Conquering the Wilderness

Conquering

the Wilderness

Crispin Nasoro

Copyright © 2020 Crispin Nasoro

Published by Crispin Nasoro Publishing at Smashwords

First edition 2020

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without permission from the copyright holder.

The Author has made every effort to trace and acknowledge sources/resources/individuals. In the event that any images/information have been incorrectly attributed or credited, the Author will be pleased to rectify these omissions at the earliest opportunity.

Published by Crispin Nasoro using Reach Publishers’ services,

Edited by Trevor French for Reach Publishers

Cover designed by Reach Publishers

P O Box 1384, Wandsbeck, South Africa, 3631

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E-mail: [email protected]

"Therefore, behold,

I will allure her and lead her to the wilderness,

and speak to her tenderly.

There I will give back her vineyards

and make the Valley of Achor into a gateway of hope.

There she will respond as she did in the days of her youth

as in the day she came up out of Egypt.

In that day," declares the LORD,

"you will call Me ‘my husband,’

and no longer call Me ‘my Master.’

For I will remove from her lips the names of the Baals;

no longer will their names be invoked.

On that day I will make a covenant for them

with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air

and the creatures that crawl on the ground.

And I will abolish bow and sword and weapons of war

in the land, and will make them lie down in safety.

So I will betroth you to Me forever;

I will betroth you in righteousness and justice,

in loving devotion and compassion.

And I will betroth you in faithfulness,

and you will know the LORD."

"On that day I will respond" declares the LORD

"I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth.

And the earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine and oil,

and they will respond to Jezreel.

And I will sow her as My own in the land,

and I will have compassion on ‘No Compassion.’

I will say to those called ‘Not My People,’

‘You are My people,’

and they will say, ‘You are my God.’"

Hosea 2:14-23 (BSB)

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

1. How I Discovered the Wilderness

2. The Roadmap

3. A Time to Go

4. Beginnings in the Wilderness

5. A Place of Rescue

6. Wilderness Gone Wrong

7. The Gospel in the Wilderness

8. Plagues in the Wilderness

9. Serpents and Snares

10. Tempted to Exchange

11. The Key Secret

12. Like Arrows in His Hand

13. The Father’s Promise

14. Called to Inheritance

15. The Reproach of Egypt

16. Fight to Win

17. I Believe, Help My Unbelief

18. A Feast Unto the LORD

19. Through the Double Gates

Notes and Glossary

Preface

The Bible is like a map for the traveller. The success of the traveller, whether they will arrive at a destination or not, mostly depends on how well they can follow directions on the map. We need to approach the Bible as the word of God and not some great piece of literature or history. If we view it from just a historical or literary point of view, we will most likely miss its core message, purpose and function. I consider the Bible to be a result of the Almighty compressing critical components and highlights of all human life into a single volume. James 1:23 refers to it as a mirror, while Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:12 tells us we that we can dimly see our reflection in it.

Bible is essentially everyone’s life story. Different parts of the Bible will address different seasons, situations, and aspects of every individual’s life. It is an encyclopaedia of answers to every conceivable human problem. The only problem is for someone to know how to find them. Many of the answers are hidden, and we need the help of the Holy Spirit to find them. When I read the Bible, I see myself in the story. This is when the word becomes alive and speaks to me directly. I look for characters that resemble me and I study them well. That helps me to understand myself. As I look steadily into the mirror of the word, I begin to see myself dimly as the Lord sees me. I begin to see the privileges that are mine and learn to use them to my advantage. I also take note of the dangers that are ahead of me and find the best way to avoid or deal with them. This is the perspective from which this book is written.

Although, I may not have directly addressed your particular situation, you will most likely find principles that you can apply to your life for real results. It is also necessary for me to point out that this book does not exhaust every aspect of the wilderness. All I have done is to present the most important principles that the Lord revealed to me in a simple and comprehensible manner. It is my prayer that this book becomes a turning point in your life, to help you to overcome the wilderness and the negative effects associated with it.

This book has been written as a resource to help the people of God to overcome their wildernesses. It has numerous scripture references and it is meant to be studied together with the Bible. Take time to read from your Bible all the scripture references that have been quoted, and if possible compare different translations. Do not rush to finish the book but rather read it a section at a time. There could be just one section in it that could change your life. Take time to pray for the illumination of the word by the Holy Spirit. Remember, He is the master teacher. He will go way beyond my human limitations to reveal the secrets of God so that we can all be thoroughly equipped in life and ministry.

Introduction

Who comprehends the mind of the LORD, or gives Him instruction as his counsellor? From whom does He receive directions? Who teaches Him the correct way to do things, or imparts knowledge to Him, or instructs Him in skilful design?

Isaiah 40:13-14 (NET)

One day a few years ago, I had a conversation with a great woman of God who was very dear to me. During the conversation, I mentioned that the Lord had given me an assignment to write a book about the wilderness. I continued to say that the wilderness is a very problematic place among people of God due to the fact that they do not understand it. If people knew the LORD’s purpose and cooperated with Him, the wilderness could be a very pleasant and glorious place. The woman of God cut in right there and could not let me continue speaking. She rebuked me for being narrow minded in a revelation that was probably only applicable to me. She told me that the Lord had also taught her about the wilderness and that it is a very terrible place. She said that the wilderness is inhospitable, hot, dry, and perilous. In it are hunger, thirst, unbearable heat, giants, serpents, plagues and death. It is a place where people mourn, never easy, and certainly not enjoyable. I tried to tell her that the wilderness is a place of rest, divine protection, provision, and a place of knowing the Lord. She opposed me saying that it was just by the grace of God that I had escaped the wilderness. She further advised me to keep my revelation to myself and never look down on other people who struggle so much in their wildernesses. I tried to tell her that I spent 20 years of my life in the wilderness but she was not willing to listen to me.

What this woman of God said represents the popular view of the wilderness among God’s people. I am aware that God reaches out to individuals in the place where they are at. Hence, He can give different revelations to different people on the same topic. God is all-knowing, all-wise, and has a full view of His entire kingdom which no single human being has.

Most of the teachings that I heard on the wilderness were rather distorted. They seemed to misrepresent God and cast a shadow on His goodness and justice. Most people view the wilderness as a place where God takes his children to punish them. This is contrary to God’s plan and purpose. It is true that the Israelites were confined to the wilderness for forty years, but I discovered that this was not God’s intention in the first place. Something went wrong, and because of that, the wilderness became corrupted to the horrible form that most of us are familiar with. Once we become aware of God’s original plan for the wilderness, we can begin to cooperate with Him and stop Satan from ruining it, saving ourselves years of misery and suffering.

A lot of the wilderness experiences that people go through are avoidable. Even when the wilderness becomes inevitable, God designed it to be the shortest phase in one’s life, except if one does not cooperate with Him. Refusing to take instructions from the Lord has cost most of us far too much; more than we can comprehend. This is what causes life to become confused and unnecessarily difficult. I am sure that many of us can do with a little help to overcome our wildernesses and to move on to take our inheritance. Even for those who are already in their Promised Land, God is not finished with you yet. There remains so much more land to be taken! The principles that you learned in the wilderness are there to enable you to take and maintain your inheritance, and to help others to do the same.

One

How I Discovered the Wilderness

⁴ They wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way; they found no city to dwell in.

⁵ Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.

⁶ Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses.

⁷ And He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city for a dwelling place.

Psalms 107:4 – 7 (NKJV)

During the first quarter of 2012 the Spirit of the LORD spoke to me a very strange statement. He said, Crispin, you have been in the wilderness for the last 18 years and now you are at the edge of your Promised Land. It is up to you to enter into it. But if you do not want to enter, no problem, you will go back into the wilderness.

Instantly, I understood what the Spirit of the LORD said. My first reaction was shock. I was shocked at the thought that I had been in the wilderness for that long without even knowing it. I also understood that the Lord was dating this period from the time I left university in 1994. I left the University of Malawi at the end of my second year without graduating through a set of events that did not make sense to me. I could not figure out what actually happened, but I found myself out there in the wide world not knowing where to go and what to do. Consequently, I went to stay with my family in South Africa. For years, I could not find my bearings. I was like someone lost in the desert, not having direction and living life without a purpose. I began looking for something to do. I could not find one thing that worked properly. Everything I tried seemed to lead to a dead end.

During the following year, my family started a tailoring business. My mother had a talent for fashion and this seemed to be a perfect business idea. A few months later, we opened an African fashion shop in Pretoria. We started the business from scratch with very little capital, but the business grew steadily and earned a reputation in the neighbourhood. The business ran for a period of about two years and then collapsed. The shop closed down. And from then on, everything just spiralled downwards. We lived in a house without electricity. We did not know where our next meal would come from. Most of the time, we received food from charity. Never before in my life had I experienced lack to this degree. Eventually we lost our house and two cars, and were almost on the street. This was the lowest time in my life.

A certain brother from church took us into his two-bedroomed flat. It was a huge sacrifice for him to accommodate a destitute family of four. Many times we were unable to contribute towards the rent and our living expenses. We stayed with him for two full years. I will forever be grateful for this brother who took care of us during the darkest season of our lives.

Then we ventured into another business which took another one and a half years to become profitable. The business grew steadily but I was so greatly challenged in a number of areas in my life that I could not make much progress. The years in the wilderness had eroded my self-confidence. I had mastered the art of survival but was trapped within an invisible prison. I did not realise that I was wandering around in the wilderness.

When I left university, I was on fire for God. I had committed my life to serve the LORD and to be one of His very special sons. I used to pray for hours daily and was involved in some great ministry work. But I was completely unprepared for my early exit from university. As a result I became disorientated and disillusioned. I did not think that God was part of anything that was happening at that time. Instead I imagined that the devil had finally succeeded in derailing my life and I fought frantically to escape. I was a good Christian all those years, but I was spiritually blind and confused. I was actively involved in my local church and became a church board member, an elder and a praise and worship leader. I was faithful to God but unknowingly uncooperative. I was determined to make my life work, yet I did not seem to make a success of anything that I tried to do. I figured out that something was wrong and I desperately needed God to help me. Two days after Christmas in 2001, I embarked on a 40 day fast with only one thing on my mind – I wanted God to change my life. This became a major turning point. Within two weeks after the fast I met my wife, and just over two years later we were married. It was like an oasis in the desert.

Our wedding was nothing short of a miracle. My wife and I had invested in a lot of prayer during our courtship. God faithfully helped us overcome all obstacles. We had a glorious debt-free wedding. I will always remember this as the best part of my wilderness experience. Soon after that, negative events started happening again. My mother went to be with the Lord the following year, just two months after her fiftieth birthday. She was followed by my mother-in-law eighteen months later, and by my father-in-law another seventeen months later. This was the lowest time in our marriage. The round of funerals left my family emotionally worn out and in debt.

At the beginning of 2007, the Lord instructed us to give away our car. We had only one old car, but we obeyed. We had enough faith to give away a car but not enough to receive another one. Our financial position was not good either. We were in debt and we could not afford another car. As a result, we lived without one for a whole year. Then the Lord provided us with a car that was just a year old. It was so much better than the one we gave away and testified to His faithfulness. By that time, the business had started going down. I knew that I had a call of God upon my life, but I had been avoiding it for years. I continued operating the business, trying to make things work.

Proverbs 23:4-5 (NIV)

4 Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness.

5 Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.

I heeded the call of God and went into ministry at the beginning of 2013. For the entire year, I tried to juggle ministry and business. The Lord clearly instructed me not to go to the business premises. Instead, I continued going there three days a week for a few hours each day. The business interfered with my call and work of the ministry, but I did not want to leave it completely. By the end of that year, the Lord closed it down. My time to get out of the wilderness had come.

THE THREE COVENANTS

This section is necessary to bring clarity on how I was led into the wilderness. The events recorded below took place while I was at the Polytechnic, University of Malawi. I do not suggest in any way that this is a standard procedure of how God deals with people. God deals with each individual differently. Moses’ life was changed when he met the angel of the LORD at the burning bush. Joseph’s life was changed when he interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams. Abraham’s life was changed when the LORD made covenants with him. My life was changed by the covenants discussed below.

I WANT TO BE YOUR FATHER

I consider this the most significant covenant in my life. One Sunday afternoon during the first half of 1993, I went to a Christian fellowship meeting called Pentecostal Revival Crusade in Blantyre. We had an anointed service and towards the end, the man of God received a word of knowledge. He said, There are people here who have grown up without a father. You have longed to have a father but he was not there for some reason. You don’t know your father and you have missed his love. God says that He wants to become your Father. He wants to adopt you as His own son so that you can experience the love of a father. If this word applies to you, I want you to come to the front. I and two other young men stood up and came forward. The man of God laid his hands and prayed for each one of us. After the meeting I went back to the university campus filled with joy. Something significant had taken place in my spirit. God had become my Father in the place of my natural father. Please note that I was already saved by that time. The prophetic word was not referring to salvation but a special Father-son covenant with the LORD.

That evening I went with a group of students to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital to minister to the sick. Interestingly, this was the same hospital where I was born 20 years earlier. I was new to this ministry and this was my second attendance. I had not been trained for evangelism and I was supposed to serve under a more experienced worker. Somehow I was assigned to minister in a children’s ward alone. I taught on the subject Authority of a Christian. Towards the end of the meeting, I prayed for sick children one by one. I came back the following day during my lunch break to see my patients. All the children that had been prayed for the night before were healed and had been discharged. The only ones that remained were those that their parents had refused to be prayed for. I stood in the middle of the ward with my mouth wide open, amazed at the works of the Lord. This was a confirmation of the covenant. I had truly become a son of God. He was more than my Heavenly Father. He had become my Daddy.

Significance of The Covenant

About 18 years later, the Lord gave me understanding about the significance of this covenant.

Mark 1:9-12 (BSB)

9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

10 As soon as Jesus came up out of the water, He saw the heavens breaking open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.

11 And a voice came from heaven: You are my beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.

12 At once the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness.

When Jesus was baptised in the Jordan, the Holy Spirit descended upon him like a dove, and a voice from heaven confirmed him as a Son. This was the voice of the Father introducing Jesus to the world. Jesus’ baptism was a symbol of humility and submission to earthly authority that was established by God. It triggered something vitally important; the descending of the Holy Spirit upon him. As soon as the Holy Spirit came, God the Father announced Jesus as His beloved Son that pleased Him. Jesus was already the Son of God before he was baptised, but when the Holy Spirit came upon him in power, the Father announced him as His beloved Son. In this way, He empowered and gave him authority to carry out his mission on earth. The first thing that the Holy Spirit did when he came upon Jesus was to lead him into the wilderness.

Similarly, the Father-son covenant in my life was God’s means of empowering and authorising me for ministry. This was confirmed later that evening when God healed everyone that I prayed for. Just over a year later I found myself in the wilderness.

THE MOUNTAIN TOP EXPERIENCE

This incident happened probably during the first half of 1994. At that time, I used to go to pray on Soche Mountain most Friday nights. One such evening, I was under the impression that some brethren were going to the mountain to pray so I decided to go ahead of them. I arrived at the prayer site around 7pm. The night had already fallen and the moon was up in the sky. I found no one on the mountain so I started to pray alone. I praised and worshipped the LORD for about an hour. Then I felt tired and decided to take a nap. I went to a rock that was split in two. In between was filled up with soil to ground level with the two rocks acting as shields on the opposite sides.