A good report vs a bad report. What report are we going to believe.
In reading about Joshua, Caleb and the 10 spies, the Holy Spirit showed me two very interesting things. When the 10 spies came back from exploring the land of Canaan, they brought a bad report saying that we seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes and we looked the same to them. The 10 spies put fear into the hearts of the Israelites as they grumbled and said "if only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert!"(see Numbers 14:2). So God said "I will do to you the very things I heard you say: In this desert your bodies will fall (see Numbers 14:28-29).
The Israelites grumbled that it would be better to die in the desert and they got the very words they spoke. They died in the desert.
The first thing God showed me was that we have to be very careful what we speak out of our mouth. The bible says that "the tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit."
The second thing that He showed me was that He spoke to the Israelites through Moses that the land of Canaan was good, not to be afraid of the people of the land because they would defeat them, that they had His protection and He was with them. When the 10 spies brought back a bad report, the Israelites listened to the bad report and became afraid rather than listening to what God had told them.
Isn't that the same with us today. We see God's promises for provision, healing, deliverance and wholeness in His Word and yet when we look at our circumstances in life (lack, sickness, etc.), we get fearful and instead of believing what God says, we believe what we hear and see around us.
When we read the scriptures about the 10 spies we think: Why didn't they just believe God. God was with them and they would have conquered their enemies. Why did they fear. We judge them for their unbelief but what about us today? Are we doing the same thing?
I want to encourage myself and you to take God's promises and fight the good fight of faith with what God says. It is a fight to continue to believe what God says instead of believing the bad report.
You can ask the Holy Spirit to help you to believe when unbelief comes knocking at the door. Ask Him for revelation knowledge of what Jesus accomplished for you in His redemptive work on the cross and to help you walk in the truths He reveals to you. Ask Him to help you speak words that will bring life to you and not death.
May the grace of Jesus Christ be with you always.