Growing in God

God's power in our lives increases as our ability to understand His grace increases. He is constant, unchanging, unaffected by circumstances or passing time, unswayed by man's politics or economy. We are the ones who by seeking God, drawing near to Him, obeying the Word of God, yielding to the Spirit's leading, will see an increase of faith, a greater understanding of His working in our lives, an ever growing awareness of His presence through out the day.

Isaiah 48
v.12 Listen to me, O Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: I am He; I am the first and I am the last.
v.13 My own hand laid the foundations of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; When I summon them, they all stand up together.
v.17 I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.
v.18 If you pay attention to my commands, your peace will be like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
v. 21 They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts; He made water flow for them from the rock; He split the rock and water gushed out.


The power of God's grace is only limited by the understanding and will of each individual. What we know of God is affected by what we accept from God. If we pick and choose what we like and discard what we don't, we will be closed off from the life-giving flow of the Spirit, leaning on our own understanding, dead in our trespasses. However, if we open up our hearts to all that the Word has, our hearts will be changed and our minds renewed to believe and receive that which is impossible with man, but "yea and amen" with God.

Isaiah 49
v.13 Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains! For the Lord comforts His people and will have compassion on His afflicted ones.

God's miracle-working power is only limited in each individual soul by the lack of spiritual vision of that soul. If we want to see what God has available for us, all we have to do is take the first step. God is already there, waiting to take our hand as we reach out for Him. He will lead us into places that will open up new vistas in our view of what lies before us. He knows we are dust, and He carries us to where we could not go on our own. 

Isaiah 50:4 The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. (v.5) The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears, and I have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back.

Ephesians 4 
v.17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.
v.22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 
v.23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds;
v.24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

God respects free-will, the right of each person to accept or reject His miracle-working power. The simple, internal switch that each of us carries in our heart that is our will can put to a complete stop the awesome creative strength with which God made and placed each planet around its star, each star in its galaxy, and each galaxy within the universe. The simple little two-way switch that we have in our souls can unleash the life-altering miracles that repair relationships between people, that straighten twisted bodies and fix bent and broken lives and spirits, that brings life back to failing hearts and dead spirits, lifting us into the heavenlies to exist in eternity. By saying "yes" or "no" we can have the encouraging, life-giving flow of God's love bubbling up from within us to pour over into the lives of those we meet and care for, or we will have to end up with nothing to give but our own dead words and self-serving deeds. It is, in truth, our choice.

Isaiah 50
v.9 It is the Sovereign Lord who helps me. Who is he that will condemn me? They will all wear out like a garment; the moths will eat them up.
v.10 Who among your fears the Lord and obeys the word of His servant? Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.

Only the sincere desire of the soul gives Him the opportunity to bestow it. His desire is already, and has always been, to give this grace to each of us, each day, in all the fullness of His love. Remember, what God wills, happens; what He says, is established. The only question is whether we shut off and isolate ourselves from the flow of God. Others will open to the knock of the Spirit and God will use any yielded will. He gives each of us the opportunity to join -- let's flip that switch to "yes" and jump in. The water is fine and the company is great!

Psalm 69:
v.13 But I pray to You, O Lord, in the time of Your favor; in Your great love, O God, answer me with Your sure salvation.
v.16 Answer me, O Lord, out of the goodness of Your love; in Your great mercy turn to me.

Loving and patient Father, thank You for staying with us as we dither in our uncertainty, debating whether or not we will act on Your Word. Forgive us our doubts and lack of confidence, in attributing to You the weaknesses we have learned to expect from people who have disappointed us. Grant us a fresh vision of Your absolute reliability that we may stand firm in our faith in Your promises and choose You as our Savior, Lord, and God, walking in Your power to show the love of God so needed and desired by the world.

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