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Will You Conquer or Quit?

01 Pic 6// Kenneth W. Hagin

John 10:10 in the Amplified Bible reads, "I [Jesus] came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)."

That life in abundance—to the full, till it overflows—speaks of God's highest and best, doesn't it? This is what God intends for every one of His children. Yet so many aren't enjoying this kind of overflowing life.

What keeps people from enjoying God's best? Why do some never reach the level of life that God has promised in His Word? I believe one reason is how they think about life's obstacles—the situations and circumstances that confront them. In other words, they believe God's Word until a circumstance arises that contradicts it.

Our beliefs—what we believe in our heart—should determine our attitude or mentality. One of the greatest privileges we have as believers is that we can take the Word of God and develop the mentality that God wants us to have. He wants us to think in a way that positions us to receive and walk in His abundance and overflow!

I want to show you some truths in this area based on the example of the Old Testament people of Israel. Let's look at how God's people responded to His promise of abundance and to the opportunity He provided for them to live in the overflow.

After the children of Israel left Egypt, a land of slavery, God intended to bring them into their Promised Land, a land of plenty—a land of overflow! Moses sent 12 spies into that land to look it over and report back. Let's read the report of 10 of those men.

NUMBERS 13:27–29, 31–33 (NKJV)
27 "We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.
28 Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there.
29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan. . . .
31 We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we."
32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature.
33 There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."

These 10 spies agreed that the land overflowed with good things, just as God had said. But after they talked about that, they said, "Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there" (v. 28 NKJV). These men then explained why they couldn't enter the land. They said, "We were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight" (v. 33 NKJV).

Have you ever heard the phrase "a grasshopper mentality"? This is the attitude 10 of the 12 spies had toward God's promises. People with a grasshopper mentality think, "I'm so much smaller than the opposition. I'm not able to overcome. I am a nobody, a loser." And because they think that way, they eventually believe it, and all their words and actions reflect that way of thinking.

As believers we can choose not to have a grasshopper mentality. Instead, we can focus on the Word of God and on what God said we can do. As we do that, we will enjoy the manifestation of God's promises through Christ Jesus.

A Conqueror's Mentality

Of the 12 spies Moses sent into the Promised Land, two came back with the right mindset. Caleb and Joshua didn't have a grasshopper mentality; they had a conqueror's mentality. They had the attitude that if God said it, they were well able to do it. They believed that if God gave it, they were well able to possess it!

Joshua and Caleb said to the children of Israel, " 'Don't be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the Lord is with us! Don't be afraid of them!' " (Num. 14:9 NLT). Joshua and Caleb's mentality was based on God and His promise, not on what they could do. God had promised them the land, and they trusted Him. And because of their faith in Him, Joshua and Caleb possessed what He had promised.

In the same way, our attitude today must be based on God and what He has said, not on what we can see. Second Corinthians 4:18 says, "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (NIV 1984). The Apostle Paul was saying here that the things that we can see now are subject to change. But the unseen things, or the things God has promised us that we must accept by faith, are not subject to change!

The Promised Land for us today consists of those things God has provided for us in redemption through Jesus Christ. In God's great plan of redemption, He has made available to us salvation, healing, and prosperity. But we have to possess by faith what He has provided. To live in our Promised Land of abundance and overflow, we must do what Joshua and Caleb did. We must trust and obey God.

We can hold on to a grasshopper mentality and quit, or we can develop a conqueror's mentality. We can refuse to let circumstances keep us from possessing everything that belongs to us in Christ. The choice is ours.

 

 


FAITH IN ACTION

 

Develop a Conqueror's Mentality

Joshua and Caleb had a conqueror's mentality. They did things we can also do to possess what God has provided for us through Christ Jesus.

  • They were not intimidated by their enemies.
  • They were not moved by their circumstances.
  • They focused on the greatness of God.
  • They focused on what they would enjoy once they entered the Promised Land.