WISDOM FOR LIVING DAILY DEVOTIONAL
MAY 8, Â 2021
TOPIC: GOD IS ABLE
BY T. O. BANSOÂ
“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8 New King James Version).
God is omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent. In other words, God is everywhere, He knows everything, and He can do all things. Whereas God can do anything, there are things He cannot do! This sounds like a contradiction, but it’s not.
Someone said what God cannot do does not exist. This needs to be put in a proper context because there are things the Bible says God cannot do. If God does them, He will cease to be God. Perhaps a more accurate statement would be that God can do anything consistent with His character.
Here are some of the things the Bible says God cannot do: God cannot lie (Numbers 23:19a; 1 Samuel 15:29; Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18).  God cannot change (Malachi 3:6; James 1:17; Psalm 102:25-27). God cannot tempt anyone (James 1:13-14). God cannot deny Himself (2 Timothy 2:13). God cannot break His covenant (Psalm 89:34; Ezekiel 24:14). God cannot look on or tolerate wickedness/iniquity (Habakkuk 1:13).
In Luke 18, Jesus told His disciples that it would be hard for those who had riches to enter the kingdom of God. He added that it would be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God (verse 24).Â
His disciples wondered who then would be saved.  But Jesus answered, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God” (Luke 18:27 New King James Version). Matthew 19:26 puts this scripture this way: “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (New King James Version).
In Luke 1:37, the angel Gabriel told Mary, the earthly mother of Jesus, “For with God nothing will be impossible” (Luke 1:37 New King James Version).
Also, Jeremiah, praying to the LORD, said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You” (Jeremiah 32:17 New King James Version).
God can do anything consistent with His character. The Bible specifically says some things God “is able to” do and I want to highlight them. Knowing this can help us to build our faith more in Him, for He is able.
1. God is able to save and deliver. God can save sinners from hellfire and can also save human beings from physical danger. He has the power to deliver. The Bible records examples of people that God saved from sin and physical danger. Romans 10:13 says whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
The writer of the book of Hebrews says, “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25 New King James Version).
God saved Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego in the fiery furnace. That was physical danger. Before they were thrown into the fire, they told the king: “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up” (Daniel 3:16b-18 New King James Version). Â
God is able to save and deliver. You can trust Him to save and deliver from hell and danger here on earth.
2. God is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. God is not willing that anyone should perish but that all will come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). But any soul that does not repent will end in hellfire. It is not about whether or not a loving God can cast people into hell. It is actually about sinners choosing to go to hell. God will not violate their right to choose, having sent His Son to die for their sins and asking them to accept Him as their Saviour so as to escape eternity in hellfire.
John 3:16-17 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (New King James Version).
God is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28 New King James Version).
3. God is able to raise children out of stones. When John the Baptist saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come   Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones” (Matthew 3:7b-9 New King James Version). Luke 3:7-8 says a similar thing.
Jesus might have used the stones to refer to the Gentiles that would be saved as the Jews rejected Jesus. There is no one that cannot become a child of God if he comes to Jesus. Jesus says in John 6:37 that all that the Father gives Him will come to Him, and the one who comes to Him, He will by no means cast out.
4. God is able to build up believers and give them an inheritance. Exhorting the Ephesian elders at Miletus, the apostle Paul told them, “So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32 New King James Version).
God and the Word of His grace will build up believers and make them possess their inheritance of eternal glory  – an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for them (1 Peter 1:4)
5. God is able to perform His promises. Romans 4:20-21 says concerning Abraham, “He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform” (New King James Version).
God cannot break His promises. He keeps His Word. God is able to perform what He has promised. God is always watching to see that His Word is fulfilled (Jeremiah 1:12). Joshua told the Israelites, “Not a word failed of any good thing which the LORD had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass” (Joshua 21:45 New King James Version).
God is able to fulfil His promises to you. He who promised is faithful (2 Corinthians 1:20; Hebrews 10:23; James 1:12).
6. God is able to graft in again those who believe after they have fallen. This is because God is both kind and severe. Romans 11:23 says,  “And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again” (New King James Version). Â
Some scholars believe this scripture is referring to the Jews. The New Living Translation puts the verse thus: “And if the Jews turn from their unbelief, God will graft them back into the tree again. He has the power to do it” (New Living Translation). God is able to restore both the Jews and Gentiles who turn from their unbelief. He is able to graft them into the tree again.
7. God is able to make His servants stand. He is able to keep you from falling. “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 24 New King James Version). The Bible in Basic English says God is able to keep you from falling and to give you a place in his glory, free from all evil, with great joy.
Jesus says you should abide in Him and He in you. He says as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Him (John 15:4). Those who don’t abide in Him will be cast out as a branch, will wither, and will be gathered and thrown into the fire and be burnt (verse 6). “And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming” (1 John 2:28 New King James Version).
8. God is able to make all grace available to His children. The apostle Paul says, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8 New King James Version).
The Bible in Basic English presents it thus: “And God is able to give you all grace in full measure; so that ever having enough of all things, you may be full of every good work.” The New Century Version says, “And God can give you more blessings than you need. Then you will always have plenty of everything – enough to give to every good work.” In other words, His supply can exceed your demand! This is well stated in the next point.
9. God is able to do exceedingly above that which we ask or think. Paul says, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Ephesians 3:20 New King James Version). This means that God “is able to do in full measure more than all our desires or thoughts, through the power which is working in us” (Bible in Basic English).Â
God can answer beyond measure, not just the prayers you say with your mouth but even the desires or thoughts you’ve not expressed. What a mighty God we have!
10. God is able to subdue all things unto Himself. Jesus said He and His Father are one (John 10:30). Jesus Christ is God. And Philippians 3:21 says Jesus Christ will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.
God is able to subdue all things. In other words, He is able to put all things under Himself or rule all things by His power. Don’t forget He is all-powerful. He created all things and they are subject to Him.
11. God is able to keep all that is committed unto Him. Whatever you keep with God is safe. Writing to Timothy, Paul said, “For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day” (2 Timothy 1:12 New King James Version).
The Greek word translated “I have committed to Him” is “paratheke” and it means “a deposit.”  In other words, Paul deposited what he was referring to in the bank of heaven where it would be safe. No burglary, no theft! As interpreted by different Bible scholars, Paul could have been referring to his salvation, his life, his body, soul, and spirit, or his soul and all its concerns. Commit your spirit, soul and body and all your concerns and interest to HIm.
12. God is able to help those who are being tempted. God cannot be tempted and does not tempt anyone (James 1:13). But He is able to help those being tempted.  “For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted” (Hebrews 2:18 New King James Version).  As you obey the Word of God on how to overcome temptations, depend on God to help you. He will help you. He will keep you from falling.
God is able. God is not limited like human beings. Trust in Him. He is able.
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
PRAYER POINTS:Â Father, make all grace abound toward me, that I, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. Â Father, do exceedingly abundantly above all that I have asked in my prayers or I have thought, according to the power that works in me. Father, help me to overcome temptations. Â
(For over 600 in-depth and powerful messages by T. O. Banso, visit www.cedarministry.org).Â
 
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
  
  
  
  
