Series: Do Not Limit The Holy One Of Israel (Part 6): Do Not Limit God In The Power Of Your Imagination – I Am Not A Grasshopper

DO NOT LIMIT THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL (PART 6): DO NOT LIMIT GOD IN THE POWER OF YOUR IMAGINATION – I AM NOT A GRASSHOPPER

1. Numbers 13 1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I have given to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.” 3 So at the Lord’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites. 17 When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, “Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. 18 See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. 19 What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? 20 How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.) 21 So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo Hamath. 22 They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, lived. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 When they reached the Valley of Eshkol, they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs. 24 That place was called the Valley of Eshkol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there. 25 At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land. 26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.” 30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

2. Psalm 78: 41 Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.

INTRODUCTION: DO NOT LIMIT THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL (PART 6) I AM NOT A GRASSHOPPER

Topics: In What Ways We Limit God? Why We Limit God? How To Take Off The Limits? Results Of A Life Without Limit. Review: In Psalm 78, We Looked At How The Hebrews Limited Their God In The Wilderness - they saw all the miracles yet doubted God. In Mark 6, they refused to accept who Christ was because of Familiarity. In 1 Kings 20, they limited God due to Presumption - God of the mountains only and not of the valleys and plains. In 1 Samuel 28, we limit God due to Fear - King Saul and Elijah (1 Kings 19). In 2 Kings 8, we limit God in Giving – Shunemite Woman. Last Sunday - limit God in our Imagination & Vision - 12 Spies in Numbers 13. Today Part 2 of Not Limiting God In Your Imagination Or Vision – I Am Not A Grasshopper.

MEANING OF “LIMIT”

Limit: “A point or level beyond which something does not or may not extend or pass. This is a restriction on the size or amount of something permissible or possible. Some words synonymous with limit are restrict, put in check, restrain, freeze, regulate, control, etc.

LEARN TO IMAGINE - GOD CAN DO GREAT THINGS THROUGH ORDINARY PEOPLE

We Must Learn To Dream Big. Pro. 23:7: “As A Man Thinks In His Heart, So Is He.” John Milton: “The Mind in its own place can make a heaven or hell.” We Too Often Overlook The Power Of The Mind; the power of vision & imagination. Definition Of Imagination: The power of forming a mental image of something not present to the senses – sight, hearing, or other senses – a creative ability. Vision: The capacity to create a compelling picture of the desired state that inspires people to respond. A godly vision requires risk-taking & glorifies God, not people.