John 14:12-17 12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has FAITH in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even GREATER THINGS than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do WHATEVER YOU ASK IN MY NAME, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for ANYTHING in my name, and I will do it. 15 “If you LOVE ME, YOU WILL OBEY what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever–17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
Do you ever wonder why we don’t see more miracles happening? We know God is great, right? We know God is capable. We know His power hasn’t diminished. He hasn’t run out of gas. I don’t think we need to wonder why God isn’t doing greater things in our midst. I think that is the wrong place to focus. I think the focus needs to be on ourselves. John spells it out in these few verses.
If we have faith in Christ, if we pray bold prayers, if we love God with our whole heart, and if we obey the Lord, greater things are inevitable. Isn’t that what John says?
He says anyone who has faith in Christ is going to do Jesus’ stuff. That is what verse 12 says. He says our ask, our prayers need to be bold. He says to ask for whatever, to ask for anything in His name. Are we praying bold prayers? In verse 15 Jesus talked about their love for Him, and He challenged them to evaluate if their love for Him was being demonstrated by obeying Him.
Church, God has sent me to say to you today that before we can do GREATER things, we need to develop GREATER faith, pray GREATER prayers, possess a GREATER love for Christ and demonstrate a GREATER obedience to Him.
The accomplishing of greater things doesn’t call for God to be greater. The accomplishing of greater things doesn’t call for God to be more or to do more than He has already done. The accomplishing of greater things is now our responsibility through a greater demonstration of faith, a greater boldness in prayer, a greater show of sacrificial love and a greater willingness to live a submitted obedient life.
What I believe God wants us to consider is that “Greater Things” begin by a greater commitment from us! I’m not saying we manufacture greater things. I’m not suggesting we are the originators of miracles. I’m saying, we must respond to God in the ways He has asked us to in order for the greater things He wants to do to be accomplished through us.
This is the time to lean in, to press in, to go all-in and develop as Christ-followers. I believe if we want to do greater things for God, we must become greater in the areas of faith, prayer, love, and obedience. I believe miracles would abound if this was our aim. What if, instead of looking at the ungodliness in our culture, we took our own spiritual temperature? What if, instead of being disgusted by a lack of concern for God and His Word, we evaluated our own commitment to grow as Christ-followers? The world hasn’t accepted Christ. They aren’t making a claim to serve Him. We who have accepted Christ, are we living to serve the One in whom we have claimed to know and follow? I don’t want to be a bottle neck to the power of God being released on the earth. I don’t want to get in the way of God demonstrating His power and authority to those around me.
What I am trying to say is that casual Christianity won’t work. Greater things don’t result from casual Christianity. Having Jesus as a hobby won’t work. Greater things won’t flow from that. God will release greater things as we pursue a greater relationship with Him.
I believe “Greater Things” aren’t only the result of God’s ability to do them, but I believe “Greater Things” are also the result of our ability to believe for them and to receive them and to participate in them. Today, God is calling us to pursue and demonstrate a greater faith. He is asking us to ramp up our commitment to praying with greater boldness. He is urging us to be bent on obeying Him in every area of our lives, and He is inviting us to a greater relationship with the Holy Spirit than we have ever known. I believe God wants greater things from us before He can call greater things through us.
