“The Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses. Taking some of the spirit that was on Moses, the Lord bestowed it on the seventy elders; and as the spirit came to rest on them, they prophesied. So, when a young man quickly told Moses, ‘Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp,’ Joshua, son of Nun, who from his youth had been Moses’ aide, said, ‘Moses, my lord, stop them.’ But Moses answered him, ‘Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets! Would that the Lord might bestow his spirit on them all!’” (Numbers 11:25; 28-29).
This passage is from the book of Numbers, the fourth book of the Bible. It is traditionally credited to Moses, according to the website Bible Study Tools.
The message in this excerpt is a “glimpse of the heart of God — abundant, boundless, overflowing,” Işık Abla of Virginia told Fox News Digital.
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Abla is senior pastor of Dream Church International in Virginia Beach and the author of many Christian books. Born in Turkey and raised as a Muslim, she moved to America while fleeing an abusive marriage, her website says.
The concern of Joshua reminded Abla of an experience she had as a newly minted Christian.
Joshua’s concern in the passage from Numbers that people were prophesying reminded Işık Abla of Virginia of an experience shortly after her conversion to Christianity. (iStock; Işık Abla)
“When I was a new believer in Christ, coming from my former faith in Islam, I carried a deep insecurity with me. I didn’t feel worthy to do anything significant for the Kingdom of God,” she told Fox News Digital.
With her self-worth at “rock bottom,” she “assumed the only thing I could offer was doing the work no one else wanted to do.”
“Come to church next Sunday. I want you to give your testimony.”
Abla continued, “I disqualified myself by comparing myself to others, thinking I wasn’t good enough to be used by God in a meaningful way.”
After telling her pastor that she would do anything, including cleaning the bathrooms and taking out trash, his response surprised her.
“He looked at me, smiled and said, ‘Come to church next Sunday. I want you to give your testimony.’”
“God wasn’t interested in what I thought I could or couldn’t do. He had already chosen me.” (iStock)
“I was stunned,” Abla told Fox News Digital, adding that she “didn’t even know what a testimony was” or what was being asked of her.
What happened that Sunday would drastically alter her life.
“But that moment – when I stood up and shared my story of how God had changed my life – that was the beginning of my ministry,” she said.
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“Right there, I began to realize that God wasn’t interested in what I thought I could or couldn’t do. He had already chosen me, even when I didn’t feel worthy. This insecurity cost me a lot until I was set free.”
Moses, Abla said, “wanted everyone to be equipped and empowered with the gift of prophecy,” a sign of a “great leader.”
“He wasn’t intimidated by other people’s gifts. He didn’t see them as threats, but as partners in the kingdom.”
“He wasn’t intimidated by other people’s gifts,” she said. “He didn’t see them as threats but as partners in the kingdom.”
Joshua, on the other hand, “had much to learn” as he journeyed with Moses.
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“He couldn’t yet see from heaven’s perspective,” Abla said. “When we let go of offense, we see the world as God does – overflowing with opportunities for everyone to thrive.”
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Joshua had not yet come to see that “there’s enough room for all of us in God’s plan,” she said.
“There’s room for all of us in God’s plan,” Abla said – something Joshua had yet to fully discern. (iStock)
As the Bible shows, “God doesn’t give His spirit in portions, dividing it among the worthy,” Abla said. “No, He pours it out lavishly, beyond the walls we build, beyond the limits we set.”
“This is God’s promise – His spirit poured out on all people. Not just the few, not just the ones in the tent, but on everyone,” she said.
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As Joshua learned, “there is no need to compete,” Abla said. “We are called to complete one another, to stand together as His spirit fills us all, making us one.”
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