From Grasshopper to Giant:

Shifting to a Winning Mindset

www.advancingthekingdomonline.org

October 3, 2009
I. Introduction.
A. Numbers 13:31-33 But the other men who had explored the land with him (Caleb)
answered, We can't go up against them! They are stronger than we are! So they spread
discouraging reports about the land among the Israelites: The land we explored will
swallow up any who go to live there. All the people we saw were huge. We even saw
giants there, the descendants of Anak. We felt like grasshoppers next to them . . .
(NLT)
B. Where are you in your thinking right now?
What is your predominant mental state concerning your health, finances, family, etc.
Is your thinking aligned with God? Or with the world?
Are you thinking like a grasshopper? Or a giant? Or somewhere in between?
C. The results you are getting are driven by your thoughts.
Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he . . . (NKJV)
D. Consider this: the first thing Eve ate was not fruit. It was a thought.
Genesis 3:1-4 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field
which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath
God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman
said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath
said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the
serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die . . . (KJV)
II. You cant enter the promised land with an Egyptian mindset.
A. Most of the Israelites kept returning to Egypt in their mind.
1. Instead of being grateful for manna, they complained about it.
Numbers 11:5-6 One day some worthless foreigners among the Israelites
became greedy for food, and even the Israelites themselves began
moaning, We don't have any meat! In Egypt we could eat all the fish
we wanted, and there were cucumbers, melons, onions, and garlic. But
we're starving out here, and the only food we have is this manna. (CEV)
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2. They took a different view of the promised land.

Numbers 13:27-28 They told Moses, We went to the land where
you sent us, and it is a fertile land! Here is some of its fruit. But the
people who live there are strong. Their cities are walled and very
large . . . (NCV)
3. They contradicted Gods Word and brought up a negative report.
Numbers 13:31-32 But the men who had gone up with him responded, We can't go up
against the people because they are stronger than we are! So they gave a negative
report to the Israelites about the land they had scouted: The land we passed through to
explore is one that devours its inhabitants . . . (Holman)
4. They longed to return to Egypt.
Numbers 14:3-4 We would be better off going back to
Egypt. They said to each other, Let's choose a leader
and go back to Egypt. (NCV)
5. In the end they refused to believe God and rejected Him.
Numbers 14:11 Then the LORD said to Moses: How long will these people reject
Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed
among them? (NKJV)
6. And for this they paid the ultimate price.
Numbers 14:2, 28-29 And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and
Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, If only we had died in the land of
Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! . . . As I live, says the LORD, just
as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: the carcasses of you who have
complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness . . . (NKJV)
B. Caleb brought back a different report.
1. He focused on the promise, not the problem.
2. He remembered what God had done at the Red Sea.
Video clip.
3. He believed God, which gave him the courage to obey God.
Numbers 13:30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at
once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. (KJV)
4. Then he could see what God saw.
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Numbers 14:9 Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the
land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD
is with us: fear them not. (KJV)
5. As a result, he inherited the promised land.
Numbers 14:24 But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit
in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he
went, and his descendants shall inherit it. (NKJV)

III. Shifting to a Winning Mindset.

We left Egypt a long time ago. The problem is, were stalled in the wilderness.
(Bishop Eddie Long)
A. God has given us dominion.
Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness: and let them have dominion . . . (KJV)
B. He said we would prosper and be in health to the degree that
our soul prospers.
3 John 2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your
soul prospers. (NKJV)
C. The process to obtain a soul which prospers is simple but not easy.
Step 1: Think like God thinks.
a. Out with the bad thoughts if you want to enter the promised land.
1.) Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to
say, Repent: ( = to think differently, to reconsider) for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand. (KJV)
2.) 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (For the weapons of our warfare are not
carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong
holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing
that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and
bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; (KJV)
3.) Stop meditating on your present circumstances, current results or
anything else that contradicts the Word of God in your life. Stop it!

Video clip.
b. In with the good thoughts.
1.) Joshua 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou
shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according
to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and
then thou shalt have good success. (KJV)
2.) Philippians 4:8 Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and
right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think
about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. (NLT)
Step 2: Talk like God talks.
a. Romans 4:17 God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do
not exist as though they did. (NKJV)
b. Joel 3:10 . . . let the weak say, I am strong. (KJV)
c. Matthew 8:8 . . . speak the word only . . . (KJV)
Video clip
Step 3: See like God sees.
a. Each of us is being changed into whatever image we are holding in mind.
2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the
glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even
as by the Spirit of the Lord. (KJV)
b. Hold in mind what you want to happen, instead of what you dont want to
happen.
1.) Stop scaring yourself with your own thoughts.
2.) Most people are focused on what they dont want, while trying desperately
to make what they do want happen. (Bob Proctor)
3.) Use your imagination for your benefit, not your detriment!
c. If you can see what I see, and say what I see, then youll see what I said I saw.
(The Lord to Bishop Eddie Long)
Copyright 2009 by Bill Fries. All rights reserved.
www.advancingthekingdomonline.org