Sunday 23 July 2017

John 14 (Six) Jesus’ Power Though Us


Good morning

We continue with our discussion of John chapter 14.
“Jesus answered: ‘Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves,’” (John 14:9-11).


Why is it that the church seems so powerless? In the passage we’ll discuss next time, Jesus mentioned that His Disciples would do greater things than He did, yet we don’t often see it. Is it not maybe that we are not one with Him as He is one with the Father? He said that the Father lives in Him and the works that the disciples saw and the teaching that they heard was actually not His, but the Father working through Him. Jesus was completely surrendered to His father. He did not think of His own comfort for one minute. He had no material possessions and no place to stay (Matthew 8:20). He spent all His time and energy either praying or ministering. His life consisted of receiving from the Father and giving it out. There was no time for entertainment, watching television, keeping a luxurious or even ordinary home and so on, if we could speak in modern terms.


How do you compare with Jesus? If we want to do greater things than He did, if we want revival – even as a church – how does our availability compare with His? There are a few individual groups doing great things, but what about the rest of the body? As the Father in Jesus did the work while He was on earth, so Jesus in us wants to do the work. Jesus said to the Father in His last hours before the crucifixion as recorded in John 17:4: “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” Now He wants us to do the same through Him that lives in us. He wants us to complete the work Father gave us. 

Do you know the work the Lord wants you to do? Maybe you do not have a specific Christian mission, but are placed in an ordinary day job and therefore think you are not called. Whether we are called to full-time ministry or full-time secular work with part time ministry, we still need to hear from the Lord on a daily basis what work He wants us to complete.


Jesus had to take action. He had to pray during the night to hear from His father what He wanted Jesus to say and do in order for the Father to be able to do for people what He intended to. Jesus had to exercise faith to do and say what His Father told Him to do and say. It was not any easier for Jesus to act by faith as it is for us, because whilst on earth He was a man just like us. Do you think it was easy to spit in the mud and smear it onto the blind man’s eyes, having to believe that he will see, or to believe that Peter would find the coin in the fish’s mouth?


Jesus was exactly like any Spirit-filled Christian when He was on earth. He had the Holy Spirit, the Word in Him and He had open communication to the Father living in Him. Under guidance of the Holy Spirit He had to hear from the Father through the quickening of the Word in His heart. This would have created faith in Him to do what He had to. The more time He spent in prayer, the more power He had available to do miracles. 


Because we have the fullness of Christ living in us, we should be able to do the same if we devote the same time and energy to it.

Lord, I want to be like Jesus.


No comments:

Post a Comment