Dear Friends,

The journey of the people of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land began with great joy and worship, many miracles and the tangible presence of God. However, instead of reaching the Promised Land in about a year, as they should have done, the Israelites took forty years ­by which time many of the original group had died. What went wrong and what can we learn for ourselves?

Firstly, don't cling to the past. When things started to go wrong the Israelites began to think they would have been better off if they had stayed put in Egypt. They started looking back through 'rose tinted spectacles' forgetting the misery they had suffered there. Sometimes we can be guilty of that.

But just as God had something new for them, so too He has something new for us if we trust Him and follow His Spirit's leading today.

Secondly, don't grumble about the present. As God tested the Israelites, they responded with grumbling and complaints against God and their leaders. Criticism, gossip, resentment, grumbling, bitterness ­ these things quench the Holy Spirit and can keep us too in the Spiritual desert for years.

And thirdly, be full of faith for the future. God is able to do new things, He wants to change the moral and spiritual wilderness of our lives into a land filled with the fruit of His Spirit - all we have to do is surrender to His will, allowing Him to truly be the Lord of our lives and to take up His rightful place on the throne of our lives.

"Forget about what's happened; don't keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I'm about to do something brand-new. It's bursting out! Don't you see it? There it is! I'm making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands." (Isaiah 43:18, 19 - The Message Bible)

Yours in Christ