Don't Limit God

Don't Limit God

Mark 6:41

"And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all."

Have you ever driven a vehicle that someone put a limit on how fast it can go? There is nothing more frustrating than having the power to go faster, but not being able to do so because someone limited the power. When a limiter is placed on a vehicle, then it wastes the power that the engine is able to produce.

Humans are negative and doubtful by nature. It is rare to find someone who does not put a limit on their dreams or on what God can do. Often, when a person steps out and attempts something great, the naysayers begin to speak up and try to diffuse the energy of the one who is attempting great things for God.

Jesus had been teaching all day. The people were tired and hungry, and they needed something to eat. The disciples lack of faith in God's power caused them to tell Jesus to send the people away so that they could get something to eat. Instead of sending the people away, Jesus responded by saying, "Give ye them to eat." Jesus knew what He was going to do. Jesus knew that feeding five thousand people was not going to be too hard for Him. But, in order for the five thousand to be fed, the disciples had to obey what Jesus told them to do even when they couldn't see how it could be done. Because the disciples obeyed Jesus' command, five thousand people saw Jesus feed them with five loaves of bread and two fishes.

Imagine if the disciples didn't obey Jesus command to get the lunch from the boy? Imagine if the disciples questioned Jesus ability to feed this many people? Imagine if the disciples went against Jesus and simply sent the people home? If they would have done these things, then a boy would not have been blessed by giving his lunch, five thousand people would have gone home hungry, and this story would not be in the Scriptures. For this miracle to happen, the disciples had to obey what Jesus told them to do even when their faith was weak. If the disciples limited Jesus by their doubt, then this miracle would not have taken place.

The only thing that limits the power of God is doubt. When a Christian doubts whether God can do something, then they have put a limit on God's ability to do great works. Yes, God could choose to do everything on His own, but He chooses to do His works through people. The greatest works of God can only be done when people stop limiting what God can do.

The only thing that will keep God from doing something great through your life is doubt. When you doubt whether God can use you, you are limiting Him. When you doubt whether God can save a soul, then you are limiting Him. I have watched many Christians stifle what God could do simply because they let their doubt limit God.

It is normal for doubt to show up when God asks you to do something by faith, but you must not act on the voice of doubt. You must not allow doubt to be the voice of reason in your life. Most of the time when God asks you to do something by faith it will make no sense, but if you will act upon faith and not upon doubt, then God can do great works through you. Be careful about limiting God's power in your life. Don't put a limit on what God can do. If God tells you to do something, then obey His command. God can and will do great things through you if you don't limit Him. Don't waste God's power by limiting Him, but unleash His power by obeying what He tells you to do.

Getting

Getting God's Anointing

Matthew 21:43

"Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof."

Having God's anointing on your life and ministry should be the desire of every Christian. When I talk about God's anointing, I am talking about God's blessings upon what you are doing. Having the anointing of God is what gives you power and authority to do God's work in a great way.

In the verse above, we learn that the key for God's anointing is to bring forth fruit. You will notice that God is talking to Israel as a nation. God blessed Israel for many years with His anointing, and this caused them to be the nation that every other nation looked to for the Gospel. However, Israel stopped carrying the Gospel and God gave His anointing to another nation. We can see in history that God gave England His anointing for many years, but when they stopped bearing fruit He gave that torch to another. America has been the nation for many years that has God's anointing, but if the churches in America continue not to bear fruit, then God will give this torch to another nation.

God is not obligated to keep His anointing on any nation. God does not owe any nation anything. Just because God anointed a nation in the past does not mean that He will continue to anoint that nation and make it the center for sending out preachers and missionaries around the world in the future. When a nation chooses an inward vision instead of an outward vision, then God will take His anointing from it.

Let me take this thought further. Throughout history God has blessed many churches with His anointing. Just in my lifetime I have seen many churches that God blessed in a tremendous way. I believe the reason He blessed them was because they had an outward vision. These churches were producing preachers. These churches were not just seeing souls saved, but they were discipling their converts and sending them out to be pastors, evangelists and missionaries around the world. These churches were responsible for seeing numerous churches started. Yet, when they changed their vision from an outward vision to an inward vision, God slowly took His anointing from them. If you want your church to have God's anointing on it, then you better make sure your church has that outward vision that bears fruit. Not just the fruit of winning souls, but the fruit of producing pastors, evangelists, missionaries and other churches.

Moreover, God has also placed His anointing on individuals. These individuals had God's blessings because they were interested in bearing fruit. Christian, God would love to place His anointing on you. The only way you will get God's anointing as an individual is to become a Christian who produces fruit. You should make your life about seeing people saved and discipling them to bring forth fruit themselves.

This world needs a nation that has God's anointing. Every nation needs a church that has God's anointing. Every church needs a pastor who has God's anointing. Every church also needs Christians who have God's anointing upon them. Would you be the one who would bring forth fruit so you can get God's anointing upon you? Don't let God's anointing be passed to another. Don't become history, but continue to make history by having God's anointing. The greatest need of today is for churches, pastors and Christians to have God's anointing.

A Greater...

A Greater is Here

Matthew 12:42

"The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here."

Can you imagine the privilege of having Jesus in your presence? You would think that those who heard Jesus would cherish every minute they had with the Saviour. Yet, we find that even those who had the very presence of Jesus took Him for granted. They had the Creator of the Universe in their presence, and they took Him for granted. They had the Word of God in their presence, and they took Him for granted. They had the Master of all in their presence, and they took Him for granted. Sadly, those people would take for granted the presence of the One Who could help them forever.

Yet, everyday we are all guilty of taking for granted what we have. God has blessed each person with the presence of greatness, and if we are not careful we will become so used to their presence that we will take what they have to offer for granted. I find from the verse above some things we must be careful about taking for granted.

First, don't take preaching for granted. The people in the verse above heard the preaching of Jesus, but they took His preaching for granted. I have found that many Christians take for granted the preaching they have heard. If you are not careful, you will come to the point where you will think you have heard it all. Let me warn you that you better enjoy every sermon you hear and grab every truth from each sermon, for what you hear is not heard by many and will one day be gone.

Second, don't take for granted the wisdom others give you. The people in Jesus' time heard the wisdom from the Source of wisdom, and they took it for granted. There are people who you have around you that are filled with wisdom. Don't waste your time with them and not glean from their wisdom. Ask them questions, for their wisdom may not always be available to you.

Third, don't take for granted the people whom God has placed in your life. The people in Jesus' time never understood Who they had in their presence. Likewise, you don't know who you have in your presence, so don't take one person for granted. Cherish every minute you have with people. Don't let things be more important than the presence of the people around you. You only have people with you for a short time, and you may miss their greatness if you let things pull your attention away from them.

Everything that God has given you should be cherished. You will never know if you have greatness in your presence until it is gone; therefore, absorb every thing you can and every minute you have with those whom God has placed in your life. By doing so, you will not have to look back and wish that you would have done more with the greatness God placed in your presence.

Lift Up..

Lift Up Thine Eyes

Zechariah 1:18

"Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns."

Have you ever had the feeling that something was going to happen, so you covered your eyes so you wouldn't see it? I remember years ago I was watching Joe Theisman, quarterback for the Washington Redskins, break his leg. It was a horrible sight to see. When they started showing the replays I covered my eyes because I didn't want to see it. I have a queasy stomach, so watching that would not have been good for me or anyone else around. Covering my eyes didn't change what happened, it simply kept me from seeing the truth.

What was the difference between Zechariah and the people? The difference was he lifted up his eyes and could see. God told Zechariah to lift up his eyes. The problem with the people of his day was that they kept their heads buried from the truth, and by keeping their heads buried they were not able to deal with the problems they faced. In fact, it made their problems worse. They would rather believe a lie than face the reality of truth.

Reality does not change because you keep your head buried in the sand. Too many people don't want to believe the truth, so they simply keep their head buried so they can't see. Lying to yourself only hurts one person, you! You will never be able to correct problems in your marriage, family, life, church or nation until you lift up your eyes and become honest with yourself. Lying to yourself and saying that your marriage is fine when you have obvious problems is not going to correct the problems. Lying to yourself that your family is a good family when you know in your heart that you have problems will not change the real problems. You can lie to yourself about your own Christianity, but you will never be able to change your spiritual problems until you lift up your eyes and look at reality.

I beg you to stop lying to yourself and face the reality of your problems. As long as you keep your head buried in your hands you will never learn what areas you need to correct. You will only be able to correct your problems when you lift up your eyes and face the cold hard facts of your situation. Sometimes what you see can be ugly, but at least you can start working on it when you see the problems.

Your happiness in life will be determined by how honest you are with yourself. If you will look at your situation with your eyes wide open, then you will be able to correct your problems and make your situation better. Don't allow yourself to live in a lie. Promise yourself right now that you will always lift up your eyes so you can see the truth and correct it.

Angry

Angry for a Gourd

Jonah 4:9

"And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death."

In a far away village was a young man who was physically challenged. This young man spent his days gathering scraps of food. The village people would scoff at this young man because they thought he was running down their village with his presence. So, they voted that he could not gather any scraps during the daylight hours.

One day the young man died a sudden death. To the relief of the villagers he would no longer bother them. When they went to where this young man lived, they found out that this young man was not gathering the scraps for himself, but he was gathering the scraps for the elderly who had no one to care for them. These people were ashamed of themselves because they realized that they were more interested in their city looking good than they were for a person who was interested in helping people.

The story of Jonah and the gourd is very similar. After Jonah finished his day of warning Nineveh, he went outside the city to watch its destruction. You see, Jonah hated these people. He didn't want God to save the city. His hopes were that this city would be utterly destroyed. To his dismay, the inhabitants of the city heeded his preaching and got right with God. The action of the people caused God not to destroy their city. Because of this, Jonah became upset with God and went and sat outside the city. As he sat pouting, God prepared a gourd to shade him from the sunlight. However, the next day the gourd died and Jonah got upset with God over letting the gourd die. God asked Jonah, "Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd?" Jonah was more concerned over the gourd than he was over the souls of the people of Nineveh. How sad that material things were more important to Jonah than the souls of people.

Christian, are you more concerned over losing your material things than you are for people? It's amazing how angry parents get with their children when they break something of value, but they never have any emotion when someone dies and goes to Hell. It's sad that Christians are more wrapped up in their valuables than they are with people who need someone to care.

Let me ask you, are you more concerned with things or people? Are your things of more value than the souls of men? All around you are people who need someone to care. Yet, too many Christians are more wrapped up in their vehicles, clothing, houses and activities than they are with people. I'm not saying that these things are bad, but people need someone to care. David said in Psalm 142:4, "I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul." Would David have said this if you were in his area?

Let me remind you that all around you are people who need you to care. As you go throughout your day, you will come across the path of people who need to get saved. You will come across the path of people who need someone to listen to their broken heart. You will come across the path of someone who simply needs someone to show interest in them. Don't be so wrapped up in your things that you forget that life is truly about what you can do for others. Let the importance of your things take second place to the needs of others. Let your eyes be open and your ears alert to the needs of those around you. Let your daily life be filled with caring for the needs of others.

Symptoms

Symptoms of the Backslidden Heart

Ezekiel 36:26

"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh."

When a person gets right with God, it is a beautiful thing. To see a person change from running from God to a person who walks with God is great. To see them go from God's judgment to God's blessings is exciting. The verse above shows us what happens to a person who gets right with God. However, if you apply the opposite of these attributes, you find the symptoms of a backslidden heart. Let me show you what these symptoms are.

First, a backslidden person goes back to a worldly heart. God said that He would give them a "new heart." In other words, the person who is backslidden becomes more excited about the things of the world than they do the things of God. A backslidden person gradually loses interest in the things of God. The world has more of a lure to the backslidden person than serving God. The heart of a backslidden person will lean towards worldly affairs.

Second, a backslidden person will have a bad spirit. Notice, God gives the person who gets right a "new spirit." When you are backslidden, you will think everyone is against you. When you are backslidden, your attitude is about you and not about others. When you are backslidden, your attitude is not one of excitement, but one of complaining. Simply put, the backslidden person has an attitude problem.

Third, a backslidden person will have a hard heart. God says that when a person gets right that He "will take away the stony heart...and give you an heart of flesh." It is amazing how uncaring the backslidden person is. The backslidden person is never moved by those who are hurting. The backslidden person has no compassion for people whom they do not know. In fact, a backslidden person rarely ever shows emotion. A backslidden person will never show emotion in a church service. A backslidden person will not be excited when people get saved. A backslidden person does not think it is that big of a deal when someone comes back to God. The reason is they have a hard heart.

Fourth, a backslidden person will walk in the flesh and not in the Spirit. God says that when a person gets right that He will "put my spirit within you." When you are backslidden, you will never ask the Holy Spirit to fill you. When you are backslidden, there is minimal time spent seeking the power of God. A backslidden person can be serving God, but they are too busy to stop and spend time begging for God's power.

Finally, a backslidden person will not be concerned with obeying the Word of God. God says that when a person gets right they will "walk in my statutes." The backslidden person will come to the point when they feel they can do wrong and get away with it. It is amazing how bold they become about their sin. Their sin never bothers them because they feel God will never judge them.

Let me ask you, do you have any symptoms of a backslidden heart? Serving God does not have to be a drudge, it can be exciting. Don't be one of those who simply exists in the Christian life. If your heart is right with God, then you will find that the things of God are exciting and enjoyable. Yes, there will still be heartache, but you will still find pleasure in serving God. However, if you find any of these symptoms in your heart, then immediately deal with it so that it won't go any further in destroying your walk with God.