Hi Mayflower,
. . .
@CharismaticLady
The first passage which comes to mind is Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me", Or, literally,
In all I am strong in the one giving me ability, Christ.
I think it's all about obedience.
Luke 17
3 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.
4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.
5
And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.
6 And the Lord said,
If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and
it should obey you.
7 But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat?
8 And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink?
9 Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not.
10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.
Lord, Increase our faith, we can't do that!
To which He replied:
When the servants do their duty, is this a commendation to them? They just do what they are told. They asked Jesus to increase their faith so they could do what He taught. He told them, just do it.
Peter had this mind in the boat. If You tell me to. Jesus told Peter to. Peter did.
If you do what Jesus tells you to do, whatever it may be, you will do it, no matter how impossible.
There is the discussion of spiritual gifts also. I believe the same principles apply. If God has me cooking for the church, I'm going to trust Him to make a good meal.
A different example . . . I run a small company for it's absentee owners, and I've been doing this a long long time. I know how to organize people and resources and tasks. I do it all the time.
But when it comes to the potluck, I can't seem to run that for the life of me! I don't have the gift of administration. However . . . there are others who do, and Thank God for them!
Even if I can swim, that ability doesn't help me walk on water. My natural abilities just don't carry over into the spiritual. I think there is much confusion in this regard, people who are good teachers in the world take on themselves to teach the church. Or those who have much money start spreading it around, but unless this is by the gift of giving, well . . . it's not the spiritual work.
2 Chronicles 25
5 Moreover Amaziah gathered Judah together, and made them captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, according to the houses of their fathers, throughout all Judah and Benjamin: and he numbered them from twenty years old and above, and found them three hundred thousand choice men, able to go forth to war, that could handle spear and shield.
6 He hired also an hundred thousand mighty men of valour out of Israel for an hundred talents of silver.
7 But there came a man of God to him, saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with thee; for the Lord is not with Israel, to wit, with all the children of Ephraim.
8 But if thou wilt go, do it; be strong for the battle: God shall make thee fall before the enemy: for God hath power to help, and to cast down.
9 And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered, The Lord is able to give thee much more than this.
Here king Amaziah spent 100 talents of silver - a hefty sum - to hire mercenaries from the northern kingdom, but God said no.
"But what about all this money I spent?"
"The Lord is able to give thee much more than this."
We have our own resources, but God has His. He is able to give you a full self-sufficiency for every good work (2 Cor 9). Whether it be pray in faith, teach a Bible study, encourage the crestfallen, or walk on water, I've heard it will put, where God guides, God provides.
2 Corinthians 12
9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
I think I have no ability to walk on water. So if God calls me to, that's the perfect opportunity to receive His power.
Much love!
