As believers in Christ Jesus we are spiritually unlimited, even though we do live with minds that do have limitations. Our abilities in God are often hindered because of the limitations of our minds as human beings, in its struggle for renewal with God.
Apostle Paul once highlighted this through his own personal experience. He said:
“For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.”
Romans 7:22-23 NIV
By living according to the law of God, unlimited spiritual potentials became available to Paul. But he did struggled in bringing these potentials into manifestation, due to the hindrances placed by the law of sin and death in his mind. Yes, he was a great apostle of God; but he was still human just like any one of us.
As believers in Christ Jesus, we are spiritually unlimited, even though we do live with minds that do have limitations.
Our abilities in God are often hindered because of the limitations of the mind as human beings, in the struggle to getting it renewed with God’s word. An unrenewed mind is never stable even in the will of God, but the mind that’s constantly being renewed is strong in God’s purpose for spiritual exploits.
Apostle Paul once highlighted this through his own personal experience. He said:
“For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.”
Romans 7:22-23 NIV
By living in accordance with the law of God, unlimited spiritual potentials became available to Paul.
But he did struggle in bringing these potentials into manifestation, due to the hindrances placed by the law of sin and death in his mind. Yes, he was a great Apostle of God; but he was still weak in his human frailty.
The human mind is the center of the spiritual warfare, that we are engaged in against the devil. Our enemy works at all times to make us unstable in our minds, so that we may not be able to discover our full potentials in God by the Spirit; even as we live in accordance with God’s law.
This is the crux of the matter in spiritual warfare. The mind of the prayer warrior becomes the target of the enemy in his attempt to hinder and eventually stop him.
Strengthened by the Holy Spirit
This is why the Holy Spirit is always there to help us in praying, so as to overcome those limitations of the mind. The Bible says:
“Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God”.
Romans 8:26-27 NKJV
Note that the very Greek word used here for “weaknesses” is often used also for the word “infirmity”. It is the exact same word in meaning to the word that’s often used for “weakness or physical illness” in the human body.
In other words, if the enemy can make a believer in Christ Jesus unstable in the spirit of his mind, he may succeed in making him unstable and eventually unhealthy in the physical body also.
The heart of man is the center of his life, which influences his mind and his physical body.
Since the heart or the spirit of a child of God knows the law of God with the help of the Holy Spirit, Who lives in him (Romans 1:19; John 14:26 and 16:7-11); therefore, his reliance on the Holy Spirit becomes inevitable in overcoming the enemy.
The Holy Spirit knows our hearts, just as He knows the heart of God towards us as we are praying. His work is to strengthen us in our weaknesses, while helping us to be stable in our hearts, minds and bodies until we fulfill the will of God.
The example of Peter at Joppa
Peter (for example) had some limitations in his physical body, while waiting to eat in order to break a fast at Joppa. The Bible says:
“Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.”
Acts 10:10-14 NKJV
Peter received grace to be stable while waiting to eat. He had positioned himself for grace by going to the rooftop of the house, where he was staying to pray.
He was actually in the spirit as he prayed, even though his stomach was sending signals to his mind that he was hungry. He was most likely praying in other tongues before this open vision came to him.
Whenever we are praying in the Holy Ghost, we are in the spirit.
It is amazing to note how God could use what Peter was going through, in his physical limitation to communicate spiritual truth to him, even with a very strong sense of humor.
Of course, the Lord God knew that Peter was hungry; but He was also trying to show Peter here what He (God) was really hungry for – the unsaved gentile souls (see John 4:31-38).
What Peter saw caught him unprepared, even though the Lord knew that he was able to handle it with the help of the Holy Spirit.
As Peter continued to wonder about what he had seen while praying, the Holy Spirit directed him to follow the visitors who had been sent to him from Cornelius.
Peter remained steadfast and stable in the spirit, even as he struggled in his mind about what he had seen in the spirit while still obeying the Holy Spirit.
Eventually the Holy Spirit gradually unveiled before him the spiritual truth and understanding of the vision which he had received, as he acted in obedience to go to Cornelius’ house.
Those who are always ready to obey God are easily led by the Holy Spirit into the will of God concerning their lives.
If you need the Holy Spirit to guide you into the will of God for your life, then you must first be willing and ready to obey what His written word to you says at all times.
To walk in obedience to the Holy Spirit requires an act of faith in God. Our act of obedience before Him guarantees us the peace with God.
The scripture says:
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.”
Romans 5:1-2 NIV
If you’re waiting before the Lord for direction concerning anything in life, don’t ever forget that His written word is always there to guide you first.
Faith in the written word of God gives us peace with God. That is why we need God’s word written in our hearts, as we are waiting on Him. His word that’s written on the tablets of our hearts increases our level of grace with Him.
The scripture also says that:
“Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.”
John 1:16 NIV
It is the fullness of the Word of God within us that gives us grace to be stable.
The Word of God is personified in Christ Jesus (Revelation 19:11-13), who physically walked on this earth, healing the sick and setting the captives free.
Without the grace of God, the Father upon Him; He would not have been able to achieve all that He accomplished on the earth as a Man.
Stability in the midst of the Shakings
It is only God who can cause us to be stable and steadfast in that which He has committed to us.
Paul again told the Corinthians:
“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
1 Corinthians 15:58 NIV
We will see many things being shaken away from our lives while we are waiting in His presence. The Scriptures says in the Passion Translation:
“The earth was rocked at the sound of his voice from the mountain, but now he has promised,
“Once and for all I will not only shake the systems of the world,
but also, the unseen powers in the heavenly realm!”
Now this phrase “once and for all” clearly indicates the final removal of things that are shaking, that is, the old order, so only what is unshakable will remain. Since we are receiving our rights to an unshakable kingdom, we should be extremely thankful and offer God the purest worship that delights his heart as we lay down our lives in absolute surrender, filled with awe. For our God is a holy, devouring fire”!
Hebrews 12:26-29 TPT
Verse 26 in several Bible translations mentions about the shaking of the heaven: but the Passion Translation clearly states what is actually being shaken in heaven, as we are praying and interceding on the earth – “the unseen powers in the heavenly realm!”
The shaking of the unseen powers in the heavenly realm is what is being shaken through the prayer and intercession of the Saints of God on the earth.
We are the ones who initiates these shakings on the earth, because God needs our agreement first of all with Him on the earth before this can happen. As Jesus said it:
“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind (declare to be improper and unlawful) on earth must be what is already bound in heaven; and whatever you lose (declare lawful) on earth must be what is already loosed in heaven”.
Matthew 16:19 AMPC
It is whatever we declare as being improper and unlawful on the earth, that the Lord God will stand in agreement with His Saints on the earth about.
This highlights how powerful the prayers of the Saints are on the earth. You can shape the destiny of the nations through prayer and intercession.
There are many instances in life when I had waited personally for answers to prayers and directions from God. And in many cases, I had often seen God shaking off people and circumstances out of my life completely, before answering those prayers.
He does this always in order to give me the grace to be able to stand strong and steadfast in His presence, and not to be dependent on those people or those circumstances in my life which may want to compete with His glory in my life.
Things that hinder us from freely proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ are shaken away as we stand firm and steadfast by faith in the midst of spiritual warfare, while waiting for the salvation of the Lord.
But in the midst of all the shakings, we must remain stable and strong in God’s presence.
God’s grace will always keep us in the midst of the shakings, until we receive the manifestation of His Kingdom with power. The same grace will carry us on into glory with Christ Jesus.
God will definitely allow some shakings to take place in your life, in order to prepare you for His glory. If nothing is being shaken out of your life, then you’re not yet ready for His glory.
We were created for His glory alone. God never shares His glory with anyone or anything else.
Shakings are for the Change
Our stability in Him gives us hope and peace (see Isaiah 26:3).
That is why patience is essential for us to be able to walk with God.
Jesus is never instant, neither are there any fast track through His way of doing things. He is constant, patient, steadfast and stable (Hebrews 13:8).
We therefore must be ready to experience Him in the stability and constancy of our hearts by exercising our faith in Him. If you are not ready to walk by faith with God, you will never see His glory.
Job declared in the midst of his trial while waiting on the Lord:
“If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my warfare and service I will wait, till my change and release shall come.”
Job 14:14 AMPC
Job realized that all His loses in life as he waited on the Lord were part of the shakings by God in his life, in order to prepare him for the change and the blessing as he remained steadfast before the Lord.
The Lord God will shake us first in order to shape us up for His glory. He is the All-Consuming Fire.
Wisdom into Stability
The time of the shaking of things around us, is also the time for the shaping of new things to come into our lives.
In other words, your spiritual shaking time is also your shaping time before God. The Lord God will shake you first before shaping you up for His purpose on the earth.
It is the time you’ll need to become wiser as you’re drawing strength from God’s word in preparation for greater things to come into your life.
You do not need to be spending your time of waiting on the Lord, by diverging into the elementary things of this world which will all eventually fade away.
Do not let the television and friends take your precious time with the Lord away from you. Get into the word of God, be fervent in the spirit always. Pray and be ready to obey the Lord.
King Solomon once said in the wisdom that God gave him:
“Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer;”
Proverbs 30:25 NIV
In other words, summertime is the preparation time for winter. The “summertime” in this sense is the waiting period for the manifestation of that fullness of time.
Remember there is always a time and a season for everything in life (Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8).
The time of waiting is the time of strengthening by grace. Spend it wisely by borrowing from the example of the ants.
Wisdom and grace are essential to store up the word of God in our hearts, in preparation for what God has in store for a later season in our lives.
But wisdom and knowledge itself come from God alone, and it brings stability in the midst of the inconsistencies of life.
It takes grace to apply knowledge and wisdom so as to be stable. This is also a divine provision.
You do not need to be running “helter-skelter”, while all that is required of you is to be stable and steadfast before God. His voice will come to you for correction, direction and instruction.
The Psalmist wrote:
… “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.””
Psalm 46:10 NIV
Your waiting season is never wasted before the Lord. Spend it wisely.
