Perception

“But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!” But the other men… disagreed. “We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!” Num.13:30-31

Who you know is more important than what you know. Who knows you is more important than who you know. What they think about you is more important than who knows you. When your name [your business name] is mentioned, what your customers think about you is everything because it influences their buying decision. The customer’s perception is the customer’s reality. Whether they are right or wrong, whether it is the truth or a lie, what they perceive is reality. So in espionage, particularly in intelligence gathering, modifying perception is key. So one of the rules of military intelligence especially in the area of espionage, is to influence and shape the perception to your advantage.

Remember Alexander the Great? He allows his spies to be caught and they will not talk. But after they have been severely tortured, they will then give false intelligence. And when they check the stories of all the spies, the information is the same. So the enemy thinks they have acquired an advantage based on the information they have been able to obtain from the spies. But they are only playing into the hands of Alexander.

Perception does not only influence your enemy, it also influences you. Please read Numbers 13 and 14. God said to Moses – chose twelve spies to go and check out the land. The spies came back and they negatively shaped the perception of a whole nation. Be careful of the people around you, especially those that come back and tell you negative things that try to mar your perception.

Ten of the spies negatively shaped the perception of the people. Two spies tried to give a positive influence but the influence of the ten stood stronger. They said, we saw ourselves like grasshoppers – perception. They also said that is how they saw us. How do you know? Take the case of Gideon for instance, God was showing the enemy a dream about him and they were already afraid. God is showing your enemies a dream and they are already afraid of you. The enemy already perceives you one way, why should you create the opposite for yourself.

Prayer: Father, I ask for the grace to see myself only as You see me and speak only the things You have spoken about me, in Jesus Name.