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Guest Speakers: Overcoming A Grasshopper Mentality
June 25, 2023 · 44 min
Speaker: Cal Rychener
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Pastor Jeff Schwarzentraub serves as president of Pastor Jeff Ministries, a national and global ministry designed to equip believers and challenge them to take
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0:00 I wanna I wanna begin today with a passage from the bible. We're gonna read it together. It's gonna come up here on your, on the screens. It's from number 13 if you have your bible.0:12 And, Jeff had told me that some time ago, I don't remember it was a fall series or sometime here earlier in the year, you guys were in Exodus for quite a while. Took you all the way up out of0:24 Egypt and into Sinai, 10 commandments are given, right? Leviticus is in all about some of the other laws that God gives. Then by the time you get to the book of numbers, we're ready to roll. It's0:36 time to go to the promised land. He brings us out to bring us into. Not only that, he doesn't wanna just get Egypt. He doesn't wanna just get us out of Egypt. He wants to get Egypt out of0:48 us. We get to the book of numbers and it's to take 11 days to get into the promised land and you remember that it took them 40 years.1:00 What happened? Well, this kind of gives you the idea of what happened. Moses ready to go, he sends out 12 spies to go and look at what kind of land it1:12 is. They changed the assignment. They were supposed to go and check out the fruit and come back and give a report of what kind of land it was. They came back, gave a report as to whether1:23 they thought they could go in and take it or not. That wasn't the assignment. God had already told them they were gonna take it. But so, catch up what's going on when they come back to give the report. It's1:35 found in Exodus or I'm sorry numbers 13 and verse 26. They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the desert of Paran. There they reported them1:47 and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of land. Just a little parenthesis here for some of you who are leaders. Part of Moses problem here is he didn't have the meeting before the1:59 meeting. He should have gathered these 12 and said, what do you think? And then he would have been able to shut down the negative report. He didn't have that meeting. Now, he's letting them spread all this cancer to the2:10 entire group. They gave Moses this account. We went into the land to which you sent us and it does flow with milk and honey. Here is its fruit, but the people who live there are powerful2:22 and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there and that's the giants. The Amalekites live in the Negev, the Hittites, Jebusites,2:34 Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan. Now, Caleb could see this thing kinda going south. The people getting scared. So, he tries to rescue the meeting.2:47 Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, we should go up and take possession of the land for we can certainly do it. I wanna hear you say, we can.2:58 We can. You can do better than that. We can. Alright. That's what they should have been saying. But the men who had gone up with him said, we can't.3:11 We can't attack those people. They are stronger than we are. And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said the land we explored devours those living in3:23 it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there. The descendants may not come from the Nephilim. We saw the descendants of the giants. Look at this.3:35 We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes and we look the same to them. We're talk about that grasshopper mentality3:47 today. Before we do, let's pray and ask the Lord to speak into our hearts. Father in Jesus name now, I thank you that there is anointing over every letter in your word. And we pray holy3:58 spirit now that you would take these words off the page of the bible and burn them into our hearts today through your speaking voice. Lord help us to hear you4:11 and I pray father that wherever we have fallen, pray to a grasshopper mentality that is holding us back from all that you want us to do from rising up into the full stature that is ours in Christ.4:23 I pray that that would be broken today in Jesus name. Will you do it here Lord? And we'll give you the thanks and praise in Jesus name. Everyone said, All4:35 right. So I've entitled this message overcoming your grasshopper mentality, which I believe is something all of us will struggle with from time to time, maybe some more than others. But4:47 so we're all on the same page from the get go. What do I mean by a grasshopper mentality as we just read about here in the scriptures? A grasshopper mentality4:59 is a self defeating and self limiting perception we carry of ourselves and our abilities. It's characterized by self5:11 condemning thoughts of being inferior, unworthy and incapable. At root, it's an identity issue.5:23 I've become aware today that identity needs to be a foundational piece of our discipleship strategy. We generally help people believe the right things from the bible, believe the right doctrine, try to be the5:35 best person you can, start serving in the church and you're mature. No. No. No. We gotta help people get free from the wounds in their lives and get established in the identity, free from the lies that5:46 the enemy has spoken in their lives so that they can be and rise up into everything that God wants them to be. And that has not been historically a part of our discipleship program in our churches.5:59 Our discipleship process I should say. I've sat with hundreds of people in freedom and deliverance encounters and I would tell you at root, the issues they're6:11 dealing with are identity issues. And most of the enemies doorway into their lives or the bondage she's created is due to self hatred, to self loathing, to6:23 self rejection, to self condemnation. Yeah. A lot of times shame and guilt, their voices are there too, keeping them bound to how terrible you are because of what you did. And listen, you will6:35 never rise above the level of your self perception. You don't have to pay me for that. That's a powerful line. You'll never rise above the level of your self perception. Can I tell you something6:46 else? Once you have your identity established in Christ, you will never again fall to the level of a of a grasshopper mentality. God wants to bring you up into who you6:58 are in Christ. And so, we're talking when we talk about a grasshopper mentality, it's really an identity issue and we're merely to afflict us in just the everyday areas of our lives. You know, I'm walking around my7:10 house and this and that and I tend to be negative about myself. That that's 1 thing. You'll carry a lot of pain because of that. A lot of depression at times because of that. But when this kind of mentality7:21 creeps into our walk with God and begins to prohibit us from carrying out his plans for our lives, that's absolutely tragic and that's what happened here in this passage. In fact, I can remember several7:33 battles with my own grasshopper mentality in my college days. Guys, I now look back, I didn't know about this at the time. I wouldn't have labeled it a grasshopper mentality, but I can tell you almost from the day I was7:45 born or my earliest recollections, I didn't like myself very much. Number 7 out of 10 kids, you probably wouldn't have been able to tell that. I was an ornery kid. I was good in athletics and stuff, but that was my7:56 compensation. I was trying to earn approval. But, if you could have got inside me, you would have heard my messages where I'm never gonna measure up. I had an older brother that I loved, the sun rose and set8:08 on him. I wanted to be like him, but in and of myself, I was not good enough. So, would use my basketball as a way, listen, not as an expression of who I am, but as a way to earn a sense of8:20 approval from people. I was a pretty good basketball player. However, when it came time for college, God had called me very clearly to prepare for ministry. So, I went to Fort Wayne Bible College and I played in what was8:31 the NCCAA, the National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association and had a pretty successful career there. And it was in 198:43 79. See, here's what happens if if you're building your identity upon your your basketball prowess and then something radically shifts that you don't have a whole lot to stand on.8:56 19 79, we made the nationals and finished fourth and as a result of our9:08 success, we along with every other college basketball team in Indiana who had made it into postseason play that year had been invited to the Hoosier Dome by the then governor of Indiana9:20 Otis Bowen for an event that had been dubbed a salute to Hoosier hysteria. Now, you guys, if you're in Colorado, you may like your basketball and you got a9:31 reason to like your basketball right now. But you don't know Hoosier hysteria if you haven't been in Indiana. And I'll tell you, we we went to this thing. I'm just thinking that's gonna be great. I9:43 have no idea what we're getting to. It's gonna just be an event to eat and this type of thing. I had no idea who all was gonna be there. And following a nice banquet, each team was asked to come to the platform where9:55 each member of each team, 1 by 1 by name, were awarded with a certificate bearing a gold emblem representative of the governor's highest honor. I still have that thing. I should have10:07 brought it so you see I'm not blowing smoke. It was a neat event to be a part of. But it became even better when I realized what was going on. The other teams present that day included Bobby Knight and the Indiana10:19 Hoosiers. Heard of them? Then Indiana State who had just finished runner-up to the Magic Johnson and Michigan State Spartans in the10:30 19 79 NCAA finals. If you're as old as I am, some of you may remember that Indiana State also had a couple of players in those days who could play a little, 1 of them by the name10:42 of Larry Bird. Now, wasn't present at the event because of some recruiting trip that day. Purdue was present including their 7 foot center, Joe Barry Carroll, who10:54 had a pretty successful career in the NBA. He came right down off the steps and my table was sitting right there, looked down at me from a mile high since we're in the mile high. That's exactly what it looked like and11:05 I'm sure he saw that my mouth with a gate like, how does anybody get a ball over that? He kinda looked down and said, hi buddy. You know, I'm like, Joe Barry Carroll, are you kidding11:17 me? And and oh yeah, Notre Dame was there along with such future NBA notables as Kelly Trepuca, Orlando Woolridge, Bill Lambert, their coach Digger Phelps. Oh, I mean to tell you,11:29 was this fun to be around and watching these guys. I sat there in sudden silence as I watched these huge 6 8, 6 10, 7 foot, 2 50 pound guys walk the stage. I had never seen so much size gather11:41 in 1 place in my life, But, try to imagine it. They called IU, Purdue, Notre Dame, Indiana State, all these national collegiate powers up across that stage. I forgot why we were there because then they called11:53 Fort Wayne Bible College. You're laughing because you can understand where's Waldo. Now, all of us 512:04 8, 5 10, 6 foot 150 pound imposing bible college guys get up and cross the stage. Guys, can only tell you that my12:16 joy of being at that event that event in a moment went from that to I need to crawl under the table right now. Like, no, we don't play basketball. We're just here to watch people who do.12:29 Right? Something happened in me that day which I didn't recognize until a few years later in my life. It it exposed a serious12:41 grasshopper mentality and actually it crippled me as a basketball player. I mean, I understood this passage. I felt like a grasshopper in my own eyes and I12:53 know I looked that way to everybody else in the room that day. On the bus ride home, that day instead of being excited about what we had accomplished and about our opportunity to be a part of that event, I was actually13:04 thinking about quitting basketball. I was berating myself for ever having thought of myself as a good basketball player. My field of comparison had been so radically altered that day by d 1 players that I could never13:15 again find as much enjoyment in playing the game of basketball as I had previously since I knew by comparison that no matter how good I was, I wasn't close to being in a league with those guys. And while I played my13:27 final 2 years of college, had a very successful career becoming an NCAA all American that type of thing. It's interesting that while nothing about my ability13:39 had changed that day, the way I viewed myself had changed and actually became a detriment to my enjoyment of the game. My experience among13:51 the Giants that day exposed a serious grasshopper mentality. A feeling of inferiority and inadequacy. Now, again, that 114:03 crippled me that much if it's just about basketball because you know years later, I'm not playing basketball anymore. You know what I'm saying? So, if that's all it did, okay. I just didn't enjoy basketball as much.14:15 But, no, no, no. That experience was simply pointing to something much deeper in my life about a whole orientation that was just part and parcel of my14:27 life. Interestingly enough, we can find people afflicted with this mentality all across the pages of the bible.14:39 In fact, long before these Israelite spies exhibited a grasshopper mentality, their leader had demonstrated the same sort of like self deprecating mentality in response to God's call for him to lead. Remember, when God14:50 called Moses, he just jumped up and said, here I am. What do you want me to do? I know I can do it. No, that's not what he said. He gave every excuse in the book. I can't do it. I can't speak. Lord, please15:02 find somebody else. When he called Solomon, wisest man in the world to lead. Lord, I'm only a child. I don't know how to lead these people. When he called Jeremiah, Lord, I can't do it. You can go right down the list.15:13 You can find these weren't people just acting humble and I could give you a list of people throughout history as well. Sir Winston Churchill was crippled by a15:25 grasshopper mentality that left him in depression all the time. We talk about presidents. We we talk about people who attained high levels but in their hearts were never really released from that self15:37 deprecating, self limiting kind of talk that was going on inside their lives. Just so we understand why it's so important that we not15:49 let this kind of mentality run our lives, I wanna alert you to some of the crippling effects a grasshopper mentality could have in our lives. And as we turn the corner at the end of this message, I'm gonna show you some15:59 ways that you start dealing with this and get rid of it. Here's the crippling effect. Here's why you need to get rid of it. Crippling effect number 1, a grasshopper mentality will cause you to focus on your weaknesses16:11 instead of your strengths and on your inabilities rather than God's abilities through you. That's how you can know you're wrestling with a grasshopper mentality. Ask16:22 yourself, do I tend to focus on my weaknesses more than on God's gifts in my life? Am I more focused on my limitations than on God's purposes for me?16:35 Do I tend to focus more on the reasons why I can't do something rather than how through God's strength I can? I've learned that there are basically 2 kinds of people in this16:47 world. There's the I cans and there are the I cans and we saw them both in this passage today. Among the 12 spies, 10 of them come back. We16:59 can't do it. Can't do it. Caleb's trying to shut them down. Yes, we can. 10 of17:11 them influence everybody else which is to say the I can't crowd will always vastly outnumber the I can crowd. Because with any great challenge in front of us,17:23 it's just easier for us to believe the negative than to see the positive or to focus on our inabilities rather than God's capabilities through us. In fact, 1 philosopher has estimated that 95 percent of all the people in17:34 the world live with an I can't attitude and therefore are basically slaves to whatever their body tells them they can or can't do. Only 5 out of 100 live according to what they think and believe in their minds and 4 out17:45 of that group rarely rise above or step beyond the group norm, the peer opinion or the general train of thought. Only 1 percent of all the people in this world17:57 truly think and believe what the Lord has said to them about themselves and about their unique purpose and place on this earth. And brave I say, by God's grace, may I be 1 of that 1 percent.18:08 Amen? You wanna be 1 of the 1 percent? Let's go. Think about it friends, here in this account, God's will was to give his people the18:20 land. He has already made that very clear. In order to take the land, they're gonna have to overcome some giants. But only 2 people believe they can do it.18:32 10 men with a weak hand attitude influenced all the others and according to numbers 1 and verse 46, you ever understood how many people said we can't? There were18:42 603550 fighting men aged 20 or above. All with the same opportunity,18:55 all with the same promise and only 2 got to experience what God had promised. Only 2. Isn't that amazing?19:08 The rest because they were focused on their limitations in view of the giants, got only what their focus could produce and that was 40 years of wandering around in the desert accomplishing nothing and missing out on19:18 God's best. That's because a grasshopper mentality will always cause you to focus on your weaknesses instead of your strengths, your inabilities rather than God's abilities, and your problems rather than God's promises.19:32 Here's another crippling effect. A grasshopper mentality will cause you to be negative in the appraisal of yourself even in the midst of positive facts.19:46 You just see the negative. And so we take on an I can't do it mentality even when the truth is, if we knew particularly when it's something God's called us to,19:58 we can. It was Henry Ford who said, whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're probably right. Here in this story,20:10 God wanted to give his people the land. Now, as I said, it's not gonna fall in their laps. They're gonna have to fight for it. Listen, it's a every old testament shadow is fulfilled in the new testament. So I want you to20:21 understand the reality here. I always say it this way. Without God we can't or without God, we cannot. Without us, he20:33 will not. That's the divine partnership. So God says, I'm giving you the land. Without him, I cannot. Then he says, go in and take it. Without us, he will20:45 not. It's a spiritual principle, divine partnership. We're in training for reigning. God says, yeah, I can do it by myself but I haven't I'm training you.20:57 And so, we have to decide that we can do what he calls us to do. But see when we say we can't, now we're lacking faith. Without21:09 faith, Hebrews 11 tells us, it's impossible to please God. Why? Because without faith, we don't even step out to do the things that we could otherwise do that God is21:21 waiting to show us that we can do. Friends, most of the barriers we have to overcome and releasing more of what God wants to do through us are mental and attitudinal. They have everything to do with his21:32 grasshopper mentality. In fact, in 1 survey, psychologists found up to 80 percent of all the external messages placed daily in the human mind are failure messages.21:44 Don't, can't, shouldn't. And when we hear those messages and feed those messages to ourselves, we don't give ourselves permission mentally to do what we21:56 otherwise could do. Many times our greatest limitations are mental. They always have been, always will be. That's that's true in both the natural realm and the supernatural realm.22:08 Do you know that before Roger Bannister broke the 4 minute mile barrier? I don't know if you just saw about 2 weeks ago a guy from Norway just ran 2 miles in 7 54. 222:20 sub 4 minute miles. But before Roger Bannister did that back in the fifties, it was thought to be an impossible barrier and 1 under which the human body would surely succumb.22:32 There are all kinds of reasons to why it was impossible. Our bone structure is all wrong. Wind resistance is too great. We have inadequate lung power. 1000000 reasons why no 1 would ever do it and live to talk22:44 about it. But then 1 man proved that could be done and even lived in the process. But miracle of miracles. The year22:56 after Roger Bannister did it, 37 other runners broke the 4 minute mile barrier. Do you know that 2 years after Roger23:07 Bannister or Roger Bannister broke that barrier? 300 runners broke that barrier. Today high schoolers break that barrier. What changed it all?23:20 I mean did did human potential suddenly increase that dramatically in 2 years? No. I think 1 man's doing it gave other people the permission to believe that they could do it too. Kinda lifted the lid on23:32 their mental I can'ts. I have a particular trophy I keep in my office to remind me to never live with an I can't attitude. It's the only 1 I've kept when I downsized a couple of years23:43 ago. Since I was stepping off the stage, I went up in the attic. We had to move out of our house, know. I had this box full of old trophies and this type of thing and they're all after 40 years of melting and freezing up23:54 there in the attic you know, they're falling apart and I went and dumped them. I had a little tear but I thought nobody's ever put my trophies on their mantle so I don't need them. But I kept this guy because he speaks24:05 to me all the time. And it's a first place in the Napoleon Invitational 19 73. This guy is 50 years old. I was a junior high, eighth24:17 grade. Got another 1 of these in the 8 80 that day, I'm a half mile runner. But this is from the high jump. I wanna tell you why this guy speaks to me. Because up until this event, 1 of my24:28 teammates Kent Beck and I would take turns winning the high jump at every meet. Now, we're eighth graders. Okay. So, we're not going like 7 feet you know. I actually finished fifth in the AAU state24:40 high jump meet that year and there was a little 5 8 pipsqueak that could jump or 5 6 I think he was, he jumped 6 2. That was amazing. I didn't see any other eighth graders go24:52 over 6 foot. If you could do, I would say 5 4, you're gonna win most of your meets. Kent and I were winning just trading off at 5 2, 5 2, 5 2. We could never get over 5 3. Now on25:04 this particular day at this big invitational, they had all of the field events happen in the morning. I happened to be on a in a band competition. So I had to miss the morning25:16 field events and so the organizer of the meet said, anybody who was at the band competition, we're gonna allow them to come back in the afternoon and compete in the field events25:28 even though they're already finished. So at noon, I was eating a sandwich at McDonald's. That's the way I got ready for my 8 80 run you know. And 1 of my25:39 teammates come up and said, did you hear how high Kent Beck went today? I was like no. Said he went 5 6 and 1 of the thing, not like they might have told me, they might have just well25:51 told me he went 7 foot. Guys, don't go from 5 2 to 5 6 that was about the height we were at that time. 5 6. I actually began to wonder do I even26:03 wanna go out and take my jumps. But something happened that day. I don't know what it was maybe it's just that Kent lifted the26:15 lid for me because he did it maybe I started to think I could do it. I warmed up 4 10, 4 11, 5 foot was our first jump right up and over, 5 1 right up and over, 5 2 right up and over. Never been 526:27 3 in my life right up and over. 5 4 right up and over. 5 5 right up and over. 5 6 right up and over. No misses.26:40 The only time the first miss I ever had 5 7. Think it's because Kent Beck didn't go 5 7. But I walked away with the first first place trophy on fewer misses because Kent had had about 5 or 6 misses. I didn't26:52 have any misses up through that height and that guy just continues to remind me not to be Listen, that that that trophy is usually speaking to me that we are more often limited not by what27:04 we can and cannot actually do, but why what we think we can and cannot do. And we all need lid lifters in our lives and I don't know but if you're27:16 connected to the Lord Jesus Christ, I think he's the number 1 lid lifter that when he tells you you can do something, you better come in an agreement with him. Amen?27:28 But guys, have a grasshopper mentality. It's gonna hold you back from some great accomplishment that God has equipped you to pull off, but which you won't give yourself permission to if you have a negative appraisal of27:36 yourself. Here here's effect number 3. A grasshopper mentality will cause you to limit your chances of success because of your fear of failure. See, the truth is that people who are the greatest successes in life27:48 aren't such because they have so much more ability than other people cause they have a whole lot more of whatever it takes. I think the main difference between those who succeed and those who don't is that those who27:58 succeed don't know how to quit trying. They're not afraid to risk. Here's another thing. They're not afraid of failure. Why? Listen, you might write this 1 down because they know failure is an28:10 event not a person. Grasshopper mentality will tell you since you failed, you're a failure. These guys know that in order to succeed, they're gonna have to get knocked down. A28:22 lot of times they just get back up 1 more time than they get knocked down. Guys, 33 years ago, I nearly said no to 1 of the greatest invitations of my life. That's when God had28:34 put in my heart 35 years ago, a vision for a new church that was all about reaching people who are far from Christ. 33 years later, he gave me the opportunity to do it and I'm telling you, I'm so28:45 grateful. Somehow I had a serious grasshopper mentality and I almost said no. And if you could have got inside my head, it was spinning up things like what if I try and it28:58 doesn't work. I don't know how to do this. I've never done this before. If I try this and it doesn't work, I might look like an idiot. I will forever remain grateful but then in that moment of decision somehow29:09 faith went out and the fruit followed because the fruit always follows faith. Here were nearly29:21 1000000 people standing on the brink of the most fertile and productive land they'd ever known. A home God wanted to give them and instead of enjoying the fruit of that land, they spent 40 years29:33 walking around in a desert crippled by fear because of grasshopper mentality that wouldn't allow them to believe that they could possibly overcome those giants and possess the land and because they believe that they29:44 didn't even try. It's 1 of the tragic stories in bible history and the point is let's not let this story repeat it, be repeated in our own lives.29:57 Where are you limiting your chances of success today because of your fear of failure all due to a grasshopper mentality? God says, I want I wanna deal with that grasshopper mentality30:09 so you can rise up to the stature that I've designed you for. Here's effect number 4. Grasshopper mentality will cause you to live with a sense of regret over what you could have had,30:21 but what you missed out on because you didn't embrace your opportunity. I'm so glad I'm not living in that regret today. I'm so glad that somewhere along the way in my early forties, God began to pour into30:33 me, help me to understand that you don't have to live with a grasshopper mentality. Began to heal my life and is now using me to help other people get free from that identity issue in their lives. But guys,30:45 you read it sometimes. Number 14 to me is 1 of the saddest chapters in the bible because God says, okay, I will forgive these people but you know what? They're gonna get what they said. They're not going30:57 into the promised land. And of course, they all begin. Oh, no, no, no, no. Please. Now we'll do it. Now we'll do it. God said, nope. Nope. You're gonna get 1 year for every day that the31:09 spies were in that land. 1 year for the 40 days. You get 40 years in the wilderness instead of enjoying my promise. How's that for regret?31:23 In her book, Silver Boxes, the late renowned author and Bible teacher Florence Littauer tells a story revealing the power over our dreams that often31:35 can be held by those close to us. It's about her mother-in-law, Marita Littauer and she said after knowing her for many years and being a little intimidated by her, Florence 1 day asked the aging woman what31:47 she would have been if she could have been anything she wanted. Maria answered without hesitation, an opera singer. I wanted to study music, but31:59 my parents felt that was a waste of time that I make more money in the millinery business that's making hats. But she said with great joy, but I was in 1 show32:10 in college and I had the lead. Florence says the memory of that dream never left Marita Litower even though her mother had shot it down. In her last days,32:22 her mind faded and she could no longer speak. Just get this picture. She said some evenings she would stand proudly by her chair and sing opera to32:34 her nurse. Even in the twilight of her years, the deep desire never left her. Florence said, mother had talent that was never developed. A music box that was never allowed to play. A career that32:46 was never begun. Mother died with the music still in her. Oh, it's what regret feels like.32:59 I wonder how many people today are dying with the music still in them living with regrets over what they wish they had done but didn't do. Guys, listen to me. Here's what I know. 20 years from now33:11 your greatest regrets will be the faith opportunities you passed up because a grasshopper mentality prohibited you from stepping out in faith. Don't let that happen to you.33:24 Don't let that grasshopper mentality keep you from going after what God has put in your heart to do. You break free from that sucker and you put it in its place for good. You say, well Cal, how do you do that? Well, I'm33:36 wrapping up. Let me just give you some critical keys to overcoming a grasshopper mentality. I'm gonna give them to you really quickly but I want you to take the time to work through them. Okay? And these first 2 are33:46 really root issues. We'll talk about some other discipleship. This is this should be a part of your discipleship but it's really getting after the root. Key number 1 is this, identify the root of your poor self image or33:57 the root of your poor identity. Ask God to help you with this. Where and when did it begin? Some of you say, well, I could never remember a time. You know why? Because some of you have that from the moment of34:09 conception. Some of you have it printed into your spirit that you were not even wanted at the moment of reception or at the moment of birth And even though your brain wasn't formed, your spirit understands it.34:21 I wasn't wanted. Nobody wanted me. I was abandoned. Why it's hard for some of us, we grew up grew up maybe in good homes and so you don't have what I call B wounds.34:33 That's what we call bad wounds where it was people beating on you, abusing you of some kind, verbal abuse, putting you down. At least it's easier to know where it came from when you have that. Why it's hard34:45 for some of us is because we have A wounds. A wounds are called absence wounds. It's the absence of what should have been there for you and wasn't. The absence of people speaking34:57 love over you. The absence of people saying, man, you're the greatest thing that's ever been born. The people just building you up and instilling that in you. It just wasn't spoken. It wasn't shown. It wasn't there and35:08 so how did you know that you were loved? You go, well, I just do. No, you didn't. Your spirit didn't pick that up. You felt worthless. You felt that you'd never measure up. You felt like inadequate35:20 whatever it was. Those are a wounds. My question to you is who did that to you? Who were the people that either spoke or didn't do what they were supposed to do? You have to forgive them.35:34 You have to forgive them from your heart. You spend time working through that and saying, Lord, I release that father who did that to me, that dad who left35:46 me, that mom who did this, that teacher who did that, that coach who did that. Bring those before the Lord. Here's key number 2 because now you35:57 identify and then key number 2, you renounce every lie you believed about yourself. Very, very important and powerful. Guys, when you believe something36:09 about yourself that is contrary to how God sees you, you've believed a lie. And when you believe a36:21 lie, you didn't know you were doing it. You essentially took Satan's hand and said, okay, I'll agree with you about me rather than what God says about me. You came into agreement with36:33 the enemy. Renunciation is powerful because that's where you say, I'm taking this agreement and I'm tearing it up in Jesus name. I no longer agree. Amen?36:48 That sounds like this. In Jesus name, I now renounce the lie that I am and you just put it in whatever, however that's affecting you. That I'm defective, that I'm inferior, that I have a little worth, that I'm not37:00 loved, that I'm unable to do the things God has called me to do. You name and renounce those lies and then you command any spirit of self condemnation, inadequacy, insecurity, unloved, you37:12 command. If there's a spirit behind this, I command you to leave me now in Jesus name. I know what I'm talking about because I walk in freedom today and I used to be as bound37:24 as bound could be. Now, as you do this, as you're tearing up those agreements, here's the other important thing you do. You pause and37:35 you say, now Lord, in place of that lie, what do you wanna say to me about who I am? Didn't he say you'll know the truth and the truth will set you free?37:47 Let the holy spirit speak in those places where you have been held in hostage and held in bondage because of that grasshopper mentality, the place where you came in agreement with the enemy. Now, those37:59 2 that I've just given you will get to the root and cut that sucker off. The rest of these now really become helpful if you take care of the root because they're just a part of our discipleship. Key38:11 number 3, feed your faith with daily affirmations of God's promises. Guys, when you are walking with an all powerful, all loving God, you are drawing upon his strength and wisdom, seeking him in prayer, believing what he38:22 says about himself, about you, about his ability to empower, enable you to fulfill his purpose for you. It breeds an I can attitude. Philippians 4 13, I38:34 can do all things through Christ who gives me the strength. Can I hear you say, I can? I can. Can I hear it again? I can. That's how God Listen, that should be38:46 so You'll know that he has done his work in your identity when you just carry that around and you're not even trying to make it happen. Or somebody slings, hurls something that used to just take you and it just38:57 bounces off. You're like you got Teflon around your heart. I know who I am and it doesn't just pull me into the ditch anytime something happens like it used to just pull me in the ditch. That's that's how you know that39:09 you're walking in the power of a new identity. Here's key number 4, replace negative self talk with positive. Most important conversations you have each day are the ones that take place inside your head39:21 with yourself to the tune of several thousand words a minute. Did you know you're talking to yourself quite a bit? You better pay attention toShow more
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