Week 14- “Don’t Limit the Lord”

Scriptures:

Matt 19:26 JST

Matt 19:16-22

1 Ne 3:24-4:37

General Conference Address:  

“With God Nothing Shall Be Impossible”  Elder Russell M Nelson CR 4/1988

Thought:

“Everything you do affects everything you do.”  I can’t remember who said that quote, but the concept reminds me of a Japanese proverb, “You cannot not influence.”  In life, you are either qualifying for more blessings or you are damning your own progress.  There are no alternatives.  There is no pause button.  It’s either push forward or slide backwards.  It’s like walking the wrong way on an escalator.  As long as you’re walking, you can make progress.  But what if you stop?  What then?  When you’re a missionary, you’re either doing the work or you’re limiting the Lord.  It’s hard to steer a parked car.  It’s hard to put words into your mouth if your mouth is closed. It’s hard for the Lord to touch someone when you don’t talk to them.  Do the work.  All of it.  Talk to everyone.  Don’t limit the Lord by what you do that you shouldn’t do or by not doing what you know you should do.  

Misc: 

Doesn’t it seem silly to impose boundaries on the Lord?  He has laws he follows, true, but we often limit the Lord when we say things like “I can’t do that,” or “they can’t change,” or “I’ll never be good enough.”  It’s silly.  You’re not powerful enough to stop the Lord.  But you can certainly disqualify yourself from his work and his help.  It seems to me it's more about proximity than anything else.  You’re either on the path and close to him and all that he has to offer or you wander from the path and get further and further away from his light, help, and blessings.  

Invitation: 

Make a list of 3-5 times this week when you limited the Lord through your behavior.  It can be something you did or something that you didn’t do.  Then take the list and replay the scenario in a way that didn’t limit the Lord.  What would you do differently?  Take one of them and do it better next time.