A brother shared how his work van has a limiter on the engine. No matter how hard his foot presses the accelerator pedal, the limiter will not allow the vehicle to surpass sixty two miles per hour. However, if he is travelling with a full load downhill and slips the gear stick into neutral, the vehicle is then freewheeling, bypassing the limiter, and can reach a speed up to seventy five miles per hour. U.K. traffic laws require drivers not to exceed 70 m.p.h. on certain roads, and therefore, puts that responsiblilty on drivers to obey the law of the land.
Consider the spiritual analogy here. Freewheeling requires no effort, the limiter is off. I have the life of Jesus Christ living in me who is my very life, breath and being, enabling me to be something I could never be of myself, to God’s glory, not mine. Jesus, our Pattern Man, declared that of Himself, He could do nothing, but the Father in Him, enabled Him to do the works and only speak the words His Father gave Him, (John 5:30, John 14:10). Jesus’ relationship with His Father was such that Jesus only operated according to His Father’s will. Jesus lived a surrendered life to the purposes of God. Jesus was freewheeling, no effort on His part, it was the Father operating through His surrendered being. Everything He said and did was the Father enabling and manifesting through Him. God’s glory was safe in Jesus’ hands because He gave all the credit to Him, never seeking His own glory for the praise of men. His number one relationship was always to please His Father. The man who said He could do nothing of Himself, then did everything through the power of Another, His Father.
The Holy Spirit teaches us the difference between self awareness and self consciousness. If I am self conscious, I am more concerned about what people think of me than what God thinks of me. Self awareness is different. Jesus was self aware. He demonstrated for us how to live a surrendered life to His Father’s will and purposes. He knew that everything He did was through the power of another life working through Him, His Father’s. When He taught us how to pray (Matthew 6: 9-13), He ended the prayer with “For Thine is the kingdom,and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen”. Many have sought to wrestle that “power” for their own purposes and self glory and lived to rue their actions. “Pride comes before a fall”. The power is for the extention of God’s kingdom, for His glory. God will not permit man to wrestle that power for their own purposes from the place where He has safely put it. Our goal is to be Christ conscious, not self conscious.
When the Lord reveals to us that, (like the position Jesus recognised), “I can of mine own self do nothing”, we can delight in the fact that through His enabling power in us, we can then operate according to His will – freewheeling, through the power of Another, the life of Christ in me, all for His glory. The limitations of flesh have no place on resurrection ground.
With more light comes more responsibility how to hold what God imparts for His glory. I must learn the difference between the boundaries that God has set in place, (liberty, not licence to indulge myself), and the limitations that I operate in, in unbelief. Psalm 78: 41 declares that the children of Israel limited the Holy One of Israel and turned back. That generation never entered the Promised Land because of their murmuring and unbelief against the God who had performed many miracles for them.
My choices can limit the Unlimited One! Selah.
It behoves us to remember: What is it that God, in His sovereignty, can only do? What is it, in human responsibilty, that I must do in choice? God’s sovereignty gloves human responsibility and somewhere, in a right choice, they are married in divine purpose. There is a difference in the boundaries that God has set related to His glory that I must respect, and the limitations that I have in unbelief. When God speaks, He speaks to my spirit. My heart has a choice to agree, or limit Him.
1 Corinthians 2: 9 “For eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those who love Him”.
Dear Lord Jesus, Your purpose is to take us into the abundant life You have provided. Forgive us for limiting you in unbelief. May we learn to freewheel on our journey with You, enjoying Your presence as we face life’s challenges in Your strength and ability…..all for our Father’s glory. Amen.
Photo by Rowan Heuvel on Unsplash