Don't Limit God!

“You’re at your credit limit”. “You were over your speed limit”. I even heard the guys at my house talking about a “rev limiter” on the motorcycles.  It’s all about limits. Everyone has them. There’s a limit to how much coffee I can drink or I will get the jitters. Diabetics have a limit on the amount and kinds of sugars they can have. There’s a limit for blood pressure in order to stay healthy.  Parents limit the amount of time their children watch television. There should be limits on between meal snacks, buttery foods and ice cream (I know, so sad right?) Some limits are just plain good for you.

Other limits are not so good.  If you limit the amount of grace you extend to others you are in effect limiting the amount of grace you have in your own storehouse. If you limit the amount of time you spend studying God’s Word for your own needs, you will find yourself being weak in faith. If you limit forgiveness to only those who deserve it, where will that put you?  When you limit your prayer life, you limit the answers.

There are limits that can really mess up your life. 

If you limit how much you will love God and follow Him, you will miss the wonderful life of full blessings. God can only clean and use and redeem what we give to Him. If we hold back anything from God, we are limiting God's work in our life.

If you limit how much God can do then you can expect to have nothing more. It is with the same faith that we believe that He works. How high is His grace? How wide is His love? How deep is His redemption, His care, His plans?

Maybe you’ve been struggling. You wonder how God could love you. Maybe you wonder how much God will forgive you. You may know He loves you but how could He use you?  How could He look beyond your faults, your weaknesses, your inabilities? Are you having a hard time believing God can restore things that you know are broken? You would love to change the way things are – to be loved again and to have all of God’s promises working in your life. But you feel like you've overstepped God’s limits or that there’s just not enough grace to reach you, healing to restore you or Word to teach you.

Oh beloved! Look to the Lord instead of your circumstances. Look to God instead of yourself.  Look to faith instead of fear, worry or unbelief. God has made a way for you to be so full of faith that your unbelief has to yield. Even when you can’t believe in yourself you can trust Him to believe in you.  Don’t let the limits of your human existence place limits on God. Instead run to Him and let Him build you up in His most holy faith. He had unlimited grace for your every need, unlimited peace for your every trial, unlimited joy for your every sorrow, and unlimited favor, blessings and honor for you as you walk with Him. His promises are true and every single one of them were written with you in mind. Others may have walked away as they limited their love and care. But God has no limits for His children. There’s no limit to what God can do as you yield yourself to Him.

Whatever you need, beloved, is met in Christ – even your faith! He loves you and He’s for you and that’s where the limits are removed!

 

Psalm 78:41 Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. (KJV)

Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (KJV)

I John 5:4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world-- our faith. (NAS)

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 

Hebrews 11:1-2 Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.  Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation.

Mark 9:23-24 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”   Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

Psalm 119:96 I have seen that everything [human] has its limits and end [no matter how extensive, noble, and excellent]; but Your commandment is exceedingly broad and extends without limits [into eternity]. (Amplified)

God Sees No Limits on You Because He Loves You

I have lots of “old stuff” in my house. From the antique furniture to timeworn lamps, I try hard to reuse and re-purpose things. My mother was really good at that. She would see a dilapidated castoff piece that no one would want and make it seem brand new. She saw things differently than other people do. She found worth in items that others saw as worthless.  That’s why she loved auctions and estate sales. For little money, she would garner a rickety table and take it home to re-do. With just a little paint and polish it could be made to look absolutely beautiful and a greatly desired piece. Occasionally she would even find something in a roadside pile of junk and make it sparkle. It was her keen eye that saw beyond the flaws and deemed them worthwhile instead of worthless.

We tend to treat people the same way. Many of us, truth be told, are castoffs. We may have been used up, disrespected and overwhelmed. We’ve seen better days, we’re not so young anymore and there is more life behind us than before us. We get told we’re too old and of little use to those who come behind us. Businesses try to retire us, family may well ignore us and we may find ourselves feeling useless and alone. As long as we see ourselves as the world says, we will continue to throw up our hands and retreat. We may even quit doing, quit dreaming, and quit growing as we believe what others say about us. 

There is One Who sees you very differently from the way the world sees you. While the world places limits on you, God sees no such limits. Age to God is simply a number. Man looks on the outside to see the value or declare there is none. But God looks on the heart. Both in youth and in old age, God still moves and uses and blesses. It’s all about being yielded to God that gives each person their true worth. While you may have been pronounced a reject, God pronounces you are re-purposed!  Every day is a new day for God’s grace, blessings and value. 

Oh beloved, run to the Lord’s Book of Truth and find out what He thinks of you. Then look further into His Word as you discover the new things God is doing in your life. Listen closely to what He says so that your life will continue to be in His service. Not only will God’s Word heal your heart, it will give you ways to speak the truth into someone else’s life.  God loves you (period) and He’s for you (period) to give you a life that is everlasting in heaven and purposeful here on earth!

Job 12:12 Now that I am old and gray, do not abandon me, O God.  Let me proclaim Your power to this new generation, Your mighty miracles to all who come after me. 

Acts 2:17 In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.

2 Chronicles 34:1-2 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight and followed the example of his ancestor David. He did not turn away from doing what was right.

I Samuel 16:7 …The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart

Psalm 92:12-14 But the godly will flourish like palm trees and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon, for they are transplanted to the LORD’s own house. They flourish in the courts of our God. Even in old age they will still produce fruit…