God never said that He wouldn’t give you more than you can handle

“God will never give you more than you can handle”

Is probably one of the most out-of-context phrases that Christians can use.

Not only is this verse about temptation, Christians tend to use it about the daily stresses of life. (See 1 Corinthians 10:13)

I am a firm believer that God gives us more than we can handle on the daily so that we can trust Him and rely on the Holy Spirit.

If we had to constantly rely on our own strength and our own ability, it would be really hard and the pressure would get too great.

Even King David, in a moment of weakness, made a decision that would cost him His kingdom- if he would have asked for help from God, the Bathsheba incident would’ve never happened. (2 Samuel 11)

Time after time in scripture, we see characters in the Bible, trying to do things on their own without being completely reliant on God for everything.

So, if you’re feeling, overwhelmed, overworked, and completely stressed out, do what the apostle Paul states- “I rejoice in my weakness… so that Christ’s power can rest on me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Be completely dependent on God today

What fast does the Lord require?

During the season of fasting, it’s important to remember what is actually required through the scripture, and what pleases the lord in our process to fast.

Recently- it has become a way to sell books, commercialize on the fact that people are fasting and create a new program or monetize content in order to receive followers.

So often we forget, the true meaning of what the Lord requires us.

let’s read Isaiah 58 together:

Isaiah 58

3`Why have we fasted,' they say, `and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?' "Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.

4

Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.

5

Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD?

6

"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?

7

Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-- when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

8

Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness [1] will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

9

Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

10

and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.

11

The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

Are you loving and living radically?

If you are consciously and actively keeping your spiritual roots strong, you are living a radical life-

“The “origin of radical isn't at all radical, in the "very different from the usual or traditional" sense of the word. Radical was first an adjective, borrowed in the 14th century from the Late Latin radicalis, itself from Latin radic-, radix, meaning "root."

“None of this will surprise the botanists: they know that radical leaves grow from the base of a stem or from a rootlike stem, and radical tubers grow from a plant's root. And linguists know that a verb's radical form is its root form. In medicine, radical surgery is surgery that's designed to remove the root of a disease.“

-source: The History of 'Radical' | Merriam-Webster

Did you know that just by having a daily walk with Christ, a family that loves the Lord, and daily pursuing kingdom work is considered radical? It is so beyond what the worldly standards and norms today but yet is so needed for a rooted life.

You are living a radically different and peculiar life if you simply follow the way of Jesus.

1 Peter 2:9? The KJV says, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people.”

If you continue to keep your root system deep in the foundations of God’s love, your family will have a great foundation of peace, strength and generational blessings will follow.

These two great radical Virtues, Faith and Love, are the two Pillars, as it were, upon which the fabric of our Salvation is built: for nothing makes us the Sons of God, but such Faith as is accompanied with Love and good Works … — John Godolphin, The Holy Arbor, Containing a Body of Divinity: Or, the Sum and Substance of Christian Religion, 1651

The word radical has only meant “extreme” or had any  political connotation only in the last few hundred years. Truly living radically has always been having a foundation or roots in something or someone. 

So how are you living radically this week? 

Look at the root of your life and have a root check. 

The fruit of your life can only be determined by what’s growing on your tree and how healthy your spiritual tree root system is.