”Because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to and his descendants will inherit it.”
Numbers 14:24
A different spirit! An opposite spirit! Twelve men from the twelve tribes had gone through Canaan investigating the land the Lord was giving them. Ten of them returned quaking with fear because of the strength of the enemy, the giants that must be conquered. Only Caleb and his young friend Joshua had a different spirit and were allowed to possess the land, even though their entry was delayed by forty years because of the disbelief of the nation.
Some years back, during the month of January, I was invited to speak at a pastors’ conference. I was to fly out early one morning, and was to be the principal speaker at the evening gathering. On the morning of the conference, I received a telephone call from the host. He was very agitated because of the extreme icy weather conditions, which, so it seemed to him, could even call for the cancelation of the entire conference. He advised me to stay home. I immediately left for the airport.
Why? Because I realized that this brother was speaking from a place of frustration and disbelief, not from a place of joy and faith. Truth must lie in a different spirit – the opposite spirit.
I arrived at the university fifteen minutes before the evening meeting began, and spoke to a full house.
We, as believers in Jesus, like Caleb of old, must learn to walk in a different spirit, an opposite spirit.
In times of famine, we share.
In times of danger, we serve.
In times of poverty, we give.
In times of adversity, we sing.
In times of stress, we rest.
In pools of hatred, we love.
In times of persecution, we bless.
When assaulted, we forgive.
We are invincible when walking in the different spirit, the opposite spirit, the Jesus Spirit!