Morning by Morning, February 25 - "This Far and No More!"
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I'm waiting and watching for Your leading -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
"Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind ... 'Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb? -- when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors, and said, 'Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped?'" (Job 38:1-11)
You said to the sea, "This far and no more." And You continue to speak in Your sovereignty, "This far and no more" to all that would seek to overwhelm us and overcome us.
We live daily in a broken and fallen world, where choices have consequences and where many choices are made in the freedom we have that are wrong choices, even wicked choices, that break Your heart, that oppose Your will, that unleash evil and destruction in our world. But none of that will have the last word, as we turn to You and call on Your name. There are boundaries to our brokenness and there are limits to the license of our freedom.
No matter what we endure, no matter how much it breaks Your heart or violates Your will, You are there with us by Your Word and by Your Spirit to redeem it and cause it to work together for good (Romans 8:28). You never "will" evil and You never "will" sin -- those are our choices from our will -- but You will never let the evil and the sin our choices have its full say or have the last word. Your Word is the final word and Your sovereignty has the final say. Even our spiritual enemy -- the thief who comes to kill and steal and destroy (John 10:10) -- must yield to Your rebuke (Zechariah 3:2; Jude 1:9) and must bow to the authority of Your name (Philippians 2:5-11; Matthew 28:18). And You are with us through whatever we face (Isaiah 43:1-7; Hebrews 13:5; Matthew 28:20).
As with the boundaries of the sea, "You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth" (Psalm 104:9). "Do you not fear Me? says the Lord; Do you not tremble before Me? I placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; though the waves toss they cannot prevail, though they roar, they cannot pass over it" (Jeremiah 5:22). You assure us of Your sovereignty, even as we endure our challenges. "No testing has overtaken (us) that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and He will not let (us) be tested beyond (our) strength, but with testing He will also provide the way out ("the way of escape" NKJV) so that (we) may be able to endure it" (1 Corinthians 10:13).
One of the ways You provide for us is for us to intercede in prayer and to stand up and speak out in the authority we have in Your name as children of God and disciples of Christ (John 14:13; Matthew 18:19 and 21:22; John 15:7). As You said to Your first disciples, You continue to speak to all Your disciples, "Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for. You. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours" (Mark 11:22-24).
So Lord, in these days of Coronavirus, of famines or plagues or earthquakes or terror or political turmoil, or worries of economic collapse or spiritual warfare or suffering the consequences of selfish and sinful choices in our lives and our generations, "teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1). Teach us to take our authority in Your name, as we seek Your face, listen for Your voice, and obey Your will from the deep place of intimate prayer. As You said long ago, You continue to say: "See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you" (Luke 10:19).
Teach us how to pray and teach us how live into our identity and authority in You. Teach us how to trust in Your sovereign will and make right choices in submission to Your will in the freedom You allow. Teach us how to agree with Your word we've heard from You in prayer to speak to the mountain of whatever we face in the authority of Your name, "This far and no more!" In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My friend, may you be drawn into the deep place of intimate prayer to hear and to speak what the voice of the Lord is saying with authority in faith to whatever you face, "This far and no more!" in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
Gandalf in Lord of the Rings
Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257
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