For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.
— Isaiah 43:19

 The Lord replied,  “Look around at the nations; look and be amazed! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it. — Habakkuk 1:5

SUMites, these verses from Isaiah and Habakkuk have consistently shown up around September for the last seven years. I can’t help but think all that has been His way of showing us and preparing us for what is happening right now.

The more I’ve studied the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament) and Joshua, the more I see a relatable pattern to how God moves us into our Promise Lands—I believe we have more than one, and that they are physical as well as spiritual places. 

As we study the Israelites, we see how God moves them to first “see.” To see this place they haven’t claimed yet as already theirs. I shared that in an earlier post, in how God told Joshua to see Jericho as already conquered despite the physical walls still standing.

This if our first call to faith, to believe what we can’t yet see (Heb. 11:1). With faith we are to move forward and claim our new Promise Land, even before we have moved into this place. 

Then we are called to occupy our Promise Land. This place now becomes a place of authority where we are to grow and navigate. Sometimes the Israelites had to clear the land and manage the animals to make it livable. Other times they literally took over the towns, houses and vineyards of the people they conquered.

Think of areas that you have had breakthrough in. You’ve “cleared the land” and made it good. These places now give you a special authority to pray for others to receive similar breakthroughs. By your example they can learn and understand how to seek God for this. 

God also gives us special giftings and anointings to operate in. We are filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit and are able to do and know things we couldn’t other wise, like having the sudden unction and courage to tell someone that God has ask you to tell them He loves them like crazy! People are desperate for God’s love! 

My friends, from here God desires us to prosper in our Promise Land. We share what we are given and blessed with. And we’ve talked about that in the past as well. That which we are blessed with is not intended just for us. We are to pass the blessing on and share it. This is how we steward our blessings and giftings, my friends. Abba watches what we do with what we are given and gives us more according to what we do with what we are given (Matt. 25:23).

And that is why I say “lands” instead of just “land.” There are many places that we are called to claim, occupy and prosper in. Our relationship with God is the first place. How will you claim, occupy and prosper in this place? This is the key to all that is to follow, SUMites. Success and increase in our marriages, families, jobs and ministries follows, and I’m sure you can see the relationship that builds as we progress from one place to another. 

And we are not leaving one place to go to another either, my friends. We are increasing our territory. 

“Enlarge your house; build an addition.
Spread out your home, and spare no expense!
For you will soon be bursting at the seams.
Your descendants will occupy other nations
and resettle the ruined cities.
“Fear not; you will no longer live in shame.
Don’t be afraid; there is no more disgrace for you.
You will no longer remember the shame of your youth
and the sorrows of widowhood.
For your Creator will be your husband;
the LORD of Heaven’s Armies is his name!
He is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,
the God of all the earth.
For the LORD has called you back from your grief—
as though you were a young wife abandoned by her husband,”
says your God. — Isaiah 52:2-6

My friends, I am so, so excited for our community. So many things that Lynn and I have been praying for you are now moving into place. We have longed for, agonized over and rejoiced with you over so many things and places. I simply cannot express my joy to see you, SUMites, overcoming, breaking through, and claiming your Promise Lands. 

This is our time, our season, to walk in the fullness of where God has placed us for such a time as this. I truly believe that time has come and is starting right now! 

Our God is so, so good. Love you!