Are you putting God in a box?

They spoke against God; 
they said, "Can God really spread a table in the wilderness? 
True, he struck the rock, and water gushed out, 
streams flowed abundantly, but can he also give us bread?
Can he supply meat for his people?"
- Psalm 78:19-20 (NIV)

They even spoke against God himself, saying,
"God can't give us food in the wilderness.
Yes, he can strike a rock so water gushes out,
but he can't give his people bread and meat."
- Psalm 78:19 (NLT)

It's easy to read this Scripture and think WHAT?? The Israelites have seen God do many signs and wonders to deliver them from Egypt, part the Red Sea, guide them with the cloud by day and with light from the fire by night, split open rocks in the wilderness to give them water as abundant as the seas, and fed them with the bread of angels (see Psalm 78). Even after seeing all this, they still limit God? They still doubt His ability? They still doubt that He cares for them? Seriously?? The Israelites trust in God was limited. As many do today, they put God in a box saying, "This is what God can do; this is what He cannot do".

How often do we do this? Not necessarily with our words but with our attitudes and actions. When we take a step back, it's easy to see that we are not so different from the Israelites today. In Philippians 4:19, God promises to supply all our needs according to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus. Not only is it a promise in His Word (which should be reason enough to believe it!), but you have seen Him supply your needs 1,000 times (okay, if you're honest, more times than you could count), yet you still worry that somehow this time will be different-- that somehow God will fail you, that He won't come through this time. You believe God has saved you but you don't believe He will heal you. You believe God has redeemed you from eternal damnation, but you don't believe He desires for you to have a more abundantly life, that His plans are to prosper you and not to harm you. God has healed your body, but you struggle to believe He will heal your broken heart. You believe God created you, but you don't believe you're beautiful. God has brought you through things time and time again, but you just don't believe He will do it one more time. You believe God is bigger than your problems but you insist on carrying the burden yourself-- burdens you were never meant to carry. 

Why do we limit God? Why do we tend to have this "God can do this, not that" mindset? We have to cast down imaginations and every lofty thing that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and take captive EVERY THOUGHT and make it obedient to Christ (See 2 Cor. 5:10).

We learn from Mark 11:24 that we have to believe BEFORE we receive. 1) Ask. 2) Believe. 3) Receive. We have to believe not just that He can, but that He will. We have to build our faith by hearing the Word (See Romans 10:17). Stay in His Word daily. Listen to Bible-based preaching often! Build yourself up in the Word to keep the faith!

So as you face your current "impossible" situation, take time to reflect on what He's already done for you. Won't He do it again? His mercies? New every morning.

Trust God. Stop limiting what God wants to do in your life with your lack of belief.. Let God out of the box in your mind and see the power He will unleash in your life.


Scripture Reading:

And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. 

- Philippians 4:19 (NKJV)

...for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!] So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldly say, The Lord is my Helper; I will not be seized with alarm [I will not fear or dread or be terrified]. What can man do to me? 

- Hebrews 13:5-6 (AMP)

“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”

- 1 Peter 2:24 (NIV)

Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment], yet we [ignorantly] considered Him stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God [as if with leprosy].

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole. 

- Isaiah 53:4-5 (AMP)

This fulfilled the word of the Lord through the prophet Isaiah, who said, “He took our sicknesses and removed our diseases.” 

- Matthew 8:17 (NLT)

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

- John 10:10 (KJV)

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

- Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 

- Romans 8:28 (NKJV)

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

- Psalm 147:3 (NIV)

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

- Psalm 139:14 (NIV)

Blessed be the Lord, Who bears our burdens and carries us day by day, even the God Who is our salvation! Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

- Psalm 68:19 (AMP)

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

- Matthew 11:29-30 (NIV)

Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the weight of it] and He will sustain you; He will never allow the [consistently] righteous to be moved (made to slip, fall, or fail).

- Psalm 55:22 (AMP)

Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.]

- John 14:27 (AMP)

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We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

- 2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV)

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

- 2 Corinthians 10:5 (KJV)

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Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

- Mark 11:24 (NIV)

God is Faithful,

Rachel Marie

Begin Again

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

- 2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)

No matter who you are or what you've done, if you repent, turn from your sin and make CHRIST your Savior, you will become new! Spiritually, you're an entirely new person! You are reconciled to God! The blood of Christ wipes away all the mistakes of your past! GOD LOVES EVERYONE! GOD IS LOVE, but He is also just. If you don't repent and turn from sin and begin a relationship with Jesus, hell is your eternal destination. Being a "good person" doesn't get you into Heaven. God judges you based on HIS STANDARDS not yours! The Bible says ALL HAVE SINNED AND FALLEN SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD! The wages of sin is death (hell). But you can Begin Again & start a relationship with Christ. Right now, wherever you are you can pray something like this, "God, I confess that I'm a sinner. I repent of my sins. I believe that You sent Your Son, Jesus, to die for my sins and that You raised Him from the dead. Teach me Your ways so I can live a life that pleases You. In Jesus' Name. Amen." Begin to seek God daily in His Word (a good place to start is in the book of John) & in prayer. Find out what His Word says & LIVE BY IT! 

GO AND SIN NO MORE

In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. 

- Romans 1:27-32 (NIV)

Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." God wants those who are practicing homosexuality to come to Him, repent, and turn from their sin. He loves them and wants them to come to them just like the woman who was caught in the act of adultery in John 8 and would say to them "GO AND SIN NO MORE (John 8:11)".

Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. 

- 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (NLT)

** If you are living the kind of life listed above, Heaven is not your eternal destination, hell is because the Bible says the wages sin is death (hell) but if you come to Jesus and turn from your sin, you can be cleansed as verse 11 explains:

Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 

- 1 Corinthians 6:11 (NLT)

Safe Haven

For you are God, my only safe haven...

- Psalm 43:2 (NLT)

When problems overwhelm you today, just look to Jesus: the author and finisher of our faith.  In light of Him, our light and momentary troubles quickly dissipate. Remember, in these uncertain times, God is our only safe haven. There is no need to fear, because if you are a child of God, the creator of the universe is on your side. If you walk according to His Word, "When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you" (See Proverbs 6:20-22). Though we walk through the valley of the shadow, we will fear no evil for He is with us (Psalm 23:4). Proverbs 18:10 says, "The name of The Lord is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe.

Make sure you build your house (life) on the rock (Word of God), because only then will your house stand. Building your life on anyone or anything else is like building your house on sand- it won't last. 

Don't forget to put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground (Eph. 6:13). No doubt, we all need to put on the full armor of God more than ever. 

Relentlessly pursue Jesus and not the things of this world.

Scripture Reading: 

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

- Hebrews 12:2 (KJV)

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

- Romans 8:18 (NIV)

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 

- Romans 8:31 (NIV)

When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you.

- Proverbs 6:22 (NIV)

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

- Psalms 23:4 (NKJV)

The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe. 

- Proverbs 18:10 (NKJV)

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” 

- Jesus in Matthew 7:24-27 (NIV)

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 

- Ephesians 6:13 (NIV)