Last week, we discovered the reason behind the ‘knowing and doing’ gap. Gaps can reveal areas of dormancy in our faith. However, they can be awakened! Dormant faith just needs a SPARK; and is IGNITED when the AUTHORITY of Jesus rides herd over everything else in the believer’s life!
James 1:22 “Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
John 14:21 “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.”
For this reason, there are things we do for Jesus that we would not do for anyone else!
Then He said, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given you – this is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” John 15:7
But what really jolted me so as to sputter, “What did you just say?” (Don’t ya love it when that happens!) was this. So I read it again: Jesus said “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” Jn 14:12
WHOA! It’s the ‘greater things’ that jarred me! And I thought, “Does Jesus mean I am to knock on my neighbor’s doors and cast out evil spirits [which we might like to for some of our neighbors]? Or is He promising an answer to prayer for a parking space during Christmas rush in an overcrowded mall?”
I had to go back. Reviewing the context, John 14-17 Jesus is giving the disciples ‘keys’ to the Kingdom. (MT 16:13-21). Keys = authority. It’s REAL authority, even raising of Lazarus’ from the dead (Jn 11)! So here He discloses His “last will and testament” to men He is entrusting a world altering assignment; no ‘Plan B!’
So what does an ignited faith LOOK LIKE? What ‘greater works’ are yet ahead? At the risk of oversimplification, I will quote from “UNLEASHING Spiritual Ambition,” I wrote in 2023:
“When we lay ourselves out before him – the good, the bad, and the ugly – it is flat amazing how generously God responds in love! Nothing attracts Him like humility! And there is no way to know God’s secrets unless God imparts them to us. Hence the currency of love is TIME; time with the Lord in prayer, delighting in His word, His care and thinking His thoughts. The outcome of this is we may at times be inclined to act spontaneously on Holy Spirit leadings.”
This has been my experience on numerous occasions. I share some of them in my book and this is by no means unusual among those who practice hanging out with Jesus! Similar things happened with disciples in the book of Acts – healings, cosmic answers to prayer, unusual movements of God, etc. So, if inertia holds you back in your walk of faith, do you want to eliminate it? Maybe you’re saying “Sure, but what do I have to do?” Will you carve out special time for Jesus on purpose daily for a month? Can you lend yourself to Jesus for a month? A week? A day? Will you strike the match?
When we include Jesus in our daily living, it gives Him a thumbs up to activate the Father’s redemptive purpose through us! How great is THIS! The fulfillment of destiny, through the ages up to the present is caught up in Jesus, the incarnate Lamb of God. Selah! His death accomplished in one sacrifice all that is needed for the forgiveness of sin. Then by his resurrection we have all that’s needed for the UNLEASHING of power in the believer. iOi
“Faith comes by the Word of God.” For a faith building strategy, click here: https://www.ioutreachinc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/new-testament-bible-study.pdf 3 pages a week, 11 weeks and all 11 major themes are covered!
