"I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase."

                                                                                     1 Corinthians 3:6

 

     You do not have to go far to find that the heart of God is all about increase. It is a truth purported throughout the entire Bible. From Genesis to Revelation, we find an echoing sound to a beaconed call, challenging us to step up to a higher level of existence--to a more determined dimension of life. It is vital to know in your heart that God is not holding back anything from you. Paul even said, "...for all things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours" (1Cor. 3:21, 22). Everything that is within the scope of your ability to reach out to take hold of something greater hinges on whether or not you are willing to raise your expectations, enlarge your vision, and embrace the possibilities for increase.

     There is a faith that can take you beyond yourself. No matter what sort of limitation or restriction you face, there is nothing that can keep you from being everything God has purposed for you to be, except yourself.

 

You hold the key to how deep, how far, how great and how high you can go.

    

     There are places to reach, levels to attain in your walk with God, but you have to reach deep down on the inside to find them. Stop and think what it much have been like to have all the wonderful experiences that Peter had: the marvel of seeing people healed by just getting within the path of his shadow to having an angel personally deliver him from prison--from a crippled man instantly being made whole to raising a young maiden from the dead. And yet, think back to the night of Jesus' betrayal. Here was a man so overcome by his own reluctance to stand up for what he believed that he denied his relationship with Christ three times. Here was a man that was destined for greatness, but struggled within himself to capture even the slightest image of that greatness. I mean to such a point that even after Christ's crucifixion and resurrection all he could imagine within himself was going back to a life of fishing.

     In John chapter twenty-one, the Bible says, "After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise showed he himself. There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing..." (John 21:1-3). Kenneth Wuest's, "Word Studies in the Greek" says, "From the words of the translation, one would gather that Peter's intention was merely to throw a net into the sea for a brief fling at fishing until such time as Jesus would appear again. But when we examine the Greek text, we find something very serious. The words "I go" are HUPAGO, which is used to denote the final departure of one who ceases to be another's companion or attendant." In other words, this was Peter's formal announcement that he no longer had it in him to pursue the mission Jesus had left for his disciples to follow. All he could see for himself was the same limited lifestyle he had always lived as a struggling fisherman.

     From reading the Book of Acts, we know that what elevated Peter's outlook was him being filled with the Holy Spirit. God had to enlarge his heart before he could enlarge his vision! There are things within God's destined plan for you that "cannot" come to pass unless you believe that it is God's will for you to increase. Dad Hagin used to say people make the choice whether or not they want to live on "Barely-get-along-street, down by grumble-alley." Do you know that if that is where you want to live, God will oblige you? He'll let you settle for less if you want to, but that is not his best!

     When God told Abraham he was going to have a child, the circumstances that had controlled Abraham's entire life prohibited him from taking hold of such a thought. Until, God took him out and showed him the stars! Something happened in him that altered his perception. Faith rose up in him from struggling to see a son, to now being able to behold a nation! It took an increase in his field of vision to step up to something beyond himself.

     You have the potential...You have the capability! Now all you need is an increase in your capacity to see and believe! And that increase can only come when you let God enlarge you from within!