We’re on a journey with Joshua and the Israelites, conquering Canaan.
1 Corinthians 10:11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.
Joshua 17:12-18
There are three people sitting in your seat this morning. First of all, there is the person you are at this moment, and then there is the person that you could be for evil. I wonder if we realize just how wicked we could be if we took our eyes off the Lord Jesus. Do you know that there is no sin of the flesh that you’re not capable of committing if you take your eyes off Jesus, even though you’re a Christian? We need to learn that about ourselves. Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” and, even though you’ve been born again. And, even though you have God’s Holy Spirit dwelling in you, if you take your eyes off the Lord Jesus Christ, you would be amazed at the potential for evil that there is lurking within your heart.
There is also that person who is sitting in our seats that could be used for good. The person you could be for God, the person you could be for righteousness, the love that you could show, the faith that you could manifest, the work that you could do, the things that you could achieve for Jesus Christ.
I want to talk about that third person, the person you could be. I want us to think today about our “Maximum Potential”. Reaching our potential, living to the capacity, as God wants us to live. These people of Manasseh are an illustration for us today of some who failed to reach their potential, and I want us to see why. What held them back?
The Problem of Partial Possession
They failed to completely possess their possessions.
Vs12: Yet the Manassites were not able to occupy these towns, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that region.
Remember the Canaanites were demon-worshipers and God said they were to be completely driven out and destroyed so that God’s children could inherit the land.
They were keeping company with Canaanites! Now, who are the Canaanites? To us, the Canaanites represent the power of the enemy. The things that are in our lives that we ought to be victorious over.
You know, we’re always going to be in trouble if we keep company with Canaanites.
Do you know what God’s plan for Manasseh was? It was a complete victory. Do you know what God wants you to have? Complete victory. “Oh,” pastor, complete victory is impossible.” Well, as long as you feel it is, it will be. 1 Corinthians 15:57: “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
God’s plan for us is complete victory. We are to be living victoriously.
I want to share with you what General Douglas MacArthur said when he came back from Korea. “In war, there is no substitute for victory.” Now, you think about that: “In war, there is no substitute for victory.”
We all must realize, that we are in a war, and there must be no compromise, no substitute for victory. Oh, there is an alternative—that’s defeat; but there’s no substitute—there’s to be no backing up, no letting up—no substitute for victory over the world. We’re not here to make peace with the world, to get along with the world; to fit in with the world; we’re here to overcome the world.
We’re not here to condone the flesh; we’re here to crucify the flesh, and our flesh is not supposed to be dictating to us. Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
(1 Peter 5:8) The devil is like a roaring lion. You don’t sit down to a peace conference with a roaring lion. Either you get the lion or he gets you.
The Israelites were to be victorious, but they weren’t. They settled down and were keeping company with Canaanites. And, I want you to notice the two kinds of Canaanites they kept company with.
- The Canaanites They Favored
Joshua 17:13 However, when the Israelites grew stronger, they subjected the Canaanites to forced labor but did not drive them out completely.
Now, when the Israelites got stronger, they said, “Well, there’s no reason to get rid of these particular Canaanites. Rather than driving them out, we’ll make slaves out of them. We’ll be better off with them in the land.” And, these were the Canaanites they favored.
Do we have a Canaanite that we’re showing favor to? Is there a Canaanite in our life that we think we’re better off with?
The truth is whether you have enslaved the Canaanite or the Canaanite has enslaved you, it isn’t supposed to be there!
In Texas, there’s a family who had a little lion cub, and they thought they would raise it as a pet, and they kept it in their apartment. One night they stepped across the hall to visit their neighbors, and when they stepped back in, they heard the baby crying in the nursery, and went in there and saw that that lion cub had eaten several fingers from the hand of their little baby. Can you imagine how they felt about that lion cub, having kept it there in the house as a pet, thinking it was something they could control?
I wonder, do we have some pet sin that has/or is going to rise up and devour something precious in our life?
There were certain Canaanites that they favored, certain Canaanites they thought they could control. They said, “We’re strong, and we’ll make these Canaanites slaves.” But the Canaanite you think you control, really is controlling you!
- The Canaanites They Feared
Joshua 17:16 The people of Joseph replied, “The hill country is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites who live in the plain have chariots fitted with iron,..
Now, these are the Canaanites they didn’t think they could drive out. These were the Canaanites that were too strong.
Some they made peace with, and others they thought that they could not overcome at all. Isn’t that the way we are? Are there certain things in your life you say, “I can handle that,” and so you don’t get rid of them; other things in your life you say, “I can’t handle that,” and so you don’t get rid of that either?
There are just certain problems in your life, certain sins that seem to “have chariots fitted with iron.”
I want you to know, if you’re a Christian, if you are filled with the Holy Spirit, if you are obeying the Word of God, there is no sin that should have dominion over you—not one.
There is no sin so strong, there is no temptation so powerful that the child of God cannot overcome it in the power of the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
Did you know that as you’re sitting here this morning you ought to be able to say, “I thank God there is no unconfessed, unrepented sin in my life? Thank God there is absolutely no sin holding me in its grip.
I’m not talking about sinless perfection, but I am talking about a life of victory where God’s children are no longer slaves to sin—sins that they favor, and sins that they fear. John 8:36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
To many today, who name the name of Jesus, who have entered into Canaan, are still keeping company with Canaanites that should have been driven out a long time ago!
I want to close with another thing that keeps people from reaching their Maximum Potential. Joshua 17:14 The people of Joseph said to Joshua, “Why have you given us only one allotment and one portion for an inheritance? We are a numerous people, and the Lord has blessed us abundantly.”
These same people who are unable to drive out the Canaanites, these same people who were unable to possess the lot that God had already given them, were now asking for more.
They hadn’t even possessed what they had, but they were saying, “I am so great that I need a bigger place. I need a bigger lot. I need a bigger possession. Give me more.
Joshua 17:17-18 But Joshua said to the tribes of Joseph—to Ephraim and Manasseh—“You are numerous and very powerful. You will have not only one allotment 18 but the forested hill country as well. Clear it, and its farthest limits will be yours; though the Canaanites have chariots fitted with iron and though they are strong, you can drive them out.”
God’s answer was very simple. They said, “I want more land. I want a bigger opportunity. I want more blessings. I want more, more, more.” And, God says, “You take care of what I’ve already given you, and, when you take care of what I’ve already given you—when you clear the forest, and when you drive out the giants and the Canaanites—then you’ll realize just how much you have.”
It’s there…It’s all there. You just have to clear some stuff out to see it!
Maximum Potential is just ahead
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