I hope not. I think if you are reading this, you must be an
human being. But many people have an attitude about themselves
that says, "I'm no good. I can't do anything. I'm just a
bug."
In the Bible, there were a group of men that made such a statement
and ended up missing out in life. I believe that we can learn
an important lesson from these "grasshoppers" that will
keep us from making the same type of mistake.
When the nation of Israel was traveling through the dessert in
route to the Promised Land of Canaan, where modern Israel is today
in the middle east, God told their leader Moses to send men up
to spy out the land. They spent 40 days searching through the
land, observing the crops, and the cities and the people. When
they returned, all but two of the spies brought back an evil report
of the land.
But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to
go up against the people; for they are stronger then we. And they
brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched
unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we
have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants
thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great
stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which
come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshopper,
and so we were in their sight. (Numbers 13:31-33)
They said that the crops were great. In fact, they brought back
some huge grapes grown in the promised land. But they said, ".
. .the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities
are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of
Anak there."
God had given His people an opportunity to dwell in a wonderful
land. He wanted to bless them and bring them into a land flowing
with milk and honey. For over 400 years, His people had lived
in Egypt under the bondage of Pharaoh. Now God had set them free,
and intended to bring them into His Promised Land.
But instead of believing God promise, they began to look at
the circumstance. They saw huge giants in the land. They began
to be dominated by fear, rather than faith, and they brought up
an evil report on the land.
When we saw those giants, they said, we were like grasshoppers.
They thought, those giants could squish us like bugs. Why, there's
no way we could defeat all those giants. Because the children
of Israel accepted the "evil report" rather than the
promise of God, they were not allow to enter into the promised
land, but remained in the wilderness for the next 40 years, wishing
they had taken God at His Word.
But, while most of the spies were confessing that they were bugs
and leading the people astray, two of the men, Joshua and Caleb,
were of another spirit, the Bible says. Caleb stilled the people
and said, "Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are
well able to overcome it." Joshua and Caleb eventually went
into the land with the next generation. The rest of the people
died in the wilderness dissatisfied.
Today, we may not have literal giants to fight, but there is
still opposition. There is still always something or someone to
keep you from succeeding, from achieving, from being fulfilled
and happy. And all those multitude of obstacles make us feel like
little bugs ready to be squashed in the immense problems of this
world.
Are there giants in your life that are keeping you from the Promised
Land? Maybe it's giant bills or giant health of family problems.
Maybe it's seemingly insurmountable problems with your employer,
or employees or mother in law. If it wasn't for those giants,
you might think, things would be pretty good.
Sometimes in life when you feel like you about to be squashed
like a bug, you need to reach out for help and strength from God
and say, "Let's go for it. We can do it. God is with us.
We have the victory."
God didn't create us to be bugs. The Bible says that he created
man in His own image. Is God a bug? Praise God! No! He's not a
bug. He's great, and He made man to be great as well.
The source of the problem for the majority of the spies as well
as for the majority of us, is fear. The were afraid of the giants.
They didn't have a conquering attitude. They had a defeated attitude.
Instead of looking at the promises of God and the blessing which
He wanted them to have, they looked at the problems that were
facing them. Instead of believing in the power of God to deliver
them, they had demoted God and themselves to the place of the
bugs.
But God is not a bug. God is a Victor. Let that Victor rise up
within you to conquer all your problems.
This fear really stems back into the garden of Eden. In Eden,
man had it made. He had perfect fellowship with God. All his needs
were met. He was in charge and in control of everything in the
garden. But when the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, sinned,
they became fearful. The Bible tells us that God came down to
the garden to fellowship with Adam and Eve, and they "hid
themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of
the garden."
This is the origin of fear. It came as a result of sin, which
was a response to the temptation of Satan in the garden. The devil
lied to them, and they bought it, and it brought spiritual death
and fear to mankind. Before that time, there was nothing to fear.
They lived in perfect fellowship and perfect victory all the time.
God created them and gave them dominion of their situation.
Now, Satan, through the power of sin, had stolen that victory,
and had brought them not only into a place of fear, but into a
separation from God and spiritual death.
Man, created in God's image to glorify God, had become something
less. You might say he had become a grasshopper. He lost his victory,
his conquering attitude and his place with God.
Through the children of Israel, God was endeavoring to restore
victory. And in fact, He made a covenant with the nation of Israel,
that if they would serve and obey him, he would give them victory
over all their enemies and bless their crops and every area of
their lives. He gave them a promise of a wonderful land flowing
with milk and honey. According to God's promise, the land belonged
to them. But there was one problem. There was giants in the land,
and they were like grasshoppers.
Satan is the author of doubt and unbelief. He is the author of
all inferiority. He is the one that keeps us from inheriting the
land. He is the one that caused Adam and Eve to fall. He is the
one that keeps people bound.
Adam and Eve listened to the evil report of Satan. The children
of Israel listened to the evil report of the spies. Both lost
their inheritance because they believed the lie rather than the
truth. The children of Israel wondered around in the wilderness
for 40 years until the entire generation died. Then God allowed
a new generation to enter the promised land.
Are you missing your promised land? Do you have grasshopper-itus?
I have good news for you. Jesus came to set you free. He came
to restore you in the image of God. He came to give your life
meaning and to enable you to conquer the giants in your life.
He said, "The thief (Satan) cometh not, but for to steal,
and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life,
and that they might have it more abundantly." (Jn. 10:10)
The devil came to steal. Jesus came to give.
The devil came to kill. Jesus came to give life.
The devil came to destroy. Jesus came to restore.
If life has lost meaning for you, if you're discouraged, hurting,
wondering why you have so many troubles, I challenge you to take
hold of that verse of scripture and find out what it means for
you. Jesus is not the author of your problems. He is the solution.
Jesus is not the giant. He's the giant killer.
Jesus wants to restore you as a human being. He wants to deliver
you from grasshopper-itus. He wants to give your life meaning
and give you true dignity and self-worth.
I remember early in my Christian life, I became disheartened.
I was facing a mountain of obstacles and didn't see any way that
I could overcome them. I was poor, defeated and had no hope. Even
though I was a child of God, I was not living in my inheritance.
I thought that God was causing all these problems in my life to
perfect me. I thought he was bringing these calamities on me to
teach me something. When the well went dry, I thought He was telling
me that I was not sharing the Living Water enough. When the car
broke down, I thought that I must not have been using it for the
glory of God.
But then that Bible verse began to come alive to me. "The
thief (Satan) cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to
destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might
have it more abundantly." I began to realize that yes, I
have opposition, but from the evil one. Jesus Christ is on my
side. I may not overcome overnight, but I shall overcome.
From that point my life began to change. I began to fight the
giants in my life, rather than submit to them. I began to realize
that Jesus had given me a promise of abundant life, just has He
had promised the children of Israel their land. But just as the
children of Israel had to go up and possess it, so also we must
go up and possess our promised land. And the good news is that
we don't have to possess it in our own strength. Through the miracle
of the New Birth, Jesus has come to live in us. We have the Conquering
One in us, therefore the victory is ours.
Through the miracle of salvation, we are restored to fellowship
with our maker and brought into wholeness and soundness as a human
being. We can begin to possess our promised land. We can begin
to inherit our blessings, because Jesus Christ has made the way.
Oh, there'll still be giants. But, in Jesus Christ, we have the
power to overcome them. He comes to live inside of us and gives
us the victory over Satan. The Bible says, "Greater is He
that is in you, than he that is in the world." (I Jn. 4:4)
When you're born again, the Spirit of a conqueror is in you. He
makes you a giant killer, a world overcomer, a victor through
Jesus Christ. He establishes you in the truth and that truth sets
you free.
The Bible tells us that God so loved the world that He gave His
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not
perish, but have everlasting life."
God sent His Son Jesus, who was born of a virgin, lived a sinless
life, taught us right from wrong, died on the cross for your sins
and mine, and then rose from the dead victorious over Satan. He
lives with us today through the Holy Spirit in the heart of Born
Again believers everywhere.
His death paid the penalty of sin. The Bible tells us that He
died for the sins of the whole world. When Jesus was bleeding
and dying on Calvary, He was taking the punishment for every sin
ever committed. God laid all our our sins upon Him. As the scripture
says, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned
every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity
of us all."
How many sheep have gone astray? All!
How many people's iniquity was laid upon Him? All!
If all means all then that includes you. You have
gone astray. (Who among us can say that we haven't?) But you have
had your iniquities (or sins) laid upon Jesus.
If he bore your sins, then you don't have to bear them any more.
You do not need to carry the guilt and shame of your sins anymore.
You can be free, through the precious blood of Christ.
Without Christ, we are all hopelessly lost. The Bible tells us
that "the wages of sin is death" and "all have
sinned," therefore without Christ we are all hopeless lost
and destined for hell.
But I've got good news for you. Hell was not made for you. It
was made for the devil and his angels. And my hope is that they
will not have the pleasure of your company there.
Not only is that my hope, but it is God's as well, for He says
that He is "not willing that any should perish, but that
all should come to repentance". . . which brings me to my
final point.
If you have never received Jesus and your Lord and Savior and
received the forgiveness of sins, you need to repent. That is,
you need to turn away from a life of sin and turn to God, and
call on the name of Jesus. The Bible tells us that "to as
many as received Him (Jesus) to them gave He the power (or the
right) to become the children of God, even to them that believe
on His name."
What a privilege, that we should be called the children of
God. . . that God, by his miracle power, would transform us from
outlaws into saved, sanctified, holy, blood-washed children of
the living God, made in His image. This is the greatest miracle
in the universe.
You can become a child of God today. It's not complicated, but
it requires a total surrender to the will of God. If you're sincere,
you can be changed by the power of God today. You can't earn your
salvation. You can't be good enough to earn heaven, but you must
be willing to follow the will of God for your life.
Really it's as simple as ABC:
A. Admit you are a sinner and that without Jesus Christ you are
hopelessly lost.
B. Believe that Jesus died for your sins and rose from the dead
victorious.
C. Confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, forsaking the
life of sin.
Open your heart and mouth and pray this prayer out loud:
Dear God, I've been a sinner. Without Jesus I am lost. I
understand that you made a way for me to be forgiven through your
Son Jesus. I understand that His blood was shed for my sins and
that He rose victorious from the grave to conquer the devil. I
renounce Satan and the life of sin that I have been in, and I
willingly turn to Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I know that You
forgive me as I do this and give me the right to be your child.
I boldly confess that Jesus is my Lord and that I am a born again
child of God today. Amen.
Now, confess your faith to others. Ask the Father to fill
you with His Spirit and give you power. Praise God, you no longer
need to feel like a grasshopper. God has given you the right to
be a victorious, overcoming, giant conquering Christian.
Bless you!