Laurie Hopkins

Initially the Canaanites were strong and Manasseh wasn’t able to drive them out. 
However, when Manasseh grew strong, they choose not to drive the Canaanites out, but rather to keep them for forced labour;
what they could get from them. 
The same thing is happening in our lives. 
As we grow in Christ there are some things, habits, thought patterns, etc., that we have difficulty overcoming easily. 
But as we grow stronger, there are some thing, habits, thought patterns, etc., that we choose to hold on to for what we can get from them.
Because Manasseh didn’t force out all of the Canaanites, they fell into idolatry and were led astray from their relationship with the Lord. 
In the same way, those things we allow in our lives, that we believe we have control over (forced labour) will ultimately take control of us leading to idolatry and a leading astray from our relationship with the Lord. 
The Lord’s message to the people, through Joshua, was to go out and possess the land, not to go out and share the land with those who you believe you can control. 
The Lord gives us the same command with regards to our bodies, minds and lives.
 He instructs us to possess that which He has granted us. 
Are you ready to go out and possess the land today? 
No compromises!

Initially the Canaanites were strong and Manasseh wasn’t able to drive them out. 
However, when Manasseh grew strong, they choose not to drive the Canaanites out, but rather to keep them for forced labour;
what they could get from them. 
The same thing is happening in our lives. 
As we grow in Christ there are some things, habits, thought patterns, etc., that we have difficulty overcoming easily. 
But as we grow stronger, there are some thing, habits, thought patterns, etc., that we choose to hold on to for what we can get from them.
Because Manasseh didn’t force out all of the Canaanites, they fell into idolatry and were led astray from their relationship with the Lord. 
In the same way, those things we allow in our lives, that we believe we have control over (forced labour) will ultimately take control of us leading to idolatry and a leading astray from our relationship with the Lord. 
The Lord’s message to the people, through Joshua, was to go out and possess the land, not to go out and share the land with those who you believe you can control. 
The Lord gives us the same command with regards to our bodies, minds and lives.
 He instructs us to possess that which He has granted us. 
Are you ready to go out and possess the land today? 
No compromises!

God called Moses to go and speak to the leaders of Israel and to the Egyptians with directions to take the Israelites out into the wilderness to worship the Lord.
Moses felt unequipped, as he was, to go and speak confidently and clearly to these people on behalf of the Lord. 
When he protested, he gave detailed reasons why he was not the one the Lord should send. 
But God…….
the Lord countered Moses’ protests by pointing out the fact that He had, indeed, created Moses and his mouth. 
He further directed that Moses was to go and allow the Lord to be his mouth and teach him what to say. 
The Lord does the same with us. 
He has created us. 
He has created our unique gifts and abilities. 
He knows exactly the potential the rests within us. 
If the Lord has called us to something, we can be sure that He will teach us to use that gifting that He has placed within us. 
Instead of wasting time protesting the Lord’s call on our life, we need to learn to step confidently forward when we are called, allowing the Lord to teach us what to do and say!
“Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.”