We are continuing in our series, Taking Destiny, this weekend at the Vineyard! This has been a great series looking at all the different tribes that the Hebrew people encountered as they moved towards the Promised Land.

Whenever we are led by the Lord to something new, we typically experience some form of resistance, some form of hardship, and it would be easy for us to just shrug our shoulders and say, "Well, maybe I wasn't supposed to do that..."

But where the Lord guides, He provides! And we must remember that getting to our place of promise is going to cost something. It may be uncomfortable and hard at times, but if the Lord is in it, He is in it. And we must remind ourselves that God is the one that goes before us as we go to where He is taking us.

This week, we're looking at the Perizzites, which means something like apathy and lack of drive to do something that the Lord is asking of us.

We are continuing in our series, Taking Destiny, by unpacking the Kenite tribe! This word means something like a liar, slanderer, or gossiper.

We've all been in situations where someone has said something mean or rude to us. We've told ourselves that "sticks and stones may break our bones but words will never hurt us," but this isn't always the case.

In the New Testament, James reminds us that there is life and death in the tongue, and we can either uplift one another or tear someone down. And as followers of Christ, our call is always to speak the truth in love and to elevate one another.

This week, we'll look at the Kenite tribe and how we're supposed to deal with gossipers and slanderers!

We are looking at the Kenizzites this weekend at the Vineyard!

This tribe means something like covetousness or jealousy, especially when it comes to success. This may have happened to you before, but it usually happens whenever we step into something new. We feel called and excited to step into something, and then we notice that there are others that seem more equipped or more qualified to do the thing that we're called to do.

This is a common tactic of the enemy: to cause you to doubt both the God that called you into something and the talents and resources that He has given you! We easily become jealous of other peoples' success thinking that there's no possible way that we can do what they're doing...

This can cause us to look at others in the room with a covetous glare, thinking we need to become like them, all the while losing sight of the very thing that got us in the room in the first place. What can happen is that we begin to work hard to transform ourselves into others that we see around us. Changing our methods, speech patterns, look and lifestyle to try to “fit in”.

But each of us, created in the image of God, have a unique calling, and the sooner we realize that, the easier it'll be for us to celebrate the way that God has made us rather than looking at each person as competition.

We are continuing in our series, Taking Destiny, by looking at the Canaanites. This word literally means zeal and fervor, and it has to deal with getting ahead.

Many times in life, when the Lord reveals His plan to us, we get so excited and so eager to step into it. But sometimes we jump into a situation before we're actually ready and prepared for it.

We should jump into the pool when we see water.

Tempering our expectations and trying to stay lockstep with the Holy Spirit who sets the pace is sometimes challenging. Many of us want a microwave Kingdom of God, but in reality, it's much more like a slow-cooker.

Learning how to walk hand-in-hand with the Lord as He guides and directs us is so crucial whenever we're stepping into our destiny. We can't let our zeal and fervor dictate the pace; we must let the Lord do it!

We are continuing in our series, Taking Destiny, by looking at the Jebusites. This word means something like anxiety, dread, or worry.

Coming out of the last few years, most if not all of us struggle with anxiety. Whether it's acute or something prolonged, we worry about so many things, and we can sometimes let our worries overwhelm us. But in Philippians, Paul reminds them to put their trusts and hopes in the Lord. His solution to worry? He tells them to worship and make their requests known to God.

The Lord cares about us! He loves His children, and the more that we realize that we are His beloved, the less worried we should be about the future, about our pasts, or anything at all. Resting in the arms of God, He is our security and our peace.

Let us confront our anxieties with the love of God!

We are continuing in our series, Taking Destiny, by looking at the Hittites. This word means something like fear of danger or fear of the unknown and failure, and we'll be talking about our need to put our fears to rest!

All of us, at one point or another, have to deal with fear. The phrase, "do not be afraid," is used 366 times in the Bible; one for each day of the year plus a bonus for when we get more fearful.

And this fear especially creeps in whenever we're about to step into something special and important, especially when God is calling us to something unknown. But we're called to keep taking steps, and in order to do that, we must deal with our fears!

We are continuing in our series, Taking Destiny, by looking at the Girgashites. This word means something like a stranger, and we'll be talking about our need to put down roots. We'll spend some time looking at Vineyard Values, and why it's important for us to be rooted in the love of God as we continue to take steps towards the destiny laid before us!

We are continuing in our series, Taking Destiny, by looking at the Kadmonites. This word has connotations of history, tradition, and things of the past. Something that we all must deal with when we are walking in our destiny and purpose is the things of the past, and for many of us who have grown up in the faith, that means that we also have to deal with the spirit of religiosity.

The religious spirit isn't a bad thing at first! When we first come to faith, we usually try to readjust, reorient, and take on new practices that will draw us nearer to the Lord, but sometimes these practices become ends in themselves when in reality they are meant to lead us closer to Jesus.

Unfortunately, this spirit is extremely subtle, and it can affect most of us without knowing. We must be quick to deal with this spirit, as it can take root quickly before we really ever know what hits us. And since the chances are that we all struggle with this, we’re going to begin the work of expelling this spirit from the land!

We've been in a new series, Taking Destiny, looking at how God invites us to the Promised Land, but that the journey to the Promised Land is not without its challenges or roadblocks. This week, we are looking at the Amorites!

As we begin this series, we're going to look first at the battle of the Amorites. As we mentioned last week, Amorite means "sayer," like people that are always talking about you and saying something negative. These are adversarial spirits that are just constantly tearing people down.

As followers of Jesus, we're all called to be leaders and change agents in the world, so whenever you begin to do things of significance, people will always talk. But we have to remember that our real battle, our real struggle, isn't against flesh and blood!

As God was leading the Hebrews through the desert to the Promised Land, they encountered many different obstacles (some physical but many spiritual). Each of these obstacles represents something more than just what they are, and many of us have to go against these hindrances all the time. But if God promised it, He will back His act, and we are called to walk boldly and confidently to the places that He sends us!