God Won't Give Us More Than He Can Handle

Does The Bible Say That God Won't Give You More Than You Can Handle?

James 10:13 says that God will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can handle and that He will provide a way of escape. But nowhere in the Bible does it say that God will not give us more than we can handle. But many Christians erroneously believe that it's in the word of God due to misquoting James 10:13.

The truth of the matter is that our God in His infinite wisdom knows that we, His children cannot overcome trials and difficulties in our on strength. Jesus exhorts us,  "Come to me all who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest. (Mathew 11:28)  He also warns us, "In this world, you will have tribulation but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world." (John 16:33) 

It is evident through just these two scriptures alone that God knows that we cannot handle our darkest trials alone....but He can!  Therefore, the more correct statement is that God won't give us more than He can handle.

It is in those pain wracked moments of our lives when we feel that we just can’t take it anymore and cry out to Him, fall at His feet in sweet surrender clinging to Him in desperation that we are filled His supernatural peace, strength, and comfort.  

In the process, we encounter His very heart. He fills us with His love and grace causing us to bow down in praise and adoration giving God all the glory for meeting us in the depth of our pain and despair and carrying us through it giving us victory in Jesus. 

"And He said unto me, My Grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Legacy

We've all heard what we believe is an old cliche 'Life is but a vapor.' But some cliches are rooted in some very real truths. James 4:14 says that our life is like the morning fog--it's here a little while, then it's gone. The truth of the matter is that some day we will all breath our last, and we will have a funeral. Have you ever asked yourself what people will say about you at your funeral?

Will they focus on your worldly accomplishments, your reputation, the material things you owned, the degrees you held, your profession, or will they say that you were a man or woman who loved God above all else and your faith was the driving force in your life? The answer to these questions will determine the kind of legacy you will leave behind. A heritage is what is passed down to you such as a family name, culture, birthright, etc. A legacy is what you build into people. It's what future generations will say about you.  It is for certain that you will leave a legacy. The question is what kind?

Our lives have a huge impact on those around us. You are or will be the patriarchs or matriarchs of your families...the leaders, and your children, grandchildren, and great grand children will take what you have done with your life and build on their own lives. Your legacy then it's a continuation of your influence beyond your lifetime. It's either positive or negative that reflects what you value.

Have you thought about what legacy you want to pass on to your family? If you were to die today what kind of legacy would you leave behind? What if by the grace of God you were given more time, a day, a week, a month? How about another 50 plus years? What would your children, grandchildren, great grandchildren say about you?

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, please hear this, even if you only have one more day, the word of God tells us that one day in His courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. We serve a God who heals, redeems, restores and can transform your family legacy despite what was passed down to you, or you have been leaving behind up to this point. Joel 2:25 tells us that God will give us back the years that the locusts have eaten away. Genesis 50:20 declares what the enemy meant for evil God will turn around for our good.

The world is a darker place today than when we were children, and it's only getting darker. We must stand up and be a light not only in our generation, but we must pass on the torch of light - our faith, for the next generations, but it starts with our families. It starts with you. You can be the one who applies the redemptive power of the cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and leave a legacy of faith that lasts. One that honors God and makes a difference for all eternity. Choose to leave a godly legacy. Your great great grandchildren are depending on you.

Our Sufficiency

People often vow to change, only to find that they don't have the sufficiency within themselves to keep those promises. But when God is your sufficiency, there is no limit to the power available to you.

His grace has no measure; His love has no limits; His power has no boundary known to men. For out of His infinite riches in Jesus, He gives and gives and gives again.

No matter how resourceful or strong you bight be, you are going to face situations that are beyond your abilities. When you recognize your insufficiency, it causes you to lean upon God for His all sufficiency.

With God's help and God's strength, you can overcome any adversity that comes in into your life. Acknowledge your limitations. Step out in faith knowing that where you are weak, He is strong, knowing that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.

Lord, we thank You that You give strength  to the weak. We recognize that You have given us a great responsibility  as Your witness to the world, and we recognize that we are not sufficient for the task - but Your are. Help us to wait upon You, Lord. 

In Jesus Name, Amen.  

Pastor Chuck Smith

Wisdom For Today

God's Love

Bible says that love is patient and kind; never boastful, selfish, or rude.Love never demands its own way or is glad about injustice - rather, love rejoices when the truth wins out.Love is loyal no matter the cost. Love always believes the best in us and stands its ground in defending us.

Now substitute the word love with "God" and read the paragraph again. You see, God not only loves - He is love. 

No other love in heaven or on earth compares to God's because His very nature defines agape - selfless, unconditional - love. And that's how God loves us. 

His love heals, restores, fills, accepts, secures, and completes us. It's unending, unfailing, unchanging, and radical. So if you are feeling unloved run to the source of love and let Him fill you with the redeeming power of His amazing love. His love is all we ever have need of. 

"God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."
Romans 5:5  

"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should called children of God."

1 John 3:1

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that those who would believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

John 3:16

"But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." 

Romans 5:8

"I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness." 

Jeremiah 31:13

A Thanksgiving Proclamation

The Real Reason for Thanksgiving!

Washington, D.C.

October 3, 1863

By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. 

In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. 

Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. 

They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. 

And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the Eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

William H. Seward,

Secretary of State

Are You Bitter?

Are You Bitter?

What eats at the gut of your soul my friend? Could it be bitterness? It can be done away with if you continue to spend time with the Lord in prayer and in His Word. Ask God to help you.

Hebrews 12:1 says, “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

If you continue to look at the person or problem that has hurt you, bitterness can last. Oh my friend, fix your eyes on Jesus. Ask God to open the eyes of your understanding. Beloved, you’re standing in God’s adequacy for every situation of life.

2 Corinthians 12:9 promises, “My grace is sufficient for you; for power is perfected in weakness."

-Kay Arthur

Why Was I Born?

What questions does a man ask who has been stripped of everything? In just a few moments’ time, Job lost his children, his health, and all his earthly possessions. Job 3:11 tells us that he didn’t curse God, but he did curse the day of his birth. “Why was I ever born? What is the purpose of my life?” He cried out in anguish. 

When the storms of life come, things get overwhelming, our troubles intensify, and we cannot take the pain or grief another minute, like Job, we can wish we had never been born. "Why then did you bring me out of the womb? I wish I had died before any eye saw me." Job 10:18

If you subscribe to the evolutionary theory, the answer is obvious. There is no purpose for your life, for you exist by accident, by random occurrences over billions of years of time. 

The Bible, however, teaches that there is life after death. This is just a place where God is preparing me so that I might dwell with Him forever. The tests, the trials, the hardships, the disappointments are all intended to show me how temporary earthly things are, and teach me to live for the eternal and not for the present. 

Why was I born? Why were you born? He created us to know and trust Him, that we might dwell with God in the glory of His kingdom forever. 

Father, teach us to trust in You, knowing that our lives are in Your hands. We know that the enemy can do no more than what You allow him to do. As we stumble or fail a test, it is only that we might see how weak we are so that we will trust You more. 

In Jesus’ Name, Amen. 

Pastor Chuck Smith

Wisdom For Today

Mercy

God is merciful. If he wasn't, most of us would be in big trouble!

The Greek translation of mercy means " an outward manifestation of pity; it assumes need on the part of him who receives it, and the resources adequate to meet the need of the part of him who shows t."

If we have been wronged, we show mercy. If we give or forgive despite our grievances, we exhibit mercy. And if we understand those who are misunderstood, we are merciful.

Psalm 23 says that teamed with goodness, mercy shall follow believers all the days of their lives.

Thank you Lord for giving us better than we deserve.

“Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.”

Luke 6:36

“But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, Long suffering and abundant in mercy and truth.”

Psalm 86:15

“So you, by the help of your God, return; Observe mercy and justice, And wait on your God continually.”

Hosea 12:6

“Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.”

James 5:11

“For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.”

Psalm 86:5

“He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly,

To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?”

Micah 6:8

No Condemnation!

Satan loves to condemn. Every time you stumble, every time you fall, he is there to point an accusing finger at you. He wants to focus your thoughts on your own weaknesses and failures rather than on God’s strength. 

In contrast, the Holy Spirit convicts us. He gently says, “Now, that wasn’t right.” But that isn’t condemning – that is convicting. He wants us to put our thoughts on Jesus, who is ready to hear our confession and wash us of our sin.

Jesus doesn’t condemn you – He’s interceding for you. 

God is for you. Jesus is at the right hand of the Father making intercession for you. And the Holy Spirit is dwelling in you to give power to help you overcome your weaknesses. With this divine Trinity on your team, how can you possibly lose?

“Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.”

Romans 8:34

“He who vindicates Me is near; Who will contend with Me? Let us stand up to each other; Who has a case against Me? Let him draw near to Me.”

Isaiah 50:8

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.”

1 John 2:1