Limited or Limitless
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding (immeasurable – Amplified Bible) riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. – Ephesians 4:5-7 NKJV.
Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite (limitless – The Message). The LORD lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground. – Psalm 147:5-6 NKJV.
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above (infinitely more – NLT; God can do anything – The Message) all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. – Ephesians 3:20-21 NKJV.
Using Google to search for the word, “limitless,” there were nearly 100 million results. It appears that we human beings do not like limits and would like to be free of them. At the same time that we would like to throw off our limits, we place our human limitations upon our God. Our human view of God is too often that God can do little more than most humans. In our area of the country, we have experienced a severe drought. We had a community prayer meeting to pray for rain several weeks ago. It rained some that evening. Last week we received more than two inches of rain. I know that this was in response to the prayers of many. However, I have heard some express that they never pray for rain, because they do not believe that God answers those prayers – or is it that they do not believe that God has the power to answer those prayers?
Limitless is defined by the Free Dictionary as: “Having no limit or limits; unrestricted: limitless authority.” That is a description of the power and authority of the One true God. Our God is unlimited in His ability. However, there are some limits upon our ability to tap into that power and authority for the living of our lives. Ephesians 3:20-21 describes the ability of God to do more than we can ever imagine. It also describes a limit upon how that power is used in our lives. We are told how God is able to do more than we can imagine in our lives, “according to the power that works in us.” If we believe, for example, that God is unable to answer a prayer for rain, then God will not answer that prayer for you. You have less of His power working in you than someone else who does believe God can send rain.
Another limit upon God’s power to answer our prayers is His will. If what we ask for is according to His will, there is no limit to what God can do. However, if what we are asking for is not according to His will it will appear that His power is limited. 1 John 5:14-15 says, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”
If we believe, the possibilities are limitless for God to work in, and through our lives. Jesus says in Matthew 17:20, “…I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” So, let us believe in the limitless power and authority of God and “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened (Matthew 7:7-8).”
(If we believe, the possibilities are limitless for God to work in, and through our lives.)