How You See Yourself Determines How Others See You

As a man thinketh so shall he be.You will always act like the person you think you are. Scripture declares, “For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). How you see yourself determines how others see you. How you see yourself determines where you live, how you dress, and what you believe. How you see yourself determines if you will receive the blessings of God.

The children of Israel were delivered by the mighty hand of God from Egypt and Pharaoh’s powerful grip. Life in Egypt was so bad the people sold their farms and vineyards. They even sold their children into debt servitude. The people of God could not escape Pharaoh’s bondage. Little by little, God’s covenant people became slaves. Their only hope was found in answered prayer.  

“And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.” (Exodus 3:7-8)

God heard their cries by reason of their taskmasters, remembered His covenant, and came down to deliver them. You know the testimony of deliverance from Egyptian slavery, then into the wilderness because of rebellion, and finally to the Promised Land.

The day came when it was time to possess the land. “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them. And Moses by the commandment of the LORD sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel” (Numbers 13:1-3). God didn’t send just anyone to spy out the land, he sent the heads of the tribes. These were the elders, the leaders, as well as those that had the most influence throughout the church.

WE SAW GIANTS

Everything was going well. The land was just what God said it would be. It was prosperous beyond anything they could have imagined. There was only one problem. “And there we saw the giants.” How you see affects your life. You will always act like the person you think you are. These men had waited for years to possess the Promised Land, but now all they could see were giants of opposition. Somehow they had forgotten God’s mighty deliverance from Egypt and could only see giants of opposition. Scripture says, “And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight” (Numbers 13:33).

Giants try to introduce fear. Fear is an expectation of pain, danger, or loss. Nevertheless, fear affords you the opportunity to run or fight. Remnant believers, fight. “You come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel” (1 Samuel 17:45). Jehovah is not afraid giants! He does not fear what you fear. 

Here are two different ways to see a giant.  

• Giants are indications you have reached your destination.

The children of Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years until it was time to enter the Promised Land. The Giants were not in the wilderness, they were at the entrance to God’s promised blessing. When you see a giant, rejoice. You have arrived at your next breakthrough.

• Giants guard the king’s treasure.

David was sent by his father to see how his older brothers were doing. When he got to the battlefield, Goliath was challenging the army of God and releasing fear in God’s mighty men. When David heard the words of Goliath he said, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” The soldiers told David the man that was able to kill Goliath would be rewarded. “What was the reward,” you ask? “The king will enrich him with great riches, will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel” (1 Samuel 17:25). This is significant, where you see a giant you find the king’s treasure.   

You will always act like the person you think you are. Those called to spy out the Promised Land saw the giants bigger than Jehovah. They had been set free from Egyptian slavery, but slavery was still in them. “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he.” Like you, David was different. He wasn’t like everyone else. He saw Jehovah bigger than any giant. He said, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine?” This Philistine has no covenant with Jehovah. As already said, how you see yourself is important. You will always act like the person you think you are. Giants are not your problem. Christ is bigger than any giant. “The people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits” (Daniel 11:32).

Your partner,

Apostle Jonas Clark
www.jonasclark.com