A Nugget from New Life Network
(by Chris Musgrove of Future Now)
Scripture for the Day – January 3, 2020
Psalms 78:40-41: How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, and grieved Him in the desert! 41 Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. The New International Version says, “Again and again they put God to the test; they vexed the Holy One of Israel.”
The word “vexed” in Psalm 78 means to be bothered, aggravated, or exasperated. That was God’s people vexing God!!!
In Numbers 13-14 God desired to give the children of Israel the Promised Land, but 10 of the 12 spies that went to spy out the land came back with a bad report. All the spies, except Joshua and Caleb, gave into fear and they limited God. Incidentally, Joshua and Caleb were the only ones that came back with a good report saying, “We are well able to take the land”. They were the only ones to actually inherit the Promised Land forty years later, as everyone else died in the wilderness.
Fear is the opposite of faith. So if faith pleases God, fear displeases God. Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” So, if the absence of faith displeases (bothers, vexes, and limits) God; faith and trust must please Him.
Mark 6:5-6 says, “Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.”
It didn’t say Jesus wouldn’t do any mighty works there, it says He couldn’t. Then it says that He marveled at their unbelief, their lack of faith. They limited what Jesus could do by their unbelief. Verse 6 says, “And he marveled at their unbelief. And he went round the villages in a circuit, teaching.”
That same verse in the New International Version 2008 says, “He was utterly amazed at their unbelief. Then he went around to the villages and continued teaching.” He was teaching because of their unbelief. He knew that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God according to Romans 10:17.
Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
We limit God by our lack of faith. If we are wholly trusting God and standing on His Word He said He would direct our paths.
