October 30, 2025

Hey guys, 

I hope you're having a great week. This week’s Thought comes from Deuteronomy 7:1, “When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are about to enter and occupy, he will clear away many nations ahead of you: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. These seven nations are greater and more numerous than you.”

In this verse, God is speaking through Moses to the children of Israel. They are on the cusp of entering the Promised Land and are about to enter into the covenant that God made with Abraham hundreds of years prior. Anytime I teach on this passage or about the children of Israel entering the Promised Land, I affectionately refer to the nations listed at the end of verse one as the “Ites”. 

Then Moses goes on to say, “these seven nations are greater and more numerous than you.” That's not exactly the kind of hype-you-up speech you want to hear from your coach right before you head into the game! “Hey guys, we've been practicing really hard, and this is the championship game, but that other team over there is bigger, stronger, better, and more powerful than you are. Let’s go!” 

However, pay special attention to what God is saying here, “these seven nations are greater and more numerous than you.” They are greater than you! They are more powerful than you are, BUT they are NOT more powerful than I. You may have never met a Girgashite, a Hivite or a Jebusite, but we all have Ites in our lives. They are the things that overwhelm us, the things that are barriers to where God wants us to go, the things that keep us shackled by fear and keep us from being whom God has created us to be. God is saying those things are more powerful than you are, they are more numerous than you are, BUT they are not more powerful than me!

Every Tuesday morning I meet with a small group of coaches. This morning we were talking about the power of perspective. I hope maybe this verse changes your perspective today. Your issues, your problems, your circumstances, your Ites…they may be more powerful than you are, but they are not more powerful than your God! 

Love you guys,

John