Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Can you Limit God?

It is my belief, that you can limit God with the unbelief in your life.

My first example, is when Moses sent 12 (church leaders) spies into Canaan. Read the whole story in Numbers 13 and 14, here are the highlights:

1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.”

25 And they returned from spying out the land after forty days.

27 Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” 32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” (Read unbelief)

30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” 6 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; 7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: “The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. 8 If the LORD delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’ 9 Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them.”
(Read faith in God)

The congregation chose to believe the bad report and it cost them their lives in the wilderness. Their families had to wait 40 years for the Word of God to come to pass.

28 Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the LORD, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: 29 The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. 30 Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in. 31 But your little ones, whom you said would be victims, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised. 32 But as for you, your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness. 33 And your sons shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and bear the brunt of your infidelity, until your carcasses are consumed in the wilderness. 34 According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know My rejection. 35 I the LORD have spoken this. I will surely do so to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.’”
36 Now the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation complain against him by bringing a bad report of the land, 37 those very men who brought the evil report about the land, died by the plague before the LORD.


Now I want everyone reading this to understand, I am not saying God's word will not come to pass or we can limit what God says in His word. As you know, Israel entered the Promised Land 40 years later. My point is, you can limit God in your life. If you choose not to believe, it can cost you your life as well.

I believe it is the individual believers that limit God in their own life, but the word of God has no limits and will come to pass. Because of your unbelief, God might not be able to use you to bring His word to pass in your life. Your unbelief can also negatively affect the lives of those around you.

Know this, I am not saying you can stop the word of God from coming to pass. I am saying you can limit its power in your life.

Here is one last scripture, to make my point.

40 How often they provoked Him in the wilderness,
And grieved Him in the desert! 41 Yes, again and again they tempted God,
And limited the Holy One of Israel. 42 They did not remember His power:
The day when He redeemed them from the enemy,
(Emphasis mine)

They limited God by their forgetfulness and unbelief. I have much more to say but this looks like a good stopping point. Meditate on these until tomorrow.

Can you Limit God?-Part 1

No comments: