Taking The Limits Of

May 2012
Dear Friend,
I have had two major life-changing encounters with the Lord in my life. The first
and most important took place on March 23, 1968. I was eighteen years old at
the time. If you have watched the Gospel Truth for any length of time, you
probably know how God changed my life that night.
The second most life-changing encounter I had with the Lord, which is the reason
for this letter, took place over several weeks, beginning in December of 2001
and culminating on January 31, 2002. It was during that time that God spoke to
me about how I was limiting what He wanted to do through my life.
With that revelation, I determined that no matter how long it took, I was going to
change the image on the inside. For decades, the Lord had shown me many
things He wanted me to do through this ministry. I had even told other people
what they were. But the truth was that I just couldnt see myself doing them, and
that was limiting God.
To my surprise, when I made that decision, things began to change almost
immediately. It released something in the spiritual realm when I began to see
myself the way God sees me. And if somebody had told me ten years ago where
I would be today, it probably would have shocked me.
What excites me most about this revelation is the fact that there is nothing
special about me. My mother knew that better than anyone. Before she died at
ninety-six years old in May 2009, I had a conversation with her about what God
was doing in my ministry.
After I was finished, she pointed her finger at me and said, Andy, you know
thats God. I answered, Yes, maam, I know its God. Then she told me, You
arent smart enough to do that. To that, I replied, Guilty. Im not that smart.
What God has led me to do is much bigger than me. And what He wants to do
through you will always be beyond your own ability and talent. Im telling you
that if everything you have accomplished has been gained by your own strength
and power, you have not yet tapped into Gods will for your life.
Your life can be such a testimony that people will ask, How did you do that?
And when they do, youll have to answer the same way I do: There is no
explanation outside of Gods power. You wont be able to attribute it to your
charisma, education, or talent. Youll know it was only possible because you took
the limits of God and allowed Him to accomplish His purposes through you.
You might be thinking, I guess its too late for meIve missed God. Well, thats
just not true, and its exactly that kind of thinking that will limit God. Proverbs
23:7 says, As he thinketh in his heart, so is he. In order to take the limits of, I
had to change my thinking and so will you.
Not one of us has ever completely explored the depths of His plan for our lives.
We are all limiting Him in some way, and the good news is that we can start
removing the limits now. When the Lord first spoke this to me over ten years ago,

I had no idea that I was limiting Him. And that was after I had been in the
ministry for thirty-four years. Im living proof that it is never too late.
Think about what happened to the children of Israel after they were delivered by
God through Moses. Psalm 78:41 says, Yea, they turned back and tempted God,
and limited the Holy One of Israel. God had delivered them miraculously, Moses
had received the commandments that were written by the very hand of God, and
they still refused to believe the promise.
They sent spies into the Promised Land where they found a land flowing with
milk and honey. But there were giants in the land, and they were afraid to enter
therefore limiting God. This all took place after God had guaranteed them
success, as you can read in Deuteronomy 7:17-18 and 23:
If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I; how can I
dispossess them? Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember
what the LORD thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt. But the LORD thy
God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy them with a mighty
destruction, until they be destroyed.
God gave them a promise, but He was also saying to them that if they believed
in their hearts that the nations were greater than they were, then He would not
be able to dispossess them. Wow! They were the ones who would determine
what God could do. That alone should be enough to silence the voices of those
who believe God is absolutely sovereign.
Ephesians 3:20 says, Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly
above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.
The phrase according to means in proportion to, or to the degree of, the power
that is working in you. If you dont have Gods love and faith and if you arent
building yourself up, you will limit or even stop the power of God flowing through
you.
I am saying that God wants to move in your life. He wants to bring you into your
promised land. He wants to do something in your life that will cause you to wake
up every morning excited about the day and full of His joy and peace. But its not
up to Him if it comes to passits up to you.
One of the biggest factors that limits God in your life can be learned from Paul in
2 Corinthians 10:12. It says, For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or
compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring
themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are
not wise.
Ten years ago, I limited God through my comparative unworthiness to other
ministers. The problem was, that was the wrong measuring stick and it wasnt
wise.
Measuring yourself by others or the worlds standards is wrong. That is one of the
reasons I dont like to watch a lot of television. They are always trying to tell me
Im going to get sick or that I am going to experience financial difficulties. If you
listen to that stuf long enough, it begins to change your thinking, and as a man
thinks in his heart, so is he (Prov. 23:7).

I dont care if everybody on the planet is sufering economically or has the fluI
refuse to participate in either and so should you. Hosea 4:6 says this in part: My
people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. The knowledge we lack is the
knowledge of the Word of God. He has promised us healing, and He has promised
us prosperity.
If you want to compare something, then compare what the Word says about you
to what you believe. Then focus on the Word, and what you think will change. We
are supposed to be above only and not beneath, the head and not the tail (Deut.
28:13). We are supposed to be rejoicing in the midst of problems (John 16:33).
Yes, there are reasons that we have problems, but there is no excuse to stay
there. I am not condemning any person when I say this, and I am not saying that
we live in a perfect world where everything always comes up roses; I am saying
that God did not create us for mediocrity or failure. God created us to be
winners, and He wants to help us get there.
When you begin to change the way you think in your heart, something happens
in the spiritual realm. Your life can be completely transformed, and it doesnt
have to take ten years. It may take a while for the full manifestation to be
apparent, but it can begin within days or weeks. Thats what happened with me. I
encourage youtake the limits of, beginning now.