Living a Life without
Limits.
Part 1:
I’m going to ask you to
think about this question and I would like you to pray about your answer and
see what God will speak to you about?
The question is what is limiting and/or restricting your life reaching its
full God ordained and significant potential?
Seriously what is holding
you back?, is it circumstances, disappointment, previous or existing rejection,
the fear of rejection, fear of failure, or are you just scared etc., etc., this
list could be almost endless but hey I can’t ask you what is holding your back
only you can ask yourself that question?, I would like to clarify that God’s
morals and ethics aren’t what is holding you back they’re non-negotiable.
Earlier today, I had an
email but unlike every email I’ve had today, this was prophetic, yet I wasn’t
from a prophet or any other church leader, it was a job advert, to look at the
email initially it looked boring and I didn’t pay it much attention, however
when I took another look at, and thought’s it’s only an advert from the Royal
Navy but the title caught my attention, “ Live a Life without Limits”, this
title caught my attention and lead to chain of thought and I asked myself this
question if serving in the Royal Navy is
Living a Life without Limits, how much more then should the Christian
Life be Living a Life without Limits ?
It says in Ephesians
3:20-21 ESV
20 Now to him who is able to
do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory
in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and
ever. Amen.
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about what does
it mean to be a Christian Believer or Disciple in 2013, and for an example is
it any different from being a Believer in 1913?, The world and society have
changed a great deal in the last 100 years, the World has seen two World Wars,
we have seen the rise and fall of political, economic, social systems, we seen an increase of the advance of
technology and we’re reaping in many ways both the benefits and disadvantages
of that technology!
We face both challenges and opportunities,
persecution and praises, but then did the Church of the 1st Century
AD, the Christian Life was never meant to be boring, predictable and dull. Our Lord Jesus says in John 10:10b “I came that they may have life and have it
abundantly”
I give my life to Jesus in 1981, and have been a
Jesus Follower or Disciple since then, my background is Welsh Pentecostal, and
was part of a great Christian Fellowship called The Apostolic Church (Apostolic
not as in Oneness Gospel, They’re Trinitarian) for the early part of my
Christian Walk, and in many ways Welsh Pentecostalism is closely related to the
Welsh Chapel or Non-Conformist Culture, although in some ways has strong
Evangelical roots. I’m not criticising
or condemning that Culture, I grew up in it and it’s my history.
In many ways, History can be positive, negative
or neutral. All of us have a History that includes a combination of various
factors including good, bad and neither good or bad, we’ve all made mistakes
and errors, but there have been times when we’ve done things well and are proud
of what we’ve done and there times we regret, or ashamed or embarrassed about,
we’ve all disappointed and hurt others and we’ve all been disappointed and hurt
by others, sometimes unintentionally and if we’re honest intentionally too!
It’s time to forgive ourselves and forgive others, for many of us unforgiveness
is holding us back!
Matthew 6:14-15
14 For if
you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive
you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses neither will your
Father forgive your trespasses.
Colossians 3:12-17
12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and
beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13
bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving
each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14
And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect
harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed
you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell
in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord
Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
1 John 1:5-10
5 This is the message we have heard from him and
proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we
say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not
practise the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we
have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from
all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not
in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not
sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Many of us need to break free of our History, or
the version of our History we believe or the version of our History that others
have told us, our history has little
bearing or relevance to our present or a future, our present and future aren’t or no longer a
case of history repeating itself and its
time to realise that for ourselves both on an individual or collective basis,
our history isn’t our present or indeed our future, for too long we’ve lived in
the present and looked to our future and
they for various reasons have become a continuation of our history, today it’s time to stop and break that cycle.
We can no longer live in our history, wishing
tomorrow, tomorrow I love you tomorrow, which is our present and future, then
continue to live today or tomorrow as if it was our yesterday!
Can you imagine that you live in a rickety old house that is
falling down all around you, and there cobwebs and dust everywhere, there are
no modern conveniences like running water or electricity, but you like it because
it’s familiar and in way it feels safe and comfortable, suddenly there is knock
on your front door and Jesus is standing there, and he asks you why are you
living in your old house that doesn’t suit you when he has a better house for
you, and just behind Jesus, you see a fantastic house, your heart says wow, but your head says no,
and you say thank you, Lord but I like my house and you close the door on
Jesus, you go and sit on your broken
chair, and think I like my house it’s familiar then there is another knock on
your door, and Jesus is standing there again, and again he shows the new house,
and you think to yourself, I will visit this new house, and you walk inside and
it just blows you away, it’s your dream
house, but you keep looking back at your old house, and say you to yourself, this new house is fantastic but my old house
is familiar and go thank you Lord for showing me this new house but I still
rather live in my old house, and close the door of the new house behind you,
thinking this new house is too good for me and I don’t deserve it, you go back
to your old house and you sit there and the rain comes and wind blows, and you
think to yourself I can patch up this old house it wouldn’t be as nice as the
new house, but it would be better than before, then there is another knock on
your door and your answer it and it’s Jesus again, and you tell him your plans
for your old house and he smiles and says to you, why continue to live in this
old house when I’ve given this new house which is better for you and you do
deserve it because I’ve forgiven you and because you’re in me and I’m in you.
Then suddenly you finding yourself walking towards the new house, you start to
get excited and start running towards it, and you say to yourself, it’s
mine. You sit in your new house on a
comfortable sofa and Jesus is there with you, and you get up and to say thank
you, you make Jesus a cup of tea, and through the kitchen window you see your
old house and think to yourself why did I live there so long! When I could have
lived here instead.
The old house is your history, and when Jesus
shows us our new house which is our present and future, but because of we’re
familiar with our history and because of our history we feel we don’t deserve
our possible present and future, so we decide to patch up our history, but
Jesus has better plans for us than to patch up our past he has a far better present
and future that we think we deserve because of our history!
It says in Isaiah 43:18-19
“Remember not the former things,
nor
consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it
springs forth, do you not perceive it?
It also says in Jeremiah 29:11-14a
11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares
the Lord, plans for welfare[b] and not for evil, to give you a future and a
hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear
you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14
I will be found by you, declares the Lord
In Part 2 we will continue to look Living a Life
without Limits
Yours because of His Grace and Mercy
Blair Humphreys
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