Recently, I started a three part series dealing with the ways we limit God. In my last post, I wrote about how our lack of faith limits God. This week, I am going to address the second way that we limit God.
In addition to limiting God through our lack of faith, we also limit God by our sin. Think for a minute of the children of Israel. God wanted to give them the land of Caanan, but instead of taking the land, they "rebelled against the commandment of the Lord" (Deut. 1:26) What was the result of their unbelief and rebellion? None of the men from age 20 on up (except Joshua and Caleb) were allowed to enter Caanan. Our sin ALWAYS brings consequences. The good news is, God does forgive. However, if we as Christians live day-by-day with unconfessed sin and un-believing hearts, God won't do any great works through us. He simply can't. I Corinthians 6:14c says, "And what communion hath light with darkness?" God is the Father of light, and Satan is the father of darkness. If we have unconfessed sin in our lives, then we aren't in total harmony with God. And John 15:5 tells us that we can do nothing without God. Therefore, our sin limits God.
Thursday
How We Can Limit God (Part One)
Wow, some of you are probably wondering if I dropped of the face of the earth! Well, I didn't! (Obviously, or else I wouldn't be writing this!) Anyways, I won't make excuses for not posting the last month; I simply didn't make time for it. However, now that I am sitting down to write again, I am going to be doing a three-part series on "How We Can Limit God." (Much of what I will be writing is not original with me; it's based on sermons from my pastor, Joseph Brown.)
First of all, it may shock some of you to hear that we can limit God. You may be asking, "What do you mean by saying that we can limit God, and how can we do that?" Well, thank-you for asking, and this week I will be covering the first way that we can limit God. Before I get to that, however, we need to understand that the Bible specifically speaks of our ability to limit God.
Psalm 78:41 (speaking of the Israelites) says this, "Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel." I don't know about you, but this verse scares me! Just think, we have the ability to limit the power of God in our lives! That thought should give us some fear of the Lord!
So, how can we limit God? One way is having a lack of faith. Here are some references which give accounts of how Jesus worked while He was on this earth. All of these verses specifically mention the faith of a person- Luke 7:9, Luke 7:50, Luke 8:48, Luke 17:19, and Luke 18:42. This list is by no means exclusive; these are simply verses I found while paging through the book of Luke! Now, contrast these verses with Luke 9:41, in which Jesus said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you?" Jesus said this after his disciples failed to cast a devil out of a boy. Clearly, God only works when faith is present.!
Hebrews eleven is known as the "Hall of Faith." Verse six says, "But without faith it is impossible to please him (speaking of God); for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." If it is impossible to be saved without faith, we surely can't expect God to work in our lives if we don't have faith!
Now, the good news is that we don't need an enormous amount of faith in order to see God work in our lives. One of my favorite verses on faith is Mark 9:24, which says this, "And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." In the very next verse, Jesus cast a devil out of the man's son. This man didn't have a great amount of faith; he simply believed!
God wants to do the impossible in, and through, His children. II Chronicles 16:9 says, "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him." The question is, "Will we have faith?"
First of all, it may shock some of you to hear that we can limit God. You may be asking, "What do you mean by saying that we can limit God, and how can we do that?" Well, thank-you for asking, and this week I will be covering the first way that we can limit God. Before I get to that, however, we need to understand that the Bible specifically speaks of our ability to limit God.
Psalm 78:41 (speaking of the Israelites) says this, "Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel." I don't know about you, but this verse scares me! Just think, we have the ability to limit the power of God in our lives! That thought should give us some fear of the Lord!
So, how can we limit God? One way is having a lack of faith. Here are some references which give accounts of how Jesus worked while He was on this earth. All of these verses specifically mention the faith of a person- Luke 7:9, Luke 7:50, Luke 8:48, Luke 17:19, and Luke 18:42. This list is by no means exclusive; these are simply verses I found while paging through the book of Luke! Now, contrast these verses with Luke 9:41, in which Jesus said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you?" Jesus said this after his disciples failed to cast a devil out of a boy. Clearly, God only works when faith is present.!
Hebrews eleven is known as the "Hall of Faith." Verse six says, "But without faith it is impossible to please him (speaking of God); for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." If it is impossible to be saved without faith, we surely can't expect God to work in our lives if we don't have faith!
Now, the good news is that we don't need an enormous amount of faith in order to see God work in our lives. One of my favorite verses on faith is Mark 9:24, which says this, "And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." In the very next verse, Jesus cast a devil out of the man's son. This man didn't have a great amount of faith; he simply believed!
God wants to do the impossible in, and through, His children. II Chronicles 16:9 says, "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him." The question is, "Will we have faith?"
Saturday
Home!
Wow!!! After being gone for so long, I almost forgot how good it is to be home!!! From sleeping in my own bed, to being able to work on the farm, and everything in between, home is just really amazing after a long trip. You know, if this is what it's like here on earth, our Heavenly home-going is gonna be un-imaginable! However, we really did have a great trip; it is so rewarding to see people's hearts turned towards God, and to realize that He is still doing a great work in America.
Also, thank-you so much to everyone who has prayed for us; your prayers have been felt! God has has really blessed us these last three months, and has protected us in our travels. Here are a few of the ways that we have really felt God's hand of protection-
#1. Since we left home, none of us have been what I would call "sick" (i.e. throwing up, etc), except for Rebecca! Health is such a blessing, because it just isn't much fun to sing when you are sick (and also because we travel in a forty-five foot bus, so when people get the flu, well, you get the idea!)
#2. While traveling in Northern Georgia one night, we crossed some mountains on the Appalachian Trail, which we later found out is nick-named "The Dragons Tail"! (and appropriately so, since this twenty-four mile stretch of road has lots of hairpin curves!) Well, we were all sleeping except for our faithful bus-driver (my dad), and the snow was just beginning to fall, when the bus started its trek up the mountain. After pain-stakingly working his way around curve after curve, dad finally guided the bus to the top of the mountain and looked down...... but wait, where was the bottom? Was it actually those lights waaaaay down below? Needless to say, we crept along as we made our descent, and eventually DID make it the whole way down. We later told some friends who are First Responders and live near there, about our traveling the Appalachian Trail; they were shocked! They said that motercyclists ride that road in the summer, and, well, some of them never make it the whole way through! God was definitely taking good care of us that night! So thank-you all for your prayers; we definitely felt them!
Well, this is just a brief synopsis of our trip; for more highlights, check out our family's blog or my sister Chelsy's blog. And for now, it's home, sweet, home for me!!!
Also, thank-you so much to everyone who has prayed for us; your prayers have been felt! God has has really blessed us these last three months, and has protected us in our travels. Here are a few of the ways that we have really felt God's hand of protection-
#1. Since we left home, none of us have been what I would call "sick" (i.e. throwing up, etc), except for Rebecca! Health is such a blessing, because it just isn't much fun to sing when you are sick (and also because we travel in a forty-five foot bus, so when people get the flu, well, you get the idea!)
#2. While traveling in Northern Georgia one night, we crossed some mountains on the Appalachian Trail, which we later found out is nick-named "The Dragons Tail"! (and appropriately so, since this twenty-four mile stretch of road has lots of hairpin curves!) Well, we were all sleeping except for our faithful bus-driver (my dad), and the snow was just beginning to fall, when the bus started its trek up the mountain. After pain-stakingly working his way around curve after curve, dad finally guided the bus to the top of the mountain and looked down...... but wait, where was the bottom? Was it actually those lights waaaaay down below? Needless to say, we crept along as we made our descent, and eventually DID make it the whole way down. We later told some friends who are First Responders and live near there, about our traveling the Appalachian Trail; they were shocked! They said that motercyclists ride that road in the summer, and, well, some of them never make it the whole way through! God was definitely taking good care of us that night! So thank-you all for your prayers; we definitely felt them!
Well, this is just a brief synopsis of our trip; for more highlights, check out our family's blog or my sister Chelsy's blog. And for now, it's home, sweet, home for me!!!
Friday
Giving God The Glory
I recently read 2 Chronicles 32:24-25, which reads, "In those days Hezekiah was sick to the death, and prayed unto the Lord: and he spake unto him, and he gave him a sign. But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem." The reason that God was angry with Hezekiah was that Hezekiah's "heart was lifted up." God had healed him, but he didn't give God the glory! How foolish and prideful we humans are sometimes; we ask God for help, but when He helps us, we take all the credit for ourselves!
Another story that goes along with the theme of giving God the glory is found in Acts 12:20-23. This story tells of a time when King Herod gave a speech to the people of Tyre and Sidon. The people responded by shouting, "It is the voice of a god, and not of a man." (v. 22) Verse 23 goes on to say, "And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost." Herod died because he didn't give God the glory! Apparently, God wants to get all the glory! As Psalm 107:8 says, "Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!"
Another story that goes along with the theme of giving God the glory is found in Acts 12:20-23. This story tells of a time when King Herod gave a speech to the people of Tyre and Sidon. The people responded by shouting, "It is the voice of a god, and not of a man." (v. 22) Verse 23 goes on to say, "And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost." Herod died because he didn't give God the glory! Apparently, God wants to get all the glory! As Psalm 107:8 says, "Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!"
Saturday
Praising The Lord
"Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men." (Psalm 107:8,15,21,31) I read Psalm 107 recently, and these verses really spoke to me. One reason I noticed them was because the exact same words are used in FOUR different verses in the same chapter. The writer was obviously trying to get a point across! The other reason I noticed them was because of what the rest of the chapter says. You see, Psalm 107 talks about how God delivers us. What struck me was this- when God gives someone deliverance, He wants praise in return! Tonight I am thankful to God for delivering me from an eternity in hell, and giving me a mansion in Heaven!
So, if God has delivered you from something, take a minute to praise Him!
So, if God has delivered you from something, take a minute to praise Him!
How To Have A Blessed Life
"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish." (Psalm 1)
This chapter starts out by telling us what we shouldn't do - get counsel from ungodly people, stand in the way of sinners, or hang out with scorners. It goes on to tell us to delight in God's Word, and to meditate in it day and night. This seems fairly simple, but if we just follow the advice given in this chapter, we will be blessed!
This chapter starts out by telling us what we shouldn't do - get counsel from ungodly people, stand in the way of sinners, or hang out with scorners. It goes on to tell us to delight in God's Word, and to meditate in it day and night. This seems fairly simple, but if we just follow the advice given in this chapter, we will be blessed!
Friday
Have A Good Name
Proverbs 22:1 says, "A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold." Considering that Solomon, who had incredible riches, was the one who said this, having a good name must be very valuable.
There are two reasons why we should strive to have a good name. First, we need a good name so we can serve God well. Consider this- a person can spend a lifetime building a good reputation, only to tear that reputation down in a few short minutes of folly and sin. And while God definitely forgives sin, men aren't quick to forget. For example, a pastor could live his whole life in a Godly way, but even one moment of yielding to temptation could totally destroy his ministry. Why is that? It is because people would have a hard time trusting him again.
The second reason we should have a good testimony is this- as Christians, we don't want to give unbelievers an occasion to blaspheme God ( 2 Samuel 12:14 ). When we don't walk what we talk, the world looks at us and says, "I definitely don't want to be like THAT hypocrite!" When we act ungodly, we are being a terrible witness.
So remember- as Christians, we are to be Christ-like. If someone could see you every minute of every day, would they think that you were more like a little Christ, or a little devil?
There are two reasons why we should strive to have a good name. First, we need a good name so we can serve God well. Consider this- a person can spend a lifetime building a good reputation, only to tear that reputation down in a few short minutes of folly and sin. And while God definitely forgives sin, men aren't quick to forget. For example, a pastor could live his whole life in a Godly way, but even one moment of yielding to temptation could totally destroy his ministry. Why is that? It is because people would have a hard time trusting him again.
The second reason we should have a good testimony is this- as Christians, we don't want to give unbelievers an occasion to blaspheme God ( 2 Samuel 12:14 ). When we don't walk what we talk, the world looks at us and says, "I definitely don't want to be like THAT hypocrite!" When we act ungodly, we are being a terrible witness.
So remember- as Christians, we are to be Christ-like. If someone could see you every minute of every day, would they think that you were more like a little Christ, or a little devil?
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