God had provided and what disbelieved what God promised he would provide for them. It was only when this generation of unbelieving believers had died and where buried in the desert that the people of Israel could then cross the River Jordan and enter into the promised land.
It is a wonderful picture of finally breaking with the flesh and they entered the promised lad, which was painted as a beautiful place, paradise for them.

�	BUT, even as they enter this land, there is still spiritual warfare to be fought.

Yes they were entering into a place of rest, of inner rest and peace, it was a great place to be, but there they would still have to fight the third enemy, the one we all have to face, that it the devil.
The victorious Christian life, the normal life for every Christian is about dislodging the devil entrenched and planted in me.
It is our mission as church to dislodge the forces of darkness that get entrenched in society, in politics, in education � and we do it not by our own strength, but by the power of God through the work of the Holy Spirit, as we live out the gospel of Jesus Christ.

For the Israelites, they entered a life of wealth and abundance, a rich land flowing with milk and honey, corn and wine, all that was needed for a good life (Deut 11:10-12; Ex 3, Deut 33).

Today we can enter a place where we can enter the full spiritual blessing that God intends for us. It is not an easy path, but it is the most fulfilling path.
Chart where you are on that journey:

1)	Many are redeemed from judgement for sin, they are safe behind the blood of the lamb of the eternal covenant � Jesus Christ.

2)	But how many have left the old world behind with all its values which are at odds with Goddess values

And even those who manage to leave much of the old world behind succumb to the demands of our own ambitions and desires, the area of selfishness � be it for us or for our families. They don't want to obey God, they begin to despise his voice when it challenges their life goals and ambitions, their life style, their own preferences. They may deceive themselves into thinking they are following God but in reality they are not. And their Christian life becomes less real, less life enhancing, a struggle, a burden, and they are in danger of remaining in the desert, the spiritual wilderness for the rest of their lives on this earth. It is horrible and it reeks of death. Believers grow old going around grumbling like the people of Israel in the desert � moaning about all manner of things � usually to do with church life � the pastor, the deacons, the type of programme, the way the services are conducted, the CM, you name it, it can be moaned about.

With the people of Israel it didn't stop there. Grumbling turned to wishing to kill Joshua and Caleb � the minority leaders faithful to God. They didn�t want to believe they brought God word to them. Do you know in the USA, in Baptist churches, the pastor is at a church on average only two years. Why? Because of the heat of the battle with the world? NO because the grumblers want to kill his ministry in nation fixated with hire and fire. Let�s make sure we are fighting the right enemy in our Christian lives.

I pray that over the next few weeks we can travel across our Jordan River together as we seek to journey on with God from the wilderness to the promised land of Goddess blessing. There we will find rest. We�ll do that as we worship and gather around the word of God together and as we meet in our fellowship groups, our small groups. And this week as we meet as members of this community in CM.

Lets pray.