BY PASTOR T. O. BANSO
“Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Is there any limit to my power? Now you will see whether or not my word comes true!’” (Numbers 11:23 NLT). The Living Bible renders the verse thus: “…When did I become weak? Now you shall see whether my word come true or not.” The Bible: An American Translation says, “Is the Lord’s power so limited?” The New English Bible puts it this way: “Is there a limit to the power of the Lord?”
God is unlimited but it is possible for you to limit Him in your life. The adjective, “unlimited” means limitless, unrestricted, unrestrained, unconstrained, infinite, complete, total, etc.
You limit God when you think or say that what His Word says He will do is not possible, or He won’t do it. You limit God when you doubt His promises. You limit God when you reduce Him to a human being like you and confer on Him human limitations. This is a great sin, and this is why many people, including Christians, have not been able to experience the awesome power of God in their lives, or the fulfillment of His promises to them in the Bible or to them personally. They cannot take God at His Word.
To have faith is to believe that what God says He will do, He will do it, even if it is beyond your understanding. God’s power and ability are beyond human thinking faculty; only by walking in faith can we please Him. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6 NKJV).
Only by faith can we walk with God. Paul says, “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV). The New Living Translation renders it thus: “That is why we live by believing and not by seeing.” The world says, “Seeing is believing” but the Word of God says, “Believing is seeing.”
Faith is fundamental to the enjoyment of all the exceeding and precious promises of God. It is foundational. That is why the apostle Paul in 2 Peter 1 mentions faith first before talking about other things we need to add to faith. “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love” (2 Peter 1:5-7 NKJV).
Those who limited God in the Bible
1.The children of Israel. Psalm 78:41-42 says, “Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember His power: the day when He redeemed them from the enemy” (NKJV). The Israelites limited God by their unbelief; they frustrated God despite all the signs and wonders that He did to set them free in Egypt, and the miracles they experienced in the wilderness. They limited God because they forgot about His power and all that the power accomplished in their lives (verses 42-55).
The Israelites who limited God’s power in the wilderness were also limited (restricted) to die there. They didn’t enter Canaan because although they had seen His glory and the signs He did in Egypt and in the wilderness, they put Him to the test ten times (again and again) not heeding His voice (Numbers 14:20-23). Don’t limit the unlimited God.
2. Moses. What a surprise that Moses, through whom God had demonstrated His miraculous power, would doubt the power of God! “And Moses said, ‘The people whom I am among are six hundred thousand men on foot; yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month.’ Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to provide enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to provide enough for them?’” (Numbers 11:21-22 NKJV).
Why should Moses doubt that God would do what He said He would do? Moses didn’t believe God would give meat to the people for one month in the wilderness – he had 600,000 men on foot or foot soldiers. Added to this number are the women and children (Exodus 12:37). Doesn’t the Bible say the cattle on a thousand hills belong to God? (Psalm 50:10). Not a thousand cattle but the cattle on a thousand hills! The Bible doesn’t say how many cattle are on a thousand hills. In verse 11, God says every bird of the mountains and all the animals of the field belong to me. God lacks nothing; He owns everything.
Despite Moses’ reservation, God fulfilled His word to him by supernaturally feeding the Israelites with quails (Numbers 11:31-34). God knows what He’s doing. He knows how he’ll meet all your needs if you have faith in Him.
Don’t limit God. God’s supernatural provision shall come to you in Jesus’ name. You’ll easily meet that need that appears so overwhelming.
3. The disciples of Jesus. Just as Moses doubted God’s ability to give meat to over 600,000 Israelites for one month in the wilderness, the disciples of Jesus did also in the wilderness or desert. They couldn’t believe a multitude could be fed in the wilderness where there was no restaurant or canteen to buy food from or a market to buy food items and cook for them. “Then His disciples answered Him, ‘How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?’” (Mark 8:4 NKJV). The disciples were wrong. With just seven loaves, Jesus fed 4,000 people and seven baskets of leftovers were gathered. Matthew 15:32-38 also records the same story.
Earlier in Mark 6:35-44, a similar demonstration of divine power in the supernatural multiplication of limited resources is recorded. Jesus fed 5,000 men with just five loaves and two fish. Twelve baskets full of leftover bread and fish were gathered thereafter. However, Jesus’ disciples were just like Moses and the children of Israel who limited God despite the testimonies of His supernatural power in the past. God can do anything that is consistent with His nature.
Don’t limit God by your unbelief. I pray that this season, the LORD shall surprise you with provision far in excess of your need.
4. Abraham. Abraham the father of faith and friend of God limited God. At a time, he didn’t believe that the promise of God for a child through Sarah was still possible. He limited God. Abraham laughed when God said he (Abraham) shall not call his wife Sarai again but Sarah. God said He would bless her and give him a son by her; He would also bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her. Abraham laughed! This was after Abraham and his wife had waited expectantly for many years. “Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, ‘Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?’ And Abraham said to God, ‘Oh, that Ishmael might live before You’” (Genesis 17:17-18 NKJV).
If I may paraphrase in modern parlance the reply of Abraham, he said, “Please let’s forget that promise. It’s too late now. Just bless for me Ishmael, my son from Hagar. I’m ok with that.”
See God’s reply to Abraham’s pessimism: “Sarah, your wife, will bear you a son. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my everlasting covenant with him and his descendants. As for Ishmael, I will bless him also, just as you have asked. I will cause him to multiply and become a great nation. Twelve princes will be among his descendants. But my covenant is with Isaac, who will be born to you and Sarah about this time next year’” (Genesis 17:19-21 NLT).
Friend, don’t be pessimistic about God’s promises; don’t call God’s GENUINE prophecy to you a joke. God is not like one of the common comedians you know! Believe Him to give you your miracle. God did it for Abraham even when the situation appeared hopeless. Romans 4:18 says that Abraham contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations as God had promised.
Don’t lose hope. You may have waited for long, and have quit believing God, start believing God again. Believe God again for your marriage, healing, employment, baby, or turnaround. Renew your faith in God. Don’t say it’s too late. God is not a latecomer! He’ll come for you!
5. Sarah. Genesis 18:9-15 tells us how Sarah limited God. Just like her husband (Abraham), Sarah laughed at God’s promise that she would have a child. She had waited for so long that she had stopped believing God for a child. She had entered menopause, the same thing as her husband. She laughed silently to herself and said, “‘How could a worn-out woman like me have a baby?’ she thought. ‘And when my master — my husband — is also so old?’” (Genesis 18:12 NLT).
Talking to Abraham, God responded to Sarah’s laughter this way: “Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, ‘Can an old woman like me have a baby?’ Is anything too hard for the LORD? About a year from now, just as I told you, I will return, and Sarah will have a son’” (verses 13-14 NLT). Sarah was afraid, so she denied that she had laughed. But God insisted she laughed because she did. Did you see that question God asked? – Is anything too hard for the LORD?
May I say to you too: Is there any promise of God you’ve stopped believing? There is nothing too hard for God to do. Human beings may classify problems based on the degree of difficulty, but there is only one classification before God – not difficult. There is nothing like simple issues and difficult issues with God. All issues are simple before Him. You, therefore, need to repent of your unbelief or lack of faith. No promise of God is too good to be true.
Unlike Sarah, Mary didn’t limit or doubt God. She didn’t laugh at God’s promise. She only wanted to know how a virgin would conceive and the angel told her (Luke 1:30-39). Once she was told, she was satisfied even though the process was strange. She believed. “Then Mary said, ‘Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word’” (Luke 1:38 NKJV). No precedent, yet she believed. What a kind of faith in God that was!
My dear sister, it is not over for you. No case is closed with God. God shall visit you and open your womb in Jesus’ name. You shall be pregnant, give birth, and carry your babies. The promise of the LORD to you shall be fulfilled. This time next year, many will never believe you were once waiting upon God for a child. “About this time next year you shall embrace a son” (2 Kings 4:16 NKJV).
6. Zachariah. Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist, limited God by his response to the angel’s announcement of his wife’s conception. Elizabeth, his wife, had been barren for several years and Zachariah wasn’t expecting any child again. He was old like Abraham. “And Zacharias said to the angel, ‘How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years’” (Luke 1:18 NKJV).
In view of his age, Zachariah was saying God couldn’t do anything. His age would limit God from giving him a child! As a servant of God, he should have known better; he should have said, “Yes, LORD.” In order not to delay or cancel the fulfillment of the promise of God by his words of unbelief or negative confession, he was made dumb until the promise of God was fulfilled! (Luke 1:19-20). Notwithstanding his unbelief, God fulfilled His Word.
Don’t limit God by your words, negative confessions, unbelief. Whatever, you’re trusting God for – a job, child, promotion, healing, or anything else, don’t limit God. There’s nothing God has promised that He can’t do. Keep believing Him.
7. The officer assisting the king of Israel. This man limited God by rubbishing the prophecy of Elisha. “Then Elisha said, ‘Hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the LORD: Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria. So an officer on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, ‘Look, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?’ And he said, ‘In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it’” (2 Kings 7:1-2 NKJV).
That was a death sentence waiting to be executed! Everything happened as Elisha had said, and the man who limited God was trampled upon by a crowd of hungry people who were scrambling for food at the gate of Samaria (2 Kings 7:17-20).
This personal assistant to the king should have kept quiet even if he found Elisha’s prophecy incredible although Elisha wasn’t known to be a frivolous prophet. This man probably wasn’t the only person who didn’t believe Elisha but he was the only one who had the effrontery to confront him; he went too far, perhaps trying to impress his employer, the king! Did he think God was like his king? He blasphemed! His mouth killed him! He didn’t act wisely. Proverbs 17:28 says, “Even fools are thought to be wise when they keep silent; when they keep their mouths shut, they seem intelligent” (NLT).
Ezekiel didn’t limit God
In Ezekiel 37, the prophet Ezekiel was wise enough not to limit God concerning the dead bones. When God asked him, “Son of man, can these bones become living people again?” Ezekiel wisely said, “O Sovereign LORD, You alone know the answer to that.” If that personal assistant to the king of Israel were Ezekiel, he would have answered God, “Impossible!”
There’s no impossibility with God. Just say, “Amen” to the promises of God even if you don’t understand how they’ll happen; don’t say, “No, impossible!” It is better to be blessed than to be cursed. 2 Corinthians 1:20 says, “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us” (NKJV).
God is all-powerful. He can do anything that is consistent and compatible with His nature. The only thing God can’t do is what is inconsistent and incompatible with His nature. God cannot lie (Hebrews 6:18; Titus 1:2; 1 Samuel 15:29). God cannot do wickedness (Job 34:10). God is always the same (Hebrews 1:12).
Assurances of God’s limitlessness
All over the pages of the Bible, we read assurances of the limitlessness of God. Isaiah 59:1 says, “Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear” (NKJV). God’s hand is strong, not weak. Psalm 62:11 says, “God has spoken once, twice I have heard this: That power belongs to God” (NKJV). The angel said to Mary, “For with God nothing will be impossible” (Luke 1:37 NKJV). Hear what Jesus said: “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26 NKJV). Jesus told the Sadducees in Mark 12:24: “Your problem is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God” (NLT). God’s power is limitless; it is matchless.
Jesus told the father of the child with a dumb spirit brought to Him to heal: “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes” (Mark 9:23 NKJV). That means the problem is not with God; the problem is with man. If there is someone who is ready to believe, then there is God ready to release His power. “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him” (2 Chronicles 16:9 NKJV). Have faith in God no matter how unreasonable or incredible His Word or promises are.
Before Jesus left the earth at the close of his ministry, he said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18 KJV). God is not limited as mortals are – not limited by time, space, finances, etc. He has all to accomplish what He has promised.
Every word of God shall come to pass. The angel spoke a very powerful word to Mary: “For no word from God shall be void of power” (Luke 1:37 ASV). The New King James Version says, “For with God nothing will be impossible.” This is an all-season truth. God’s word is full of power; with God, nothing will be impossible. Therefore, believe whatever God says to you or He has said in the Bible. It is impossible for God to lie. It may take time, but His word shall come to pass even in your life if you believe. His word has no expiry date! “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Matthew 24:35 NKJV).
Conclusion: Please understand that your experience cannot invalidate or annul the Word of God. That you believed the promises of God in the past and prayed but you didn’t get your desired answer, is no justifiable reason to give up on the Word of God or even on God. That’s what the devil wants.
May I tell you this: God is more than any answer to prayer you received or didn’t receive. I’ll rather have faith in God than have faith in the devil! God is a good God, and the devil is a bad devil! Go back to God. Renew your relationship and fellowship with Him. Imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises (Hebrews 6:12). Keep hearing the Word of God because faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). If you’ve limited the unlimited God in your life, stop limiting Him.
TAKE ACTION!
If you are not born again, you need to give your life to Jesus now. I urge you to take the following steps: *Admit you are a sinner and you cannot save yourself and repent of your sins. *Confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. *Renounce your past way of life – your relationship with the devil and his works. *Invite Jesus into your life. *As a mark of seriousness to mature in the faith, start attending a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church. There they will teach you how to grow in the Kingdom of God.
Kindly say this prayer now: O Lord God, I come unto you today. I know I am a sinner and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and resurrected the third day. I repent of my sins and confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I surrender my life to Jesus now and invite Him into my heart. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank you, Jesus, for saving me and making me a child of God.
I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations! You will need to join a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church in your area where they will teach you how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like the palm tree and grow like the cedar of Lebanon. May you grow into Christ in all things and become all God wants you to be. I will be glad to hear from you. The LORD be with you.
T. O. Banso is the President, Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria.
Phone No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523
WhatsApp No: +2349081295947
Email: cedarministryintl@yahoo.com,
cedarministryng@gmail.com
Website: www.cedarministry.org
