Are you a Grasshopper or a Giant Killer? Part 4

Problem with FEAR

Problem: We fear men

Grasshoppers fear men. Numbers 13:31

31 But the men who had gone up with him responded, "We can't go up against the people because they are stronger than we are!"

There are very few problems in this world that are stronger than you are. We have built an unhealthy fear of men. It is true that there is a healthy fear, that kind that keeps you from danger but I am talking about the fear that says “this problem, this GIANT cannot be defeated because it is stronger than we are.” There is a solution for that. It is the fear of God

Solution: Fear God!

Giant killers fear God Numbers 14:9

Only don't rebel against the LORD, and don't be afraid of the people of the land, for we will devour them. Their protection has been removed from them, and the LORD is with us. Don't be afraid of them!"

Look at what Joshua and Caleb say here. Do not rebel against God. Here is a healthy fear of God that makes you want to obey Him for fear of what He might do! One reason we want to do right is to stay out of trouble. They go on to say that if we fear God we will not have to fear people, for the Lord will be with us. This is how it is with our problems, when we focus on God, we tend to fear Him, because we see Him in all of His glory, when we fear God, and then realize that he is on our side, we realize we do not have to fear our problems.

Are you a Grasshopper or a Giant Killer? Part 3

Problem with FOCUS

Problem: We focus on enemies.

Grasshoppers focus on their enemies. Numbers 13:28-29

28 However, the people living in the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified. We also saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites are living in the land of the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan."

We tend to focus just like the 10. We focus on our enemies. We may not have Amalekites, or Hittites, or Jebusites, or Amorites, but we find our own enemies and focus on them and what they can do to us. The Cancers and thugs and the hurt in this world draws our focus to them and away from the solution. Joshua and Caleb knew that the focus had to be on God.

Solution: Focus on God

Giant killers focus on God. Numbers 14:8

8 If the LORD is pleased with us, He will bring us into this land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and give it to us.

The solution to the problem of focus is to focus on God. I often see people who have problems pull away from the body of Christ, and I just do not understand that. Is this what we have become? Are we a place where people come and claim, whether it is true or not that “everything is all right?” May it never be! We all have problems and we are here as the body of Christ to help each other through. We have to help one another focus on God. Not only do you need the church in tough times, but you need to focus on God in your daily life. You need to spend time in the Bible and in prayer time daily.

Are you a Grasshopper or a Giant Killer? Part 2

Problem with FACTS

Problem: We tend to confuse the facts

Grasshoppers confuse the facts. Numbers 13:26,32

²⁶ The men went back to Moses, Aaron, and the entire Israelite community in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They brought back a report for them and the whole community, and they showed them the fruit of the land. ²⁷ They reported to Moses: "We went into the land where you sent us. Indeed it is flowing with milk and honey, and here is some of its fruit.

³² So they gave a negative report to the Israelites about the land they had scouted: "The land we passed through to explore is one that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of great size.

When something happens to us in life we tend to be like those who said they felt as though they were grasshoppers. We often confuse the facts. In verse 26 of chapter 13, the spies agreed that the land was flowing with milk and honey, but by verse 32, they were giving a negative report on the land, not just its inhabitants.

We do the same thing. When things look bad, instead of focusing on the good, we tend to bring the good down to the level of the bad. We confuse the facts. If we want to kill giants in our lives, we need to avoid this pitfall. How do we do it? We need to follow Joshua and Caleb.

Solution: Speak the Truth

Giant killers speak the truth Numbers 13:30; 14:7

³⁰ Then Caleb quieted the people in the presence of Moses and said, "We must go up and take possession of the land because we can certainly conquer it!"

⁶ Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who scouted out the land, tore their clothes ⁷ and said to the entire Israelite community: "The land we passed through and explored is an extremely good land. ^(A)

Although Joshua and Caleb saw the same things that the other spies saw, they stuck to the truth. Did they see the giants? Yes, but they saw the land as good enough to risk fighting the giants. In the chapter 14 verses they are repeating the truth that the land is extremely good!

When problems come into your life, we don’t need to ignore them, but we don’t need to make them bigger than they are, either. We too often confuse the facts and end up acting like grasshoppers amidst the giants.

Are you a Grasshopper or a Giant Killer?

We all have problems. Problems do not pass anyone by. Norman Vincent Peale used to say that the only people to say the only people without problems are those in the cemetery. Major problems affect everyone. Problems loom over us like giants. We feel like grasshoppers when we stand next to the problems of our lives. This is how it was for 12 men who were called to do an important task. We find their story in the book of Numbers, chapter 13 and 14.

The Story of the 12 spies of Israel

You may recall, if not from the Bible, then from the movie that the people of Israel were freed from Egypt and Moses was to guide them to the Promised Land. Well, by Numbers 13, they had arrived near the land and God told Moses to send some spies into the land that He was giving to them. Then Moses commanded these 12 to go and spy out the land. They were to find out:

• What the land was like
• Whether the people of the land were strong or weak
• Whether the cities were like camps or strongholds, and
• Whether the land is rich or poor and whether there are forests.

So they went and spied out the land. They returned after 40 days. When they returned, they reported on the great fruit of the land and called it a land of “milk and honey” and yet they also reported that there were giants in the land and verse 33 says this:

“There we saw the giants, and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

Now, two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, were of a different mindset. They wanted to go and take possession of the land.

Two different mindsets. One that said “we are grasshoppers” and another that said, “we are giant killers!”

Over the next few posts I will talk about four issues the "grasshoppers" have

The Job I Want and the Job I Need

The job I need may not be the job I want and vice versa. When looking for a job, there is often the tension between the “job you want” and the “job you need.” For example, that elusive career position I have been dreaming of all my whole life may not be available or open, but the job around the corner is offering. I need to pay the bills. It becomes the “job I need.” (Oh, I wish someone was offering!) Most people are to some extent living with the job they need. They want so much more. In the long run, the job I need may become the job I want. God may use if for great good and His glory. So, yes, often the job I need may not be the job I want, but perhaps the job I want is not the job I need, either. I want to allow God to work in and through my job search and I want to give Him the glory for the great plans He has for me.

“For I know the plans I have for you” —[this is] the LORD's declaration—"plans for [your] welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

Are you doing VBS this year?

Vacation Bible School (VBS) is the most effective evangelistic outreach event that the church does. Period. If you are in a church that claims to be evangelistic, why would you not do VBS?

If you do not believe it, go to your church and ask. How many people have gotten saved in VBS over the last 10 years. (Most Southern Baptist Churches keep these records) and how many people got saved through other means in the church?

Now we know why we should do it. What are your other excuses?

Here are a few blocks and some solutions -

Our church does not have

1. ....the money

there are resources available - ask and you will receive

2. ...the people

there are mission teams all over America who want to help you - ask and you will receive

3. ... the training

much training is available for free or very low cost - ask and you will receive

You really do not have an excuse.

VBS is something you can do.