Mark 6:5
And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.
And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages teaching.
There are many who might be offended because of the statement “Removing the limits off God” and yet I believe that this is exactly where a majority of God’s children are walking in their Christian walk.
As a preacher and teacher I only share with you the things that God shares with me,
And I believe the reason that he shares with me is for the furtherance of His kingdom,
For the spreading and extension of me as a child of God to be all that I can be for Him so that I may enter into a higher level of understanding and comprehension concerning the word of God.
Before you is Psalm 78 and there are a number of verses to be read but read them and I believe you will have greater understanding as to the truth that is before you
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Ps 78:1-72
Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:
Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.
For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children:
That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children:
That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:
And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.
The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.
They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law;
And forgat his works, and his wonders that he had shewed them.
Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as an heap.
In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.
He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths.
He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.
And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness.
And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.
Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?
Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?
Therefore the LORD heard this, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel;
Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation:
Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven,
And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven.
Man did eat angels’ food: he sent them meat to the full.
He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind.
He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea:
And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations.
So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire;
They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat was yet in their mouths,
The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.
For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works.
Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble.
When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and inquired early after God.
And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer.
Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues.
For their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant.
But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.
For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.
How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!
Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.
They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy.
How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan:
And had turned their rivers into blood; and their floods, that they could not drink.
He sent divers sorts of flies among them, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them.
He gave also their increase unto the caterpiller, and their labour unto the locust.
He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycomore trees with frost.
He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts.
He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them.
He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence;
And smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham:
But made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased.
He cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies:
But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.
When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel:
So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men;
And delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy’s hand.
He gave his people over also unto the sword; and was wroth with his inheritance.
The fire consumed their young men; and their maidens were not given to marriage.
Their priests fell by the sword; and their widows made no lamentation.
Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine.
And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts: he put them to a perpetual reproach.
Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim:
But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved.
And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever.
He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds:
From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.
So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.
This Psalm is written by Asapth who was one who sang and praised God for King David and the context of this psalm is an account of Jewish history.
In the first few verses of this psalm Asapth says that the reason that this psalm is being written is so that the hearts of there children can know about the God of there deliverance, so that there hearts can be prepared to worship and to bring to Him sacrifices of praise for all His mighty works, to know Him and to know His ways, to seek Him and to know how to find Him, And to knock so that the door may be opened unto them.
So the psalm that was wrote for them then also applies unto us that live today, and what this is going to do for you and I is for us to understand how Almighty God deals towards us.
One of the greatest things that I have learned in my life according to the word of God is that you do not have to learn everything from going through it
You do not have to have your experience through the lessons of hard knocks in order for you to learn your lesson
1 Cor 10:11
Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
The word of God is written so that you and I can benefit from Gods dealings with other people, their mistakes do not have to be our mistakes, their shortcomings do not have to be our shortcomings, the traps and snares that they fell into can be the revelation that keeps you and I out of the very place they fell in to.
God is not a respecter of persons, how God dealt with people in the word of God is going to be how he deals with you and I, and we can find great comfort and knowledge concerning the ways and the thoughts of Almighty God towards us.
Ps 78:39-41
For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.
How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!
How often did they provoke God?
VERSE 17
And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness.
And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.
Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?
Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?
VERSE 41
Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.
Now that phrase they turned back and tempted God—let’s deal with that for a moment, we all know that the Israelites never turned back and physically went back into Egypt,
But the truth of the matter is that they talked about it often
They even went so far as to appoint over themselves a Captain to take them back but Moses intervened every time and convinced them to continue to go on
Now listen,
In there heart they did go back to Egypt
They began to long for the food of Egypt
They begin to long for there homes in Goshen
They begin to long for the stability of not having to deal with the desert experience day after day
And then the scripture tells us that they limited the Holy One of Israel
I wonder how many of you are having trouble with this statement that I have just made
They limited the Holy One of Israel
They limited Almighty God
They limited Jehovah
And there are a number of people who shrink back at such a concept that we as frail insignificant and helpless individuals can limit Almighty God
And yet here in scripture we see that is exactly what happened concerning the children of Israel
The way that the church has presented the sovereignty and divinity of God most people believe that whatever God wills is going to happen, most people today believe that God does what ever he wants and because he is God it is going to happen
But this verse of scripture is in total opposition to that belief.
Let me give you just one example
1 Tim 2:3-5
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
But all men are not going to be saved and yet it is the will, the desire, the longing and the wanting of God for all men to be saved.
Another example is that God wills, desires, wants and longs for all to be healed
1 Peter 2:24
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
God desires for all to be baptized in the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Why? Because it is a gift from the Lord Jesus Christ and yet multitudes are not going to be baptized in the Holy Ghost and the list goes on and on and on.
The scripture is very plain they limited the Holy One of Israel
They limited God Almighty
Hear me,
God himself is limitless; there is nothing that God can not do
All things are possible for God and no one can limit change or alter who He is
He is God
But we as children of God can and are able to limit God concerning his plans for us
God’s will does not automatically just take place in your life
In Numbers chapter 13 we have the account of the children of God coming to a place called Kadesh Barnea
It is the place where the children of Israel sent forth spies to go forth into the land of Canaan to spy out the land for there possession
Please take note,
It was the will of God for the children of Israel to go forth into that land and to take possession
That is the reason that he has brought them to this place
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You have read the story
They send 12 spies into the land
10 come back telling all of Israel that they are grasshoppers in the sight of the giants, God willed for them to possess the land but they choose not to go in.
And because of there unbelief, because of their fear and their hardened heart they limited Almighty God
And how similar is this to what we have voiced to God over and over and over again
I should never have done this,
I trusted you and now look at the mess I am in
I would not be in this mess if I would not have obeyed
God why did you bring us out here
God why did you allow this to happen
Oh how I wish I could go back to how it was before I stepped out in faith
They have limited God Almighty and because they have limited Him they no longer can enter into to his perfect will and they will wander in the wilderness for 40 more years until they all have died on the bleached sands of the desert except for Joshua and Caleb who believed and said we can possess the land
The perfect will of God did not come to pass in the life of the Israelites
Why?
Because they did not co-operate with God
Did God love them—yes?
Did they love God—- yes
Did God take care of them— yes?
Did they enter into his perfect will for them—- no?
This example is in direct application for us as children of God
Jer 29:11
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
God had a plan for them
It was not a plan of evil, it was not a plan to bring them to destruction, it was a plan to bring them to an expected end,
An end that would bring them to a place of peace.
It was a plan to make them blessed of all nations, to bring forth out of them the Messiah, to be prosperous above all kindred, but that expected end did not come for them because they limited God
Hear the scripture
Isa 43:1-5
But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.
Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.
Fear not: for I am with thee:
VERSE 15
I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King.
Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters;
Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow.
Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.
Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
Are we going to believe God or are we going to limit Him.