Brady Boyd, The Senior Pastor of New Life Church, Colorado Springs is a man

whom i have grown to tap from this year as well as the men whom he is
associated with e.g. Jimmy Evans (Marriage Today)and Robert
Morris(Gateway Church, Texas).Pastor Brady started a series on changing
the world on the third week of April. As I began to listen to this series of
messages, God began to take me through this journey of change which had
long began when i shared a scripture from John 4 at my home church in
Kiambu, Kenya. On that Sunday of the third week of April, I had the privilege
of visiting Bayside Church Of Sacramento to check out the Katina’s (an
amazing Christian Band, btw) and that is where I started to have the
thoughts about the message of how we put God in a box. Chris Brown, A well-
known theologian from Southern California dramatically shared a message
of Seeing God’s Power, which led to a resonance of I Samuel 4 within my
spirit. The truth is that change must first begin with us before we can change
the world. Real change happens when Christ comes into the scene. However,
Change is driven by our openness to God and truly living for him.
The story of the Israelites and the Ark of the Covenant being captured is
detailed on how the Israelites stood in battle and were defeated in the first
round when they fought the Philistines. Then, the elders of Israel led the
Israeli army to bring out the ark during the second round of battle hoping
that they were going to conquer the Philistines. Needless to say, they were
disappointed as they remained defeated even though there was great
celebration at the arrival of ark into the battlefield. To make things worse,
the ark itself was captured due to the weakness of the Israelites in battle. The
Israelites had limited God to a “magical wooden box” that could be used,
abused and misused at any time of war to bring victory to Israel. God’s
presence was limited to an object that could be brought out for the benefit
of the Israel. The Lord is challenging his people today not to reduce God to
one who only victory for ourselves. If you only wish to reach out to him at
times of war in your life, I have news for you, you will be very disappointed.
God only helps his friends (those who love him) and his friends are those
who do his commandments(John 14:15).Deferring your relationship with
God to the times of your life when things go wrong will only lead to
frustration. The presence of God will exit your life as the enemy steals it from
you when you seem not to get the things that you want from God just like the
ark was captured. This awkwardly passive response from God might come as
a shock to many who have experienced his power just like Eli, the priest of
that time who died of shock after his sons' death and the capturing of the
ark. The ark of the covenant was to be made to a point of contact between
the Israelites and God; not a magical box......
This was not the only story that God used to set me on a journey of change.
There is also the story of The Egyptian Hebrew Slaves (Exodus 32) who got
used to encountering God through one person, Moses. When they saw that
Moses was taking a long time to come down from the mountain, they began
to worship idols. Earlier(Exodus 20),they had promised that they would
follow God and his commandments but when Moses went up for a long time,
they made a golden calf.Most of us have learnt to depend upon a person to
experience God. A Pastor, A Mentor or TV Preachers can become mediums in
which we encounter God.Figuratively,these people whom we have regarded
as 'special men/women' or “those whom God can use to speak to us” could
represent boxes in which we have allowed God to communicate to us about
our lives secondhandly. Once we lose contact with these people, we slide
back to our old ungodly lifestyle without experiencing real change that
comes from God. The Egyptian Hebrew slaves began to worship the gods of
Egypt. They had forgotten what God had done for them when he delivered
them from Egypt. We might think that forgetting is an excuse to our
backsliding but in truth, it is a consequence of not pursuing a fulltime deep
passionate relationship with God.
The disciples of Jesus had a carnal understanding of his message, ministry
style and his purpose on earth. They put Jesus in the box of their intellect,
intuition and insight up to the point where they were not prepared to face
the death of Jesus. Peter rebuked Jesus for warning the disciples about his
death(Matt 16, Mark 8, Luke. 32).They expected him to redeem Israel from
the roman empire (Luke 9 and 24).The concept of the kingdom of God
became a myth to them and they started to argue about who was to be
greatest among them and subsequently the successor of Jesus after his
death.Let Me Preach Here For A Minute. How many times have we found
ourselves thinking that God would often fit into our lives and using his
superpowers create a system that would benefit us. Giving and other
spiritual disciplines can become a means to an end while the word can be
misused to fulfill our own agenda. May the Lord forgive us!!! . Not everything
we want can be harvested by naming and claiming and binding and losing
and rituals that are about our own success(nuff said). The disciples often left
out the resurrection of Jesus in their succession arguments, which were
based on Jesus Prophecy of his death, and resurrection. Some people often
leave out parts of the word that seem irrelevant in the present condition of
their lives. We should embrace the full gospel which not only has promises of
God but also his rebuke.(ponder)
We as Christ followers today tend to lean towards tradition when it comes to
the way we understand God. Although there is evidence of God's “
unlimitedness ”, we tend to define him using formulas, methods and
derivations that come out of our reasoning out of God. Truth be told, God is
just too big to figure out. He is the wind ....we dont know where is
going...remember when the disciples were filled with the Holy spirit(Acts
2).He hovers(Genesis 1).
Here are just some of examples of God's Unlimitedness; The disciples of
Jesus, thinking that the ministry of Jesus had reached a celebrity status at
one time made it inaccessible to children(Matthew 19)but Jesus told them to
let the kids come and see him, this is in consideration that women and
children were the least considered in the society of that time. Jesus is the
God of all tribes, tongue, race, color, the young and old.(nuff said).Jesus
healed using different styles to demonstrate his “unlimitedness” (ponder).
God used a donkey to talk to Balaam, Jesus also accepted an extravagant
offering from the woman who came to worship him with the oil (Luke
7:37:Matthew 26:7) although the disciples thought it was a waste and that it
should have been given to the poor. How many times do we choose what
,where ,why or whom we should give to ??(Ponder). How many times do we
exclude certain people from joining our church gang. How many times do
ministers of the word depend on a certain style of preaching or teaching or
healing in the justification of increasing the faith of believers??(ponder)
The Pharisees restricted Jesus, in their own minds, to a bunch of rules and
regulations mocking him against going against the law of Moses by
rebuilding the temple in three days when in reality, he was talking about his
death (John 2:19-21).They insisted on questioning his actions and those of
his disciples e.g. not washing their hands (Matthew 15:2);healing on the
Sabbath(Mark 3) & healing the blind man(John 9).They also tried to contrast
him with John to reduce his ratings among the people talking about him
dealing with sinners. I could revise it as putting Jesus in John's Box.(Luke
7:18-34).There are many who translate and interpret God using human
terms...His ways are not your ways...his thought are higher than yours.
Jesus was with the woman at the well and after talking to her about the
living water that one would receive from himself and not from external
things, he talked about worship (John 4:21). Jesus prophesied about the time
where people would not worship according to a place (Read John 4). Worship
is a lifestyle; it is not just a song. It cannot be confined to a place. It is done in
Spirit and in truth; In spirit-a infinite place (where there is no time or place)
and in truth, where there is no hiding, no personal motive or selfish agenda.
I have shared stories which may have related to the place where you are with
God but the let me do a little review so far of some of the boxes that we put
God in -A person/pastor (Moses),our schedule(Matthew 22),Ministry
style(John 9),Place(John 4),intellect, intuition and insight (Proverbs
3:5-6 ).So, the question is how do we get God out of the box???....
In opportune moments of trial and temptation, God allows our faith to be
perfected so that we can stop looking at these boxes to be our fortresses,
boxes or vehicles that we use to drive our lives. Job’s lifestyle was at one time
of affluence and fame until God decided to test him. Everything he had was
taken away from him to a point where his wife asked him to curse God and
die, Abraham was tested by God to sacrifice everything he had by a God-
designed attempt to kill his son(Genesis 22).You have to understand that if
Isaac died, he would not be able to turn his estate into an inheritance. All of
the wealth that he had acquired would go to waste if Isaac died. The
question that these men had to answer before God would be whether they
would give it all to God instead of their wealth and affluence. And that is how
we get out of the box, by enduring trial and temptation, we suddenly lose the
factors of our live and suddenly we start to equate our success in life to
surrendering our all to God. Everyone who was used and blessed greatly by
Go had to answer that question. Jacob remained with his uncle Laban who
misused him but came out firmly rooted in his faith of the God of Isaac. He
stopped relying on the blessing of his father Isaac but now fought with God
through the angel (Genesis 32:23-34). Joseph ended up going to prison for
his God-designed trial of escaping Potiphar's wife but came out having
cultivated his gift of prophecy and became the second in command in Egypt
thereby fulfilling God's Dream For His Life. Moses had to leave his family and
all that he had in Midian to save God's People. Jesus himself had to be tested
for forty days and forty nights where he had nothing: the bible records that
the spirit led him into the wilderness. (Matthew 4:1, Mark 4:1,Luke 4:1)
Many might ask whether this means living our lives by chance and taking
some incredible risks by not depending on these vehicles to drive our lives.
Yes, that is exactly what i am saying. All those vehicles/boxes/factors are
great but they should not limit God. Our daily activities cannot be limited
up to the point where they limit God to work in our lives but also, they can be
limited up to the point as long as they don’t limit God to work in our lives.
One important thing to understand about taking God Out Of The Box is that
we are made to exist for God .We cannot live against God or living against
others neither living for ourselves nor against ourselves or living because of
others. We are made to live For God. Therefore he deserves our all...don’t put
him a box of constraints of time, energy or resources.

Lastly, i would like to share the symptoms may tell us that we are putting God
In A Box
1.Attribution of good results to an event other than God.
We are told to be grateful at all times: there are numerous places in the bible
where we are told to give praise to God for all the things that he has done for
us.We forget to give him the credit that is due to him at any moments of our
lives..
2.Exclusion of God from important life decisions and other activities e.g.
Entertainment, Giving etc.
What movies are you watching, what music are u listening to, are they totally
against God. I saw a movie the other day, which was blatantly against God
and Biblical Values (cannot mention names here, am not a movie critic).
There was no subtlety in the way that it was presented it. Some movies might
have some content that is against God but its effect maybe minimal, as long
we are vigilant or a football game or a basketball game or sports or
anything else but some are just totally against God. About important life
decisions,You can ask God about the house you want to buy, the career you
want to want to pursue or simple choices that you make. It will save you a lot
of trouble if you just acknowledge him (Proverbs 3:6)
3.Procrastination: Deffering your relationship with God to certain times of
your life when things go wrong or when it is convenient for you to do so. -God
does not exist for you.... you exist for him.... he will not hear you if you
forsake him in times of abundance...God only helps his friends(ponder).......
4.Compensation: doing good works in order to please God
Most people after sinning think that God will be please with their good
works after they sin but the truth is that he is not pleased with your
sacrifices...he wants you to know him personally...(Hos_6:6; Mic_6:6-8). Jesus
showed us the example that he did not just do works to please God, He wasn't
just a good person, he was a radical. he wanted to change the world so he
did the will of his father.....
5.Misprize; forsaking prophecy or the bible or the word of God.
6.Compromise: Not Putting God First...
7.Planning For God: Worshipping God because of your own selfish motives
and agenda.
8.Isolation: Walking away from fellowship with other believers.

Author: JOSHUA MUTHEE

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