Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, “I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” He then goes on to show how this will happen. In verse 19, Jesus states, “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” In this blog, I want to give us a few ideas as to God’s will to increase your life and to expand your borders and the borders of the church in both size and effectiveness.
[1] All The Way
In Joshua chapter one, God tells Joshua that the size of his borders to conquer are every place the sole of his feet will tread upon. This tells us that there is no limit to the expansion of the spiritual walk or your increase in the kingdom of God. The challenge was, at first, that it had to be according to how far you are willing to go as a believer. If God says every place you dare to tread, then that gives you the size that is beyond your present scope. (“From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates”) – He is placing the potential of the victory of your walk with Him into your hands. He goes on to tell Joshua, “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.” The Lord has declared that you can go all the way with Him. From generation to generation, God is expanding His church. Your borders and my borders are a part of that great expansion. He promised that if we will walk with Him, He will walk with us.
[2] Enlarge Your Thinking
It is easy to pull back our vision because of the concern that it’s not for me or that we will fail. In Isaiah 54:2-3, the word of the Lord is to “Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; do not spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes.” The reason for this is in the next part of that verse: “For you shall expand to the right and the left, and your descendants will inherit the nation.” God calls us to not only recognize the scope of what He has for us and to walk through it in the word, but then He needs us to embrace it by expanding the attitude of our thinking and our faith. He needs us to strengthen our faith believing that He is for us and not against us. He then goes on to say that this is not just for you, but also for your family. When you go in, you show a path and a way for the rest of your family to follow. Ephesians 3:20 states, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us…” God can and will empower us according to our willingness to allow our thinking and action to expand.
[3] Trust God to Back You
Back in Isaiah 54:4, the Lord says, “Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; for you will forget the shame of your youth.” God is all about where you’re going and not about where you’ve been. He is a forward-moving God with a plan to win millions to the cross of Calvary. You and I are the vital part of the equation for that plan to happen. He has chosen us to be the ones through whom He accomplishes the task. Your success is everything. Your past is behind you, and that’s where He wants it to stay until it comes to the point that it disappears. He delights in your victory because it represents His victory. Ephesians 1:3-4 states, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us before the foundations of the world that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ.” God has chosen you to a position of representation of His kingdom before the foundations of the world. This is a kingdom of great increase and expansion. To accomplish this, Jesus said in Mathew 28:20, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” In Joshua 1:5, God says, “…as I was with Moses, so shall I be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.” This tells us that we can have total confidence that God is in this to win, and that His win is with us and through us. He will never leave us nor forsake us.
[4] Abide for the Increase
God expects us to bear fruit in our lives. His purpose is for our increase in all areas of our walk. As we increase in our faith walk, the kingdom increases in us and through us. In John’s gospel chapter 15 verse 4, Jesus says, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me.” This tells us 2 things: 1) Jesus expected them to increase. He’s handing them the kingdom. He has already talked to them about the Holy Spirit that He would send them. This is a declaration of His desire to increase and continue in all the things He has been doing. 2) For that to take place, they need to remain in Him. He is the source of all things for them. In vs 7, Jesus says, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it will be done for you.” This all comes together in the next verse when He says, “By this, my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”
Believers, our increase is everything to God; increase in your life, in your walk, in your position, and in the kingdom of God. For this to happen, we must decide that it is time to expand our borders. God has our back, and He possesses all that we need to accomplish all that He has for us. Jesus will build His church, and not only are we the church, but you and I are also called to be a part of great things as we take the land of faith, strengthen our resolve, trust Him in all things, and abide to see all that He has come to pass. Let’s take the land that the Lord has given us. Let’s walk with a confidence that can only come from knowing that He can work all things together for good for those that love Him and are called according to His purpose. And, believers, you and I ARE the called!
Blessings,
Pastor Giovannetti
