God Thinks You Can Do Anything
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. —Romans 8:11
It was 4 a.m. and I was making my way from the kitchen to the living room trying not to spill my coffee as I carefully stepped over toys scattered about the pathway to the couch. Taking small sips of my coffee as I tiptoed through my house, I watched as the soft moon beams gently danced around the floor. I remember I had just made it to the edge of my couch when I heard Him. That sweet whisper of the Holy Spirit speaking a good morning word to my spirit, “God thinks you can do anything,” He said; and I stopped. I didn’t want to move.I gently lowered my coffee cup from my mouth and closed my eyes. I heard Him say it again, this time a little louder, “God thinks you can do anything.”
Standing there in the dark, I recalled where and when I had heard this before. It was two years prior at a service with Marilyn Hickey. She had been speaking about finding Jesus in every book of the Bible and midway through her message she stopped, looked out at the crowd and, as if speaking right to me, said this statement that pierced right through to the core of my heart, “God thinks you can do anything.”
Her tone was casual and her demeanor matter of fact, sort of an “oh, by the way—God thinks you can do anything.” And then she continued on with her message. But I never forgot that. And now here in the early morning hours, the Holy Spirit was whispering these piercing oh-by-the-way words again in my spirit to remind me, God thinks you can do anything.
Believe What God Says About You
I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”—Matthew 17:20 NLT
As remarkable as all of this is, I think the most extraordinary thing about it is that I actually believe Him! I believe that when God interrupts my early morning walk from my kitchen to my couch, not waiting for me to sit down, so that He can say to me, “Hey Krissy—I think you can do anything,” that He’s right! I can. And the reason I know I can is because He says I can.Romans 8:11 says that the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in me! And Romans 8:31 says if God is for me who can be against me? And Romans 8:37 says that I am more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus! I’ve got the Word backing up the promise! And God is not a man that He should lie (see Num. 23:19)! So there you have it friend, when God says to me, “Krissy, I think you can do anything.”
He’s not looking for argument or debate; He’s looking for my faith and trust as I simply believe what He says about me.Friend, God thinks you can do anything! He knows it! He went through great lengths to make impossible things possible! Ripping open eternity, He sent His Son into this earth so that He could make His home in your heart, empowering you to do all things through Him! It’s time for you to believe!
Another thing God has been teaching me is that I don’t need to have perfect faith, just a drop will do. Just a drop can move mountains! Just a drop can part seas and cause me to walk atop the impossible! Just a drop is enough faith for me to believe what He says about me. Just a drop will do.What if it really were that simple? That all we need to do is simply believe. That all we need is a drop of faith. What if…? Well, the case is closed friend. It is that simple.Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. —John 1:12-13
Jesus came to unravel the complicated mess humanity had made of things. He came to draw all men unto Himself. He came with a simple message of hope for all humanity: just receive Him and believe in His name and you will be welcomed into the family of God.
His blood, not our works, is the glue forever bonding us to the family of God. Our works can actually blind us from what we already have, causing us to run and run and run like hamsters in a wheel never actually getting anywhere. We expend all this energy and for what? We haven’t made any progress. We end up exhausted without ever getting anywhere with just the illusion of progress. We’re so busy running and running and running we end up blind to those who are hurting around us who we should be stopping to help. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to take the blinders off opening our eyes to the reality around us.There’s a whole world out there—mountains to climb, seas to part, and people to encourage. There’s a whole ocean we are called to walk on. What are we doing inside of this wheel when we could be out there in our destiny? The destiny God wrote out for us in His-story.When we finally realize we’ve been running and never actually progressing, take a deep refreshing breath and simply step out of the wheel…We step out of the boat… We climb out of the box… We color outside the lines…God has called us to a life without borders. He’s called us to run and not grow weary, to walk and not faint. He says, “I have wings for you.” He’s called us to soar high above the chaos of the world with a heavenly vantage point. We are to have a Jesus perspective, which is to think higher and dream bigger. We are to rest in His Word and His promises. No more striving. No more running around in hamster wheels or spinning our tires. Just perfect peace…soaring with Jesus, breaking every hindering thought, believing what God says about us, exchanging the lies for the truth. That’s what faith is. It’s believing what God has spoken more than what you can see! “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb. 11:6). Friend, you have been given the authority to ignore the enemy and believe God.
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.—Isaiah 55:9
What a Gift: The Holy Spirit
I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you. —John 16:12-15
Just as Jesus is a bridge between the Father and us, the Holy Spirit is a bridge connecting us to the fullness of the Godhead. With the Holy Spirit living in us, we are connected to the Vine that is Christ, and have ears to hear what the Father is saying because Holy Spirit only communicates what He hears from the Father. It’s a phenomenal thing, friend. We need the Holy Spirit in our life, consuming our heart, refreshing our soul, and transforming and renewing our mind.
God desires that we have intimacy not just with Himself, not just with His Son, but also that we have true, intimate relationship with Holy Spirit! This is a beautiful facet of Himself that so many of us neglect in our day-to-day lives yet this was the very facet of God that Jesus was so excited to give us as His gift!
But now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. —John 16:5-7
Jesus was eager to return to the Father in order to release to you this special gift! Because with the Holy Spirit inside us, there is nothing we can’t do in Jesus’ Name! Even greater things will we do through the Name of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit living within us!
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.—John 14:12-14
Nothing is impossible! The Holy Spirit is our helper. He helps us hear the voice of God, see ourselves as God sees us, and walk in victory over the wiles of the enemy! No weapon formed against us can prosper! He is a seal upon our hearts of our adoption as sons and daughters! By Him we cry Abba, Father!
And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” —Galatians 4:6 NLT
I used to wonder why Jesus would say it is for our good that He would leave to be with the Father. What could be better than God Himself in human form walking among us, teaching us, and modeling firsthand how to live for God in our everyday life? Really, what or rather who could be better?
But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. —John 14:26 NLT
You’ve been given the blood-bought gift of the Holy Spirit, friend. God sends us His Spirit as a gift on behalf of the Son. Imagine a present that is beautifully wrapped in shimmering gold paper with flecks of jasper and ruby and a big crimson-red bow with a note marked, “TO: (insert your name) FROM: Your Abba, Father.” And when you open it up, the breath of God releases over you and Holy Spirit bursts inside of you as a flame of fire! The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead now lives in you as a gift from the God delivered through the blood of His Son. You are filled with supernatural power from Almighty God and nothing and no one can come against you!
Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today. —Acts 2:33 NLT
What a gift the Holy Spirit truly is! Through Him our eyes are open to the truths contained in Scripture. The mysteries of God are revealed through Him. The eyes of our hearts are opened and our ears can finally hear! There is much more that Jesus wanted to reveal to His disciples but they couldn’t bear it at the time. Without the infilling of the Holy Spirit, there was no way they could handle all that was to be unveiled. It wasn’t until after the resurrection and Jesus ascended to Heaven that the disciples went to the upper room praying and waiting for ten days for Holy Spirit to come that they were then able to bear the fullness of truth that would be revealed to them.The product of that infilling is what we find throughout the Book of Acts and the epistles. The revelations and teachings that came to the Apostles, the miracles, signs, and wonders that followed the preaching of the gospel were all products of the Holy Spirit operating through the men and women of God. What an extraordinary gift Holy Spirit is! Ordinary men and women doing extraordinary things through the power of the Spirit of God at work within them, and through them!
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”—Acts 1:8
We need the Holy Spirit in our lives, friend! If we don’t have Him, we are missing out on an instrumental facet of God! The very facet Jesus died to bring us. Think about it. The Bible says, “For the joy set before Him He endured the cross” (Heb. 12:2). He endured death knowing He would be releasing life to all who would believe! He went through hell on the cross so He could give us Heaven! Both the Father and the Holy Spirit abandoned the Son on the cross (see Mark15:34), left Him all alone to bear the full punishment of sin upon Himself so that we would never have to be alone again!
This was His joy: knowing that you would soon be equipped to live an abundant life—life filled with His Spirit inside of you helping you from the inside out. The impossible now becomes possible: humanity living lives that are pleasing to God because of the fruit we bear through His spirit inside of us as we lives as branches connected to the vine (see John 15:4).But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. — Galatians 5:22-23
He would send us this precious gift from the Father, the Holy Spirit, to live inside of us restoring us to relationship with His Father, our Father. He knew this was the only way. His blood shed on the cross made it possible for Holy Spirit to make a home inside of our hearts!I love what Jesus says to Mary when she discovers He has risen from the grave, “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “ for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God’” (John 20:17 NLT). He declares that now God is not only His Father, but He’s her Father and the disciples’ Father! He sends her off to go, and tell. Hallelujah!
Where once man could not come into the presence of God at all because they were unclean, now, by the blood of Jesus, not only can we come near, but God now makes a home in our hearts by His Spirit and lives inside all who believe.
Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” —John 14:23 ESV
Throughout this book we have been on a journey. This journey was very intentional. First, we were challenged to believe that God cares for us. This is the very foundation. Realizing that we are not just a number to Him. We are not just one in a billion. We are one. The one. The one He sent His Son for. The one He created the earth for. The one He runs to with wide-open arms when we return home. The one Jesus makes intercession for at the right hand of God. The one whose hairs are numbered. The one who was pardoned for purpose. The one whose heart He abides in. Created for the impossible means believing that God cares for us.Next we explored the way He speaks. His life-giving, purpose restoring voice through the intimate fellowship He desires with you, His beloved. His voice that longs to speak right to your heart, restoring the intimacy and fellowship He sent His Son to die for. Created for the impossible means believing that God speaks to us, and tuning into hear His voice.We discussed the power and importance of our surrender. Giving God our all. Willingly laying our lives down at the feet of Jesus, giving Him the reward of His suffering. That the most important thing we can do with the free will God has given us is choosing to yield to the will of the Father. Created for the impossible means surrendering our will to Him in total abandon.This leads us to become more fearless as we dare to step out atop the waters of the impossible with Jesus. Locking eyes with Him. Trusting that He holds our destiny in His hands. Trusting that though the winds and the waves may be swelling up around us, our eyes are fixed on Jesus—what harm can come against us? Created for the impossible means stepping out in obedience without fear, launched by love, trusting God with every step!
We discovered the simple truth of the cross. The way has been made for us. Jesus’ blood covers us and now all can come near to the Father! We are restored to fellowship with God as He originally created humanity to be. Created for the impossible means accepting God’s gift of salvation, being washed white as snow by the crimson blood of the spotless Lamb of God, Jesus.We come boldly before the throne of grace welcomed with open arms into the family of God as His beloved children. Slicing through the doubt and chaos of our mind is this beautiful message from the heart of God for you, “You’re my beloved.” Created for the impossible means being a child of God and truly embracing our identity as His child. Gazing into the mirror seeing a daughter…a son.
From here our purpose unfolds. We realize that God has written our story weaving our story with His-story. We walk with promise and His promise is His Word. His Word has power and He places His Word in our mouth to call even the dead things around us to life! Created for the impossible means that like Ezekiel, we call out to the dead bones and dead hearts among us, “Come alive!”
We see that we were created to shine Jesus to the lost and dying world around us. We are the light of the world and that light has the power to destroy the darkness. We shine bright the resurrection power and authority of Christ showing that there’s hope for the world, which is Christ in you. Created for the impossible means choosing not to hide our light but allowing it to shine with joy and love for the entire world to see!From here we take the plunge deep into the secret place with God. Excavating the treasures of His heart. Picking up the truths buried there in the soil below His ocean of love for us. We make our home there in His heart and He too makes His home in ours. We dive deep into the secret place and rise up as the army of God, strategically placed and wearing the full armor of God. Created for the impossible means plumbing the depths of God’s heart, choosing intimacy with Him daily.
We therefore die to self, while walking in humility, yielded to the Father’s plan each and every day. We are crucified with Christ so it is no longer we who live but Christ living in and through us. Created for the impossible means choosing to take off the old nature and put on the new nature in Christ Jesus.His grace is sufficient and His power is made strong in our weakness. His grace empowers us to do all things. It’s by His grace that we can believe what God says about us. It is by grace we are saved! Created for the impossible means living life through grace knowing that salvation was God’s gift to us through Christ Jesus, not by our works.With the renewed mind of Christ we begin to think healthier, winning the battle for the mind because the blood that Jesus shed provides a path for victory over our will! Jesus won over the mind. Created for the impossible means we can live in the world but not be like the world, that we can be transformed by the renewing of our mind in Christ Jesus!
God Thinks You Can Do Anything
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. —Matthew 10:8
And now, here we are. We are ready to stand in the reality that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. With His Spirit at work inside of us we can truly live where we are planted. We can remain in Him and bear much fruit in our lives. We don’t need to wait for tomorrow to come, we can make a difference today. We heal the sick, raise the dead, love the unlovely, cleanse the leper, have joy in parenting, drive out demons, show patience to our children, show kindness and goodness to a stranger, and walk in faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control in our everyday lives. With our family, in our workplace, at the grocery store—wherever the day leads us, we are walking as ambassadors for Christ! We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. —2 Corinthians 5:20
Now, as you identify those thoughts that have held you back, you can finally begin to believe what God has been saying about you all along! He thinks you can do anything! Take your drop of faith and use it to move mountains—mountains of doubt, mountains of sickness, mountains of pain—command those mountains to move in the Name of Jesus! You can heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the leper, and cast out demons with the assurance that greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world!It’s time to rise up and stand out. It’s time to shine and show Jesus. To speak truth as you stand upon the firm foundation of absolute truth beneath your feet. To rise up on wings like eagles, never growing weary, and never fainting. You can choose to leave your worry at the foot of the cross as you walk in trust and fearless obedience fixing your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith.