Overcoming the Grasshopper Mentality

“We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”—Numbers 13:33

The Torah portion for this week is Shelach, from Numbers 13:1–15:41 and the Haftorah from Joshua 2:1–24.

Henry Ford once said, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right.” What we believe to be true about ourselves often becomes our reality.

When the spies sent by Moses to scout out the land of Canaan returned to the desert, they described what they saw. They saw great produce and a land flowing with milk and honey. But – and this was the key word – the people were unconquerable. In describing the inhabitants of the land, the spies said that they saw the Nephilim. According to the Sages, these were actual giants. The spies explained that in the eyes of these giants, they appeared to be little grasshoppers.

But wait a second! How did the spies know what the giants were thinking about them? After all, they were spies in the land and shouldn’t have spoken to anyone along the way. How could they be so sure that they looked like grasshoppers – like insignificant, vulnerable bugs – to the inhabitants of Canaan?

Our Daily Bread -- A Song To Remember

Our Daily Bread is hosted by Les Lamborn

READ: Deuteronomy 31:16-22

Ascribe greatness to our God. He is the Rock, His work is perfect. —Deuteronomy 32:3-4

I was delighted when I received a free gift in the mail—a CD of Scripture set to music. After listening to it several times, some of the melodies took root in my mind. Before long, I could sing the words to a couple of verses in the book of Psalms without the help of the recording.

No Time for Clay Pots

"But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honor, and some to dishonor." (2 Timothy 2:20)

Are you destined for greatness in the kingdom of God?

Ask most believers that question and they'll humbly assure you they're not. "You know we can't all be golden vessels" they'll say. "Like the Bible says, some of us are just called to be little clay pots."

Praise God, the Bible doesn't say any such thing!

Certainly there are going to be some golden vessels in the kingdom and there are going to be some clay pots, but we are the ones--not God--who determine which kind we will be. 

The Modest Billionaire

SUZANNE JORDAN BROWN

Single Page

 

37

 

4

 

5

 

70

 

Hobby Lobby Founder David Green (The Becket Fund)

Editor's Note: With Hobby Lobby hitting headlines recently because of its lawsuit against the HHS mandate, Charisma wanted to share this article from 2005. It highlights Founder David Green, who believes God has blessed his business so he can share his money with others.

Could you pick a billionaire out of a crowd of ordinary folks? Probably not this guy.

David Green, listed by Forbes magazine in 2004 as the world's 514th richest person, doesn't fit the tycoon stereotype in the least.

The man who runs an empire of successful businesses, including the fast-growing Hobby Lobby arts and crafts store chain, is soft-spoken and appears almost shy. When on the job he often wears khakis and a sport shirt instead of a power suit. His office isn't plush and full of gadgets but simple and comparatively small, yet it sits on a corner of Green's mammoth 3-million-square-foot company headquarters.

But it's not his obvious disregard for luxurious living, or even his quiet, unassuming manner that makes Green a stark contrast to those living the typical lifestyle of the rich and famous. What he counts as valuable makes this man a misfit in the cutthroat world of business.

Green has eternity in mind.

HUMILITY BEFORE HONOR

Matthew 18:4 "Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

MATTHEW 18:1-5; MARK 9:30-37; LUKE 9:46-48

It is interesting that Jesus used a little child to illustrate humility. Although it is true that little children have a purity and humility that is many times missing in adults, they certainly are not selfless. A child comes into the world totally self-centered, wanting what he wants when he wants it. Parents are to train children out of this self-centeredness.

One of humility's dominant characteristics is a God-dependency and not a self-sufficiency. The truth of humility being the key to greatness or success was not new. Jesus gave this truth new meaning by walking in humility as no one ever had before.

This path of self-denial to greatness is exactly opposite to the world's path of exalting self at everyone else's expense. The path of humility could not possibly work if there was no God. We would simply be trampled underfoot.