Refuel Throwback: Church Ann Edition "So What If I Am A Grasshopper" Rev Reginald W Sharpe 092822

2:08 I'm going to read it quickly but there's a strange word that God has given me and if you just ride the boat with me, ride the ship today and the spirit is going to bring us safely to the other side of what God wants us to know. Numbers chapter 13 verses 1 through 3 and then verses 30 through 33 out of the message Bible. Get your iPhone, your Android, your tablet, your iPad, whatever you have. If it says Bible is good. Numbers chapter 13 verse 1 through 3 reads like this. God spoke to Moses and says send men to scout out the country of Canaan that I am giving to the people of Israel. Send one man from each ancestral tribe, each one a tried and true leader in the tribe. So Moses sent them all from the wilderness of Paran at the command of God. Come down to verse 30. Verse 30. when they got back Caleb interrupted all of the ones talking called for silence before Moses and said hey let's go up and take the land now we can do it you know some folk like that they always positive they think you could do it but then something happened verse 31 but the others said we can't attack those people they're way stronger than we are then they began to spread scary rumors among the people of Israel they said stuff like this we scouted out the land from one end to the other it's a land that swallows people whole everybody we saw was huge why we we even saw the nephilim or the giants the people of anite giants from the nephilim tribe and alongside them you see that alongside them we felt like what grasshoppers and they looked down on us as if we were grasshoppers. Alongside them, we felt like grasshoppers and we know when they looked on us, they thought we looked like grasshoppers. I want to talk today from this thought very simply. So what if I am a grasshopper? So what if I am a grasshopper?

4:05 I want you to get an attitude and look at the person beside you and I want you to talk to them like you got a real legit attitude and say, so what if I am a grasshopper? No, that's the wrong person. Tell somebody else with a gospel attitude. So what if I am a grand supper? Consider now this story, and I pray that by the end of this story, you get a helpful life principle that will bring insight for your spiritual journey. Two frogs fell into a deep cream bowl. One of them had an optimistic soul. The other one took a more gloomy view. He cried, we will drown. There is nothing else we can do. so with a last despairing cry he flung up his legs and said goodbye but the other frog kept a merry grin he said well i can't get out but i won't give in i'll just swim around till my strength is spent then i will die a little more content bravely he swam till it did seem his struggling began to churn the cream. On top of the butter at last he stepped and out of the bowl at last he leapt. So what is the point? Well, it's easily found. If you can't get out, just keep swimming around.

5:29 I want to ask you this morning, which frog are you? Because all of us will have some circumstances where it looks like the odds are against us. The odds are stacked against us. The facts are not in our favor. but when you are in a situation that your strength your expertise your skillfulness cannot get you out of you have two choices you can be like the one frog that said well i can't get out i'll just choose to die or you can have the swag of the other frog who says well i can't get out but i'm not going to give in and end up moving around and shifting your atmosphere until the very place that was designed to drown you now becomes the place that God is going to use to help lift you.

6:29 Oh, I'm preaching already. So you got a choice in life when the odds are against you, when the facts are not in your favor. Either you can throw your hands up and give up and think that there's nothing in you, there's nothing about you that can help you face your fight or face your reality or you could be like my friend the other frog that said well I just keep swimming around and then the very thing that was designed to harm you will become the very thing that God lifts you out of that situation to become more than you've ever become in your life the very thing designed to destroy you can actually be the very thing that God uses to take you to where you're supposed to be the very thing that the enemy wants to use to destroy you can eventually become the very thing God uses to help catapult you to a whole nother dimension and level and sphere in your life but it's all up to you it's all up to your perspective what you're gonna do I know that money gets funny I know that people are fake sometimes I know that life can be exhausting I know that news can be depressing I know that when God has called you to relaunch that sometimes things don't always work in your favor but you have two choices you can give up or you can keep swimming around you can keep on believing you can keep on praying you can keep on giving you can keep your positivity at a whole nother level because that's what happens in the text today just like these two frogs it's two groups of people in this text today it's so interesting because god says in verse one of numbers 13 moses go send some spies 12 spies from each tribe of israel to go spy out the land don't miss this that i'm giving you i knew y'all was asleep so i had to stop right there god said go spy out the land not go get the land not go fight for the land just go look at what i'm trying

8:37 to give you and after they go view the land after they go survey the landscape after they go peruse the area of canaan and the promised land two people come back caleb and joshua and they say something like this hey y'all we got this we could do this this ain't no thing but a chicken wing we got this we're able to defeat those giants yeah they are bigger than us but let's get ourselves together king james version puts it like this we are able to go against whatever it is in the promised land but then 10 came back with a report and it sounded like this i don't know y'all them pomegranates were sweet those grapes were tasty it was flowing with milk and honey but we look like grasshoppers because the nephilim people are there the nephilim people were giants these were the people that produced the likes of of goliath these were giants living in the land they came back said no y'all can go if you want to we ain't going ten said we're not going because we're too small we're not going because we don't have what it takes we're not going because we look like grasshoppers we're not going because it's too much for us to say let's go can i give you something to carry with you for the rest of this week stop waiting on folk to co-sign what god has already design sometimes the majority is not going to see what you see feel what you feel or go where you got to go and you got to be willing to take the two people who do see what you see feel what you feel and ready to go where you go i'm preaching already y'all can just go to sleep see in this season of your life your circle is about to get smaller because your purpose is about to get greater you can't hang with everybody you can't be with everybody you can't agree and be in conversation with everybody i need a joshua and a caleb and you can keep the rest of the 10.

10:32 and then I got frustrated when I read this text Thomas because I'm like well what if we are really grasshoppers what if we don't have what it takes what if the facts are for real what if really what you're about to go against in your life is much bigger than you and you don't have the expertise and you don't have the degree and you don't have everything you need and you don't have the skill set that's necessary for the position and you don't have all of the wisdom that you may need but i came to preach to somebody and tell you i don't care what the enemy is trying to make you see in the mirror you better learn greater is he that is within me than he that's in the world i came to wake somebody up and say stop sleeping on yourself you want everybody else not to sleep on you why you sleeping on yourself you better tell somebody I may be young but I'm ready you better tell somebody I may be small but you better not try me I may be silent and quiet and shy but don't you think I can't see what you just did across the room I came to talk to some grasshoppers who can say the odds are against me the facts are against me my money ain't on my side friends aren't on my side but do I have about 20 and I'll make 21 who can say although I ain't big you better watch yourself coming up on me Thank you.

11:56 any grasshoppers up in this room who can test if I ain't the biggest I ain't the smartest I'm not the greatest I'm not the richest but I can float like a butterfly and I'll sting it like a bee you better think twice for you cross me you Where are the grasshoppers in the room Who know that although it's bigger than you It ain't bigger than God Where the grasshoppers in the room Who understand that God If God be for you He's more than the world against you Everybody else stay seated Stay quiet I'm preaching the grasshoppers Who are gonna wake up the world And shake up the world You may not be perfect But you're good enough for God Thank you. stop letting people define you because of your age and because of your gender and because of your sexuality and because of your economic status and because you didn't go to nobody's school that's the stuff people try to use against you to bring you down god says i'll use everything that's supposed to work against you to work for you because now unto him who's able to do exceed I feel like preaching.

13:10 Go on and shake a hand with a grasshopper. Say, what's up, grasshopper? you don't even know who you sitting by right now you're sitting by somebody that god is about to use for something spectacular and let me warn some of you judgmental people around here who like to look at folks because of what they're wearing or how they're talking or what they're driving you better be careful judging people because of how they look on the outside don't judge a book Buy us cover. The person you're overlooking is the one God's about to overbook. Tell somebody, I'm a grasshopper. You call me whatever you want to, but you better think twice.

14:02 Grasshoppers. Got some stuff working for them that the giants don't have. Slow up if I'm a grasshopper. Can I just tell you a couple things? We're going home together, and I'm going to get you out in decent time. number one, number one, number one, here's what grasshoppers got going for them. They've had victory with God behind them.

14:27 They had victory with God behind them. The people calling themselves grasshoppers are the children of Israel. Y'all got that part? Now, children of Israel are in the wilderness now, but they're in the wilderness because God has brought them there on their way to a promised land. I know we say that so much, but we miss it. It's a promised land, but there's a process to get to the promise. and so they're in the middle of the process on their way to a definite promise but they've just come out of the red sea they've just come out of slavery in egypt god has just handled pharaoh and his army god has just fed them with manna from heaven god so off the chain that he'll feed you and supply your knees with stuff you don't even know what it is and i believe that's why they call that manna because every time they saw it fall they said man huh god kept them fed god kept them nourish when they got thirsty water came out of a rock when they got hungry man huh came from heaven god defended them against their enemies and then they get to some giants and they say they too big for us we we look like grasshoppers house sway this ain't your first time up against something big slavery was big Pharaoh was big Pharaoh's army was big the Red Sea was big the wilderness that you survived was big and the same God that helped you with the last big stuff he's able to help you with the next big stuff and that's the problem because somebody will look at this and say oh they're wrestling with insecurity no this ain't just an issue of insecurity it's an issue of forgetfulness because the worst believer is the one that's forgetful and i can look right there all over the room and i can see all this service all this energy all this spirit in the room and some of y'all just sitting there looking uh why take all that what they doing can she please sit down i mean he run every sunday i'm so tired of him running uh i mean does it really do they

16:34 have to get that loud did the choir have to sing that long does it really take all of that i mean i'm a more reserved member i don't i don't need all that emotionalism it's not emotionalism is somebody in the room has a good memory. And the more you remember that God has done for you, something happens in your spirituality that makes you can't help but praise God. Who brought you through school when you should have failed? Who kept you in the accident when you should have died? Who rocked you to sleep when you had mess going on? And if he did it before, same God right now. Look at somebody and say, I remember This ain't my first rodeo I ain't new to this, I'm true to this And God took care of me back then He can take care of me right now what's wrong with you preaching nothing i'm just remembering how god has made ways before how god has paid bills before how god has handled my enemies before he's the same god look at somebody tell me you better remember you better remember it's not that you're insecure you just forgetful you lose and sleep over somebody trifling at your job you've had a trifling co-worker before you about to leave the ministry because somebody messy in church that ain't your first time running up against somebody messy and if you be real you've been messy too same god Thank you.

18:20 what you looking for preacher I'm just looking back the mountains he brought me over the hills he helped me climb the rivers he gave me strength to swim through the devil thought I was out by the count and I bounced back tell somebody i got a good memory i i don't care who's ahead of me or what's ahead of me the same god are y'all listening to me today they had victory behind them but oh they just don't have victory with god behind them they've got a variety of gifts inside them i'm talking some grasshoppers we felt like grasshopper they bigger than us they strong than us we can't do it we live

19:31 not no t's nowhere in the world we live us too small us not smart us too little us too tiny us too minuscule us too diminutive we grasshoppers come here grasshopper do you not know you have a variety of gifts inside of you can i tell you something about grasshoppers grasshoppers are normally range from the size of about five centimeters long to twelve and a half centimeters long so if you get a regular average ruler a grasshopper is about a little under half of it and a little longer than 12 centimeters so he's just a little bug about this big or it can grow about this big grasshopper, little bug don't weigh much, it's a little bug but they have some physiological functionality they have some anatomical agility they've got some biological ingenuity God built them in a way that helps them survive when predators show up you better not mess with a grasshopper because they got some power in their hind legs that works like a spring so when somebody runs up to eat them they don't run, they don't walk y'all so sleep they're so agile they have so much dexterity that grasshoppers are believed to be able to jump about 16 feet or 23 feet in the air and relative to their size if we could jump like grasshoppers we would be able to jump over an entire football field y'all not listening they're on top of their ability to jump

21:37 they can fly they have wings so they just don't jump up in the air when they get up there they got something in them that can help them stay up there so some folk, some predators, some animals can't even touch them because they can't fly as high as them oh y'all sleep then I've been studying that grasshoppers have this anatomical ability to spit out brown substance brown liquid whenever a predator or human grabs them if you're not careful that grasshopper will spit something brown a brown liquid substance out of his mouth and the texture of the substance or the scent of the substance makes them free people put them down because they got something coming out of their mouth that keeps the predators away they can jump that speaks to acceleration they can fly that speaks to elevation they can spew something out of their mouth that speaks to pronunciation come here grasshopper I don't care who you don't think you are God has given you the ability to jump over stuff everybody else gets stuck in and then after you jump over it and get ahead of everybody else see i don't know who i'm talking to but god is about to accelerate some of y'all stuff that took people 10 years to do god's gonna do it for you in 10 months everybody else had to wait 20 years to be promoted god says i can do it in three years god god is about to cause you to jump into some stuff that you should not have normally been able to jump in but because he's giving you a variety of gifts you're about to get ahead of the crowd and folks don't know what to do with you because every time they think they got you in their grip you jump again what my grasshoppers in this room who can testify the enemy should have thought twice before he

23:48 messed with me because i'm getting ready to jump into some favor jump into some blessings leap into some new seasons jump into a new level and while y'all down there talking about mess i'm going higher and then they got wings to help them go higher they got wings because they that wait upon the lord he'll renew your strength you'll mount up on wings like an eagle you'll run and not get weary all that symbolizes is you can fly at a whole nother altitude god is taking you high who am i talking to in this room who can thank your god he's lifting you in this season he's taking you higher in this season and he's not lifting you higher to be seen he's lifting you higher so you can See you. he didn't lift you and give you that position so you could be a know-it-all and show off he's giving you a higher perspective so you can get a better view of what's really bothering you because from the ground sears tower or willis tower looks humongous to me but every time i fly into the city that tower that looks so tall from the ground looks like a toy lego from the sky god says i had to lift you higher so you could get a better perspective you think your enemy is big let me let you fly high so you can see just how small they are you think that bill is big let me let you go higher so you can see how small it is and then somebody else in there saying that now listen i got you on the jump and i got you on the flying but what about this brown sticky substance that flies out of your mouth well listen none of us i hope can can spit out brown liquid substance every time a predator comes near but you do have some substance that you can spit when the enemy comes in like a fuck. You better spit your substance. The Lord is my shepherd and I shall not want. You better spit your substance. He that dwelleth

25:55 in the secret place of the shadow of the almighty shall be kept safe. You better spit your substance. Weep and may endure for it. I'm going to preach by myself. Keep sitting there. Weep and may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. You better spit your substance. I can do all things through Thank you. anybody ever been in a tight place and nothing but the word would help you get out of it you better learn how to spit your substance and I don't care what's going on at your job they passing out pink slips you tell them y'all keep on passing them out but my God shall supply all of my needs according to his riches and glory don't spit your substance the world is shaking the president is shaking congress is shaking everything around you is shaking but you better watch what comes out of your mouth now under him who's able to keep you from falling and present you faultless somebody give god praise for his word do you know who you are i said do you know who you are you talking about i'm a grasshopper i'm small no you just the right size because god made you with intentionality god took god's time making you god put something in you that nobody else has you're talking about well my hair is nappy no my pastor he do his myth said it ain't nappy it's obedient you put it in one place and it stays you're talking about well I'm big no you're not you just slim thick with it you better learn how to enjoy what God has given you he gave you a mouth for communication he gave you sweat for perspiration he gave you a back for formation he gave you hair for decoration he gave you lungs for respiration he gave you legs for stabilization he gave you eyes for observation he gave you ears for interpretation he gave your nose for inhalation he gave your hands for your occupation

28:01 he gave you a heart for blood circulation he gave your feet for transportation he gave your skin for insulation he gave you a tongue for taste sensation he gave your mind for education gave your prayer for direction and communication he gave you a church for motivation he gave you a pastor for confirmation he gave you his word for inspiration he gave you the holy ghost for sanctification he gave you jesus for salvation and one day he's gonna give you heaven for compensation somebody in this house ought to give god praise you got something on the inside Go on and hop off somebody and say Hey grasshopper Tell somebody hey grasshopper Use what you got Work what you got Stand on the word of God you ought to high five somebody around you say that don't you sleep on me tell somebody don't you sleep on me i'm gonna shock you in a few days i'm gonna shock you in a few years you can step on me today but i'm gonna jump over you tomorrow Wait, wait, wait.

29:20 Listen, listen, listen. I have had victory with God behind me. I got a variety of gifts inside of me. Then last and finally, I have to vigorously work to gather my squad around me. Wait, wait, wait. I got to vigorously work to gather my squad. See, if you're from the street, you know what I just said. is power and being with the right squad.

29:47 I'm about to help somebody. Grasshopper is light. It's about five, six, seven, eight centimeters long. By themselves, they can't do much. But let them suckers get together. Right now in Las Vegas, there are miles of strip stores, restaurants that nobody can go into because a plague of grasshoppers have popped out of nowhere because of the wet, moist season of spring. And now all of those grasshoppers are shutting down money and keeping people away because they all together. the species of a grasshopper is really what we call locusts they eat up farmers crops and a farmer's worst nightmare is a swarm of grasshoppers because they can destroy all of the crops shut down the economy if all of them get together can't nobody touch them I feel Pastor Jenkins y'all sleep the reason why the enemy is destroying some of us is because we have not yet learned the power of unity oh you let us get together that's why dr king died he didn't die because he had a dream he died because he woke up and the night before dr king died go to youtube if you don't believe me in that famous speech about the mountaintop before he got to that prophetic moment that he's looked over and seen the promised land dr king was trying to tell them y'all if you really want to hurt this economy and get folk to listen to you shut down supporting some of these big corporations oh i'm about to mess up now if y'all could just get together and boycott and stop supporting some

31:53 of these big companies you all can get the attention because america don't care about white and black America cares about one color and is green. The next day he dies because he was trying to tell us there's power in unity. and here we are on the precipice of a brand new season here we are on the cusp of god about to take this church to a whole nother level can i tell you the enemy's number one tactic can i tell you what the devil's trying to do more than anything divide us because if he can keep us divided and you can get the bloods against the reds and old fellowship against new fellowship Then everybody going to stay scattered and scared. Ain't no old fellowship. Ain't no new fellowship. It's one fellowship. Preach, Reggie. and when we all get on one accord the enemy won't even be able to do anything up in this house I'm coming back next year.

33:03 I'm coming back after. I don't care when you come back. If you ain't got the right spirit, stay where you at. We gonna be on one accord up in here. How far somebody say one accord? We're not up in here to be seen. We're not up in to get what we like. We're up in here to get folks saved. We're up in here to save alcoholics and drug dealers and thugs and gangsters and young men. And we got to be on one accord. The church can't talk about the streets because some of us worse than them. one accord and when all of the grasshoppers get together watch how many folks get saved watch how many mountains we cross watch how many rivers we go over anybody on one accord?

34:04 some of y'all looking like you don't know nothing I'm talking about I'm only talking about the grasshoppers that are about that life if you ain't about that life, be quiet where are the grasshoppers? Anybody ever watch drumline? One band, one sound. Show me a house that's out of order. I'll show you a house that has no unity. Show me a marriage that's in trouble. I'll show you a couple that have no unity. Show me a church full of mess. I'll show you a church that has no unity. Because when everybody is flowing with the spirit of God, we may not like each other. We may not agree with each other, but you better not let nobody else talk about them.

35:00 You better not let... See, if you're real safe, super duper spiritual, this ain't for you. I'm talking to the folk that got some hood instincts. Now, you can believe and talk about whoever you want to talk about, but you better not come for mine. look at the person beside you and say i got you i got you yeah you gonna mess up yeah you gonna fall short yeah you gonna make mistakes but i got you because we in this together don't let nobody talk about reverend evans don't let nobody talk about pastor jenkins and when they come to me you can do whatever you want to do but they gonna talk about me because I can hold my own.

35:42 I'm just kidding. I need us to have each other's back.