WAKE UP, SLEEPIES

Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." And Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!" Nathanael said to Him, "How do You know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." Nathanael answered and said to Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" Jesus answered and said to Him, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' do you believe? YOU WILL SEE GREATER THINGS THAN THESE." (John 1:45-50, NKJV)

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and GREATER WORKS THAN THESE he will do, because I go to My Father." (John 14:12, NKJV)

I believe that the Lord is wanting us to know that the time is ripe for the "greater things." However, there are many who have allowed their relationship with Christ to become very ordinary and without expectation of the miraculous. It has become like riding a bicycle. You get on and don't even put any thought into what you need to do to make it go. In other words, riding a bike for us is a very routine thing to do. Now on one hand it should be very normal and automatic that we allow the Lord into our lives everyday, but the way we interact with Him should never become routine. There should always be a level of expectancy. Jesus wants us to learn and do new things all the time. There is a trap that we can fall into where we start thinking that we have seen all that God will do in our lives. I have even heard people say, "I will never lead anyone to Christ." Not because they don't want to, but because they've never experienced it, so they stop believing it to be possible. When we start thinking like that I believe our own mindset can even start limiting God from working in our lives the way He wants to. I'm thinking of the scripture where Jesus "could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief." (Mark 6:5-6, NKJV)

Here in the town where I live, Madison, Ohio, there are a group of guys that get together on Wednesday nights to pray and intercede for our town and surrounding communities. I love that time because we are not afraid to pray for extraordinary events that are lined up in the Kingdom and just waiting to be released. I had just finished praying last night for believers that are stuck in a rut in their Christian walk, much like I just described. No sooner had I prayed for God to stir their hearts and give them new dreams, when He caught me off guard by challenging me. God will always do His part, but in creating us God desires for us to be His ambassadors and spokespeople. He wants us to do what Jesus would do if He were in bodily form on this earth today. Jesus reached out to people. He loved and with great compassion. I heard God speaking to my spirit, "You need to do your part, too. It's the easy way out to ask Me to just do it, but I have given you the ability to speak into peoples lives. Be an encourager and I will be faithful. Tell them that the greater things are soon to come."

Around the same time as I was praying, another brother started speaking out what God was showing him. He said that God was showing him that it was time to start casting our nets on the other side of the boat. Some have been fishing off the same side of the boat for way too long. Some have become trapped in the same routine in ministry and personal walks with Christ day in and day out. We've stopped looking for new and fresh things. (I've interjected some of my thoughts along with his from last night.) It's time to change things up, allow ourselves to be stretched and see what happens when we fish off the other side of the boat, or in deeper waters. (For more of this fishing and dropping nets please refer to the fun stories found in Luke 5:1-11 and John 21.)

I guess in trying to bring everything together, I think that God is saying, "Wake up, sleepies!" (For those "Lord of the Ring" addicts, that quote just made you laugh, or at least smile...........admit it! At least humor me and tell me it did.) Yes, I think God wants to stir us up, shake us up and get us excited about Who we have living inside of us. Become the mountain mover that God wants you to be. Have you thought lately about the same Spirit living inside of you which raised Christ from the dead? Dull and routine? I think not! "CHRIST IN YOU, the hope of glory." Jesus, the Man who spoke calm to the winds and waves, the Man who raised Lazarus from the dead, the Man who opened eyes to sight, the Man who said to the crippled, "Rise, take up your bed and walk" and the Man who prayed, "Father, forgive them, they don't know what they do." That MAN lives in YOU!

Expecting greater things,
Mark S.