Taking Off the Limits – God Is Able.

Pastor Nathan continued his message this week on learning to believe God.  It was entitled, “Taking Off the Limits – God Is Able.”  What a joy it is to serve a loving God who can turn the impossible into possible, for when we learn to believe God we take the limits off our lives.  Pastor Nathan taught us that our lives will not get better if we don’t learn to believe God.  According to Romans 12:3, each of us has been given the measure of faith, and Christianity is not chasing after something we can never obtain.  If we are called to live by faith, would God then not give us the ability to do so?  Believing God gives us a testimony that the Word of God works.  Consider the life of David.  In I Samuel 12:37 we see that David had to live by faith in the small things before he faced Goliath.  Killing the lion and bear prepared him for something greater.  David’s own family doubted him.  They thought he was insignificant, but David was faithful.  Likewise, we must be faithful in the small things that God entrusts to us. Then when the impossible comes, we will be ready to face what God calls us to do.  We must learn to walk in faith in the small things, for a baby Christian is not ready for the front lines.  Smith Wigglesworth, a great man of faith, said, “If you wait until you need faith to get it, you’re too late!”

Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”  If we do not learn to believe God now, we will never get where we need to be.  This can be applied to our individual lives as well as the church.  Many things we do in God’s Kingdom or in the church may not be things we feel called to do, but God calls us to be faithful in the little things.  “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones.” (Luke 6:10 NLT)  However, Jesus said, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”  Pastor Nathan pointed out that it is God’s plow, not ours.  We should be faithful in whatever He asks of us.  We are called to live from faith to faith (Romans 1:17). We live by faith where we are; we live by faith where we are going.  We must learn to use faith in everyday life.  It is sad that we might trust God for very little when he is the God without limits, the God who is able.  Pastor Nathan encouraged us to grow in our faith, to start where we are, and enjoy the journey. 

God has no limits, so if we are limited, where do those limits come from? The enemy wants to keep us where we are.  In Mark 9:22-23 Jesus was asked a question.  The man brought his son to Jesus because he was being tormented by an evil spirit.  He asked Jesus if He could do anything to help, but Jesus answered his question with a question.  He asked him if he could believe, for  “all things are possible to him that believeth.”  So then, what are the limits?  Since Jesus is not limited, we must look at our own faith.  The man cried out, “help thou mine unbelief.”  One huge limitation would be our unbelief.  Pastor Nathan also noted that the man called Jesus “Lord.”  He was taking off the limits by placing himself under the authority of Jesus.  We must be willing to surrender our will to that of our Lord Jesus Christ.  (Mark 14:36)  We can also limit God with our thinking or our refusal to ask for what we need or want.  Often, we are afraid to believe God because we know our own limits, but we must align ourselves with what God says in His Word.  “There is nothing impossible with God.  All the impossible is with us when we measure God by the limitation of our unbelief.”  Smith Wigglesworth

In conclusion, Pastor Nathan brought us back to Ephesians 3:20.  GOD IS ABLE “ to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.”   We have a God who knows our capabilities, and we need to trust Him to do what only He can do.  It is not our ability; it is the greater One on the inside.  Our responsibility is to take the limits off the God who can do impossible things!