From the Home Place

May 22, 2026

3:30 a.m. – 34 degrees and a wind that is blowing at that same speed. The ground is damp, but we could possibly receive a little more rain at daylight, hopefully. Sounds like there is more snow in the mountains! Today’s high of 61 will feel cooler than that because of the wind.

The Holy Spirit poked me in the ribs around 3 this morning. When I asked Him what we needed to talk about this is all I got, “Don’t limit Me.” Wow, there was no more sleep, but a lot of praying and thinking. I finally got up and started typing to hopefully share what the Holy Spirit placed upon my spirit.

My first question was, “Lord, how do I limit You?” It appears that we can limit HIs working in a couple of different ways: limited faith and limited availability. Lets’ take both of those ways one at a time and see where He leads us.

To start with I want to make it very clear that nothing man can do limits God’s ability; however, when we have little faith and little availability, we can limit His working in us so that He can work through us. It would appear that almost all who call them self born-again Christians want to be used in mighty ways by God in ways that I believe God wants to use us, however, these two factors limit to what degree our Father will regularly work through us.

I would suggest that we need to be growing “in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jeus Chsit” before our faith will stretch far enough to believe God for the impossible. In Matthew 19:16-26 we read the account of “The Rich Young Ruller.” This young man refused to let Jesus save him because of his personal limitation. He refused to give up his earthly riches so he could receive heavenly riches. I wonder how often I have limited the Spirit’s working through me because my limited faith refused to surrender “all” to Him.

When we first accept Christ as Savior, we immediately have a desire to walk with Him, in limited capacity. Illustration, I have a battery that contains 500 volts of electricity, but I connect to that battery with a fuse and wire that is capable of carrying only 50 volts of electricity, I will never use the full power of that battery, however I will enjoy some of its power. You see my friends, In Matthew 19:25 we read, “And looking at them, Jesus said to them, ‘With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’”

Doesn’t the rich young ruler limit the power of Christ because of his limited faith to truly trust Jesus? And I have to wonder how often do we do the same? How often do we ask the Holy Spirit to use us in a mighty way, to which He often says, “Oh, you of little faith.” His amazing power is available, but my faith cable is too small to handle all that He could possibly do!

However, quite often God works in spite of our little faith. Matthew 8:26, “He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?’ Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.” And for this element of God’s amazing grace we are all grateful. Hopefully, you often stop and praise Him for working even when you didn’t expect Him to. You see, we really are much like those first disciples, and Jesus is still who He has always been.

Repeatedly in 1 John, the Apostle uses the phrase “Little children” when describing something that they have not yet realized about the power of Jesus. They have faith enough to trust Jesus, but they do not possess enough faith to allow the Holy Spirit to draw them to full maturity in Christ.

Second, it would appear that we often limit God’s power to work through us when we refuse be available. It has been well stated that “God is not concerned about our ability, He only desires our availability.” So, we must each ask, “Am I limiting God’s working though me by refusing to be fully available to Him?” Answer that question by asking another, “Am I willing to go anywhere that the Holy Spirt may want to send me?” If not, then I am limiting God’s power to display His full power through me!

Two elements, “little faith” and “little availability” seem to limit to what degree the Spirit of the Living God will use me for His glory, and for the good of those around me. Yet, could it be that there is a third element that prevents me from realizing fully who God is and how He wants to work through me? I would suggest that the third element is pride.

Perhaps pride is what kept Jesus from transforming The Rich Young Ruler? The young man’s pride of who he was and what he owned kept him from humbly accepting the salvation of Christ. I wonder, how often does our pride prevent Him from using us to the full extent of how He would like to use us? How often does my pride get in the way of His power?

It has been well said that “faith” is like a muscle, the more often you use it, the stronger it gets. Regardless of the amount of faith we might possess, God can and will still work with what we have. It appears that the more we are humbly available, the more our faith will grow. And by the way, we all praise God that He often works through us in spite of our little faith!

Perhaps I should have just stayed in bed???

Praising God for who He is with you, Neal