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.
What if the greater thing God wants to do through you depends on your willingness for Him to do a greater work in you?
What if the greatest work is the work that takes place as we become all God intends for us to become? What if you have been resisting a greater work? What if you have been resistant to a greater miracle on the inside of your being? What if you haven’t thought about it? What if you haven’t been open to it? Have you ever desired to do greater things for God? Is it something that interests you? Do you feel called to greater things? Have you explored what that might look like? Allow me to suggest some “greater things” you might do in Jesus’ name, because He has gone to the Father, and because the power of the Holy Spirit is available to you. How can you go next-level in your Christian walk?
Greater things in you might include:
A next-level relationship with Jesus.
Look back at verse 12 of our text: John 14:12 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.
Specifically, how IS your faith in Jesus? Do you see Him as central to your life? Are you regularly engaging in Him? Are you spending time learning about Him and what He did so that you can duplicate His life? When people see you do they see Him? Can you say as you look back over 2018 that you have grown in your relationship with Christ and in your understanding of who He is and what He is truly about? Jesus is alive, but is He truly alive in your life?
Look at John 15:4-8 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit (DO GREATER THINGS) unless you remain in me. 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
A vine and its branches are pretty well connected, right? There is no disconnect, right? There is a dependency expressed. The branches need what the vine has to offer. The vine gives the branches stability. Nourishment flows from the vine to the branches. That’s the kind of relationship we are supposed to have with Jesus. We are to be rooted and grounded in Him. Can you say that about your life with Christ? Are you rooted and grounded in Him?
What if the next-level or greater thing God wants for you is:
A next-level prayer life.
Verses seven and eight talk about remaining in Christ and asking whatever we wish, and giving the Heavenly Father glory and bearing fruit. Here we see that greater things flow from a greater prayer life. Jesus even said here that one evidence that we are His disciples, one way people know we walk closely with Him, is that our prayers get answered. Is your prayer life bearing fruit? Go back to the main text for today, the one about greater things. Look at verses 13-14: 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.
WOW! Greater things flow from a next-level prayer life. As we are connected to Jesus in a proper relationship, and as we seek to glorify the Father, we can ask for anything in the name of Jesus and He will hear and answer prayer. To come in His name is to recognize that there is no one above Him. He is the Sovereign Lord. He alone has the power to say “Yes” to the impossible and “No” to the detrimental. We definitely want Him to say “No” to anything that could harm us or keep us from experiencing His best, right? That is next-level praying.
Here is a third aspect of greater things that God may want for your life:
Next-level obedience.
Look at verse 15 of our Greater Things text: “If you love me, you will obey what I command.
We cannot take the Greater Things promise of Jesus out of this context. There will not be greater things done in and through our lives if there is not next-level obedience in our lives. By next-level obedience, I mean radical obedience. I mean we seek to go all of the way with Jesus. I mean we aren’t looking for loopholes to enable us to do less and sin more. I mean we aren’t procrastinating in doing what we know God wants us to do. It’s a right-now obedience. It’s an obedience in all things. It is an obedience that is full of joy.
Go back to our Greater Things text one more time. Verses 16-17: 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.
What if the greater thing God desires for you is to have a
Next-level experience with the person of the Holy Spirit.
A Holy Spirit experience is something we all need if we are going to be transformed into the image of Jesus. There are parts of our personality that need to be surrendered to the Holy Spirit. Wouldn’t it be a greater thing if someone who got angry easily became someone who was controlled and patient with people? Wouldn’t it be a greater thing if someone who wasn’t dependable became someone who could be trusted and relied on? Wouldn’t it be a greater thing if someone who was addicted to something was set free? The Holy Spirit can make it possible.
Our greater things passage talks about the Holy Spirit as our counselor. What if we were always led to think the way the Holy Spirit could help us think? What if we were always in tune with the voice of the Holy Spirit to set our daily agenda according to the plan of God? How many greater things would flow from our alignment with the Holy Spirit?
What about those amazing miracles Jesus did? Why aren’t we seeing those in greater frequency? The same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us, right? I suppose whenever we are as close to the Father as Jesus was, and whenever we pray in confident faith the way Jesus did, and whenever we obey the Father in every detail like He did, even when it required suffering, and when we are so full of the Holy Spirit that we always respond to the push and pull of the Spirit’s guidance, we can absolutely expect to see greater things in greater ways than ever before.
