Greater Things

Today I've been meditating on the promises of Jesus to the believer. To you and to me. Last week I mentioned that He promised in John 14:12 that those who believe in Him will do even greater things than He did. Do you believe that?

Take a minute and really think about it. Do you believe that you will do all the things Jesus did and even greater things?

Did Jesus exaggerate? Was it a wrong translation? Or could it be possible that we aren't believing the way He meant when He made the promise?

Well, I KNOW Jesus didn't exaggerate. He IS Truth.

Wrong translation? One of the Bible de-powering things I was taught was that even if scripture was originally what God said, the translators messed it up and so you couldn't believe it the way it came to us. I bought that - sort of. But I just couldn't believe that the God of all Creation would allow Jesus' words to be mistranslated. So I believed the Words in Red!!!

Those two questions out of the way, that leaves us as the reason we aren't doing the things Jesus did and greater.

"But I have faith!" "I believe." Do we?

The definition of faith is "trust in God's Word and reliance on His Nature." To truly believe in Jesus means to trust that His Word is true and to rely on His goodness. When I was a child I was taught that the Bible is full of stories that contain wisdom but that you can't believe it literally. I'll never forget when God sent someone who taught me that the Bible contains the Living Word of the Living God and that, yes, I can believe and take it literally - even the words not in red. "Joy unspeakable and full of glory"!!! I Peter 1:8

His Word is forever settled in heaven. But He needs us to believe and receive it on earth. That's why He told us to pray "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Matthew 6:10.

Shortly after Jesus said the believer would do greater things than He did, He said, "He that has my commandments and keeps them, that is who loves me, and he that loves me shall be loved by my Father and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." John 14:21.

Aha! To trust in and rely on Him means that we believe Him and keep His commandments. And what are His commandments? The apostle John says that we have anything we ask of God if we keep His commandments which are: believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ (Okay, got that!) and love one another, as he gave us commandment. (Uh-Oh!) I John 3:22,23

Jesus taught in Mark 11: 24-26 that whatever we pray, believe we receive and we will have them and then He says "And when you stand praying, forgive if you have anything against anybody."Hmm. Could it be that we are not seeing ourselves do the things Jesus did, much less the greater things, because we are not walking in love, not forgiving those who wrong us?

He said when we keep His commandments, He will manifest Himself to us. That means He will show Himself to us, His love and power will pour through us. But that can't happen if we are clogged up with resentments, irritations, and unforgiveness.

I hope you and I both (and the rest who read this) will be quick to forgive, quick to be merciful, quick to obey His voice to let Him pour out His blessings to others through us.

And as we do, I believe we are going to begin to see those greater things happen all around us.