienced a little bit of God's work and I'm good with that. And so, you know, I'm not going to move forward as he continues to impress these things upon my heart. No, no, no. Don't just have some faith. Don't just experience some of what God wants to do. Trust God completely and fully and cross over. Sometimes we get to some maturity, right?

We kind of mature and we hit this area where it's like, you know what? My life is way different than it used to be and really just turned around. And man, God's just done a good work. And this is all I need right here. I'm good. I'm good right here where I'm at. And this is enough. No, no, no. Don't settle for some maturity in your Christian walk, in your life. Experience full maturity.

Experience the fullness of what God has for you. Cross over. Step over the Jordan. Don't just settle on this side. Move into this new season that God has for you. Sometimes we settle for some service.

yeah, I've done some things for the Lord, and I serve God in these ways, and you know, that's good enough. I don't need more than that. You know, sometimes those other things, they're kind of stressful, and I don't really like to do those things, even though I feel the Lord prompting my heart. But you know, I'm okay just serving in this capacity. I'm okay just, you know, fulfilling this role. No, no, no, no. Don't just experience some service unto the Lord.

Step into your full role in the body of Christ. Cross over and see what it's like to do all that God has for you, to experience all that God has promised to you as you trust him and walk with him.

This evening, I encourage you, cross over into God's promises. Do not settle for less than God's best. It might seem like a good idea at the time. It might seem like, hey, this is enough.

But that settling for less than God's best actually puts us in a dangerous position. We are really designed by the Lord to need to continue to grow, to continue to progress, to continue to move forward. And when we settle for less than what God has for us, we're like, hey, you know, I've experienced enough promised lands. I don't need to experience another one. I'll just sit on the other side of this one.

We put ourselves in a dangerous place. And the Lord will warn us about that in the verses to come. But let's move on to the second thing to consider tonight. Point number two in verse 52, and that is drive out all inhabitants and idols. Verse 52 says, "'Then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their engraved stones, destroy all their molded images, and demolish all their high places.'"

God says, okay, when you cross over, then you shall drive out the inhabitants and destroy their idols. Drive out all the inhabitants and destroy all the idols. Sometimes reading through these accounts, there's a little bit of difficulty that we can have as we think about, you know, the Lord bringing in people to conquer another people.

But I find this phrase interesting. He says, you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you. And I would encourage you maybe to consider it in a different light than you might have before. To drive out is not just to conquer, but to drive out really is giving opportunity for the inhabitants to flee. God is giving the opportunity for the inhabitants of the land to escape from

the judgment that he is bringing through the children of Israel. If they were to leave the land, they would have their lives spared. But it's them camping out and resisting God's plan. Now listen, God's God and he owns the land and he rented it out to these guys and these other nations rebelled against God and refused to listen to God. We find the Lord declaring this to Abraham in Genesis chapter 15.

He tells Abraham, you're going to go to your fathers in peace. You're going to be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation, they shall return here. That's the fourth generation now where the children of Israel are here about to head into the promised land. And God says it's going to be at that time because the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete. They haven't

fully rebelled yet. It's not time for me to bring judgment for sin because their iniquity is not yet complete. But they are going to continue to resist me and then it will be time

at the right time at this generation for them to go in. And so there is the opportunity for them to now start to listen to God, to fear God, and to recognize God has claimed this land for his own people. And so we got to pack up and move out. But they're not going to listen to God, but he still gives them that opportunity. Well, anyways, as they head into the promised land, God says, here's what you need to do. Drive out the inhabitants.

Don't try to make compromises. Don't try to make deals. Don't try to settle and live alongside of each other because there's sinfulness is so great that it demands God's judgment. So when you settle in side by side with these inhabitants that are in this corrupt condition, you

well, it's going to be putting you in a very dangerous place because corruption spreads. And so God is saying, you need to deal with those inhabitants, with that corruption. And don't let the idols survive. The high places, he says, destroy their idols.

destroy their engraved stones, destroy their molded images, demolish their high places. God is very clear about this. Don't leave a stone unturned in dealing with the issue of rebellion and sin. When it comes to a new season that God wants to work in your life, you need to drive out all inhabitants and idols, that you clear the way

If you want to experience that next season of what God has for you, you need to cross over. That's important. You need to commit to that and take those steps and start to move in the direction that God's put upon your heart to start working from immaturity to maturity. But as you work from immaturity to maturity, you need to understand there's going to be some idols that you have to deal with. There's going to be some idols in our hearts. There's going to be some distractions around us. There's going to be some inhabitants around

I would refer to that as those habits and things that we have internally, those things about ourselves that we perhaps have not even yet discovered yet.

But the Lord is saying, you're going to need to deal with issues of your heart. You're going to need to deal with attitudes of your mind. You're going to need to remove things and let go of things that you want to hold on to that you don't even know it's an idol in your life, but it is. And so you need to be willing to drive out all the inhabitants.

to experience the next season and you're on the verge of what God wants to do and you want to see his promises fulfilled, be ready. To be fully committed to the Lord means you're going to be dying to self, making sacrifices and removing things from your life, addressing issues of your heart, dealing with issues in your mind that are holding you back, that if you allow them to persist, will bring corruption and destruction into your life.

That step of faith that God is prompting upon your heart, there's great reward, there's great promises, there's great victories that God has, but it comes with the need to clean house. It comes with the need to start to clear out those things that would hinder, that would hold you back. Fulfilling your role in the body of Christ, it comes with some cleansing that is necessary.

Dealing with those inhabitants, dealing with those idols, dealing with those things that up to this point, perhaps they've not been an issue. Perhaps you've not known about them. But now as you step into this new season, you're going to experience some new battles internally. New battles with things going on within your hearts. Things happening internally for you. Don't settle for less than God's best. Deal with those issues.

You know, sometimes we avoid those things. We know about them. We know there's this high place over here. There's this idol in my heart. There's this issue internally. And it's just kind of painful. It's really difficult. It's really challenging. Or perhaps I kind of like it. And I really kind of enjoy it. And so I don't want it out of my life. I want to entertain this idol in my life. These inhabitants are kind of fun to play with. And so, you know, I'm going to keep them around. And we allow these things to exist forever.

alongside of us. And the Lord says, look, if you want to experience the promised land, it's not going to be by allowing those things to continue. Don't just have some faith mixed in with idolatry and doubts and sin. Have full faith and drive out all of those inhabitants and idols that hold you back.

Don't just have some maturity. No, no, no. Reach for full maturity. Become full age in the Lord and drive out all of those things. Address those issues. Don't just serve the Lord to some degree. Serve the Lord wholeheartedly and experience the fulfillment of fulfilling your purpose in his kingdom. Drive out all those issues, all of those inhabitants, all of those idols.

Commentator F.B. Meyer puts it this way, The boomerang, you throw it, it comes back and hits you in the head, at least if you throw it right.

That's what sin is. That's what inhabitants and idols do for us. As the scripture says, sin is fun for a season. It's enjoyable. It's pleasant, perhaps, in the moment. We kind of hold on to it. We kind of foster it. We kind of, you know, neglect it because we don't want to deal with it. But it will come back and eat out the very heart of our character and happiness. You want to experience the promised land? You can't do that by allowing these things in your life to continue.

Enter into the promised land, cross over, and now begin to do battle with the inhabitants of the land and begin to wreak havoc with the idols of the heart. The author of Hebrews puts it this way in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1. He says, Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Laying aside the weights. It's hard to run with weights holding you down. It is hard to

To experience the promised land when you have weights and sin holding you down and tingling you up. Your mind, your heart is wrapped up. It's weighed down. It's heavy. You're not going to be free to move and to run the race that God has set before you. And so go from immaturity to maturity. Run that race.

Cross over the Jordan. Take the step of faith that God is now placing upon your heart. Move into this new season that God is giving you direction for. And drive out the inhabitants. Demolish the idols. And do some real work on developing character, integrity, and holiness before the Lord.

Well, moving on to verses 53 and 54, we get the third point to consider this evening, and that is possess your full inheritance. Possess your full inheritance. Verse 53 says,

Here God gives them instruction as they head in. They're to cross over. They're to drive out the inhabitants and demolish the idols.

And then they're to take possession. They're to dwell in the land. Now, as we mentioned in chapter 32, several tribes decided we want to dwell outside the land on this side of the Jordan. The rest of the tribes said, we're going to cross over. But as we continue to see, and we'll see as we work our way through Joshua and Judges, the children of Israel never fully possessed their inheritance. They never fully conquered the land. They never fully experienced the promised land.

And we can look at that and think, wow, like what a waste of potential. Like why didn't they take those steps of faith and believe God and trust God? And then we can look in the mirror and we can say the same thing, right? Why don't we trust God? Why don't we take those steps of faith and believe God to possess the full inheritance? Why do we settle for less? What happened with the children of Israel was they conquered the big enemies of the land. And then they said, you know,

That was enough. We kind of got enough land for us to start getting settled down into. The Lord told them that he would give them the land little by little. So that was part of God's plan for them. Not a huge victory, you know, once and for all, but a big victory to start. And then they were to continue to fight, to continue to battle.

But as days went on, they thought, you know, battling is hard, and I'm tired, and it seems like it's okay. We can just kind of live alongside. There's enough space for both of us. And so they did not possess their full inheritance. What a waste of potential. Maybe similar to Samson, right? You look at the life of Samson, and you go, oh, man, what a waste of potential. You know, I would suggest to you, you and I have more potential than Samson ever had.

You have more potential than Samson ever had. The work that God can do in you and through you far exceeds the ultimate and ideal plan that God had for Samson. You have huge potential for the work of God, for the kingdom of God. Don't settle for less than that. Don't settle for just a piece of God's work, just a little bit, a smidgen of God's work. Don't settle for less than

The full inheritance that God has promised to you. And so he says, look, you're to drive them out, you're to dispossess them, and then you are to inhabit the land. You are to receive that possession, and the land was going to be divided to the families. Different tribes would receive different amounts based on the size of the tribe. So the end result then, essentially, was that it was spread evenly through all the individual families, right?

Different tribes would have different sizes, but each family basically had a similar sized portion of land. That was their inheritance. And they were to possess it. They were to own it. They were to receive it and accept it and live in it and fill the boundaries and use the land to its fullest potential. They were to take the land, to empty it of the inhabitants and to fill it as their possession.

Reminds me of what Paul taught in the book of Ephesians, the book of Colossians, the need for us to put off and to put on. There's the driving out of the inhabitants, but don't stop there. Now fill. Sometimes we try to stop things in our life, but really what we need to do is to stop that and to fill it, to put something else in its place that is of the Lord. We stop lying and we speak the truth.

We put off and we put on. We empty and we fill. We drive out and we possess the full inheritance that God has for us. Again, that's what the Lord tells us in Hebrews 12. To lay aside the weights, lay aside the sin that easily ensnares us, and then run the race. Put off weights and sin. Put on a fast pace and run that race. Empty everything.

your life and your heart and your mind of those weights and those sins and fill your life with the run to the finish line, with the run to the promised land. It's not much good if we lay aside the weights, but then don't run. And sometimes that's what we do. We settle for dealing with that issue. See, I'm good. I don't do that any longer, right? I've stopped doing that. But then we don't fill. We don't replace it

with the good godly behavior that God has for us. Possess your full inheritance. I don't have time to get into some of the rabbit trails that we could follow, perhaps. Maybe you should follow in your mind. Some of the tribes are not happy with their inheritance.

They say, you know what, it's really difficult. The land that we've been given, the lot that we got in this life, it's really challenging. And so, you know, we want a different lot. We want a different inheritance. We want something else. And sometimes we're on the verge of what God wants to do in our life, but we're like, I'd really rather be on the verge of, you know, what God wants to do in Richard's life. That seems easier. That seems more pleasant. I'd rather have that one. I don't really like the one that I've been given.

No, possess your full inheritance. God's plan for you is for your good. And he has that plan for you because it's good for you. Some of the tribes are sad that their inheritance is so challenging. But these guys, these battles are fierce and they've got chariots and it's hard and it's difficult and they're whining and crying because their inheritance is such a challenge. And we can be just like that, can't we? That God's

Setting before us something and, oh man, this is the promised land. We're on the verge, but I don't want to fight those battles. I don't want to take those risks. Listen, we need to learn to accept God's plan for us, to possess our full inheritance, not to be distracted by the inheritance of other people around us, but to press on and attain the full inheritance that God has for us. You know, sometimes we settle. We don't possess our full inheritance. You're like, you know,

I'll live a godly life, but I'm not going to take the steps of faith. I'm not going to take risks. I'm not going to, you know, go forward. I'm not going to serve real, you know, in some extreme way. I'm not going to be radical. I'm just going to kind of be average. It's settling for less than God's best for you. Well, the final point, and we won't dive into details here, but point number four is let irritants remind you to obey. Verse 55 and 56.

If you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell. Moreover, it shall be that I will do to you as I thought to do to them. God gives them two strong warnings here. If you cross over but don't

drive out the inhabitants, if you don't fully possess the inheritance that God has for you, God says, the things that you leave behind are going to drive you crazy. You think that you'll be better off settling with them, it's easier to settle them. No, no. It's going to be like an irritating thing in your eye. You ever get something irritating in your eye? And it's like you're trying to splash water, you're trying to, you know, that poking, you know, that burning perhaps, that stinging thing.

It's painful. It disrupts everything. You can't do anything until that irritant in your eye is taken care of. That thorn in your side, he says, those things are going to harass you in the land that you dwell. In the promised land, did you know you could be harassed? You could have this irritant in your eye, this thorn in your side. If you don't deal with those things, God says, they're going to be a strong, difficult irritant for you. And so when you get irritated...

Let it remind you that you need to obey God and you need to possess fully the inheritance that he has given to you. God goes on to say in verse 56, look, if you don't listen to that and you don't respond to those irritants and start to obey me, then I'm going to come against you, God says. And I'm going to drive you out just as I am driving them out. God was driving them out because of their rebellion against God. And when you and I don't obey God, you know what that's called? Rebellion against God.

When we don't respond to those irritants, when we don't repent and turn as we realize these compromises have put us in a position where these inhabitants now have become a thorn in our side. We don't just give up then and go, okay, well, I guess I'm just going to have this thorn in my side for the rest of my life. No, no. It's not too late to start dealing with those inhabitants, to start dealing with those thorns, those irritants. Start to obey God right now.

And if you don't, God says, then I'm going to have to come in and help you deal with those things in a way that is less pleasant for you. Let irritants remind you to obey. Don't make God drive you out of the promised land. He wants to fulfill his promises to you. He wants to give you greater things than you can ever imagine. Don't settle for less than God's best. Cross over into the promises of God.

Drive out the inhabitants, the idols, anything that opposes God, any weight that slows you down, any sin that wraps you up. Lay those things aside and grab hold of instead your full inheritance. Embrace the Lord, His plans, His purposes fully. Don't resist them. Don't be jealous of other people's. Just embrace yours. What God has for you is the perfect plan for you. And when you find those things that are irritating, that are bugging you,

Let it remind you, you need to obey God, to move forward in faith, in complete trust, and full pursuit of his plans and purposes for you. Do not settle for less than God's best. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for the encouragement this evening, the reminder, Lord, that we all need. Lord, we need to be not settled back and kind of relaxed mood, but Lord, we need to be in full pursuit of

of you, your heart, your mind, your purpose, your plans, your promises fulfilled in us. Lord, would you fill our hearts and minds, direct our steps, give us clarity about your will in our lives, and help us, Lord, to trust you, to really believe you at your word, and to step forward in faith to experience all that you have for us. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

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