Taking Possession

Over the past couple of weeks we have been in the book of Deuteronomy in the weekly Torah portion (The Torah is the five books of Moses. It has been divided into weekly portions that allow Jews to read through the Torah over the course of one year.). As I read through the first few chapters of the book, something kept standing out to me. God continually tells His people that He has given them the Promised Land, all they must do is go in and take possession of it. But we know that the story does not happily end there. The Israelites are overcome with fear and end up spending the next forty years wandering in the wilderness. This was their lot because they did not take possession of what God wanted to give them. I got to thinking... is there something that God wants to give me that I'm not taking possession of? Several things came to mind. God wants to bring in my financial support for this season in Israel, but I must stand in faith and take possession of that promise. He wants to lead me in a life of love that leaves no room for fear of any kind, but I must take possession that life. He wants to open up the realm of supernatural miracles, but I must take possession of it. How many things do we see in the Bible alone that we are not fully living out in our lives? Perhaps the problem is that we are not taking possession of those things for ourselves. When I say take possession, I mean making it our own. Owning it. Believing it. Taking God at His Word. What a revolutionary idea! What if we actually believed what God said to us and lived like the Bible is true? What if we believed that the deaf can hear? What if we really believed that whatever we ask for in His name will be given to us? What if we believed that the blood of Christ really does allow us to boldly approach the throne of God? I believe that God wants to give us so much more than we are currently experiencing, but the problem is that we're not taking it from Him. His arms are outstretched to us, but our's are not to Him. We can not receive a gift if we do not reach out and take it, saying this is mine. Taking possession is the difference between a life of milk and honey and four decades in the desert. What is God wanting to give you today that you are not taking possession of?