GREATER THINGS

 

April 15, 2024

John 14:12

12 What I’m about to tell you is true. Anyone who believes in me will do the works I have been doing. In fact, they will do even greater things. That’s because I am going to the Father.

John 16:33

33 “I have told you these things, so that you can have peace because of me. In this world you will have trouble. But be encouraged! I have won the battle over the world.”

1 Corinthians 15:54

54 In fact, that is going to happen. What does not last will be dressed with what lasts forever. What dies will be dressed with what does not die. Then what is written will come true. It says, “Death has been swallowed up. It has lost the battle.”

 GREATER THINGS

Sometimes I think about what it would have been like to be among the followers of Jesus in the time depicted in the gospels, to hear the words spoken, see the miracles. Have you ever thought of what it would have been like to sit in front of Jesus' teaching? Would you have been taking hurried notes, live messaging His best lines, or camera recording it to post on your Instagram stories?

The longer I have followed Jesus and the more I re-read the Gospels, I wonder if I would have been confused, or unsure about what Jesus said. If I had been there and heard what Jesus said in John 14. There, He told the disciples that if they believed in Him, they would do the things He had been doing and even greater things than He had done.

What?! I believe most of us have wrestled with the implications of this verse. Because of the Holy Spirit, Jesus promised we would do greater things than He did.

Remember the context of these words Jesus spoke in John 14 and 16. They occurred during the Last Supper. This conversation most have been fresh in the disciples' memories after Jesus resurrected, spent 40 days with them, and then returned to heaven. It impacted how they lived in the days after the Holy Spirit came upon them with power, just as Jesus had promised.

What I notice, in the Book of Acts particularly is that as those early disciples went through their daily lives, they lived like they expected great things. Like they expected God to do these great things through them. And do you know what happened? God did great things!

The early disciples, I believe, knew something that we need to believe today. I read one time that “Our expectations shape our experience.”

When we experience the resurrection in our lives, we begin to notice the resurrection in our world. We leave room for God to bring life out of a situation that seems dead. We expect God to bring reconciliation out of betrayal. We find brokenness and injustice, and we anticipate God will bring healing and justice there. We hold onto hope!!

Resurrection hope does not deny reality; it defies reality. We see the same thing everyone else does, but we also know that resurrection power is at work in the world. We don’t ignore what we see. We simply see more through a “resurrection worldview”.

So, what are you expecting today? We know that God will not meet every one of your expectations. He did not promise that death, and despair will never happen in our life. God did boldly promise that resurrection power was at work in us.

"God, I believe You're at work in the world.
You're bringing resurrection in me and around me.
My eyes are open - I want to see You." Amen

Let’s pray this little prayer above each day this week, and then with eyes open watch for God’s revelation and resurrection. Share what you notice with someone.