Power of Restrictions

Key Scripture:  “Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we as of think, according to the power that work in us." Ephesians 3:20

Power Point:

I was listening to John Paul Jackson on television the other day and he said something that really caught my attention. The whole program had been about the power of God in our lives and why we don’t see more of it. He said that he begins each day with a simple prayer, “Lord, loose all my restrictions.”  If you really think about that, we certainly do “restrict” God don’t we? To restrict something is to limit it, or confine it to certain boundaries. Is it possible that you've told God that certain areas of your life are "off limits" to Him?

Many years ago, my friend Julie, had a miraculous healing in her back. We were both very “young’ in the things of the Spirit and healing was something nobody talked about in our little corner of the world. When she told people what had happened their reactions were very odd. They gave her funny looks or said, “Oh, that’s nice.” and went on with their conversations as though nothing had happened. It was uncomfortable for them to think about the supernatural in the here and now.

I remember when I first really began to understand the role of Holy Spirit in the believer’s life and I began to question why we didn’t see more of His activity today. I wasn't seeing the Acts of the Apostles in the acts of believers around me. The more I searched the more He showed me that He was still on the job. He had never stopped working, but the church had put its own restrictions on Him so His power couldn’t work. (Remember Nazareth?)

We tend to put restrictions on other people too don’t we? We keep them in the place where we believe they should be, either good or bad, and we don’t let them change or grow from where they started out.

We restrict ourselves as well. We hold on to our failures  or our sense of unworthiness and refuse to let God out of the box. We are so afraid of risking more failure aren't we?

Here’s the “nitty gritty" about restrictions;

Restricting yourself to your past never allows you to move toward your future.

Restricting God to the limits of your imagination keeps you powerless.

Restricting yourself to the limits of what you can see prevents miracles.

Restricting others to your negative opinion of them never allows them to grow.

Restricting heaven to heaven never lets it touch the earth around you.

When we come into the kingdom of God, we come into freedom. That’s the will of God for us. That’s what Jesus died to give us. Could you ask Him today to show you where you’ve been restricting His power in you and for you? What is "off limits" for Him in your life? Then  ask Him to “Loose all the restrictions so that His life can expand and explode in you”?

And for yourself and those around you, “Lord, please show me where I’ve placed unreasonable restrictions on myself and the people in my life.  I want freedom from my limits for them and for me. I refuse to be limited to my limited imagination.”

That really would bring heaven to earth wouldn’t it?

Power Thought:

When we limit God, we limit all that heaven has to offer us.
We have to STOP that!