Unlimited...

Unlimited mercy.
Unlimited love.
Unlimited chances.
Unlimited grace.
Unlimited blessings.
Unlimited power.

The Lord God almighty, the One who sits on the throne, has no limits. With this being understood, I'd like for you to think about all the times you've placed limits on God. Think about a time when you've asked God for something small. Something that is achievable, but might just be a bit out of your reach. Thus, you need God's help to get you across the finish line.

Now think about the concept of risk versus reward.

What if you really went out on a limb and asked God for something that you know you cannot obtain without his intervention. Perhaps it's getting a ridiculous promotion that you thought you could never achieve. Or getting over an illness that you've been fighting for an extended period of time. Or maybe it's to help you turn around a relationship that's gone down hill for years. Financial setbacks, hard times, mistakes, etc. the list goes on and on.

With that I say that we should ask God for those unimaginable blessings. Ask and believe and it shall be yours.

 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
-Mark 11:24 

Ask God for those things that you cannot achieve on your own. For many requests have earthly boundaries. However, I tell you that we serve a God that has no boundaries. He is a God that can do anything, at anytime, for anyone.

Take the limits off the Lord and allow Him to show you His supernatural power. Increase your faith by unshackling the early chains you place on the Lord. Do this and He will show you great blessings.

Think about the unwavering faith the paralyzed man had as he his friends carried him to meet Jesus. When the paralyzed man came to the place where Jesus was teaching, it was overly crowded and they could not get in.

So what did the man have them do? He had his friends cut an opening in the roof and lower him to see Jesus. That, my friends, is unimaginable faith. That is taking the boundaries off our Lord and saying... "Here I am Lord, I believe that you can heal me."

Here is the passage from Mark 2:

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man

2 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. ² They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. ³ Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. ⁴ Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. ⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

Go forward today with great faith in your heart. Allow the Lord to show you His unlimited love, mercy, and power. Take the boundaries off the Lord and He will shower you with great blessings.

God bless you. And this is for His Glory!

In good times and in bad

I recently watched a move titled Facing the Giants. It had many solid Christian messages and a few things that still leave me thinking about my daily actions. One of the biggest lessons I learned from this movie was to glorify God in both good times and bad. You see, the Lord has the (immediate) ability to change your situation. He can give or take away at any time. If you've read Job, you might recall Job's wife telling him to curse God for all the terrible things that has occurred to him...

 

His wife said to him, "Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!"

And Job replied...

"You talk like a foolish woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?" So in all this, Job said nothing wrong.

I think this is a classic, real life example for all of us. We tend to forget about thanking God during the good times and have more of a tendency to turn to Him for help when we are in trouble. My message today is to always gives thanks to the Lord, even for the smallest of things. Remember, everything we have is a gift from God. Our sight, hearing, smell, ability to walk, talk... the list goes on and on. We could spend hours listing out everything God has gifted us with and still never have a complete list. 

I guess part of it is that we expect things to go our way. Don't we? We expect things to go well and if they don't then we get frustrated, angry, or depressed. Does that help us? No. It only adds to our anxiety and plays into the hands of the enemy. 

I'd encourage you to stay strong in the goodness of the Lord. For the Lord will test all of us in our own time. Even so, I pray that we all have more good times that bad and during our good times let's remember to thank the Lord for every blessed moment we receive. We are never promised tomorrow, so let's give him thanks in all situations and never lose hope. Remember the Lord is the final decision maker and can override any situation. Do not lose hope or faith. 

Remember... God has no limitations and nothing is impossible with God.

God bless you. And this is for His Glory!

Choices

The current drought in Africa is another reminder of just how blessed we are. There are starving Somali families that are forced to travel 50 miles just to wait in line at a overcrowded relief center. Of course, there are no guarantees - just hope.

With millions starving and tens of thousands seeking aid, it's a never ceasing ocean of need. Many families are forced to make a choice that most of us could never fathom. That choice to decide which child to take to the relief center and which to leave behind. Thousands of families must determine which child is most likely to survive the 50 mile journey. The rest - they are forced to leave behind. They do this not out of cruelty, but out of necessity. It is a choice of save one or save none.

The United States has a malnourishment rate of 5%, which is one of the lowest in the world. Especially when you take into consideration the Dem. Republic of Congo that has close to 42 million malnourished people and Ethiopia 31.6 million.

It's easy for us to forget the extreme hardships that many in the world face daily. In a domesticated society where we dwell in "excess" it's unavoidable to take things for granted. How many of us get irritated when we run out of milk and then must get into our car for a (probably less than 5 mile ride) to the local grocery store? Sound familiar?

Our most difficult choice for the day might be "Do I get the milk now or wait until later?"

We are blessed.

Please remember to pray for those who are less fortunate in this world and thank God for the wonderful gifts He has allowed us to have. Everything we have comes from the Lord. Nothing is given in mistake, nothing is overlooked, nothing is given without a reason. Also, everything we have is a temporary gift from God - because nothing is forever except God.

Prayer:

Thank you, Lord for all the wonderful gifts and blessings that you have bestowed upon us. I pray that you bless and comfort those who are less fortunate and help us to stay humble and pleasing in Your eyes. In the name of Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

God Bless you. And this is for His Glory!