“Overcoming a Grasshopper Complex, Pt. 1”
I’m starting a new series titled “Overcoming a Grasshopper Complex.”
This series is about our new life and identity in Christ and how to overcome wrong beliefs and thinking related to our new life in Him.
Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll examine passages in Numbers 13 about the children of Israel to understand more about how important identity is in our lives.
In short, Moses was leading them to enter the land of Canaan, the land God promised them. The Lord directs Moses to send twelve spies into the land to observe it and come back and give a report on the land and the inhabitants.
The spies saw it was a good land, but they also observed giants in the land and walled cities. To ten of the spies, it seemed impossible to possess this land.
Upon returning, the ten spies tell Moses, “Who are we to do this?”
“… we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” Num. 13:33 NKJV
The root of their wrong identity and unbelief was having a slave mentality. Their reasoning: former slaves who live in tents do not win battles against giants who live in walled cities.
They concluded that failure is inevitable; we are nobody, like mere insects that will get squashed!
The Israelites were free from the bondage of Pharaoh and Egypt. However, they still saw themselves as former slaves and therefore concluded they were not capable of accomplishing what God was inviting them to.
Their wrong thinking about themselves caused the nation of Israel to believe they were unable to possess what God had promised. They caused the entire nation of Israel to feel small, insignificant, and unable to trust God and His leading.
Their false identity empowered unbelief and allowed fear to rule them. Unbelief and fear are debilitating.
As I shared last week in the article and message, “Jesus is Enough,” when we are assured that Jesus is enough in all life’s circumstances, we can trust, believe, and confidently follow His lead. This is the basis for a new and healthy identity in Christ.
In John 14:8, Philip asks Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” NASB
Enough is from the Greek arkéō, which means sufficient, enough, and contentment. To be fully satisfied.
What was Philip after? One word: assurance.
First, he wanted assurance that Jesus was authentic, that He was indeed the Son of God.
It is transformative when it becomes a revelation to our hearts that Jesus is the only way to God. We are born again and indwelled by the Holy Spirit! Like Philip, we want assurance. God’s word and the Holy Spirit provide that.
Secondly, Philip wanted to be sure of the peace and rest Jesus promised. Can I trust you, Jesus?
It is enough when we are firmly convinced about who Jesus is and what He is to us now and eternally. We are at rest, at peace, and content.
Our new life and identity in Christ are strengthened, and new confidence emerges. We grow in Godly confidence because Jesus is in us!
What is essential for the followers of Jesus to know is that when you became born again, you became a new creation in Christ. You became a child of God who is loved, accepted, and forgiven. God adopts you and now live from His life within you.
The Lord wants to free you from the shame of the past and condemnation of the present.
See yourself as God sees you—loved, forgiven, and accepted in Christ.
Consider what Paul wrote to the Colossian believers:
“For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Col. 3:3 NKJV
To the Galatians, Paul stated:
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Gal. 2:20 NKJV
In these passages, Paul is clear: believers are dead to their old life and now live a new life in Christ. Our life is hidden or found in Christ.
We are united with Jesus in His death and resurrection; therefore, we are of His image and likeness. We are His righteousness. Jesus hides the unrefined areas of our lives in His!
The Father completely accepts us because of Jesus. We are presently righteous, sanctified, and united to Christ. This doesn’t mean we are perfect; the perfect One covers us and empowers us to become more like Him.
We are at once righteous, holy, and set apart in Christ, yet we are maturing each day as we journey with Jesus through our lifetimes.
And as I mentioned, we also have a new identity; it is a heavenly identity. Our true family lineage is that of Christ, for we are born from above now.
This is why Paul could say, “…it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me …” No longer “I” but Jesus who lives in me!
Paul declared in Phil. 4:13:
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” NKJV
It is Jesus who lives in us through the person of the Holy Spirit who empowers us to live at peace, confident, and courageous through all of life’s ups and downs.
This is why we can live from the reality that Jesus is enough—always! He is irrevocably committed to us as His followers. He is with us always, on our worst days and our best, in every season and into eternity.
We can live at peace when we understand who we are in God through Christ—completely loved, adopted, and not forsaken! That our past doesn’t define us; the cross and His resurrection define us and our future! He is preparing a place for us!
I hope you watch or listen to my message last Sunday on this important subject; there is much more in the message than in this article! I believe it is a timely word for many!
I’ll continue more on this vital subject next week!
