How Big Is Your God?

We probably all give lip service to the omnipotence of God, but do we truly believe it?

Do we truly live our lives in such a way that it demonstrates our belief in the God of the universe?

Do we live our lives believing that the God who parted the Red Sea for the Israelites (Exodus 14) will make a way for us?

Do our lives show that we live for the God who sent fire to consume Elijah’s water-soaked sacrifice (1 Kings 18)  and that He will do the same for us?

Do we truly believe that the same God who made the bones come back to life (Ezekiel 37:1-10) can redeem our lives from the death we have experienced?

Do we live like the God who raised Jesus from the dead (John 11) has poured that same power into our lives (Ephesians 3:20)?

I have really been grappling with God’s power, with His Holy Spirit, with whether I live my life as if God’s power is at work within me (Ephesians 3:20). I don’t have a lot of answers, but I know one thing: I desperately want to see God’s power in my life!

My daughter and I have had multiple conversations around the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives. As I’ve mentioned many times before, I was raised in a Baptist church. I am so very thankful for the foundation I have in the Word of God. I will forever be grateful for the strong faith I learned sitting at the feet of some amazing people. However, I have often struggled with the teachings that deny God’s power–teachings that say certain gifts have ceased and God no longer works in that way. After all, who am I to say how God can and cannot work?

Since my daughter has gone to college, she has been blessed with some amazing friends. One friend happens to be an Assembly of God preacher’s kid. Cassie has spent time with his parents and has really dug into their beliefs and the minor theological differences from our home church. She has plugged into an Assembly of God church near college that is Spirit-filled, and she can sense the Spirit’s presence. She feels at home, and she senses something special in that place.

Over the years, I have heard talk about the baptism of the Spirit–something Baptists teach is part of salvation and not a separate event.

I have heard about speaking in tongues being the sign of the baptism of the Spirit–a gift Baptists typically teach has ceased.

Last week, I was exposed to a prophetic service where words of prophecy were spoken over me–certainly not something that would happen in a Baptist church.

While I still don’t know what I believe about everything the Assembly of God teaches, I know that I am open to however the Spirit wants to move and work in my life. I am choosing to open my life and allow Him to work in ways I may have never been open to previously.

I know I don’t want to limit God’s work in my life in any way. I do find it interesting that many of the preachers I respect and listen to most frequently ascribe to some of these teachings. I hear the stories of the miraculous ways God has worked in their lives and through their prayers, and I want to experience that power in my life.

As I have contemplated the prophetic words spoken over me, I find it very interesting that the individual speaking the prophecy had never met me, and yet she definitely spoke things she never could have known. She also spoke words that others have been praying over me and that I have been sensing within my own spirit.

While I don’t know much, I do know I want to live my life like I serve the Almighty God of the Universe–the God who still parts seas, walks on water, feeds the 5000, and raises the dead to life! I believe in my heart that’s the God I serve, but do I live like it?

How am I stepping out in faith? Where am I seeing Him move in my life? What is the last miracle I have experienced?

Here’s what I do know: God loves me. He wants me to experience Him in all of His fullness. He wants my life to be filled with abundance (John 10:10). He wants me to see Him work in me and through me. Does that look the same for all people? No, I don’t believe it does. Does He work the same in everyone’s life? No. His ways of working are as creative as He is.

But it requires faith. Faith to do the unthinkable. Faith to act when He says move. Faith to walk in obedience. Faith to get out of my comfort zone, to step out of the boat onto the crashing waves (Matthew 14:22-33).

What about you? What is God calling you to do? How does He want to move in your life? How does He want to challenge you to live your life like He is all-powerful? Do you have the faith to believe? Do you have the faith to let God out of the neat little box you’ve created for Him?

I pray you do, and I pray you will join me as we dig deeper into our faith, into challenging our long-held beliefs that are limiting our faith and our lives!