You Talking to Me? – Part 47

I  am awed by the power of God, and how that power was manifest through Jesus in the earth.

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Genesis 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 21, 24, 26, & 28 – And God said . . .

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John 14:12 says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”  I thought I’d just come right to the point today.  Almost anyone who has been a Christian for a few months can tell you about, at the very least, SOME of the great works Jesus did.  They may not be able to cite chapter and verse, or even share all the details or insights of revelation that arise from it, but they can tell you that it happened.  I am sure, too, that most Christians, at some point, have marveled at the works Jesus did during His earthly ministry.  Think about some of those works.  He healed all manner of sickness and disease.  He cleansed leprosy, unstopped deaf ears, loosed mute tongues, opened blind eyes, made the lame to walk.  He multiplied loaves and fish to feed the multitudes, sent Peter fishing for tax money, and turned water to wine. He calmed storms, walked on water, cast out devils with His Word, and raised the dead.  Awesome indeed!

But it doesn’t end there.  Take a moment to read John 14:12 again.  In fact, read it several times.  It would be great to memorize it, and to give serious meditative thought to what it says to you.  There are two levels of the manifestation of God’s power revealed in this one verse, and both of them, even to this day, can post a “You talking to me?” thought in my mind.  When it does, I am required to apply mind-of-Christ-thinking to bring myself back into alignment with God’s Word.  I’ve heard this passage read often in Church, and even heard some ministers try to explain it away.  The problem they face is a simple one, and yet impossible to overcome.  These are the Words of Jesus, settled forever in heaven, words the Lord hastens to perform, and because they are the Words of God, they shall never pass away.

Do you believe in Jesus?  Do you believe the Word of God?  Do you believe that if God said it, that settles it?  For me, the answer to all three questions is a resounding “YES!”  And I’m sure it is for you, too.  That being settled, I now thrust into your awareness a strong “You talking to me?” moment.  Read John 14:12 once again.  Jesus said, if you believe on Him, that you shall do the same works He did in His earthly ministry.  There it is.  You’ve read it.  The words that came from the lips of Messiah Himself.  YOU SHALL DO THE WORK THAT HE DID.  The question arises, are we seeing that?  If not, there is a gap that needs to be filled in our walk with Him in love, faith, obedience, and honor.  And, yes, I’m talking to you.

Manna for Today – Genesis 1; Psalm 119:89; Proverbs 4:20-23; Mark 11:22-26; Romans 3:4

You Talking to Me? – Part 48

Some commands Jesus gave are hard for the natural mind to grasp; “You talking to me?” moments.

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Genesis 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 21, 24, 26, & 28 – And God said . . .

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John 14:12 says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”   Today we continue to look into one of the strongest “You talking to me?” provoking passages in God’s Word.  But the question arises, “Why does it provoke such thinking so powerfully in the minds of believers?  The answer is really quite simple, and at the same time, quite profound.  It all has to do with thinking.  That is one of the reasons I pen the words so often to “think” about a particular thing.  We have been given the mind of Christ.  We have been given all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.  We have been told what things we are to hold in our minds as anchors to our thoughts.  We are commanded to bring “every thought into the obedience” of Christ.  Yet, with all these commands in Scripture, far too many Christians are still bound by their old form of natural thinking that will inevitably bring the believer into conflict with himself as the Word of God enlightens one path, but the soul (mind, will, intellect, and emotions) prefer to walk a more familiar, or so it seems, path of darkness. 

Look again at the sheer dynamic of the commands of John 14:12.  Jesus did NOT say that those who believe on Him SHOULD do the works that He did.  Jesus said, HE SHALL DO.  Note once again, this is not a verse speaking to possibility.  If that’s all it did, it would still be profoundly powerful and worthy of pursuit.  This verse speaks a command.  Jesus said the believer SHALL DO what He did.  “SHALL” is a command word.  Jesus fully expects you and I to rise up and fulfill that command.  So, when you read John 14:12, you must accept it as a command. 

Dear friend, the moment you accept this verse as a command, one of the first thoughts that will fly at your mind is “You talking to me?”  To the traditionally thinking, or religiously thinking mind, this command is staggering.  After all, Jesus was the Son of God.  He was born of the incorruptible seed of God’s Word through a virgin.  Why, we shouldn’t even begin to think we could do what Jesus did.  But I’ve a question for you.  Have you been born again?  Then you, too, are a son of God, an heir of God, and a joint heir with Jesus Christ.  God made you to be that person.  And having been born to it, I would suggest that you grow up, discover the truth of God’s Word about who you are, and accept your responsibility.  “You talking to me?” will be no excuse for failing to perform just because it sounds to great to your carnal mind.

Manna for Today – Genesis 1; Psalm 119:89; Proverbs 4:20-23; Mark 11:22-26; Romans 3:4