TEXT: Isaiah 12:4-6
TITLE: HOW BIG IS GOD?
A Bible Sized God ¡V A Bible Sized Devil
This is one of those questions that you would expect a child to ask. They are forever asking such things as:
ľ Where did God come from?
ľ How old is God?
ľ Who made God?
Here is one of those questions that I hope we will be able to answer: HOW BIG IS GOD?
Ill. A young boy traveling by airplane to visit his grandparents sat beside a man who happened to be a seminary professor. The boy was reading a Sunday school take-home paper when the professor thought he would have some fun with the lad. ¡§Young man,¡¨ said the professor, ¡§If you can tell me something God can do, I¡¦ll give you a big, shiny apple.¡¨ The boy thought for a moment and then replied, ¡§Mister, if you can tell me something God can¡¦t do, I¡¦ll give you a whole barrel of apples!¡¨
The answer to this simple yet profound question of how big is God is this: God is as big as we will let Him be in our lives.
God is a big God! But some Christians act as if they have a big devil and a little God working in their lives.
You see, God can only be as big as you allow Him to be in your life. If God seems too small to meet your needs or to solve your problems, it¡¦s not His fault because God is a big and powerful.
God is all the Bible says that He is. He is as powerful and as big as the Word proclaims that He is. There is no limit to His power and ability.
We make Him small or big by whether we believe what the Word has to say about Him or whether we don¡¦t really believe it.
Job declared: "I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You¡¨ (Job 42:2).
The Living Bible puts it this way: "I know that you can do anything and that no one can stop you.¡¨
Jesus even declared in Matthew 19:26 - "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
It is our faith or our lack of faith in God¡¦s word that will determine how big God is in our lives.
Some people have more faith in the devil and in his ability to steal, kill, and destroy than they do in God¡¦s goodness and in his ability to deliver them out of any test, trial, or temptation the devil may bring their way.
In other words, they have a big devil and a little God.
ƒæ They¡¦ve got more faith in sickness than they do in health.
ƒæ They¡¦ve got more faith in lack than they do in God¡¦s abundant provision and supply.
ƒæ They¡¦ve got more faith in fear than they do in God¡¦s protection and His love for them.
You ask, ¡§well How do you know that?¡¨ Just listen as people talk: ¡§Well it¡¦s that time of the year again, I guess we better stock up on the sinus medicine¡¨ or ¡§every one of those kids will be sick¡¨ or ¡§we¡¦re facing such a decline in the economy. It looks like we¡¦re not going to make it this time.¡¨
It doesn¡¦t matter what time of the year it is you can always know that He is Jehovah-rophe the God who heals all sickness and disease.
According to the circumstances these things might be true, but according to the Bible God is a big God and He is able to deliver you out of any circumstance or trial.
Be assured, the devil will always come with his bag of tricks. He will always come with his lies and his deceit in order to try to rob you of God¡¦s best in life. He will try to get you to yield to temptation and become the servant of sin or to become discouraged, despondent, and defeated. His goal is to eventually leave you just a ¡§shell¡¦ of a person. He wants to destroy you faith in God and His word.
But listen to this; we don¡¦t have to be afraid of the devil and his lies. The Bible says: ¡§¡Kyou shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free¡¨ (John 8:32).
It is when we know the truth from God¡¦s word and act upon it that God will be able to show Himself strong in our lives.
As we read the Word and know what it says it then helps us to realize the bigness of God and as a result He is able to do great things for us.
God will become to us as big as the truth we have learned about Him.
But if we have not read God¡¦s Word to learn the truth about Him then our faith will be small and in our eyes God will not be big enough to take care of all our problems.
In order to develop our faith we must study God¡¦s Word and as we study God¡¦s Word we will begin to see His greatness.
Remember, God will only be as big in your life as you allow Him to be.
We serve a big God and we are well able, in Him, to overcome all the circumstances of life that would try to defeat us.
It is really important that we look in God¡¦s Word and see God in His greatness and in His magnificence and that we see the devil for who he really is a defeated foe.
We must have a Bible sized God and a Bible sized devil. We must realize that not only is our God big but the devil of the Bible is small. He is already defeated, not one that must be defeated.
In other words, we don¡¦t have to go around and try to defeat the devil.
Some Christians say, ¡§well, I¡¦ve got to do battle with the devil today.¡¨ For sure there are battles we must fight, we see that in Ephesians 6:12. But on the other hand, we don¡¦t have to go out and whip the devil; Jesus has already whipped him. All we have to do is to use our authority against him and stand our ground. As Christians we are to enforce satan¡¦s defeat.
Satan fears the name of Jesus because Jesus is the One who defeated him. We need to let the enemy know just how small and insignificant he really is because Jesus has triumphed over him on the cross of Calvary.
When you deal with the devil don¡¦t spend time negotiating with him, simply use the name of Jesus to enforce his defeat in your life. He has to obey.
We mentioned that God will be as big in your life as you let Him be. The same applies to the devil. He will be as big as you will let him be. If you let the devil have his way in your life then God is going to seem small to you in His ability to help you.
But if you let God be big in your life; if you allow Him to show Himself strong on your behalf then the devil is going to be weak, small and insignificant in your eyes.
HAVE A BIBLE SIZED GOD AND A BIBLE SIZED DEVIL!
But hear this; just because we have a big God doesn¡¦t mean we want have any afflictions or troubles in life.
Psalms 34:19 ¡V ¡§Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.¡¨
2 Corinthians 2:14 ¡V ¡§Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ¡K¡¨
Paul didn¡¦t say, ¡§thank God I never have any problems.¡¨ Paul said that no matter what problems he faced God would always cause him to win and come out on top.
Remember: there is no god as big as a Bible sized God? There is no devil as small and weak as a Bible sized devil.
Let God be as big in your life as the Bible says He is.
There is no problem you are facing that is to big for a Bible sized God.
