2020-09-12 Grasshopper Thinking - Pastor Jason Canfield

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How does what we think of ourselves and how we see ourselves relate to our relationship with God? Could these things be holding us back? This week Pastor Jason Canfield brings us "Grasshopper Thinking" and helps us explore how our thinking impacts our spiritual walk. In preparation for the message meditate on Numbers 13:32-33.

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The message my message this morning maybe a strange picture for you, but grasshopper thinking maybe an interesting topic for you, but I think you will find it biblical and interesting as will be looking at Numbers Chapter 13. These are the key versus but there's a little bit more but before we go there let's bow our heads forward of her. I loving father in Heaven. We just want to thank you so much for the safety. You provided over this church last week will Wainwright preached here and then had symptoms and had to be tested and we're so thankful that they came back negative and a to protected him and although we are experiencing smoke. We don't have fires here Soul, or we just want to pray right now that you would clear the smoke and be with those who are in danger of the fires. Those are in danger of Coba tour have covid-19 would bring quick and Swifty recovery. We pray Lord that you would clear the smoke from our mind so that we can clearly see you this morning though, because we've come here to meet with the king of kings and Lord of lords and we don't even need to ask for you to be here because you came here before we did. This is your house and so Lord. We are here to worship you and I just pray that Sherry from your word that you would be lifted high that you would help others to see you and to see themselves in light of you and that they would be transformed by your goodness and your And so Lord hide me have behind your cross that you may speak to the people here today and listening online or listening later. Thank you Jesus in your name. We pray. Amen.

Again, grasshopper thinking I might I found some interesting pictures when I started looking up this topic. I search grasshoppers to try and find a background image and I saw these grasshoppers iterate two 10in long. I didn't even know grasshoppers got that big. Kind of scary I decided not to put them up there cuz I didn't want everybody squirming in church too much. But you know what the beginning off the grasshopper topic for a second here. What we think of ourselves is really quite important and how we see ourselves. It's very interesting that many years ago at this point. There was a man named dr. Maxwell maltz and back in 1936. Maybe they were some of you alive back then this was way before my time, but he wrote a book called new faces new Futures. It's a collection of case histories of people whom facial plastic surgery had open the door to a new life as he put it the author's theme was that amazing changes can take place when a person's face is changed. Do you believe it? So his thesis was if we just make you pretty enough all your problems will go away. I don't find that to be a very good thesis, but it was his story. So apparently he come across cases. He was a plastic surgeon, of course selling his trade and it was interesting. That is he did this. He believe people would change but what he found was quite the opposite he had a number of people that had been changed and made quite beautiful. But every time they looked in the mirror, they didn't see anything different. They still saw the same picture. They still felt like they weren't beautiful and no matter what he did. No matter how many surgeries are performed no matter how beautiful they got they didn't change and this was perplexing to him. And so this book wasn't very well so that his next book was a few years later as you can see here in 1960. He wrote a best-selling book. It was it says that if every personality has a face this emotional face of personality seems to be the key to change. If it remains scared and distorted ugly and inferior than the person continues to act out that face. So another words even though they were changed on the outside. They weren't changing on the inside. There were they were acting out a role regardless of changing physical appearance. But if the face of one's personality can be reconstructed if the old emotional scars can be removed the person can be changed. So what does the saying in essence has he found changing this didn't change everything but what do change of how you see yourself? Who you think you are really amounted to much more? And the reason why I'm bringing this up as I've met so many Christians that have such a shame complex. They feel inferior. They feel disqualified. They feel not good enough. They feel very negative simply put and they have this ugly image of themselves and they don't see themselves. As God sees them. All they can see is what they see in the mirror and quite frankly, we're all Sinners. And so we tend to focus in on that to summarize it Proverbs 23 verse 7 says for as he thinks in his heart, so is he What you think you are you'll often live out. Now. This can be positive or negative. I'm sure someone listening right now whether it's in person or online you were anybody ever told something really not nice as a kid? You're never going to be good enough. You're not smart enough you this you that and we hold on sometimes to that idea of who we are for the rest of our lives. I'm in the same way. You can be told you're great and that could carry you through and so what you see how you see yourself changes things in short the way you look at yourself and feel about yourself. So you will be and so you will become. What you see and feel will determine your relationship with God and other people and we're going to see this in a number of different ways and stories. Then we see it in scripture. We see it in a number of places and the idea is you become what you think. You are. These people that have facial surgery. They were ugly. So it didn't matter what happened externally. They couldn't change the way they were thinking the real sickness was here or here if you will it really wasn't their face and so and it changed their relationship with everything if you don't feel your beautiful, you may react that way in a relationship with a spouse If you don't think you're good enough, you may never live up to the standards your boss thinks and you may never think different things. So you become a bit of what you think you are. And there's a lot of it when I say I'm going to talk about it in the sense of low self-esteem, but self-esteem in this is not feeling high and mighty about yourself. This is self esteem from a Christian perspective where you see yourself in light of not what you see necessarily just in the mirror, but how God sees you because no matter what negative horrible thing. Anybody has ever said to you. That's not what God sees. Amen. Because giving God looks at you. God sees potential. He sees amazing potential. I mean just take a look at the disciples a very unruly bunch of people not anybody most disciples makers would have picked right but he saw the potential in them the ability to learn the ability to grow and they didn't have it. All right, even when they were following him for three and a half years, but he saw something in them and he sees a little bit of him in you because we were made in the image of God. Until God see this and when we take on and negative if you would like a defeated Spirit where you are automatically just if you ever met people to do this really negative really critical, especially at themselves and their just I mean, it's almost like okay stop whining kind of thing where they're just always saying negative things about themselves. What happens is it paralyzes your potential and this this is seen in a number of different ways, but we're going to look at a couple of them. It's interesting James Dobson. He's kind of well-known for marriages and different things to Love Languages. Lots of different things that he's talked about over the years. He did a large full of Christian women and found that 50% listed low self-esteem is the top cause of depression. 50% with 80% listed in the top two or three reasons. Now what this is telling us is that Christian women have low self-esteem sex Did you catch that so Christian women who are made in God's image that have the ability to be an amazing witness for God and can do many things for God often were depressed for the sole reason that they didn't see their own value. They didn't see who they were in light of God's image in that sad of Christians, but we see this and it diminishes our ability are diminishes what we can do in Matthew 25. We see a parable Jesus taught that brings us out. We usually called us a parable of the talents if we had time. I would read clear through the chapter, but I think you're familiar. There's Matthew 25 verses 24 and 25 will read but this is where you have a master. He goes out of town and he leaves talents with his servants it over there and one gets 10 one gets three one gets one and they each do different things some of them invest some of them don't one of them doesn't and so it's interesting. Look at the story. Let's read in Matthew chapter 24. I said then he who had received the one Talent came and said Lord. I knew you to be a hard man reaping where you have not sown and Gathering where you have not scattered seed and I was afraid and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look there you have what is yours? So my immediate response when I read this as well and it's exactly what the the Lord in the story does. He says, why did you do that? Why did why didn't you go in invested? Why didn't you do something with what I gave you and see I see this is the same type of thing many times are low. Self-esteem makes us afraid to use the talents. God gives us his God giving you a talent. The answer should be yes a man. We've all got talent. We've all got things that the holy spirit will give us but I find it over and over and it's been in any church I've ever gone to we get to nominating committee and the whole nominating committee is praying about who should take the position. We call him to Ono Pastor. I could never do that. And quite frankly and it sometimes it may not be the right fit. But many times we won't even try and like this servant he was too scared to try because he didn't think he could do it right. He didn't think sometimes we become so afraid of failure that we don't even try and what happens is I think failure is maybe the wrong word for do we do things and it not work out sometimes Yes, I find it at least for me. Maybe someday maybe not everybody here. But I I find I do things and sometimes it doesn't work. We make mistakes. In fact, I remember a colleague of mine. He was in East Wenatchee and he was brand new and Ministry just out of the Seminary showed up to his church for the very first time and he got up there and he was nervous anybody get nervous when you get in front of people and so he gets up there. He's brand new pastor and he gets up and he supposed to read the scripture reading in its reading about how God is the only one who's in mortal. Until he gets up there ass out in Timothy he gets up and he he accidentally Miss pronunciate sit and says God the only one in moral.

And everybody chuckle just like that the audience here did and when he realized what he done later, he was ready to resign he was like I can never show my face in church again. I can't believe I made that mistake. The reality is it's a learning experience if we can give Grace to each other. How can we experience the grace of God, you know, and so this is one of the things where we can't let fear dictate us immobilized by fear and feelings of inadequacy and failure the servant with one telling buried what the lord gave him and did nothing low self-esteem nearly always leads to fear of failure. Failing is not bad. Sometimes we need to fail. And I mean that in a positive way because when we fail you can look at it as a learning experience can't you I know what not to do now. That didn't work. I stuck my finger on the fire. It burns me. I'm not going to do that again, but I made a mistake and so many times we try things we do things. It's okay to fail if we're so scared of failure many times. We never end up succeeding. I'm learning what we need. If you look at the disciples and scripture they were often failing and figuring it out. And so they let low self-esteem. They didn't see what God saw in themselves. Sometimes I think it's easier for us to see potential in others than ourselves. We ever notice that I can look at someone I can look at Pastor Stevens is back here. He preached a couple weeks ago. He's got more experience than me he can preach. Well, maybe I can't thank you, by the way for preaching, you know, we can look at it this way and then maybe think maybe we can't do it. And so maybe you look at me and think I could never get up there and speak and just me mentioning to make some of you squirm a little bit but the ideas maybe you could maybe you've never tried because I was never gifted it speaking. But what I decided is that is my greatest asset is not being good at it because not being good at it makes me reliant on the one who's supposed to speak. And so this is where God really shines brightly as when we recognized in our weakness. We are really strong when we let God shine innocent. This is a total different way of looking at life when we do it this way and I believe it destroys our dreams and God's dreams for us. When we do this. Let me point this out first we're going to go to we're going to end up in a scripture in the first version of CIA Kane and inspection agency. This is where we get two numbers and they're sending spies into Canaan to inspect the land. You know, the story I believe if you haven't you can read it in Numbers Chapter 13 So they're coming up to the promised land and they they go through in chapter 13 verses 4 through about 15 on exactly who of each tribe was going to go out there. They were going to check everything out and when they came back they had interesting stories to tell so let me just read the tail end of this after they've come back from inspecting the land. It says in verse 32 and they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out saying the land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. And then it says we saw there we saw the Giants the descendants of anak came from the Giants and we were like grasshoppers notice in our own site. And so we were in their site. Did you catch how they word that? They said we looked out there and we felt like grasshoppers. So keep in mind I want you to just taking a little bit of the backdrop to this. So this is a group of people that saw a Unsinkable miracles in Egypt is the plagues were coming down all those different things. They're coming through the great sea is the Red Sea is parted and they come through it. They've seen a lot of Miracles, right? They've seen God descend on a mountain. They've got a pillar of smoke and fire leading them. They've got God promising them that this is theirs and he'll give it to them and yet Look what they see. You see, sometimes as Christians I think we can do the same thing has God not promised Victory in Jesus has God not told us he will help us overcome has God not told us that we have. I mean we could go on and on on the Promises of God in scripture and yet somehow we act like they don't exist. We live like they don't exist. We don't believe it in sincerity. And so here I actually find it quite humorous if they use grasshoppers the New Living Translation, by the way. I like how it put a tear says we even saw giants are the descendants of anak next to then we felt like Grasshoppers and that's what they thought to the idea that we felt like grasshoppers. Do you know grasshoppers or a pretty Mighty force in number? So there were millions of people that we're coming through out of Egypt gods people that were coming through here grasshoppers didn't have to be a negative thing. But in their sense it definitely was in fact, you could look at books like the Book of Joel if you went looked at the Book of Joel It's All About a plague of locusts or grasshoppers that devoured the land and even if you see yourself as a grasshopper look at it is you're a grasshopper among so great big flock of grasshoppers and they could Devour the land which is what the Israelites were supposed to go in and do so, but they took it in a negative way as we look at this and numbers 14/8 through 10. We see this wasn't this was one answer. So the majority group of the 10th 10 of the different sizes when they saw they were grasshoppers. They were tiny they couldn't do it. 2 people you probably know who they are Joshua and Caleb come back with a very different answer. They said jumping just a birthday just says if the Lord Delights in us than he will bring us into this land and give it to us a land which flows with milk and honey. It was fertile. It was prom only do not rebelled against the Lord nor fear the people of the land for they are our bread. Meaning we're going to eat them up. Their protection has departed from them. And the Lord is with us. Do not fear them. So they came with a very different store. They said what are you afraid of if God is for us who can be against us? You see they came with a very different perspective and they're the only ones that make it through the 40 years in the wilderness. It's an interesting take they literally just saw it as they said what God promised. Who are we to say anything different? Let's go. God said therefore. Let's go. It was that simple to them? They said do not fear them. And then this last person says in all the congregation said to Stone them with stones. Now the glory of the Lord appeared in the Tabernacle of meeting before all the children of Israel. So it's fascinating that 10 people get up there and give a bad report. No, no, no love or scared. And the whole congregation is ready to kill the people that said no God for us.

isn't interesting the group mentality we can take we can take on this mentality that we are defeated. You could look at many things in scripture doesn't God say You're supposed to take the gospel to the whole world. Doesn't that seem a little overwhelming to you? I mean, I just think about Lacy that's pretty big group. Right? What if we had every member of lace every person that lives in Lacey coming here, but we wouldn't fit for one. We'd be way too close to each other but the idea seems overwhelming but does God say go do it and when God tells us to go do something is he going to ask us to do something that we cannot do with his help know God will enable us when he asks us to do something with his command comes his Blessing and so God will help us do it in here. They're ready to Stoneham this idea that no, we can't we can't we can't. Yes we can because I believe in a bigger God. I believe in a god that is big enough to carry an entire nation out of bondage. I believe in a God that can really save the world. the majority or many at least I don't know how many it's going to be but I know he can do bigger things than we often give him credit for the dream was ready and God was ready. But the people weren't due to the self-esteem. We are as grasshoppers. You see God had a dream. They were supposed to go into the Wilderness right then when they were supposed to not go into the Wilderness. Sorry, they were supposed to go into the land flowing with milk and honey into Canaan and they didn't simply because they LED grasshopper thinking takeover.

You're not a grasshopper. You are an amazing creation that God has an amazing plan for. And I want you to hear that again. And again God sees you as amazing. He has potentially season you and he will do Great and Mighty things and you it doesn't matter. How young you are. It doesn't matter. How old you are how sick you are you can pray can't you? God can do things when God's people pray. It's really him doing it. It's not about us if you feel weak and feeble it's not about you. It's about God, we're here not because it's about us or about me is the pastor. It's about God. We're here to worship him. And he's the one that does the impossible. I count on him every day of my life and when we count on him to wake up and do great things. It's him the doesn't and him to get the glory not me. And that's the way it supposed to be. This is how we become a witness for him. They forgot God was with them. They forgot they were the children of God. They forgot who they were and what they were. One of the things I find is we've got to remember when we become Christian when we choose Jesus what happens we become the adopted Sons and Daughters of God, right? When we become Gods till then you think God's going to look out for his kids. Do you believe that? I'd there saying amen here. I believe you're saying amen online if that is true. And you are a child of God. That is pretty amazing. It would be pretty neat to be a king or Queen's daughter many people think the idea to be a prince or a princess or whatever you want to call it to have this pain to be able to sit with the the president or whoever it is someone important to you yet. We become the most valuable thing in God's eyes. You see God said I will give up all of Heaven for you. That's how valuable you are. So we have infinite value in God and we often don't see it and when we don't see it, and we forget who we are and all we see is the distorted picture in a mirror of who we think we are in our mind because of what somebody said or somebody did we lose the blessings God has to use in us through US. Amen.

It also ruined your relationships over and over. I find when people have a defeated self-image it tends to ruin their in their relationships not just with other people but often with God a very interesting story by Pastor was working and counseling with this young woman. Now this young woman was her husband was a pastor he was going to Seminary she came to the pastor and she's been having troubles everywhere. She been through two different jobs to a struggling at work. She just didn't seem like she could perform. She was always frustrated with everybody. She didn't feel like she was good enough or pretty enough for a husband and she just had relationships breaking down everywhere. And is this pastor began to talk to her? He began to realize well, I don't understand you you grew up Christian and a good family. You had good parents seems that maybe they did some comparisons and different things but do you know it seem good? Well, it came out that when this woman went through her adolescent phase. She had what I don't like the term, but what some call an ugly duckling face. She looked a little awkward as things weren't growing quite the way she wanted him to grow and how it was and so she didn't feel very pretty and so because of that her dad trying to encourage her said why you can't make a peach out of a potato hun. You can't and he repeated this repeatedly and he was maybe as a farming Community. I don't know but you can't make a peach out of a potato. And what happened is this girl took on a potato complex a piece of some pretty you look at it and it looks good. Potato got something to hide under the ground. Is dirty it's I mean, it's just a root under the ground. And so she took on this image of being an ugly dirty potato and when she began to realize oh, I'm not that and she blossomed into a beautiful woman. It wasn't even that in this isn't all about looks it was about the image she had herself and so she began to realize it. I'm impacted the Pastor said every time she came he wouldn't username he call her God speech. God's Peach and as she began to get it into her mind that I'm not some ugly potato. I'm God's Peach and she began all her relationships began to be harmonious. She began to have a better relationship with her husband. She felt beautiful again. In fact her entire demeanor. She became a joyful Christian rather than a bitter grumpy Christian. She wasn't one of those people that just walked around kind of Hassle and over because she was so down. She was some to the life of the party. And it wasn't just because she was saying when an outgoing it was because God did something in her when her heart changed. She began to see what God saw in her and a transform her and it transforms her relationships all the way through in it. He goes on to tell the story that many years later he met this woman. He was speaking out of town and he saw this woman and she had a little baby and he came up to her. He says, oh it's so good to see you and he he looked at this little babe and he says, oh so cute and she said he isn't she a peach as a way to remind her and remind him that the peach the beautiful thing in God's eyes, but the reality is is if you have a low self-esteem you ask another person to do for you what they cannot do to make you feel adequate and Abel. When you are already convinced that you are inadequate and unable, so if you convinced yourself, you can't it's very difficult to convince. Someone that's already made up their mind to give her a run across that someone just made up their mind and you can't tell him anything else. It seems to be getting more and more. This is a rigid mindset where we're just really fixed and you can't tell me anything because I'm always right and I'm the right person and I'm right that's the end and what I find beautiful in one of the characteristics I find about Jesus when he looked at his disciples you could look from an external output and say Sailors Tax Collectors. I don't know about those but they had a teachable heart. UC to be willing to be a learner to come to Jesus feed and learn of him and recognize these things is a part of what makes us really able to grow in God we grow in our relationship with him and this changes everything because this idea feeling adequate you will always feel inadequate if you're always trying to live up to other people's expectations, but what's the Breen is when you live according to God, God ask you to do and you see who God says you are you don't have those heavy weights of expectation on you in the same way if people don't like how I preach. Well sorry, this is how I preach because this is who God said I am this is what God told me to do. And so we follow God's plan and then we don't have to worry about what everybody thinks so you can live your life and freedom. A man full of joy and just knowing that you are living in the will of God. And if you are living in the will of God that is the best place to be friends when you're living in the will of God you're ready for translation. You're ready when you're living in his will and that's something you can choose daily and hourly just to choose to give yourself who yourself to be in what you do to God. Once you become critical of the design, it isn't long before you resent your resentful towards the designer. Now, this is the negative side of it what happens when you take a negative image of yourself if you're made in God's image and God made you but you think there's something wrong with you whose fault is it?

Will many people start pointing to God will he made me broken? He made me this way and I don't like it. I don't like how I look. Why did he what? Why did he do this? Why am I created with whatever now I find out he's not here today. But all of the members of this church know a young man named Peter and Peter is just all smiles. I love him to death. He read avidly is devotional book and he always wants to tell you having a good time. I feed her you're watching online and he always wants to come up and give you a big hug. He was born with Down syndrome and he could have left that destroy him and he could have looked at God like God made me with Down syndrome and blame God for but no Peter is just a beaming light in any room because he's a joy. He's a joyful Christian because he sees who he is in God and this is how all of us need to be don't look at all. I'm overweight. I am this time. Whatever you want to say about yourself stop when you beat yourself up when you're critical of yourself. This isn't some form of humility humility isn't beating yourself up like a flagel Annie. This is when you see who you are in light of God. You wouldn't want to beat yourself up anymore. God Made You unique just the way you are and God Made You with a purpose and God will use you for that purpose when you let him and then we don't have to look at the designer as the one that made the flaw. And so this is one of the things we have to correct. I believe it also sabotages your Christian service. Now this comes in a number of ways one very interesting story and we'll look at a couple of them is the story of Moses. Now Moses is probably one of the biggest figures in the Old Testament will look at David and we can look it up or others when Moses comes to the burning bush. Was he full of confidence? Did he think he could do this? Did he think he's got this? No, he didn't it's very interesting. If we look at Moses when he comes to the burning bush experience. This is an exodus chapter 3 and 4. You can go through and look at it and I bring this up because I think all of us struggle with it a times and that's okay. But what you have to do is let God correct that a man look at the objection. So when he comes to God he says but who am I I I can't do this. Who am I? I'm just a Shepherd in the middle of nowhere. Who am I and God says I got this I'll be with you cuz you know, that's one of the most common Promises of God in Scripture that he will be with you Emmanuel God With You god with you God is with you when we act in light of that we become able to do what seems impossible. And so he goes on he says but who are you though? So if you're going to be with me, who are you and God Reveals His name? I am that I am it means the idea here is I am that ever existing all present one. I am there. I've always been there and I always will be there I'm with you. I am the gods the god of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, but he presented himself as the I am the present Godin. It's interesting because sometimes I think as Christians we can take a tendency to see God acting in the past. Oh people tell me it was so amazing when God got a hold of me and they'll tell me this amazing conversion story and it happened 30 years ago. I said what what happened last in the last year and they're silent. They don't know what got done in their life in the last year. God is a god of the past to them. And then for God's coming in the future. Yes. He's a god of the Future 2, but he's a god of now. He's a god of the present you can change now. We don't have to wait for heaven. And so God is a god of now I am but then he goes on he says, well, what if they don't believe me? This is kind of the fear of people what if people don't believe me, you know, I am going back into Egypt. They're going to kill me. If I go there what if they don't believe me. So I gave them three Divine signs of rhabdo leprosy and the blood and then he says, well, I am not eloquent anybody ever feel like they're not eloquent. You don't want to speak in front of people because you're not eloquent. This is exactly what Moses said and look at God's response. It's okay. I'll teach you. Do you have a teachable spirit my spirit can speak through you and that Jesus said that when they deliver you up, you don't even have to worry about what you will speak because in that very hour the spirit will speak in you and through you that's in the gospel of Matthew. He will teach us but then it's interesting because then Moses takes this one step too far. He says, okay. That's all good. But send someone else. Send someone else and this is the response many times we get to where we're to the point where I can't do it. It's too much too hard too. Scary God who had already sent Aaron becomes angry. You think he already made a provision even though he said I'm not eloquent. He said I'll teach you and I'll even bring your brother to speak for you. God will take all the provisions and do everything you need to do what he's asking you to do. But even then we say we'll send somebody else I can't do it. It's too much. You don't understand pastor and I hear these Praises I really do and what God is saying is that makes him angry not because he's angry at you. I don't want you to get the wrong picture in the Cent. It's like why Why would you miss out on the blessings I have for you? I have all the promises here. I'm going to do it in you through you will you let me? And so he's upset that we don't take him up on his promises. Can you imagine if Moses hadn't gone through? Can you imagine if Moses had nope? Sorry. I'm sticking to the Willard. He wrote the first five books. He also wrote the book of Jobe supposedly. So we wouldn't have the Torah as they call it the Old Testament. We wouldn't have a part of this part of our scripture. We wouldn't have these Amazing Stories if he had literally just said, nope. I can't do it. It's too much. The history of the world changes because one man gave in to God. Now let that sink in. The history of the world could change because you give in to God. Do you believe it? It's quiet here. But it's true. God can change the world through a single individual. He doesn't need a ton of people. He had 12 disciples and then even lost one. I mean, you don't even they elect one that we never hear about again, but I mean, he needed a handful of people that we're really said Here. I Am Lord send me. What was MIA as Isaiah did the picture of Isaiah is a beautiful one because he says I'm I'm done. I'm a sinner I get it. I'm sorry and God purifies his lips with a coal from The Altar and he says here I am send me any changes things Isaiah's the gospel prophet of the Old Testament Jeremiah is a great example Jeremiah in the very first book in the first chapter of Jeremiah. He says I'm too young. I'm like a child. They won't listen to me. This is the complex. He has he he feels he's too young to do something and God says, don't worry about it. I will put my words in your mouth. You realize sometimes we can get hard on young people but our church, even the Seventh Day Adventist Church when our Founders were first starting they were a bunch of kids. They were 20 year olds. Jesus died at 33. They were young. That wasn't anything to stop God. God can use young people. He can use old people. It doesn't matter who you are. God can and will use you if you let him I mean, what about David and Goliath David the great king of ancient Israel goes along guys, and some of these are many stories. I think many of us are familiar with what a David would have said. He got two warrants at who you're right. That guy is Big let's let's all run and hide You see it doesn't take the whole Army and he didn't listen to the multitude like Joshua and Caleb. You see each one of us has the opportunity to be a Joshua Caleb a David Emoji your biblical figures that you look up to. We need to start acting like them and seeing ourselves in light of God the way God, they saw themselves in light of God. He took on a giant with a rock. I mean, it's pretty bold move and we can we can see this it was even referenced another sermons. This is he just goes out there a little kid Young no sword couldn't wear the armor. None of that stopped in because God was leading him. And when God leads us we can do the impossible. You see when you begin to get a healthy self-image if you will a god self image and image of who you are in God, not that you become God, but who you sell who you see yourself everything begins to change. These are a few. You have a sense of belonging us of being loved a sense of worth and value in a sense of being competent. You can be competent. If you know what the word of God says and you're following the word of God in your life. You don't have to be the most educated person. You don't have to go get a doctoral degree spend time in the word of God spend time with the one who was the creator and the author scripture. When we do that. He can educate us. We can have a sense of belonging a sense of being loved this. These are the basic things. Most people in the world want they want to be loved they want to be in a place where they belong they want to feel they have value and worth and dip feel confident. Every single one of these is meant by Jesus. You see all of this can get corrected. We don't have to think we're a bunch of little grasshopper. Azsuna get stomped by the giant World outside. They may not be nice. They may reject you. Someone may say no to a Bible study. Someone may ridicule you sure they did Jesus. He said if they did it to me, you should expect it of you, but that shouldn't get us down. We just follow what God's Will has let me show this to you in scripture in just a handful of places Psalms 100 verse 3 says know that the Lord he is good it is he who has made us and not we ourselves. We are his people and the Sheep of his pasture. This is our sense of belonging. We are the Sheep of his pasture. God created us to be in communion with him. God created each of us. Just the way we are as broken as we may feel God made us to be part of his flock of his sheep in pasture. We see it again and Jeremiah 31 verse 3 his love. They want to be loved the Lord appeared of old saying to me saying yes. I have loved you with an Everlasting Love Therefore with loving kindness. I have drawn you. God loves us and loses Us in if you want to feel loved take a good look at Jesus. You'll find it in the gospels. You'll find a picture of a guy that has Wide Open Arms. Yes on a cross. But so that you could get all of eternity in heaven. We have a God that loves us. We have a place where we belong if you're here or you're not a member of this church. This is a place where you can be long. It's a place where God has created to have fellowship and belonging Matthew 6:26 as Jesus goes through and we could read the whole passage here. This is on The Sermon on the Mount. He says look at the birds of the air for they neither sow nor reap or gathering to Barnes yet. Your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they if you want to see value God here says I value much more than all those things. I value you and we have these Parables that we often interpret like the guy that buys the land to go find the treasure or the pearl of great price, but really in some ways, this is God what God did God sold everything. He had he left Heaven left everything. We hope to gain to get you. Any would have done it for one? So God does exactly this he he sees us as having infinite value. In fact, he bought us with the price of his blood and we see that in scripture as well. First Corinthians 6:20 for you were bought at a price therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's here. We see again. God bought you. In the sense that he did everything that since it necessary to Ransom you from sin to take you to heaven you have everything waiting for you. God has so many promises in scripture. When we begin to see them. We begin to live then we begin to see ourselves in light of them. It changes everything. He's paid the price for it. What about competent Philippians? 4:13? I can do some things. Now we can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. If not, I can do all things by myself cuz I have a grill cocky self-confidence know if I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me when we have this relationship and God calls us to do something the sky's the limit. Remember Jesus in The Gospel of John when he's talking then he says it's better that I go. He says you can do even greater things than I've done. God can do amazing things through us when we see ourselves when we stopped taking a defeated spirit. I think the church has got to wake up and realize and that only happens when we do it when we realize we're not too old. We're not too weak. We're not too young or not to whatever fill-in-the-blank we are God's children. We will be victorious because of Jesus Amen. Did this view this is the attitude as we heard about you know that we have to take on. This is the mindset that we have to have. We we've got God leading us just like he led in the Tabernacle with the fire in that we can see how God has led in our lives if you are hearing this message. And if God is leading you he will continue to lead you that's what scripture tells us. He will equip us with everything. We need Hebrews 13 2021. This is the new living. Now may the God of Peace who brought you up brought who brought up from the dead our lord Jesus the great Shepherd of the sheep and ratified and eternal Covenant with his blood. May he equip you with all you need for doing his will may he produced in you through the power of Jesus Christ? Every good thing that is pleasing to him all glory to him forever and ever I'm at What does versus telling you is it's not about you. God will do it in you he will equip you with everything you need to do his will. That's a promise friends. He will equip you with everything that he will produce in you through the power of Jesus Christ to every good thing that is pleasing to him. What scripture asked you to do. This seems impossible to you changing a lifestyle thing or changing a habit or whatever. It is in your life that you feel like you're not good enough because of God says I can change that in you. I can do that. I can make it pleasing if you'll let me.

Pretty amazing, huh being confident of this very thing Philippians. 1:6 says he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. It's a lifelong process maybe yes, but he will complete it God's going to keep working and you if you allow him to work in you this idea that we are merely Grasshoppers and we are defeated enemies is one of the most destructive things. I think the enemy can do if he can convince you that you can't do anything. He's disabled you. If he's convinced you that you're not good enough that you're not this that you're not that whatever that is that you've accepted in your mind that limits you he's winning. The enemy is winning. When we do that. We've got to recognize who we are in Christ. When we recognize that man the doors just open wide God would God the sky's the limit France. I mean, I don't know about you, but anybody want to be victorious. Hey, man, I want to be victorious. I want to choose Jesus and Let Jesus do in me and through me that which I deem impossible because God loves The Impossible. If you read scripture a whole lot of Impossibles in there. I read about the sun standing still and the water's partying and some crazy things people waking up from the dead pretty amazing things in there. That sounds like impossible to me. But the beauty of God loves The Impossible because he needs you who are not possible to choose him to do it. So he gets the glory and then he reveals to the world who he is when he raised Lazarus from the dead. It wasn't wasn't just because it was his friend. It might have been his friend. It was to show the world. You see when we live it the world will know the world will change you will change and you will change the world when we let God get this in US. Stop thinking like a grasshopper. If you're going to think like a grasshopper be a big one among the big flock that's going to Devour the world. amen Let's close with her father in Heaven Lord, forgive us if we have ever. Believe the lies of the enemy weather or spoken through a parent or sibling or a boss or anybody. We know maybe it's just our own self-image where we have taken on a defeated Spirit defeated image of ourselves. We're not good enough we take on a potato complex or whatever. It may be don't let us let that hold us back. Now, let us surrender whatever negative things. We believe about ourselves that are not true. But let us surrender who you to our whole selves to you and let us see who you've created us to be and who you can what you can do in us and through us when we do that. We want to be confident in you we want to be victorious Christians. We want to be. Joyful Christian. We want to be filled with your spirit and there's nothing holding us back but ourselves. The Lord we surrender all we choose you met you do Ennis what we cannot do ourselves that all the glory may be to you in Jesus Almighty and Powerful name God's people said amen. Happy Sabbath.

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