Living in the Abundance of God (11 page)

Because Casey was always talking about miracles, some of the men snickered and laughed and made fun of him behind his back, wondering what he was going to do to get a chain. Then Casey said, “Come up here, men. Let’s pray for a chain.” They thought Casey was a nut case, praying for a chain.
Would God drop one out of heaven?

But Casey refused to limit God by his mind. When you walk with God, you know He can and will do anything to bring glory to His Name. So out there on the shoulder of the highway, Casey lifted his hands and began to pray, “Oh, Lord Jesus, You know I forgot my chain. I’m sorry, but I forgot it, and I have to have a chain. We’re too far out here in the country to get a chain, and I don’t have time to go back to get one. God, I need a chain. Oh, God, in the Name of Jesus, give me a chain.”

Who would pray like that? How would God give Casey a chain in the middle of nowhere? But as he was praying in the midst of his crew’s unbelief, a pickup truck came down the highway going really fast and turned right. As it turned, out of the back end of the truck rolled a chain, and it came to rest curled up right at Casey’s feet!

Don’t limit God. God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that you ask or think.

Don’t limit God by your finances either, for God is able to increase your finances. You say, “Well, I want to do something for the world. I want to do something for my family.” Don’t limit God by your paycheck. Don’t limit God by your job. God is bigger than your checkbook and your job.

Don’t limit God by your circumstances. In 2 Chronicles 20, King Jehoshaphat looked out his window in Jerusalem one day, and three great armies were coming against him. As far as their circumstances were concerned, the king and people of Jerusalem and Judah were doomed. Perhaps that’s the way your circumstances present themselves today. You may have so many unsolvable problems around you that you just don’t know what in the world you’re going to do. Well, you’re in the place of Jehoshaphat, which is a good place to be, as long as you don’t limit God by your circumstances.

So Jehoshaphat gathered all the women and children and the men out in the field, and they lifted up their voice to God. Jehoshaphat said, “O L
ORD
God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there
not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You?… O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You” (vv. 6, 12).

They believed that God could get them out of that impossible situation. And the Bible says: “Then the Spirit of the L
ORD
came upon Jahaziel… And he said, ‘Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the L
ORD
to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s…. You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the L
ORD
, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ ” (vv. 14–15, 17).

When the army of Israel went out the next morning, they sent singers out in front of the army, saying, “Praise the L
ORD
, for His mercy endures forever.” They did not need to resort to stealth and secrecy or attack from every direction. They put the praisers out in front of their army, for the joy of the Lord is our strength. And the enemy heard it, became frightened, and was defeated without the people of Judah lifting a sword, yet taking all the spoil.

People may be coming against you today. Everything may be rising up against you. You don’t know what to do.
Cry out to God. Don’t limit God. He is able to deliver by many or by few. With God, all things are possible!

Don’t limit God by your doctor’s report. We thank God for doctors and medication. But remember that at times they are limited in what they can do to help people. My son Paul, who is a surgeon, once told me that I should not call Jesus a doctor. I asked him, “Why not? He healed people.” My son said, “Because doctors, when they hear you say that, know how limited they are. They know they have to look some people in the face and say, ‘I’ve done all I can do. I can’t do any more.’ Jesus is more than a doctor. He is a Healer.”

Don’t be discourteous to a doctor, but don’t limit yourself to their report. They’re telling you as much as the technology shows and as much as they know from their training and experience. But there’s another report above and beyond the report of the doctor. The doctor’s diagnosis told us that Dodie, my wife, was going to die in 1981. Her doctor looked into my face and said, “Your wife will be dead within a few weeks, Pastor—not months, weeks. She has metastatic cancer of the liver. We know nothing to do for her. Make up your mind. She’s going to be dead in a few weeks.”

I looked at him, and I said, “Doctor, we believe in miracles.” He looked at me and said sternly, “You’re going to have to have one.” I looked back at him and said, “We’ll get one.” That was over thirty years ago. God healed her. She is a walking miracle. Don’t limit God.

What if, when the angel came to Mary, the blessed virgin, she had limited God. The angel Gabriel came and said, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!… And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:28, 31–33).

One can easily understand Mary’s response: “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” (v. 34). To which, the angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God” (v. 35).

What if Mary had said, “Now, look, Gabriel, you look bright and beautiful and full of authority. But this has
never been done before, and I don’t know anybody else who ever had a message like this. You realize I’m going to be accused of having an affair with a man and going around here pregnant not even being married. Why are you trying to get me into trouble? Wherever you came from, go on back.”

This word from the angel Gabriel was not natural; it was supernatural. She could have doubted him, but thank God she didn’t. Thank God, she received the seed of God, the Word of God into her womb, and Jesus was born, and now He is our Savior and our Lord!

What if Moses’ parents had limited God when the Egyptians were killing the newborn Jewish boys? Baby Moses was so beautiful, and they could see destiny written on his face. What if they had said, “Well, it’s no use. He’s going to be killed like all the rest of the babies.” But they didn’t limit God. They said, “God, we’re going to trust You.” They took creative steps to save their child, hiding him away in a little basket down in the Nile. Not only was Moses not killed, but God found a way to get him right into the heart of Pharaoh’s palace through Pharaoh’s daughter. She took him for her own child and raised him as a prince in Egypt, and he became the mighty deliverer of the Jewish nation.

So many people look at their lives and only see the addiction to drugs or alcohol or pornography or the financial mess they’ve gotten themselves in, and they say, “What am I going to do? Even God can’t help me.” Don’t limit God.

Consider the demoniac who said his name was Legion in Mark 5. A legion was 6,000, and there was a legion of demons inside of him. The Bible states that he could break apart shackles and chains and that he was crying out and cutting himself with stones. He slept in the graveyard among the dead, and all the people in the countryside knew he was there. They didn’t believe that anything, including God, could help him. Nobody ever came to him with help. Nobody ever said to him, “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob can help you.” No, he was a lost cause. They limited God.

But one day Jesus got in a boat and came to the country of the Gadarenes, and that man with 6,000 demons came running to Him and fell at His feet in worship. Jesus delivered him of those demons. And the once hopeless man sat at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind!

When Jesus got ready to go, the man begged that he might go with Jesus. But Jesus said, “No. You go to your family and friends and begin to publicize what God has done for you.” And when the man went back home and began to say, “Jesus healed me. Jesus delivered me. Jesus saved me,” he was an example of what happens when you don’t limit God.

What is your circumstance today? Where are you today? Are you discouraged? Are you downcast? Does it look as though no one can or ever will help you? Does it look like there’s no help on any side wherever you look? Well, stop looking around you and instead look up. God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all you can ask or think.

Don’t limit God. Throw away your doubt and your unbelief today and put your faith in God through the Lord Jesus Christ. He can provide for whatever you need. Simply trust Him!