by Jim Kilgore
Psalm 78:1-42
I believe that God still wants to build great soul-winning Churches! I still believe that God can use His people to evangelize and start new Churches from those saved. I believe that God is still able to take a Nobody and make a Somebody out of that person, for His Glory! I believe that God can take a life, even from humble beginnings, and do a great work through that life! I believe that God can still do the miraculous! I believe that we are not seeing the Power of God because of the unbelief of the heart.
God is still looking for men, women, and young people, to believe in His power and ability to use their lives.
- Do your really believe Jeremiah 33:3? God Himself TOLD US to call upon Him and that HE would show us great and mighty things which we do not know and are even able to comprehend!
- Psalm 62:11 is still true today, and is true for EVERY Country. “God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.”
- Matthew 19:26 likewise is still true for modern-day Christians: “But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”
- Ephesians 3:20 reminds us of the Power of God: “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,”
Many Christians have bought the lie of the enemy which has led many Pastors to doubt what God can do in their ministries. Many a Preacher in third-world countries have bought the lie of the enemy which has led many Pastors to doubt what God can do in their Countries because of limited resources!
Hey, I believe Israel in the wilderness was completely limited in their resources, yet God provided every need they had! And God can do the same for you as well.
Psalm 78:41 says: “Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and LIMITED the Holy One of Israel.” Why would we ever doubt God’s ability to use our lives for His glory? Preacher, what makes you doubt that you can build a great soul-winning Church in your location for God’s glory? Christian, what makes you think that God cannot use you to become a great soul-winner? What makes you think that God cannot provide for you, though you live in a third or fourth-world country? Romans 8: 31-32answers this argument for you. “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?”
Shall God not provide you and I that which we need in our service for Him?
Two places in the Bible the same question was asked of God’s Omnipotence. Genesis 18:14asks: “Is ANYTHING too hard for the LORD?” Jeremiah 32:27 asks: “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there AMYTHING too hard for me?” The answer is found throughout God’s Word. Jeremiah 32:17 provides the direct and definite answer: “Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm,and there is NOTHING too hard for thee:”
God had just reminded Israel of ALL that He had done for them in Psalm 78. Let us likewise be reminded of what OUR God had done for Israel and as we read these miracles, let us likewise be reminded that WE serve the SAME God! Our God has not grown weak and impotent. Our God has not fallen from His throne. God can still do the miraculous in your life and certainly in your Church!
- In verse 12 we are told that God did Marvelous things in Israel.
- In verse 13 we are told that God parted the Red Sea for Israel to cross over on Dry Land.
- In verse 14 we are told that God led His people during the daylight hours with a cloud that would move in the direction God wanted this massive group of people and animals to travel. Then at night when the sun had set, God chose to lead His people with a light of fire.
- In verses 15-16 we are told that God brought forth water from the rocks to provide for 2.25 million Jewish people while they were living in the wilderness.
- In verses 24-29 we are told that God Himself sent food from Heaven which was manna, grain, and meat for them to eat.
Yet notice the ingratitude and unbelief in God’s ability to provide EVERYTHING they needed in their lives! Psalm 78: 19-20: “Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?”
Can God, was asked 3 times in these two verses of Scripture. Can God, reeks with doubt. Each one would certainly be highly critical of the unbelief and doubt that Israel continually manifested. But what of YOUR doubt? What about all of those times when your faith seems to fail you when you are hard-pressed with your needs?
I want to remind you that God knows what you have need of in your lives and for your ministries! God is Omniscient! He knows all about your needs and He is not indifferent to your needs.
The Sin of Unbelief is Limiting What God Can Do in Your Life!
All sin, but in context it was the sin of Unbelief that had limited that which God could had done for Israel. I personally am tired of LIMITING God in my life. The world has seen enough of what WE can do. The world desperately needs to see that which God Himself can do!
Notice God’s Response to the Sin of Doubt and Unbelief
- Verse 21 informs us that God was wroth and a fire was kindled against Jacob and that God’s anger likewise came up against Israel. Why was God so angry? It was clearly because of their unbelief. Notice verse 22: “Because they believed not in God,…”
- Verse 32 notifies us that “For all this they sinned still, and believed not for His wondrous works.”
- Verse 40 tells us that they OFTEN provoked God and actually Grieved the heart of God.
- Verse 41 emphatically declares that their unbelief had limited what God wanted and could had done in their lives.
What Makes the Sin of Doubt and Unbelief Makes God Angry With Us?
God is so angry because of what we are communicating to Him with our doubts. What we are really saying is this, “God, I do not really believe you. I do not think that you WILL do this for me, no matter what your Word has promised.” We are actually attacking the character of God with our unbelief.
God is perfect in His integrity. It is impossible for God to deceive or to lie to us. Titus 1:2 emphatically states: “In hope of eternal life, which God, that CANNOT lie, promised before the world began.” God can be trusted, and is every situation. Whatever God has promised, He has the power to bring it to pass.
God wants to use your life. God has a specific plan for you to accomplish with your one and only life. God has given you the spiritual gifts necessary to accomplish His plan for you. Now, you must simply do all that you can while trusting God to do that which only He can do.
The time is short (I Corinthians 7:29), so let us do all that we can, while we can, with both passion and urgency to the One that gave His precious life for us.
by Jim Kilgore
Article submitted to Independentbaptist.com
Well said! Lacks nothing.
If that is from a sermon and you have it on audio I would like to know how to get a copy.
If you want to know how to light a fire in someone and get them motivated to serve, this is it!
Great truth every Christian needs to hear. I remember Dr. Grey and Brother Hyles both saying “God does not move through us until it becomes impossible by us”. I have found this to be true for 25 years. When our life surrenders to His indwelling Life we can ” do all things through Christ”. AMEN!!!