* Beyond The Blessings

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,  according to the power that worketh in us

(Ephesians 3:20)

 

            Many believers do not experience spiritual power because they never get beyond the point of spiritual blessing. The Holy Spirit begins to move upon them and they feel great joy. They may express it in singing, shouting, dancing, or crying. They are blessed by God and respond emotionally. God may bless us materially in our finances, our job, career, marriage, family, etc. but God is calling us to more than spiritual and material blessings.

            There is nothing wrong with this. The Bible is filled with such spiritual experiences. But God wants to move His people beyond the point of blessing into the realm of spiritual power, beyond emotion to demonstration.  We must never get to a point of complacency in God nor should we be bound by fear, doubt, and intimidation in God. 

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.  (2 Timothy 1:7)

            Satisfaction in an emotional experience is not the purpose of God’s calling on our life. He does not save us to sit in service after service receiving His word, praising and worshiping Him or studying His word to the exclusion of all else; at some point it becomes time to do the work that He has called us to do.

            Serving God for the fish and the loaves may be what brought you in and though it very well may sustain or fortify you to continue your walk with God, it certainly is not all that God has called us for; there is a work that God has called us to do and it is imperative that we do it!

There is an account in the Old Testament which illustrates this truth. It also illustrates the link between a promise and the possessing of that promise. The nation of Israel traveled a long period of time from Egypt through the desert to the land God promised them. When they reached the edge of this Promised Land, Moses sent in spies to check out the land. Ten of the spies brought back a negative report. They said there were giants in the land and there was no way Israel could go in to possess the land. Only two spies, Joshua and Caleb,  urged the people to enter the land and possess it as God had promised.

Israel chose to listen to the negative report.  Because of this, although it was only an eleven day journey from where they were camped to the Promised Land, it took Israel forty years to make the journey.

There are eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir unto Kadeshbarnea.  And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the LORD had given him in commandment unto them; (Deuteronomy 1:2-3

God brought Israel to the point of blessing. They were at the edge of the Promised Land. God's power was available to conquer the enemy.  But Israel refused to move forward in God's power. There was nothing wrong with the promise. The problem was Israel's refusal to possess it.

We must not stop when we get to a point of blessing in our life. We must break through into the spiritual realm of power. If we do not do so, we will continue to wander in a spiritual wilderness of dry, powerless existence.

We must move beyond the point of blessing into the realm of power. We must become a demonstrator instead of a spectator; a doer instead of only a hearer. When we do so, we will experience the true flow of God's power. We will experience a life force and anointing within ua which we have never before known. We will experience life after religion.

You may think you cannot experience this power because of lack education.  Perhaps you do not hold ministerial credentials with any denomination.   But according to God’s word, we know that He uses people regardless of their position, social standing, education, financial status and all other things that men count as qualifiers to do the important work of God.   

None of these things need stand in the way of our receiving spiritual power. The Word of God is filled with examples of ordinary men and women who were used of God in mighty ways.  For instance:

→  Abraham . . . lied about Sarah being his wife because of fear, yet he was used of God to found the great nation of Israel.

→  Moses . . . was not a good speaker and killed an Egyptian in anger, yet God used  him to lead an entire nation of over two million people to the promised land.

→  Peter . . . sank while walking on water, always said the wrong thing at the wrong time, and in the end denied he knew Jesus. . . yet this ordinary fisherman stood and gave a powerful witness on the day of Pentecost which resulted in the salvation of 3,000 souls.

→  Gideon . . . a young man hiding in fear to thresh the harvest grain was called of God to deliver an entire nation from oppressive captors.

→  King David . . . committed adultery, took another man's wife and had the man murdered, yet he was the greatest King of Israel and called a man after God's own heart.

→  Peter and John . . . both were poor fishermen and had no money or education, but the healing power of God flowed through them to stir entire cities.

→  Apostle Paul . . . it was said of him that his letters were powerful, but his bodily presence weak and his speech poor, (2 Corinthians 10:10).  Not to mention that prior to his conversation he was greatly feared by the body of Christ.  Yet, he went on to form many, many churches throughout the land.

→  Jacob . . . was a deceiver, liar, and a schemer. But when God touched him, he became a "prince with power with God and man."

If men such as these can be entrusted with spiritual power with God and men, we can also, despite our human failures! God calls ordinary men and women and makes them extraordinary. He does not see us as we see ourselves. He does not see us as others see us. God sees us as we can become when we are endued with spiritual power. God uses ordinary people, what the Bible calls "earthen vessels.  The reason He does so is. . .

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. (2 Corinthians 4:7)

             So let us not be like the 10 spies who refused to move forward because of doubt and fear. Joshua and Caleb believed they could have all that God had promised them through the power of God working with them! Joshua went on to become a great military commander; not because of his own strength and might but by and through the spirit of God working in and through him!

(Biblical Studies)

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