11-22-24-DAILY READING-ENG.

EXPERIENCING THE SPIRIT

                                      DO THE IMPOSSIBLE?

So an important question to ask is this: will God ever ask you to do something you aren't even able to do? Yes, all the time! God wants to use your life in a whole new world of opportunity beyond your areas of competence and experience. Hence, the gift of the Holy Spirit. So never put limits on how God can use your life. Obey almighty God and trust that He knows what He's doing in your life. Don't look at your abilities and natural talents alone and serve only in the areas you feel competent. If you do, you'll eliminate yourself from significant arenas of service. All the way through the Bible, Old Testament and New, God has done mighty works through His people.

We know this from historical observation. But for some reason we don't expect Him to do mighty works today, especially in our own lives or church. We are servants, and Christ is our master. The servant never tells the master what he or she wants to do for him; the servant simply obeys the master. Can you imagine the master giving an order to the servant and the servant replying, “Sorry, that isn't my gift”? That would be ridiculous, and even more so when you realize that it's Christ giving the orders. He'll never ask you to do anything that He won't also enable you to do. Consider Jesus’ question to the disciples in Matthew 16:15: “Who do you say that I am?” Think about that. If He were to ask you the same question, how would you respond?

If your response was similar to Peter's—”You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (verse 16)—Jesus would then ask you, “How much of Me are you experiencing in your life? Are you content to learn about Me, or do you want to experience in your life what I've just revealed to you? In Peter's response to that question from Jesus, he was saying, “You are the promised Messiah, the hope of our nation, the only Savior of the world, and the Son of the living God who holds all power in His hands.” In Christ all the fullness of the Godhead dwells, and all authority in heaven and earth has been given to Him. So if you truly believe He's now seeking to live out His life of fullness through you, where's the evidence? Is the presence of Christ only a doctrinal statement for you?

Or is it a practical experience of His living in you through the power of the Holy Spirit? God's Word says that He's the only Savior of the world. Do you believe that? If you did, you would make sure every person had the opportunity to hear the gospel. We're called to take the gospel to every person, because there's no other way to God. And the Savior has come to your life to involve you in His great plan of salvation. So we must learn to seek God's will and obey Him no matter how difficult and uncomfortable the assignment and no matter how high the cost—knowing we're called to accomplish those tasks not according to our own capacity, but according to the fully enabling power of the Holy Spirit.