Numbers 13:20 "And be ye of good courage and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes."
It's interesting that the spies were sent in to spy out the Promised Land when the first grapes of the season were ripe. I sense the Lord wanted all twelve spies to focus on the fruit of that land and not the giants. I am sure Joshua and Caleb kept hearing how big the giants and walled up cities were from those ten spies while they were taking their tour. I believe Joshua and Caleb got to thinking, "If the giants are really that big, can you imagine how big that fruit must be?" Joshua and Caleb were obsessed, looking for the fruit of the land of promise. What we look for is what we will find. They came back with a cluster of grapes so big, it took two men to carry one cluster on a pole out of the valley of Eschol.
GOD CALLED THE LAND THAT WAS FULL OF HEATHEN GIANTS AND UNGODLY CITIES, WALLED UP TO HEAVEN "A GOOD LAND THAT FLOWS WITH MILK AND HONEY!"
Psalm 27:13 "I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living."
If we are ever going to enter our Promised Land we must see the good in our nation, our government officials, our cities and the good in every person we meet! We may have to use Scripture (Romans 4:17) to see the good, and call those things that are not as though they already were!
Romans 2:4 "It's the goodness of the Lord that leads men to repentance."
Did you know that God chooses to see the good in you, and not the evil? Ask the father of the prodigal son what he saw when his son came wandering up the road to home, and said, even when he was still in the pigpen of sin, "That's my son!" Be careful of what comes out of your mouth when you see heathens rage and sin in people's lives increasing. It was what came out of the mouth of the ten spies that kept all of Israel from entering into their inheritance!
It's the same for us today. If our mouths can keep us out of our inheritance, then our mouths can take us in! Let's look for the good and speak of what is good in the land of the living!
THE "CLUSTER" OF GRAPES WAS THE KEY TO GETTING BACK INTO THE PROMISED LAND
I noticed that Joshua and Caleb still stuck it out with that unbelieving bunch of "sour" grapes that eventually dried up in the wilderness and became raisins. God separated Joshua and Caleb from them, later in His timing, and they finally got to enter into their inheritance. But they hung in there, for they knew the key to get back into the Promised Land was to stay together and let the process prepare them for what was ahead.
Isaiah 65:8 "...as the new wine is found in the cluster, destroy it not; for a blessing is in it."
God has a corporate vision right now for His Kingdom in the earth, so we must be in a cluster of believers, and we must connect with churches, tribes, tongues, and nations--for God is too big for just our ministry, church, or home group. I sense that what God has in mind is beyond us. This new wine cannot be made from just one grape--one ministry, one church, or one vision. Without connecting to the cluster, your life and ministry is bound to dry up.
I SAW THE HANDS OF GOD COMING UPON THIS CLUSTER OF GRAPES OF THE NATIONS...HIS HANDS ARE ABOUT TO BLESS US BEYOND MEASURE
I saw some pressure coming upon this huge cluster of grapes where you and I were placed by the hand of God. We first thought the pressure was coming from the enemy or other grapes in this cluster, but I clearly saw the hands of God begin to squeeze this cluster to make the best new wine that He was saving for this last, end-time, harvest revival.
You can always tell when God is about to make new wine from the cluster where you are placed...some grapes will begin to "wine."
IT'S TIME WE SAY TO THE GRAPE NEXT TO US...GOD IS SMARTER THAN YOU AND I!
As His hands continued to put pressure on us in this cluster, some grapes began to cry out, "Oh, God, I can't handle this bunch You put me with. Please get me out of here!" The Lord responded, "I will, My way, just hang in there!" As more pressure was put on this cluster, some grapes began to cry out. "Lord, I am not being appreciated here. These grapes around me seem to be hindering my gifting, calling, and dream You have given me. I seem to be losing my identity." The Lord says, "You are right on schedule. You have been too thin-skinned, and your brokenness is a must for what I am about to do. If you lose your life, you will find it in Me!" Most of the grapes in this cluster had no idea what God was really up to. More than our dreams, plans, and ministries, God seems to be after something more than we could understand. I think it is time we say to the grape next to us, "God is smarter than you and I!"
"THE ANOINTING FOR THE HARVEST OF THE NATIONS IS IN THE 'CLUSTER' OF GRAPES!"
As the hand of God kept squeezing this cluster, many grapes were broken to pieces. The juice of the grapes dripped down from the cluster into the earth, becoming the new wine for the great harvest of the nations.
Bill Yount
Blowing the Shofar Ministries
Email: theshofarhasblown@juno.com
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