Transcription
In Numbers Chapter 13, I want you to see this. Then they came to the valley of Eskol, and they cut down the branch of the cluster of grapes, and they carried it between them on a pole. They also brought some pomegranates and figs.
I want to talk to you about the two mentalities that people have. Moses sends the children of Israel. He actually says, "Give me 12 spies." Moses gets 12 spies, 12 because there were 12 tribes, one from each tribe, and send them over into the promised land. I want them to get a foretaste of what I have for them. They go to Eskol and they find grapes and figs and pomegranates, and they're so huge, it's so big, it's so amazing that they say, "We've got to take two of them." The Bible said two of them had to carry it. I can't prove this, but I think I know which two carried it. I think it was Joshua and Caleb. The other 10 were a bunch of losers, amen. They were leaving Israel, was leaving Egypt, the failure zone, headed to the promised land, the success zone.
And before they could get into the land of dreams, because the old covenant, they have a land of promise, but under the New Covenant, we have a book of promises. So Canaan does not represent to the Israelites then, it did not represent heaven, and it doesn't represent heaven to us. It represents the place where we dream to be with our families. Your dream may be to see your son off of drugs. Your dream may be to see your family restored. Your dream may be to be healed in your body, to see your business prosper. God enjoys seeing His people living in a land flowing with milk and honey. This was God's dream that His people. We know natural Israel, for us in our faith, is a type of spiritual Israel, the church, and we've been engrafted in. And so I want you to understand, Canaan was a type of heaven, was not a type of heaven, it's a type of victory here in some area of your life that you need a victory.
Moses sent 12 men, and God said, "I have three objectives that I want to get into these spies." Number one, God said, "I want them to get a vision of where they're going. You've got to see it before you can get there. I want them to get over there, and I want them to get a picture, a photograph of what God wants them to be and to do, the purpose that they are to have." You will never achieve beyond where you are until you get a picture, a photograph of where you're going. Why? Proverbs 29 and 8 said, "Without a vision, the people perish." Without a vision, young people become unrestrained. If you don't know who you are and what your purpose is, that's why you just go with anything and everything. You have to have a vision. God wanted His people to have a vision. What kind of vision do you have of yourself? What kind of vision do you have of your future? What kind of vision do you have? God is a God of vision. God is a God who says, "If you can see it, you can do it. If you can see it, you can be it."
When I look at this church and all these people here, I had to get a photograph of what God wanted me to do with my life, or I would still be in a cornfield in eastern North Carolina. Nothing wrong with a cornfield in eastern North Carolina, that's a good place to start for what God had for me. I love that, but what I'm saying is, I began to catch glimpses of what God could do if I would just believe Him. And it all begins with a picture. You've got to see yourself beyond where you are. The power of a picture. Gideon, go down to the enemies' camp and listen to what they are seeing and what they are saying. They're more afraid of you than you realize. You are a mighty man of valor. You've got to see yourself as a good dad. You've got to see yourself. Just because you never had one doesn't mean you can't be one. You've got to see yourself as a blessed family. My family is not cursed. My family is not just going to suffer trials and tribulations. I call down the blessing of Abraham on my family, and I see my family blessed. Give God a praise if you believe it.
The children of Israel, here's the point. God let them bring those grapes back from Eskol to get a picture in their minds of all the people who didn't see it. Oh, if I can, I want that now because God works through pictures. Get a picture of yourself free from alcoholism if you're addicted to it. Get a picture of yourself free from depression. Get a picture that you're free from drugs if you're struggling with it. It all begins in a service like this where God begins to say, "There's so much more that I have for you than you can imagine." Get in your mind a photograph of God's promise. See it first.
Secondly, the second reason that He wanted them to go over into the promised land, this is a big one. He wanted them to taste the grapes. He wanted to give them a foretaste of what God was going to do. He wanted them to have an appetizer, a sample platter. No more leeks and garlics from Egypt for you. You're moving into a better life. You're moving into a land of dreams. You're moving into something greater than you can produce. I'm your God. I'm Jehovah Jireh. I'm Jehovah Shaddai. I am your Source. I want good for you and not evil. I know the plans that I have for you, plans of good and not evil, to give you hope, to give you a future.
There's only two mentalities. You're either a grape taster or you're a giant talker. Because 10 of the spies came back, they saw the exact same thing as the two who were positive and said, "We can take the land. We're well able." And notice, they didn't come back and talk about their God. They came back and said, "We are as grasshoppers in their sight. There are people, and they have giants in the land, and we are as grasshoppers." They had a grasshopper mentality. You either have a grasshopper mentality or a grape taster mentality. And so they were talking about how big the grapes were. But here comes Joshua and Caleb, and they're talking about, "The giants are huge, huge." The other two are coming and stand up, and I could see Joshua and Caleb say, "Yeah, but the grapes are huge." "Oh, but the devil's so big." "Oh, but our God is so big." "Oh, but there's a lot of sickness and disease going around." But here's how grape tasters talk. You can tell a grasshopper by the vocabulary. "We can't. It's not possible. Nobody. Everybody else can, but me. Nothing good ever happens to me. Woe is me. Woe is me." We are not called to be grasshoppers. We're called to be grape tasters. Come on, don't give up. Don't quit. Don't lay down.
And here's, this is what I want you to see. Giants never showed up until they got to the land of promise. When God allows you to have to confront gigantic problems, it's just God's signpost that you're at the beginning of your miracle. We take that as a negative. See, it's all about your perception. That's the third reason why God sent them over. He wanted to check out their perception. What was their perception of themselves? What was their perception of their enemy? What was the perception of their God? And that's the three things you're going to have to deal with if you're ever going to walk by faith and do what God has put you on this planet to do.
Number one, what is your perception of yourself? They said, "We are as grasshoppers. I'm nobody. I'm nothing." You know, the Lord really spoke to me this week about this, and He said, "You need to work on that one." Because I have a lot of insecurities. Even 61 years old, I can't hardly take a compliment. My mind races. I play the sax or something, and somebody will say, "That was amazing," and my mind's thinking, "Boy, you must not listen to really great saxophone players." I'll play the piano, and somebody will say, "You, boy, you can really play." I always compare myself with somebody else. You preached a great sermon. I'm learning. I'm just now learning that, you know what? Never apologize. Never belittle what God blesses you with. It may not be as good and as great as, but I'm not a grasshopper. And what I do, nobody else can do just like me. And so I think I'll just be me, and God, and we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. I need you to give God a praise. Turn to somebody and say, "I'm not a grasshopper. I'm a grape taster."
My goodness, young people, when you meet somebody, don't give them a little dead fish handshake. Don't even know how to shake. I mean, grab that hand like a cowboy. Grab that hand like a man. Grab that hand firm. Look him right in the eye. Uh-uh. Not over here. Not over there. Uh-uh. Uh-uh. Uh-uh. Look them straight in the eye and say, "I know who I am. I know who my God is. I know that the one in me is greater than he that is in the world. If God be for us, who can be against us?" God's not about you always. Listen, I believe in humility, but humility is not putting yourself down. Humility is lifting God up in your life and giving Him all the glory. It's, and there's a difference between humility and just, just, just belittling yourself. Grasshopper complex. "I'm nothing. I'm nobody. I'll never be. I'm just now learning." In a good way, not in an arrogant way, that if God has blessed me, if I murmur about what God has blessed me with, God takes it as murmuring about Him. I want you to understand that grasshoppers see obstacles, but grape tasters see opportunities. Grasshoppers see sickness and disease, but grape tasters see healing and long life. Grasshoppers have slave mentality, grape tasters have sonship mentality. Grasshoppers talk like victims, but grape tasters talk like victors. And you can always tell a grasshopper by how they talk. Turn to somebody and say, "I already know what you are. Tell them you're not a grasshopper, so stop talking like one." That's what I'm trying to preach here. Get a photograph from God of who you are and why you're here, and don't belittle yourself. Maybe you're not as talented as somebody else and this and that, but you know what? God uses people who say, "I believe in myself. I believe in God, and I'm not going to brag on the devil. I'm going to brag on God and His ability." Quit going around lagging in the mully grubs. You're talking, "Well, I'm old now and nobody cares about me." Shut up, grasshopper. Become a grape taster and say, "I'm older now. I'm gonna get to enjoy all the stuff I've worked so hard. I'm gonna go play golf one day. I'm gonna go out. I'm gonna have myself a time. I'm gonna grow me a gray beard."
They saw the giants and backed up from the grapes because when they got there, they thought that they would just step into the promised land. But anytime you get God's provision, it comes with demonic resistance and problems. There will never be a clear coast straight to the land flowing with milk and honey. You may have, but notice this. See, they were comparing themselves to the giants, not comparing their God to the giants. Because who's the giant then? God is greater, and they are weaker. Hallelujah. I still believe that we're supposed to have life and have it more abundantly. That life isn't supposed to be a bunch of trials all the time. Life isn't supposed to be a bunch of tears all the time. Life isn't supposed to be just some going through another thing and worrying about our children all the time and what's going to happen. And oh God, God's going to be on the throne, and He's going to take care of it, and it's all going to turn out fine when it's all said and done. He is all things work together for the good to them that are called according to His purpose. So eat some grapes and enjoy your life. This is the day the Lord has made. I'm going to eat grapes. I'm not sitting around, "Oh, I feel a little pain. I probably got cancer back there. And oh my God, my hip's about to come out of joint." No, I'm going to eat the grapes. I'm alive. Hallelujah. Oh, come on. Somebody turn to somebody and say, "God still got some grapes in your life."
We need to hear about the grapes. I appreciate preaching all kinds. We need it all in different seasons. We need a good balance. But don't just preach to me about hell. Preach to me about the grapes. Heaven. Don't just preach to me about judgment. I need to hear some mercy every once in a while. I need a little balance. Don't just preach to me about defeat and it's hard and we're just pilgrims struggling through life. I need to hear about victory every now and then. I need to hear about dream your dream and vision and how God can do anything and He's looking for vessels.
Self-perception is contagious because those 10 men talked two million Israelites out of the promised land, and they were confined to the wilderness. Because grasshopper mentality is contagious. What do you pass down to your children? What are you passing down about church and about God and about faith? Are they going to be grasshoppers or are they going to be grape tasters? The Lord is good. Oh, taste and see that the Lord, He is good. And I don't know who you are today. I believe God ordered every person's step in every campus that I'm preaching to right now and online. But the Lord wants you to hear that He still has grapes in life. That life is hills and mountains. It's valleys and mountains. And you don't get shaken. And whatever situation you're in, you just hold on to that photograph that God has shown you. You will come to vision. You will see His goodness in the land of the living.
I want you to stand to your feet still and quiet, just one moment. And I'm going to ask you to lift your hand toward heaven and receive this blessing. I want you to pray out loud. Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, I give You my life. I surrender to You. I give You this family. I give You my mind. Show me who I am. Give me the picture of Your plan for my children, of Your plan for my grandchildren. Give me a generational vision and picture. I want to be a grape taster. I want to be a grape taster. I don't want to be a grasshopper because they never eat grapes. And Lord, today, enlarge my vision. Help me to still dream in the season I'm in for greater things. Bless my family. Bless and use us for the glory of God. I ask it all in Your name.
It's not by chance that you're watching this message. God, I believe, has placed you right where you are to hear this word and to know that His love, His mercy, His grace is reaching for you. He loves you, and there's nothing that you've done that He can't forgive, and there's no brokenness and sorrow in your life that He can't put back together. And if you prayed with me, we would love to hear from you. I believe there's power in the name of Jesus that can heal your body, that can touch your life, that can turn your battle in the right direction for victory.
And I can't end this broadcast without thanking every one of you for your remarkable partnership with us on all of the urgent, urgent projects in the nation of Israel right now during this time of war. We're building for the Northern Israel Emergency Center. This project is desperately needed, and you know, really, time is of the essence. Tensions are high in Northern Israel due to the recent attacks. Iran fired over 300 drones and many ballistic missiles towards Israel. Did you ever think we'd live to see times like we're in? We have the full support of the Israeli government on the project that we are undertaking. They have given us the green light to build as quickly as possible our medical center right there in Northern Israel. We need your help to speed up the building process and complete this life-saving Emergency Center. When you begin to bless what God loves, and He certainly loves Israel, He certainly is for Israel, there is a blessing on you and your family. And when you curse it, there is a curse that comes. And that's what is so disturbing about what we see on the news today. Is major universities have students who are saying, "We are Hamas. We are. We want to murder Israel. We want to destroy Israel. We want them wiped out from the river to the sea. We want them to be taken out of the land of Israel and to be annihilated." It's almost like we're hearing the cries of the Holocaust from the grave come back. Even in America, and university presidents with no courage will not stand up and shut it down. And we even have an administration that is silent because they worry more about an election. I'm telling you that we are living in times when we need to be the salt and the light of the earth and be a part of helping us bless the nation of Israel. And no question where this ministry stands. Watch this, and you'll find out how you can get involved in blessing the nation of Israel.
For the past five years, Jensen Franklin Media Ministries, together with our friends and partners around the globe, have partnered with the Jewish National Fund to help fund major life-saving projects in Israel. These amazing projects have already saved so many lives during the attacks on October 7th from Hamas on Israel's southern border. Now, in the north, over 300 Iranian drones and ballistic missiles were launched at Israel. The area that was most targeted is just 30 minutes north of the Sea of Galilee, right on the border with Lebanon and Syria. This area has no medical facilities in case of an emergency. Right now, Jewish people living in the area must travel an hour or use LifeLight to receive medical attention. That's why Jensen Franklin Media Ministries is stepping up in another major effort in Israel and providing the Northern Israel Emergency Center. There is no longer a threat of war, but a dark reality that is here. You can help save lives through the Northern Israel Emergency Center. We need your help to build this hospital and provide emergency medical care to communities where it is needed the most. There is a blessing promised to those who bless Israel, found in Genesis 12:3: "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you." We believe God has strategically positioned us to play a role in protecting and blessing the nation of Israel. Be a part of the blessing. Call now or go online today.
For five years, when you and I met in that land, and it's not so close to Jerusalem, it's a drive, but you understood and you felt that you wanted to make a difference in all of Israel. And you came to a piece of land, to the Eskol, to the people there that have had a historic responsibility of even defending Israel. The first village, kibbutz, that was there was established in 1943, before the state of Israel, on land repurchased by the Jewish National Fund, acre by acre. These people came to become farmers who had never been farmers before, and they learned how to grow on the land because they loved the land, they loved life. You created a playground kingdom that, imagine what we were putting our money into. Children playing, children's future in a secure area with a planetarium and a place to learn about agriculture and game stations and all the things that you want children to come to, but they came to be children, to have life. You created bomb shelters. I know that was what exactly. Bomb shelters. These are very large, large shelters that don't just protect the people. They were places where people used it for community events as well as going for security because of the shelling that was constant. And I will tell you that after October 7th, they have been used for the army to be able to sleep overnight before they would go back into Gaza. But in a few weeks, in a few weeks, we're moving people back home. And those shelters will be shelters, but they'll be shelters for preschools provided by you and your partnership.
This program has been sponsored in part by friends and partners of Jensen Franklin Media Ministries. Your prayers and financial support make these programs possible. For more information about this message and other ministry resources, visit us online at JensenFranklin.tv.