Apostolic Friends Forum - Our God is ABLE!

Our God is ABLE!

I sat in church this past Sunday with this thought in my mind. I wanted to share it here and hope it is a blessing to you.

Three young people found themselves in a spiritual dilemma. They had a choice to make. A law had been enacted that violated their covenant with God. They could obey that law and violate their commitment to God, or, they could ignore the law and retain their relationship with the Lord. They chose to stay true to the Lord and, subsequently, faced the death penalty. Here is what they said: “"If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. “ (Dan. 3:17 NKJV). They went on to say:
"But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up."
It occurred to me that our faith in God shouldn’t be based so much on WHAT God does, but, rather on the fact that He is ABLE to do what we ask Him to do. The truth is God doesn’t always answer our prayers the way we think He should. We’ve all prayed for things that just didn’t happen. we’ve probably prayed for the sick that weren’t healed…or for a lost soul that wasn’t save and we questioned God why this was so. I heard about a preacher who declared from the pulpit that if God didn’t heal every sick body he prayed for then he would lay his Bible down and never preach again. Sad to say, I’m afraid this preacher had set himself up for failure, because his faith shouldn’t be on what God does, but on what God is able to do. Even Jesus didn’t every sick person He came into contact with. (Mark 6:5). The majority of those to whom he ministered had no faith in the ability of this “carpenters son”. They saw Him , not as the Mighty God manifested in flesh who is able to do all things, but, rather, as a mere mortal subject to fault and failure. Their faith and ours needs to be in His ability to meet our every need.

Paul wrote in Eph 3:20-21: “ 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, Unto him [be] glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. If our faith is in what we ask God to do, or in what we think God should do, I’m afraid we will be disappointed at times. God doesn’t always move how or when we think He should. But that should not shake our faith, and it won’t shake our faith if we really believe HE IS ABLE to do exceeding, abundantly above what we ask or think. That’s when God gets glory, when we pray, “Lord I ask you to move and know YOU ARE ABLE“. But, whether you move or not…I’m still going to trust you!”

But, this isn’t just about believing that God is able to do great miracles. Its about believing that God is able to keep us in the Palm of His Hand even when we are faced with great obstacles and temptations. Paul speaks of being buffeted with what he calls “a thorn in His flesh”. The debate as to what this “thorn in the flesh” was is ongoing, but whatever it was, Paul prayed three times to be delivered from it. As he prayed, God said to him, “My grace is sufficient, for my strength is made perfect in weakness” Paul realized what he was unable to bear, God IS ABLE to bear. Many times we are faced with situations we just can’t bear… we struggle with temptations we just can’t seem to shake, but, friend…HIS GRACE IS SUFFICIENT ! His grace is ABLE to keep us close to HIM. Paul said, And God [is] able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all [things], may abound to every good work: 2Cr 9:8. Everything I need to overcome, everything I need to bring me out of trouble, everything I need to help me live this Christian life is in God’s ability to keep me close to Him. This “Amazing Grace” we sing about is God’s ability to keep us in our time of need. The filthy rags of our own righteousness will fail us every time. If I trust my works, my abilities, I will fall flat on my face. But, if and when I trust and believe HIM who is ABLE, I will not be moved. I Timothy 1:12 (b) tells us “…. I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” Friend, put your trust in God’s ability to fight your battles for the Word of God tells us: Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present [you] faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, [be] glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. Jud 1:24- 25

RAC 7/30/12