GIANTS AND GRASSHOPPERS

“They told Moses, We came to the land to which you sent us; surely it flows with milk and honey.  This is its fruit.  But the people who dwell there are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; moreover, there we saw the sons of Anak…Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once and possess it; we are well able to conquer it.  But his fellow scouts said, We are not able to go up against the people of Canaan, for they are stronger than we are…The land through which we went to spy it out is a land that devours its inhabitants.  And all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature.  There we saw the Nephilim (or giants), the sons of Anak, who come from giants; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers…” –Numbers 13:27-33 AMP

I know most of us have read this chapter and wondered at how the Israelites could have doubted and been afraid.  There is a catch-phrase that applies to the fear in this circumstance, “Circumstances dictate.”  The report the spies brought back was called “bad”.  Why?  Was the report factual?  Yes.  Was it embellished?  No.  The report was truthful in the people’s eyes but that is because they forgot who they were and Who God is.  They started looking at the circumstances and not at God.  Whatever you focus on will order your responses and actions.  “Circumstances dictate.”  Can you imagine what would have happened if they choose to focus on God on that day and all the miracles He wrought on their behalf?  Envision what would have occurred if they reminded and repeated God’s promises to themselves instead of succumbing to doubt and fear.  They would have indeed done like Caleb encouraged them to do, conquer the land and all its peoples.  They would have avoided another 20 years wandering in the wilderness.

Are you facing difficult or impossible-looking circumstances today?  It is so easy to see yourself as a grasshopper when you face giants, yet there is hope!  Do not let “circumstances dictate” your responses and actions.  Get your focus off the circumstances and on the One Who is greater than any circumstance!  Remind yourself of everything He has promised you.  Reflect upon every event where He delivered you.  Remember every occasion where He brought you through a tough time.  Get into His Word and read every promise He made. 

Start looking at yourself as God sees you; You are “I AM’s” child!  You are the child of the King of Kings.  You are the child of the greatest Being there is, ever was, and ever will be.  Who can touch you when you really KNOW who you are.  You are His!  No matter the circumstances, they will come to naught when they do not align up with His will and plans for your life.  Remember Jeremiah 29:11 and KNOW that it is His plan that shall stand for your life.  You are no grasshopper!

LEGALISM

Legalism:  A strict adherence to a literal interpretation of a law, rule, or religious or moral code.  Dictionary.com states it is, “a strict adherence to the law, especially the stressing of the letter of the law rather than its spirit.”  The Miriam-Webster Dictionary even goes on to say that it is, “a strict, literal, or excessive conformity to the law or to a religious or moral code.”  The word “legalism” does not appear in the Bible but rather it is a concept often used by religious people to describe a doctrinal position emphasizing a group or system of rules and regulations.  These people are often called “legalists” and they promote (and sometimes demand) a strict and literal adherence to set behaviors which they believe are supposed to help a person gain salvation, and then continue on to gain spiritual growth.

“For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through your faith.  And this salvation is not of yourselves (of your own doing, it came not through your own striving), but it is a gift of God; not because of works (not the fulfillment of the Law’s demands), lest any man should boast.  (It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.)” –Ephesians 2:8-9 AMP

Christian legalists tend to use the Law as an exact science:  complete “this” list or order your life according to “this” way of doing things and you will be saved, or you will grow in your faith.  The Law was never meant to be just a list of rules and regulations to follow to gain and keep salvation.  The real purpose of the Law was to be the catalyst that teaches and leads us to Christ (Galatians 3:24).  Legalistic believers tend to lose the ability to be gracious to one another, judging each other instead of accepting and helping believers whose faith is weak (Romans 14:1).  For a good example consider the believer who smokes, or drinks alcohol, or goes to movies, or dancing.  If he avoids these things will he be guaranteed salvation or spiritual growth?

“For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through your faith.” –Ephesians 2:8a AMP

“For we hold that a man is justified and made upright by faith independent of and distinctly apart from good deeds (works of the Law).  The observance of the Law has nothing to do with justification.” –Romans 3:28 AMP

“If then you have died with Christ to material ways of looking at things and have escaped from the world’s crude and elemental notions and teachings of externalism, why do you live as if you still belong to the world?  Why do you submit to rules and regulations?” –Colossians 2:20 AMP

Gotquestions.org re-states Colossians 2:20-23 in this way, “’Do not handle!  Do not taste!  Do not touch!’ are rules destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings.  Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.” Consider it this way; legalism will not bring about God’s purposes because it is an “outward performance” instead of an “inward change”.

So, just what is it that will maintain our salvation and bring spiritual growth?  We must focus on God Himself.  We must be reading in His Word every day.  He is our Creator and knows just what we need to change and grow.

“Set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth.  For as far as this world is concerned you have died, and your (new, real) life is hidden with Christ in God…and have clothed yourselves with the new (spiritual self), which is (even in the process of being) renewed and remolded into fuller and more perfect knowledge upon knowledge after the image (the likeness) of Him Who created it….Let the Word (spoken by) Christ (the Messiah) have its home in your hearts and minds and dwell in you in all its richness…” –Colossians 3:2-3, 10, 16 AMP  (I strongly recommend you read the whole chapter of Colossians 3)!

“Now may the God of peace (Who is the Author and the Giver of peace), Who brought again from among the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood that sealed, ratified the everlasting agreement (covenant, testament), strengthen (complete, perfect) and equip you with everything good that you may carry out His will, while He Himself works in you and accomplishes that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ (the Messiah); to Whom be the glory forever and ever to the ages of the ages.” –Hebrews 13:20-21 AMP

Brothers and Sisters in Christ:  quit striving to be perfect and sinless.  You just cannot accomplish that state of being through your own efforts.  Focus on Jesus and allow Him to complete His redeeming work in you; only then will you be complete, perfect, and pleasing in His sight!