GOD IS ABLE

“Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 1:6)

God is alive and active, able to do what we ask. God hears and answers prayer, as our true friend. God is able to do what we imagine. He reads our thoughts and can interpret the thoughts and feelings we cannot express as we cry out to Him in distress. God is able to do all that we ask or think. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He knows everything and can complete the work He started in us.

“Now to Him who is able to do infinitely more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”  (Ephesians 3:20-21)

-- James Houston, quoted in “In This Quiet Place: Discovering the Pleasure of Prayer”


#4697

THE GOD WHO IS THERE

“For the LORD your God is God of gods and LORD of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.”  (Deuteronomy 10:17 NIV)

In saying God is there, we are saying God exists, and not just talking about the word God, or the idea God. We are speaking of the proper relationship to the living God who exists.  In order to understand the problems of our generation, we should be very alive to this distinction.  Semantics (linguistic analysis) makes up the heart of modern philosophical study in the Anglo-Saxon world.  Though the Christian cannot accept this study as a total philosophy, there is no reason why he should not be glad for the concept that words need to be defined before they can be used in communication.  As Christians, we must understand that there is no word so meaningless as the word "god" until it is defined. No word has been used to reach absolutely opposite concepts as much as the word "god".  Consequently, let us not be confused. There is much "spirituality" about us today that would relate itself to the word god or to the idea god; but this is not what we are talking about.  Biblical truth and spirituality is not a relationship to the word god, or to the idea god.  It is a relationship to the One who is there, which is an entirely different concept.

-- Francis A. Schaeffer in “The God Who is There”


#4643

GOD’S STRONG PRESENCE

“Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”  (Isaiah 41:10 NLT)

One tribe of native Americans had a unique practice for training young braves. On the night of a boy's thirteenth birthday, he was placed in a dense forest to spend the entire night alone. Until then he had never been away from the security of his family and tribe. But on this night he was blindfolded and taken miles away. When he took off the blindfold, he was in the middle of thick woods. By himself. All night long.

Every time a twig snapped, he probably visualized a wild animal ready to pounce. Every time an animal howled, he imagined a wolf leaping out of the darkness. Every time the wind blew, he wondered what more sinister sound it masked. No doubt it was a terrifying night for many.

After what seemed like an eternity, the first rays of sunlight entered the interior of the forest. Looking around, the boy saw flowers, trees, and the outline of the path. Then, to his utter astonishment, he beheld the figure of a man standing just a few feet away, armed with a bow and arrow. It was the boy's father. He had been there all night long.

Can you think of any better way for a child to learn how God allows us to face the tests of life? God is always present with us. God's presence is unseen, but it is more real than life itself.

-- Leonard Sweet in “SoulSalsa"

#4344

OUR OMNIPOTENT GOD

God's omnipotence means [His] power to do all that is not intrinsically impossible.  You may attribute miracles to Him, but not nonsense. This is no limit to His power.  If you choose to say, "God can give a creature free will and at the same time withhold free will from it", you have not succeeded in saying anything about God: meaningless combinations of words do not suddenly acquire meaning simply because we prefix to them the two other words "God can."  It remains true that all things are possible with God: the intrinsic impossibilities are not things but nonentities.  It is no more possible for God than for the weakest of His creatures to carry out both of two mutually exclusive alternatives -- not because His power meets an obstacle, but because nonsense remains nonsense even when we talk it about God.

-- C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) in “The Problem of Pain”


#4192

LISTENING TO THE SHEPHERD

“My sheep listen to My voice; I know them and My sheep follow Me.”  (John 10:27)

I believe God talks to us. Have I heard God speak to me in an audible voice? No.

Sometimes He speaks to me through Scripture. Sometimes He speaks to me through the words of a song, through reading or a sermon, through a quote of advice or admonition, through the honesty of a child, from a billboard or a bumper sticker, through a conversation with a family member or friend.

He always tells me things that are in line with His Holy Word. He does not always give me all the details. His information is always correct. When I follow His directions I will make no mistakes. He brings to pass everything He says.

I am amazed and humbled to realize that an awesome, omnipotent, sovereign God would want to communicate with me. But that’s one of the reasons He created us: He wants us to have fellowship with Him. People have tried to explain how to hear the voice of God. In my opinion, nobody has been able to describe it fully. I believe God’s sheep know the Shepherd’s voice by faith.

-- Thelma Wells, quoted in “In this Quiet Place: Discovering the Pleasures of Prayer"

#4160

PRAYER POSSIBILITIES

To the Infinite all finites are equal. There is no easy or difficult, big or small, possible or impossible. To an omnipotent God, there are no degrees of difficulty.


Anything is possible. Nothing is impossible.


When I need a miracle, I have a tendency to pray louder and longer. I sometimes even pray in King James English like a Shakespearean playwright. Or I pull out some of the Greek words I learned in seminary. But God is unimpressed with our theological words and oratorical cadence. He hears our heart more than our words. He responds to faith, not vocabulary.


-- Mark Batterson in The Grave Robber




#3881

GOD'S LIMITLESS POWER

Think about it. What kind of power is required to speak a universe into existence? What kind of strength must someone possess to scatter stars into infinite space? How explosive do you have to be to ignite the sun or to sustain it's fire? What kind of brute force is required to stack up mountains twenty thousand feet into the air?

Only one force is able to accomplish such a feat: God's power.  Throughout history, when God's people found themselves facing impossible odds, they reminded themselves of God's limitless power. Even Job took comfort by remembering "He stirs up the sea with His power… The thunder of His power who can understand?

Like… Job, we occasionally need a little reminder of what God can do, especially if things aren't going our way. In Psalm 115:3, the psalmist points out that God can do whatever He pleases. That is the essence of what omnipotence is all about. Omnipotent simply means "all-powerful." God never has to ask permission. His unrestrained, indescribable, infinite power and abilities have no parameters.

-- Bill Hybels in The God You're Looking For


#3534

GOD ANSWERS PRAYER

Now here's the good news:  If you do pray, all bets are off.  You can live with holy anticipation because you never know how or when or where God is going to answer, but I promise you this:  He will answer.  And His answers are not limited by your requests.  We pray out of our ignorance, but God answers out of His omniscience.  We pray out of our impotence, but God answers out of His omnipotence.  God has the ability to answer the prayers we should have prayed but lacked the knowledge or ability to even ask.

-- Mark Batterson in The Circle Maker


#3258

NO LIMIT TO GOD'S POWER

With God, there is no big or small, easy or difficult, possible or impossible. This is difficult to comprehend because all we’ve ever known are the four dimensions we were born into, but God is not subject to the natural laws He instituted. He has no beginning and no end. To the infinite, all finites are equal. Even our hardest prayers are easy for the Omnipotent One to answer because there is no degree of difficulty.

If you’re like me, you tend to use bigger words for bigger requests. You pull out your best vocabulary words for your biggest prayers, as if God’s answer depends on the correct combination of words. Trust me, it doesn’t matter how long or how loud you pray; it comes down to your answer to [God’s] question… “Is there a limit to My power?”

With God, it’s never an issue of “Can He?” It’s only a question of “Will He?” And while you don’t always know if He will, you know He can. And because you know He can, you can pray with holy confidence. 

-- Mark Batterson in The Circle Maker


#3160