SEE YOURSELF AS GOD SEES YOU

Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, "Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it." Numbers 13:30

Three groups of people were made to submit themselves to scientific experiments to test the effect of mental suggestion on their strength. They were to grip a strength-measuring instrument with all their strength under three different sets of conditions.

The first group was tested under normal conditions. The average grip was 45 kilograms.

The second group was told that they were very weak and did not have the muscle mass to lift heavy weights. Their average grip this time was only 13 kilograms!

In the third group they were told that they had athletic muscle mass and were naturally endowed with strength to handle heavy weights. The average grip jumped to 64 kilograms.

The results of the tests proved that human performance is critically impacted by the human mindset. Although all the people in the three groups had similar strengths, the thoughts that were planted into their minds about themselves influenced their performance.

The verdict is clear: the way people act is based on the way they perceive themselves. None of us wants to miss the blessings God has planned for us.

However, because of our own negative attitude and wrong choices, we often live lives that are way below our potential.

Israel wandered in the desert for 40 years because they allowed negativity and a sense of powerlessness to govern their attitudes and choice. Like the people in the strength-test experiment, Israel responded to their challenges based on their self-image.

When they thought of themselves as grasshoppers, they fell. When they thought like slaves from Egypt, they failed; when they thought as liberated people of the Most High God, they won.

Prayer: Help me O Lord, to think of myself the way You think of me.

Scriptural Reading: Numbers 13:1-33