001: Don’t Limit God in the Time of Testing

We’re living in time where problems seem to be multiplying for many people at a furious pace. Finances, health, family – all these areas have become breeding grounds for troubles. As a person who has faith in God and believes in Jesus Christ, your faith in God represents the line that you’ve stepped over that separates you from those who don’t believe.

The Bible says, “All men have not faith.” (2 Thessalonians 3:2).

Some of your friends, coworkers and family members may fit into that category at this present moment in time. Sure, it would be great if they encouraged you to not be afraid and to pray in line with the promises of God in the Word. That’s probably not going to happen.

What you need to realize is, if Jesus were physically sitting with you this moment, He’d be telling you the same things He told the people of that day who feared for the worst.

John 14:27
(27)  Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you: not as the world gives, give I to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

This doesn’t mean you should have traces of smile on your face as life problems plow you under.

This is the kind of peace we have with God through Jesus. He broke down the wall that separated us from God. Now, we have peace with God and through Jesus Christ – access to the power and provisions of God – through faith.

But it’s not enough for you to sit there and mentally agree with this. You must speak your faith and belief out loud.

Proverbs 18:21
(21)  Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it shall eat the fruit of it.

2 Corinthians 4:13
(13)  For we, having the same spirit of faith (according as it is written, “I believed, and therefore I have spoken“); we also believed and therefore speak,

Matthew 17:20
(20)  And Jesus said to them, Because of your unbelief: for truly I say to you, If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you.

Matthew 21:21
(21)  Jesus answered and said to them, Truly I say to you, If you have faith, and doubt not, you shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if you shall say to this mountain, Be you removed, and be you cast into the sea; it shall be done.

Talking about the problem is unbelief expressing itself verbally. Talking about God’s Word, the solution, is speaking your faith. The spirit of faith is solution based. The spirit of unbelief is problem based.

If you follow Jesus’ instructions in Matthew 21:22, all statements relative to whatever it was that you prayed about, they will be statements of faith instead of statements of unbelief, worry or concern.

Matthew 21:22
(22)  And all things, whatever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.

The moment you say, “Amen,” you become a “doer” of the Word instead of just a hearer. That means, you trust God and you don’t let your mind or emotions talk you out of it.

Hebrews 6:12
(12)  That you be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

James 1:5-8
(5)  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that gives to all men liberally, and upbraides not; and it shall be given him.
(6)  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
(7)  For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
(8)  A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

The internet is filled with stories and testimonials from people in all walks of life who overcame every type of obstacle, sickness or problem you can think of. These people made commitment to put their faith in God and keep it there, no matter how bad things got.

And what happened? God rewarded them for trusting in Him for the answers to their problems.

Believing means you accept the presence or existence of something, even though you can’t see it yet.

For example, if I have a bad knee and I pray, I don’t keep talking about “my knee problem” afterwards.

Here’s an example. I like to pray like Jesus taught in Mark 11:22-25. When I pray, I quote God’s Word back to Him. I thank him for scriptures like Psalm 103:3. I thank Him for forgiveness and for seating me with Christ.

Ephesians 2:6
(6)  And has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

I pray until my doubts, fears and worries are just small dots in the rear view mirror. Then, I believe I receive the answer. Right there – right then.

Finally, I speak to the visible problem and tell it to either go and be removed in Jesus’ name.

Jesus spoke a command and told his disciples to use His name to heal, deliver and set the captives free.

So, I use praying and saying – both together. I do this because Jesus taught them both together.

Tomorrow, if the problem seems to be as bad as ever, I make my ongoing prayers – prayers of faith… not prayers of doubt. For example, I don’t keep asking God for the same thing over and over again.

Why? Because if I really believes God loves me, I must be important enough that He’d never forget about the challenge I was facing in my life. Think about it. If you love someone, they’re never far from your thoughts. That’s because the value you place upon them in your life is really immeasurable.  So if God loves me with perfect love, the value He places upon me is probably much greater than even the value I place upon myself.

Someone who loves you doesn’t forget about you.

Think about your own life. There are probably people in your life you think about all the time. You’re wondering how they’re doing and you’d do whatever was in your power to do to help them through a problem. They’re important to you and life wouldn’t be quite the same without them.

So to think that we have to beg God or somehow talk Him into help us doesn’t make any sense? Doing this is doubting His love for us as an individual person. We’re doubting that our situation is important to Him and feel that we have to talk a being who’s otherwise occupied into taking a moment of time to help us. It’s as if the tests and trials you’re facing are insignificant because you’re not that important.

But that’s not what the Bible says, is it? It says the very hairs of your head have all been numbered.

As parents, your children place importance on things that may seem silly to you. But, because you love and cherish them, you want to be a part of what they’re doing. You want to share in their enthusiasm and excitement.

When it comes to God, people get all religious and start thinking of God in a detached way. Detachment and love just don’t mix, though, do they? It has to be one or the other. On top of that, the bible says God never changes. Neither does Jesus. There isn’t such a thing as good days and bad days with God. He’s not generous some of the time and stingy at other times. He’s the same as you see Jesus in the Gospels because it says He was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.

I’m telling you these things because oftentimes, if we don’t see results right away, we can fall into the trap of worrying and wondering what’s going to become of us in the situation we’re facing. Or, maybe the Goliath’s in your situation start threatening you and you start wondering if God’s really helping you or not?

You remember what happened when Peter became fearful, right? A miracle was happening and right in the middle of it, the waves and wind made him fearful and he began to sink.

Is it any different today? I guess is depends upon where your focus is and whether or not you’re prepared with a shield of faith. For example, if Peter had another opportunity to walk on the water, he would have known where his missed it the first time around. Maybe he would have been better prepared? In other words… if he saw a wave heading at him from the right side, maybe he would have looked away from it and put his focus upon Jesus instead?

Here’s a little secret that may help a few people depending upon where you’re at. It’s much easier to have faith in God than it is to have faith in your faith.

What that means is, it’s not just what you believe you’ve received or what you believe you have that’s important, it’s who you believe gave it to you – that’s what’ll keep you strong. I don’t just believe I receive the answer. I believe I receive because God gives it to me when I prayer. That’s what I’m talking about. I’m trusting the person of God even above the process of God, if that makes any sense?

You take what’s given to you and hold onto it, you hold onto the gift and the giver with everything you have within you.

You know unbelief, doubt and worry are all enemies of your faith. They all question the truth and God’s willingness to intervene on our behalf.

Matthew 8:2-3
(2)  A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
(3)  Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.

Matthew 9:28-29
(28)  When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied.
(29)  Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”;

Maybe you can see a pattern here? Sincere, kindhearted Christian people can limit God by giving place to doubts and questions. Or, they can put those questions to the side, and with child-like faith – believe.

Listen, I’m as human as you are. Fearful thoughts pass through my mind. Questions pop up like why this or why that? But the truth is, I can’t entertain those thoughts. I can only entertain thoughts that end with me winning, not losing. If I entertain negative thoughts, life becomes miserable. If I dwell on loss or the potential of loss, that’s all I’ll see.

That’s why the Bible says, “Fight the good fight of faith.” (1 Timothy 6:12)

Faith is a fight, make no mistake about it. Everyone puts their trust in something, someone or a combination of the two. It’s up to you what happens next. Faith or fear?

You can put your faith in the promises and in the one who gave them. Or, you can go down a million other roads. The choice is yours.

So, that’s all for now. Thanks for listening or reading. Have a Happy New Year and remember, the best is yet to come.