Are You Limiting Yourself?

Sometimes we are our own worst enemies.

And it often starts in our minds with what I call stinkin’ thinkin’.

You know what I mean.

• Why can’t I ever seem to get anything done?
• I’ll never finish my book.
• I don’t deserve more.

I have been teaching about recognizing the lies, the stinkin’ thinkin’, and replacing them with the truth for years.

It’s what helped free me from an addiction to pornography back in 2002.

I even created an entire training on the importance of renewing our minds as writers inside the Christian Book Academy.

It’s that important.

The Good Enough

As I was reading the Bible the other day, a passage in Genesis 17 leaped out to me.

It was as if I had never read it before.

It’s when God was confirming His covenant with Abraham and promised that Sarah would have a son.

Here’s what it says:

“‘And I will bless her and give you a son from her! Yes, I will bless her richly, and she will become the mother of many nations. Kings of nations will be among her descendants.’

Then Abraham bowed down to the ground, but he laughed to himself in disbelief. ‘How could I become a father at the age of 100?’ he thought. ‘And how can Sarah have a baby when she is ninety years old?’ So Abraham said to God, ‘May Ishmael live under your special blessing!’

But God replied, ‘No—Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son for you. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my covenant with him and his descendants as an everlasting covenant.’” Genesis‬ ‭17:16-19‬ ‭(NLT‬‬)

The sentence that jumped out to me was, “So Abraham said to God, ‘May Ishmael live under your special blessing!’”

It was as if Abraham was telling God he was satisfied with what he had. He didn’t need anything more. What he had in Ishmael was good enough.

However, God wanted to give him more.

A son from Sarah in his old age whose descendants would eventually lead to Jesus who, as we know, changed the world forever.

Are You Limiting Yourself?

Ask yourself this question today:

Are you willing to receive all that God has for you or are you limiting His blessings in your life?

I know there have been many times that I haven’t felt worthy to receive all the blessings God has for me.

I, like Abraham, told God that what I have is good enough. I don’t need anything more.

But, God keeps reminding me of Ephesians 3:20. It’s one of my favorite verses.

“Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely MORE than we might ask or think.” (NLT)

Friends, there is more for you in the Kingdom of God. There is more for you in your writing, publishing, and marketing.

Press in and allow God to demolish any strongholds that still stand in the way from you receiving everything He has for you today.

Action Steps:

1. Take 5 minutes and journal about this topic. What comes up for you? Are you willing to receive all that God has for you or are you limiting His blessings in your life?
2. Take 5 minutes and pray a prayer to God. It might be a prayer of confession, a prayer of surrender, or a prayer of thanksgiving. Say it out loud if you can.
3. Write out Ephesians 3:20 and put it somewhere that you will see every day this week.

Let’s press in for the more God has for us. Let’s not settle for “good enough” any longer in our lives.

Amen?

Let me know your thoughts on this topic in the comments below.

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