"Fear paralyzes us, but faith in God leads us to reach and fulfill what God called us to do."

I want to express my gratitude to God for His powerful Word that reveals His perfect plan for each of us. His Word is "alive and effective" and always works.

Considering myself a believer in almighty God and in His miracles, I have had to pray to God for forgiveness for limiting Him so many times in my mind and heart. My prayer is, “Please God, you are the potter and I’m the clay. Don't stop your work on me!” (Jeremiah 18: 1-6)

God is all powerful, but since God created man and gave him his own will, His wants to act through men and women who believe and cooperate with Him. This is the mystery revealed—our mighty God is waiting for our cooperation.

Our beliefs and ways of thinking should not limit God. In my own experience, by the grace of God, I have had to learn that not everything that happens around me is "by His sovereign will." I had to learn and still learning, to confront, with the authority of God, everything in my life, including family and ministry, that opposes God's plans. To accept that God does everything without waiting for the cooperation of His church, would lead us to a passive attitude towards the devil and his strategies, to which the Word commands us not to ignore but resist. To accept a “passive gospel” without demonstration of the Holy Spirit and power (1 Corinthians 2: 4), is not only dangerous but also paralyzing for the work of the Lord. The Kingdom of heaven continues to suffer attack and only the brave, those who believe and act in faith to the Word, receive its rewards.

We are challenged through scripture to believe that we are "partners with God.” The almighty God designed us to flow and act in His fullness. For this to happen, we must stop limiting God with our ideas, many of them wrong paradigms, fears and unbelief, and allow the mind of Christ to develop in us until we reach His fullness (1 Corinthians 2:16; Colossians 2: 2; Ephesians 3:19). It is God who decides to show His power in us and through us. Understanding this principle of how God works is crucial for everyone who considers himself called to the work of God.

It is true that our fears limit God and the development of the plans He has for us. We must abandon all fear and take sincere steps, in faith, to reach our destiny in God. Fear paralyzes us, but faith in God leads us to reach and fulfill what God called us to do. The word "fullness" challenges me, especially when I see that God invites me to reach it. The scriptures say that in Christ we are complete and have everything we need to walk in His fullness (Colossians 2: 9-10, 3:10; Ephesians 3:19). God is enough.

Let’s imagine our lives according to God's plan. Hebrews 12:1-2 comes to mind, “...let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking aside to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith...”

Finally, I think we are in the end times where “the creature waits for the manifestation of the sons of God” (Romans 8:19). That manifestation has to be without limits for the glory of God to shine in the darkness; the manifestation of those who believe God and do not limit His power.

Fully use us Lord and let Your Kingdom come!

-Pastor Oscar Okesniuk, ILC Resident

Pastor Oscar and his family moved to Nashville in 2008 from Argentina after serving as a pastor for 25+. He has been a part of the ILC since January 2019.