No More Limit

SUMMARY

We have limited God for a long time in many areas of our lives. There are most likely times when we are not even aware that we have been limiting him through our beliefs and attitudes. If we are not careful, this will put limitations on what God wants to do in our lives.

But as believers, we are learning to live by faith through grace. When we understand how God’s plan operates, we can begin to take those limits off. God wants prosperity to manifest in every area that concerns us, and the Scriptures teach us that we can have abundant lives that are full to the overflowing.  If we patiently stand on his word, we will see manifestations begin to take place like never before.
A. If our values and belief systems are wrong, we unwittingly restrict God.

1. When we study the word of God, we can begin to see areas where we have limited him from working his plan in our lives. We do not see his best when this happens.
   1. When things go wrong, we should not assume it was God’s will. We need to be enlightened as to what his specific will is for us. His thoughts toward us are to prosper us and give us a future and a hope in him (Jeremiah 29:11, NKJV).
2. For with the heart a person believes, adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ, and so is justified, declared righteous, acceptable to God, and with the mouth he confesses, declares openly, and speaks out freely his faith and confirms his salvation (Romans 10:10, AMPC).
   1. One area where we can limit God is through wrong-believing. What we believe determines what kind of life we have.
   2. We are justified when we align our beliefs with the word.
   3. God wants supernatural, not superficial, lives for us.
   4. Religion and religious tradition can open the door to wrong beliefs and double standards for men and women.
3. Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel (Psalm 78:41).
   1. We must ask ourselves what limits are appropriate for mothers and women in Christian ministry today. For example, tradition says it is okay for women to teach Sunday school or witness to others, but not to preach publicly.
   2. It is wrong-believing to think that women do not belong in the ministry.
   3. Men are no more anointed than women. This was shown during the first Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended on women and men equally (Acts 2:1-3).
   4. If any man or woman is in Christ, they are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17).
   5. The Holy Spirit is available to all. He will come upon us and we will all be his witnesses (Acts 1:8).

B. If we try to live under an expired covenant, we will not see results.

1. God made three covenants with mankind; two of those agreements are now invalid.
   1. The agreement made with Adam in the garden of Eden said that if Adam obeyed God and did not eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, God would bless him.
   2. The second agreement was with Moses, and resulted in the law. It said that if the people did good they would get good, and if they did bad they would get bad. Both agreements were performance-based.
   3. The third agreement is the covenant of grace, which is still valid. It does not require self-effort, only belief.
2. Many men still have wrong beliefs concerning their gender roles. They base their beliefs in the old, expired agreement according to the law.
   1. When the original agreement with Adam was broken, the second contract that was activated resulted in man’s domination over woman (Genesis 3:16).
   2. Christ established the current agreement, which states there is no more male or female (Galatians 3:28).
   3. Most preachers do not know the old agreement has expired, and they are still teaching and preaching the law. When the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the ditch (Matthew 15:14).
3. Rightly diving the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15) means rightly dividing the three covenants and understanding the divisions between them.
   1. In a marriage, when men try to keep the law and do everything they think they are expected to do, they can fail and suffer shame.
   2. Under grace, shared responsibility takes pressure off the man. The husband and the wife are freed from restrictions that God never intended.
   3. He who believes in Jesus will never be ashamed (Romans 10:11).

SCRIPTURE REFERENCES

Jeremiah 29:11, NKJV	Genesis 3:16
Romans 10:10, AMPC	Galatians 3:28
Psalm 78:41	Matthew 15:14
Acts 2:1-3 2 Corinthians 5:17 Acts 1:8	2 Timothy 2:15   Romans 10:11