Set No Limits
The word limit in the Hebrew language means the same as grieve. In Psalms
78:40-42 it says “how often did they provoke Him in the wilderness, and
grieve Him in the desert. Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and
limited the Holy One of Israel. They remembered not His hand, nor the day
when He delivered them from the enemy”.
Fear limits God; the Bible tells us many times “fear not”, and in Isaiah 41:10 it
says “fear you not; for I am with you; be not dismayed for I am your God. I
will strengthen you, yea, I will help you; yea, I will uphold you with the right
hand of My righteousness”. When you fear, you are not trusting the God is
with you. In fact, fear is the opposite of faith and will contaminate your faith.
The Israelites limited God and caused themselves to wander in the
wilderness 40 years because of their fear and unbelief. God had brought
them to the border of the promise land, and told them to go in and possess it
because He had given it to them, but as the 12 men came back that spied
out the land, 10 of them gave an evil report. The said that the land was
flowing with milk and honey, but there were giants in the land and they could
not take it. The 10 caused all of Israel hearts to be afraid and as they
murmured and cried, God was angry and told them that they would wander in
the wilderness 1 year for each day they went to spy out the land, and that
they would not go in, but their children would go in. Every one 20 years old
and up died out and only the 2 Joshua and Caleb of the original 20 years old
and up went in with the next generation (Numbers 13-14).
God was grieved with that generation (Psalms 95:8-11) tells us “harden not
your heart, as in the provocation and as in the day of temptation in the
wilderness. When your fathers tempted Me, proved Me, and say My works.
Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said it is a people
that do error in their hearts, and they have not known My ways. To whom I
swear in My anger, that they should not enter into My rest”; this is also in
Hebrews 3:7-12. We are warned in Hebrews 4:1-3a “let us therefore be
careful less a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you
should seem to come short of it. For to us was the gospel preached as well
as to them, but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with
faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest”.
Doubt and unbelief limits God. Paul tells us in II Corinthians 5:16 “know we
no man after the flesh”. Sometimes you look at the authority that God has
put you under, looking at the person and this limits God. Even Jesus went
through this (Mark 6:1-6) “and He went out from there, and came into His own
country and His disciples follow Him. And when the Sabbath day was come,
He began to teach in the synagogue and many hearing Him were astonished,
saying, from where has this man these things? And what wisdom is this
which is given to Him, that even such mighty works are wrought by His
hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and
Joses, and of Juda and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us? And
they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, a prophet is not without
honor, but in His own country, and among His own kin, and in His own house.
And He could there do no mighty work, save that He laid His hands upon a
few sick folk, and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief,
and He went round about the villages teaching”. This is the same Jesus
which went about healing all that was oppressed of the devil.
Sin limits God; because sin separates you from God (Isaiah 59:2) says “your
iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sin have hid
His face from you, that He will not hear”. And in the New Testament II
Corinthians 6:16-7:1 says “what agreement has the temple of God with
idols? For you are the temple of the living God, as God has said, I will dwell
in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God and they shall be My
people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be you separate; says
the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you. And will be a
Father to you and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord
Almighty. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse
ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the
fear (reverence) of God”.
When Jesus was on the cross and had taken our sins upon Himself, He was
separated from God the Father (Matthew 27:45-46) says “now from the sixth
hour there was darkness over all the land to the ninth hour. And about the
ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabach tha ni
that is to say, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me”.
God commanded us to go and witness (Acts 1:8) “but you shall receive
power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you and you shall be witnesses
to Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria and to the
uttermost parts of the earth”; but people limit God when they don’t go.
Remember that Mordecai told Esther in Esther 4:13-14 “then Mordecai
commanded to answer Esther, think not with yourself that you shall escape in
the king’s house, more than all the Jews. For if you altogether hold your
peace at this time, then shall there relief and deliverance arise to the Jews
from another place, but you and your father’s house shall be destroyed, and
who know whether you are come to the kingdom for such a time as this”?
Jesus gave us the great commission (Matthew 28:18-20 and Mark 16:15-18);
we are the body of Christ, and Jesus told us “verily, verily, I say to you, he
that believes on Me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works
than these shall he do, because I go to My Father” (John 14:12). Jesus went
out to seek and save them that were lost. As the body of Christ, we are His
hands and feet, can God use you or are you limiting God?
A good thing to remember is that God “has chosen the foolish things of the
world to confound the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world
to confound the things which are mighty. And base things of the world and
things which are despised has God chosen, yea, and things which are not to
bring to nought things that are. That no flesh should glory in His presence”.
He demonstrates this with Gideon; in Judges chapter 6 the angel of the Lord
came to Gideon who was hiding from the Midianites trying to harvest a crop
to feed his family. You see the Midianites would come down right before
harvest time and take what the Israelites had planted. The angel of the Lord
said to Gideon, “you mighty man of valor”. You see God knows the end at
the beginning. Gideon made all kinds of excuses and even though God told
him “I will be with you”, in spite of this clear promise for strength, Gideon
made excuses, seeing only his limitations and weaknesses (Judges 6:15)
says “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of
Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family”, he failed to see how God
could work through him; but after putting out a fleece, he believed and God
was able to save Israel by using him.
Like Gideon, we are called to serve God in specific ways, although God
promises us the tools and strength we need, we too make excuses. By
reminding God of our limitations it only implies that He does not know all
about us or that He has made a mistake in evaluating our character. Don’t
spend time making excuses, instead spend it doing what God wants. Our
limitations are opportunities for God to work. Those who do this put
limitations on God, are asking Him to fit their expectations.
When God gives you a vision or dream, it will be more than you can do in the
natural, but that is the time you should draw near to God and ask for His
wisdom in bringing the vision to pass. Don’t rely on your understanding
because the natural mind is enmity with God. Humble yourself and seek God
to bring it to pass (Proverbs 3:5-6) says “trust in the Lord Yahweh with all
your heart, and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways
acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your path”.
There is nothing impossible with God; “all things are possible to them that
believe”. Our part is to trust and believe; we need to find the scriptures on
which we are standing and began to meditate them until we are believing it
with our whole heart. Remember that the just are to live by faith.
Study by: Harriet Bond
Date: October 28, 2008
The word limit in the Hebrew language means the same as grieve. In Psalms
78:40-42 it says “how often did they provoke Him in the wilderness, and
grieve Him in the desert. Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and
limited the Holy One of Israel. They remembered not His hand, nor the day
when He delivered them from the enemy”.
Fear limits God; the Bible tells us many times “fear not”, and in Isaiah 41:10 it
says “fear you not; for I am with you; be not dismayed for I am your God. I
will strengthen you, yea, I will help you; yea, I will uphold you with the right
hand of My righteousness”. When you fear, you are not trusting the God is
with you. In fact, fear is the opposite of faith and will contaminate your faith.
The Israelites limited God and caused themselves to wander in the
wilderness 40 years because of their fear and unbelief. God had brought
them to the border of the promise land, and told them to go in and possess it
because He had given it to them, but as the 12 men came back that spied
out the land, 10 of them gave an evil report. The said that the land was
flowing with milk and honey, but there were giants in the land and they could
not take it. The 10 caused all of Israel hearts to be afraid and as they
murmured and cried, God was angry and told them that they would wander in
the wilderness 1 year for each day they went to spy out the land, and that
they would not go in, but their children would go in. Every one 20 years old
and up died out and only the 2 Joshua and Caleb of the original 20 years old
and up went in with the next generation (Numbers 13-14).
God was grieved with that generation (Psalms 95:8-11) tells us “harden not
your heart, as in the provocation and as in the day of temptation in the
wilderness. When your fathers tempted Me, proved Me, and say My works.
Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said it is a people
that do error in their hearts, and they have not known My ways. To whom I
swear in My anger, that they should not enter into My rest”; this is also in
Hebrews 3:7-12. We are warned in Hebrews 4:1-3a “let us therefore be
careful less a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you
should seem to come short of it. For to us was the gospel preached as well
as to them, but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with
faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest”.
Doubt and unbelief limits God. Paul tells us in II Corinthians 5:16 “know we
no man after the flesh”. Sometimes you look at the authority that God has
put you under, looking at the person and this limits God. Even Jesus went
through this (Mark 6:1-6) “and He went out from there, and came into His own
country and His disciples follow Him. And when the Sabbath day was come,
He began to teach in the synagogue and many hearing Him were astonished,
saying, from where has this man these things? And what wisdom is this
which is given to Him, that even such mighty works are wrought by His
hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and
Joses, and of Juda and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us? And
they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, a prophet is not without
honor, but in His own country, and among His own kin, and in His own house.
And He could there do no mighty work, save that He laid His hands upon a
few sick folk, and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief,
and He went round about the villages teaching”. This is the same Jesus
which went about healing all that was oppressed of the devil.
Sin limits God; because sin separates you from God (Isaiah 59:2) says “your
iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sin have hid
His face from you, that He will not hear”. And in the New Testament II
Corinthians 6:16-7:1 says “what agreement has the temple of God with
idols? For you are the temple of the living God, as God has said, I will dwell
in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God and they shall be My
people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be you separate; says
the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you. And will be a
Father to you and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord
Almighty. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse
ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the
fear (reverence) of God”.
When Jesus was on the cross and had taken our sins upon Himself, He was
separated from God the Father (Matthew 27:45-46) says “now from the sixth
hour there was darkness over all the land to the ninth hour. And about the
ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabach tha ni
that is to say, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me”.
God commanded us to go and witness (Acts 1:8) “but you shall receive
power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you and you shall be witnesses
to Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria and to the
uttermost parts of the earth”; but people limit God when they don’t go.
Remember that Mordecai told Esther in Esther 4:13-14 “then Mordecai
commanded to answer Esther, think not with yourself that you shall escape in
the king’s house, more than all the Jews. For if you altogether hold your
peace at this time, then shall there relief and deliverance arise to the Jews
from another place, but you and your father’s house shall be destroyed, and
who know whether you are come to the kingdom for such a time as this”?
Jesus gave us the great commission (Matthew 28:18-20 and Mark 16:15-18);
we are the body of Christ, and Jesus told us “verily, verily, I say to you, he
that believes on Me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works
than these shall he do, because I go to My Father” (John 14:12). Jesus went
out to seek and save them that were lost. As the body of Christ, we are His
hands and feet, can God use you or are you limiting God?
A good thing to remember is that God “has chosen the foolish things of the
world to confound the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world
to confound the things which are mighty. And base things of the world and
things which are despised has God chosen, yea, and things which are not to
bring to nought things that are. That no flesh should glory in His presence”.
He demonstrates this with Gideon; in Judges chapter 6 the angel of the Lord
came to Gideon who was hiding from the Midianites trying to harvest a crop
to feed his family. You see the Midianites would come down right before
harvest time and take what the Israelites had planted. The angel of the Lord
said to Gideon, “you mighty man of valor”. You see God knows the end at
the beginning. Gideon made all kinds of excuses and even though God told
him “I will be with you”, in spite of this clear promise for strength, Gideon
made excuses, seeing only his limitations and weaknesses (Judges 6:15)
says “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of
Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family”, he failed to see how God
could work through him; but after putting out a fleece, he believed and God
was able to save Israel by using him.
Like Gideon, we are called to serve God in specific ways, although God
promises us the tools and strength we need, we too make excuses. By
reminding God of our limitations it only implies that He does not know all
about us or that He has made a mistake in evaluating our character. Don’t
spend time making excuses, instead spend it doing what God wants. Our
limitations are opportunities for God to work. Those who do this put
limitations on God, are asking Him to fit their expectations.
When God gives you a vision or dream, it will be more than you can do in the
natural, but that is the time you should draw near to God and ask for His
wisdom in bringing the vision to pass. Don’t rely on your understanding
because the natural mind is enmity with God. Humble yourself and seek God
to bring it to pass (Proverbs 3:5-6) says “trust in the Lord Yahweh with all
your heart, and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways
acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your path”.
There is nothing impossible with God; “all things are possible to them that
believe”. Our part is to trust and believe; we need to find the scriptures on
which we are standing and began to meditate them until we are believing it
with our whole heart. Remember that the just are to live by faith.
Study by: Harriet Bond
Date: October 28, 2008
