I was preaching in Asia almost fifteen years ago and I felt impressed to challenge the faith of people in a particular congregation.
I now want to challenge your faith with the same message.
The people in that congregation were ordinary people, living in a non-Christian country, feeling somewhat overwhelmed by their position as a minority, facing some suspicion and at times opposition from the wider culture. They had settled into a nice position within their community, not rocking the boat, just quietly going about their Christian faith.
At the same time it seemed they had settled into the same attitude toward God. Instead of expecting God to do wonderful things in and through them they were content with quiet lives, occasionally letting their light shine, but not wanting to shine it too brightly, in case it drew some opposition. They contented themselves with a low-key kind of Christianity.
What stirred in my heart for them was a question. “Who do you think you are?”
Who do you think you are that God won’t do wonderful things in and through you?
Who do you think you are that God can’t use you?
Who do you think you are that the promises of God won’t work for you?
Who do you think you are that God can’t work miracles in you and through you in your community and culture?
I challenged the congregation not to be complacent about their faith or to see themselves as second-rate Christians, unable to experience the fulness of God’s blessings, because they were in some kind of limiting situation.
So let me challenge you too. If you decide God can’t work as wonderfully in you as He did through great men and women in history and in recent history, then ‘Who do you think you are?’
What makes YOU so special that the power of God can’t work in your life? What makes your situation so difficult that God has to withdraw and leave you to the will of those around you? What makes your challenges so great that God can’t solve them?
Who do you think you are? !!!!!
It is terribly arrogant and prideful of you to decide that you can’t ask God to be true to you.
We know that God is no respecter of persons, and will do for all of us what He will do for any of us.
“Then Peter began to speak, I now truly understand that God is no respecter of persons.” Acts 10:34
“For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God, showing no partiality and accepting no bribe.” Deuteronomy 10:17
So why is that not true for you? Who do you think you are that you are excepted from God’s blessings and promises? What makes you so special that what God can and will do for others He can’t and won’t do for you?
Do you have any idea how arrogant it is for you to think you are a special case? Do you have any idea how highly you elevate yourself when you think even God can’t work in your life and situation?
All of God’s promises have been confirmed in Jesus. The Bible says that those promises have been made a big “Yes!” through Jesus.
“For all the promises of God in Christ are Yes, and in him Amen, to the glory of God by us.” 2Corinthians 1:20
The call of God is to anyone who will respond, no matter who they are or where they are responding from. We see that in the repeated use of the word ‘whosoever’ or ‘whoever’, meaning anyone who chooses to.
“The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hears say, Come. And let him that is thirsty come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Revelation 22:17
“Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13
“Come, all of you who thirst, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk, without money and without cost!” Isaiah 55:1
So if God’s door is open wide to all, why is it closed to YOU?
If God is ready to forgive your sins, why is that you can’t be forgiven? If God is ready to pour out His Holy Spirit on you, why is it that you can’t be filled? If God is ready to make you His child, why can’t it happen? If God is ready to show His power in your life, why won’t it appear? If God is ready to lift you out of the pit and set you free, why are you still in slavery?
You are not unique. You are not a special case, outside God’s grace. You are not so controlled by the devil or so deep in your own sin and failure that God can’t deliver you. You are not so stupid that God can’t give you wisdom. You are not so lost that God can’t find you. You are not so troubled that God can’t give you peace. You are not so hopeless that God can’t give you hope. You are not so far gone that God can’t bring you back. You are not so crumpled that God can’t straighten you out and make you a light to the nations.
The worse your situation and the more pathetic your hopelessness, then the more glorious God’s grace will shine as God transforms you. Remember how the Apostle Paul celebrated his weaknesses, so God’s strength could be seen.
“God said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. So I boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so the power of Christ may rest on me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, reproaches, necessities, persecutions and distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” 2Corinthians 12:9,10
So, if you are disqualified, and if you’ve been on the sidelines for decades, or if you’ve run away from God, or if you’ve tried before and it all failed, or if you’ve been mocked so much you don’t think you could take any more, or if there is any other impediment that keeps you from moving in the power of God, then you have come to think of yourself too highly. You have become arrogant in thinking you are outside God’s grace and too big a challenge for God.
Let me help you by telling you some home truths you need to settle in your heart.
You are useless and hopeless and it is a shame for God to take a moment’s interest in you. There is nothing that commends you to God. You are absolutely failed and done in. You can’t save yourself and you can’t even keep yourself on track. All your best efforts turn out to be useless and an insult to God’s power.
And that brings you into line with every other person on the planet. We all need God’s grace. None of us is righteous and none of us can save ourselves. We all desperately need God to save us and to protect us and to keep us on track.
So stop getting all chewed up about your uselessness. Get used to it. It’s your reality. And it’s the reality of all of us. Once we get that sorted out we can start calling on and relying on the grace of God through Christ and we can start letting God work the miracle grace of salvation in and through us.
I trust you are appropriately corrected and brought into alignment with the truth. So now, when you meet people who think God can’t help them or do things in and through their life you have my permission to steal my message and say to them, “Who Do You Think You Are!”
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