Your Perspective Can Change Your Future

“Perspective”….it makes all the difference in the world!

Many of us live from our “Old Memories” rather than from the “Precepts” of God’s word.  Consequently, we live as “Slaves” of our past rather than in the freedom that God’s word was meant to birth in us.

So often we read God’s word and put it to memory but, unfortunately, our soul is not linked together with our mind and our spirit is not linked to our soul.  We are told to “Claim” that we are free when so often we have a measure of relief from the guilt of our past mistakes, but not the true liberty our relationship with God though Christ affords us. For many of us our walk with God ends up being more about hope than reality.

Satan will keep us from connecting the dots in our soul lest we become champions of the redeemed lives Christ intended. As long as our behavior does not change, Satan is content with our memorization of scripture. Should we ever synchronize our soul, we to that extent move into our promised land and transformation according to 2 for 5:17. To the extent we become transformed we move into evangelization through our lifestyle. Only then do we truly become a treat to the kingdom of darkness as we now advance the kingdom of God. Linkage is so important. Satan loves when we compartmentalized our lives rather than having complete trust in our Heavenly Father.

“Our Perspective” can be “Living from Principle” or just living through “Emotion”. Slavery is hard to break.)

1. The art of drawing solid objects on a two-dimensional surface so as to give the right impression of their height, width, depth, and position in relation to each other when viewed from a particular point.  Ex. “a perspective drawing”

2. A particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view.  Ex. “Most guidebook history is written from the editor’s perspective”

Israel had the same problem many of us have. They were set free from “Slavery” but they continued to live like slaves to their past in how they would think, what they expected and what they relied on as a reflex. One whole generation of fretted slaves died in a wilderness wandering rather than possessing their primed land. Many Christians do the same thing.  They came to Christ to be set free all the while still living with a “Slave Mentality” desperately seeking their promised land. Take the following story of Moses sending out 12 spies. If you look closely you will see a slavery mentality.

Numbers 13:1-3 God Directs Investigation

Then the LORD spoke to Moses saying, [2] “Send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of their fathers’ tribes, every one a leader among them.” [3] So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the command of the LORD, all of them men who were heads of the sons of Israel. 

It was now 3 months since they left Egypt. God had moved on their behalf with many amazing miracles – But they still had a “Slave Mentality”, though free. The Israelites were use to taking orders and not thinking for themselves. Their bodies were free but their souls were not.

The message that came then to Israel was simply this: You have been provided with everything you need to live a great life. Now you are responsible to act upon your freedom and my promises.  Paul spoke about them in the New Testament.

1 Corinthians 10:5-6

Nevertheless, with most of them, God was not well-pleased for they were laid low in the wilderness. Now these things happened as examples for us so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. 

From this point on, Israel would be responsible to God for the choices individuals, groups, and the community made. Despite punishments for disobedience along the way, this generation did not learn the vital lesson of obedience. When the time came to make life’s most significant choice, these people would hear God’s voice, and turn away. Why? I think they had a slave perspective. As slaves they learned to lie and cheat just to stay alive. They responded to God just like they did to pharaoh.

A most significant statement about God is found in this section of Scripture: “The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished” (Nu 14:18). God is love. But persons are responsible to Him for their choices.

The plan of sending the spies truthfully originated with the people. God agreed with it, but it was just like Israel asking for a king. It was not God’s plan but he was going to let them have their way in hopes of changing them along the way. Samuel the prophet spoke the same thing to them now that they kept asking for a king. The lesson is “Be Careful what You keep Asking For Because You may Get It”. God’s purpose after setting the Israelites free was to get them to be responsible for their behavior by living in the freedom of his grace and power.

The following verses to the end of the chapter give a condensed account, the fuller one being in Nu 13-14, of the occurrences which led to the banishment of the people for 40 years into the wilderness. You can easily take the slave out of Egypt, but you can’t always take Egypt out of the slave’s heart.

Deuteronomy 1:6

“The LORD our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying,  ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 

Deuteronomy 1:21-23

‘See, the LORD your God has placed the land before you; go up, take possession, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. Do not fear or be dismayed.’

[22] “Then all of you approached me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may search out the land for us, and bring back to us word of the way by which we should go up and the cities which we shall enter.’ [23] “The thing pleased me and I took twelve of your men, one man for each tribe. 

Proverbs 29:18

Where there is no vision (Perspective), the people are unrestrained, But happy is he who keeps the law.

Without reading God’s word we are inevitably going to fall back into our old pattern of thinking that we had before knowing Christ as our liberator. All those old patterns are still in our memory and without renewed thinking we will be like Israel – “Freed Slaves” living like we never found a savior.

Romans 12:1-2

So brothers and sisters, since God has shown us great mercy, I beg you to offer your lives as a living sacrifice to him. Your offering must be only for God and pleasing to him, which is the spiritual way for you to worship. [2] Do not be shaped by this world; instead be changed within by a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to decide what God wants for you; you will know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect. 

Questions

1.  Is your perspective in life shaped by your past or by the Lord?  God’s word can change that.
2. Are you stuck still living as a slave rather than a free person? The Holy Spirit can make the word come alive.

 

May God help us to truly leave the Egypt of our past for our promised land in Christ Jesus.

 

Pastor Dale