Today I’m going to start a new series of messages that will bless your life.
Fabiana and I have just arrived from Brazil and God really blessed our time there. We visited many churches in different cities and we saw God saving and delivering many lives, and many miracles happened instantly.
I am very happy for what God has done so far and very excited for what He will do in our midst and in your life!
I believe that God will visit us in a powerful way these days and will do supernatural things in your life.
For Jesus died, resurrected and He is alive! How many believe in this?
Series: Greater things
Today’s Word: Believe
Most of the people that I talk to and counsel, will tell me at some point : I feel like God has more for me!
How do you fell? Are you also dissatisfied with the kind of life you are living?
Do you feel that your spiritual life and your relationship with God could be better?
Do you feel that your emotional life or your marriage could be better, that your professional and financial life could also be better?
Dear ones, we must be thankful for everything we have, but we need to seek more from God every day!
No one likes to feel that the years are passing by and nothing is happening. It’s a bad feeling, it’s horrible.
I believe that all of us, all of you who are listening to me, want to feel that you have lived the best of God, that your life was worth it, and what you have done is important.
At the bottom of our hearts, each of us want to be relevant, we wish to have a life that makes a difference to your family, to the people we love and to the world.
Our message series will be based on this tremendous statement that Jesus said,
“I tell you the truth , 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.”
John 14:12
Jesus said: I’m telling the truth, I’m not lying to you!
Jesus said that “the one who believes”! This is a condition; it’s not for everyone but for those who believe, the ones who surrender, the ones who have an experience with me!
Those who believe will do the works I have been doing. Can you imagine how these words came to Peter’s, James’ and John’s ears? You will do the works that I have done and even greater things than these.
That’s why the name of these series of messages is: Greater Things.
Do we really understand what Jesus said here? This is I want to share today!
Is it really that we will do bigger things that Jesus did? Jesus was the greatest man that has lived on this earth! Will we really do bigger things than the greatest man? What does this verse mean?
How can we do bigger things that Jesus did? Can we operate more powerful miracles than Jesus? Can we have more impact than the man who has changed the history of humanity?
I honestly do not think that’s what Jesus is saying!
In all of my years walking with Jesus (38 years) I do not know of anyone who rose someone from the dead after 4 days. I do not know anyone who multiplied bread and fed 15,000 people. I do not know of anyone who spit on the ground, made mud with saliva, put it over of a blind man’s eyes and restored his vision.
Of course I’ve seen several blind people being healed, I’ve seen many miracles happen after my prayers, but I do not believe that it was what Jesus is talking about.
I believe in miracles! I believe in living a supernatural life and I have no doubt that supernatural things can happen through our prayers.
On this trip to Brazil I prayed for many people and many received instant miracles, people with pains were healed. A man came to a meeting in crutches, with pains in his leg and after praying for him the pains disappeared, he went on to walk home without his crutches.
But in this text I believe that this is not what Jesus is saying. But what I believe Jesus is saying is that ordinary people, the ones full of the Holy Spirit, people like me and you, would be given even greater power than Him because this same power would be in many people!
He was only one man full of the Holy Spirit, and we would be many, many people full of the Holy Spirit!
The early church did extraordinary things, things that Jesus still wants to do through me and you!
I believe that in this text Jesus is not saying that no one will be greater than He!
There is no one and there will never be anyone like Jesus!
But He’s calling us to be “bigger with him”! Greater than ourselves, greater than everyone around us, greater than your our thoughts about yourself.
Through him you can! “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Philippians 4:13
I can do all things because He helps me, He gets me up, He strengthens me. I can do it with Him, through Him, through His Holy Spirit in me, in us, in you!
Jesus’ declaration of doing greater things fits with this feeling that we have at the bottom of our heart. We were created for something great, we were created for more than we are experiencing.
“As it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him—”
1 Corinthians 2:9 NIV
God has greater things for those who love Him! God is telling you: I have something bigger for you, I want to give you more, I have better things in store for you!
Living a basic life is not for us! I do not want to live a mediocre and basic life. I want to live the plans of God!
If we continue living a mediocre life, we will pay a high price at the end, or maybe you have already started paying for it! Maybe the bill has arrived at your door step!
Worst of all is that many who had dreams and expectations, but were not allowed to live their dreams are now getting old and bitter.
They blame everyone else! It’s my leader’s fault, it’s my boss’ fault, it’s my spouse’s fault, it’s Covid’s fault, it’s the government fault and so on… But this is not true!
We should not blame what is around us but rather what is inside us!
The problem is our arrogance, our will to be greater than others, lack of humility, lack of forgiveness.
Many attack others for their own mistakes and choices! We blame our partners, we blame our children, we blame our church and our parents, but the real issue is what is within us. We get bitter over lost opportunities.
I’m sure you’ve said: I’ll be used by God, I’m going to help many lives, I’ll make a difference! but then you did nothing, you stayed in the same place!
With this kind of attitude you miss out on God’s plans for you! That wonderful purpose that God planned out, that he had written and determined before you were born!
“Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!”
Psalms 139:16-17 NIV
I have seen people missing out on these wonderful plans because of unresolved issues within themselves!
The greatest tragedy of life is not death, but a life without purpose.
How many of you are getting old, walking towards death and still attached to banal things from this life.
We need to live and contribute to this world, leaving a legacy behind when we pass away. Some people die and no one misses them, some people may change cities and but no one misses them when they are gone.
Beloved, if you die today what will you have done with the life God has given you?
The fact is that we can be much better! We can do much better than we are doing today! This is what the Lord Jesus is telling you! We can be better!
You may have been rejected, you may have been born in a poor family, you may have been abused, you have suffered, but you cannot say that there is no way out or that you were born in misery and you will die in it.
God has bigger things for you! Do not let yourself sink in your own sin, your bitterness, your lack of humility, your lack of forgiveness, your resentment and wrong decisions. Do not hold on to the past that prevents you from being better.
Jesus said: He who believes in me will do great things, extraordinary works.
God is inviting you, He is calling out to you: walk with me, believe in me, if you surrender, I can make you much better!
The first step to experiencing greater things is believing in God and His Word!
Jesus said: Anyone who believes in me will experience greater things. We can live something much bigger! Jesus is not calling you and me to be bigger than Him, but Jesus is called us to be greater with Him.
Is Jesus in your life? So you can do better. What does it mean to experience greater things? What does it mean to be great for God?
What greatness might mean for you is very different from what it means to God!
You might consider your problem to be great, or your debts, your illness, your depression, your anxiety, great for you is the pile of clothing you have to wash or ironing . Great is your tiredness to take care of your children because they are in a difficult phase.
What does greatness or living greater things in God really mean?
Is being great leave everything behind and becoming a missionary in North Korea? Does being great mean being prosperous and having a lot of money? Is to have the best job?
I believe that being greater has to see with how we approach God and how we see life. For we can all come close to God and see life in different ways. Most of us are living an okay life and we are satisfied.
How is your life? Some people say it’s bad, but really it’s okay ! This is a very dangerous kind of answer!
My relationship with people around me is not well, but it’s okay because I’m serving God.
My marriage is not well, but it’s okay!
Many are living on “Survival Mode”, they are bored, depressed and confused! Do you know why? Because they have conformed with the kind of life they are living.
Have you heard the expression: The good is the enemy of the great!
Because you think life is good, you may never live the excellent and the best of God.
Many say: I have a good spiritual life! Do you think the apostles and the early church lived a good life?
No, they lived an extraordinary life! But we think what we have is good enough and we get comfortable in our Christian routine and lose out on the opportunity to live greater things.
Many Christians are not bad but they are not great either, they are more or less!
Do you want to be a more or less leader? Do you want to have a more or less family, do you want to be a more or less father?
Many are satisfied with more or less, with a mediocre life, they have no more aspiration to grow, there is no more fire or passion in the hearts, they longer preach the gospel to the lost.
We should not live in mediocrity, we need to wish for greater things!
There are different kinds of people in the church among them are the ones who are complacent and do not want anything and the proud ones, that want everything.
Some are complacent and miserable because they are so far away from God’s plans.
While others want to achieve success in any way possible, they want to be known and be recognised, they are running after material things, they think they know everything and no longer need to hear their leader and they keep breaking biblical principles.
Those who live this way, think they know everything and do not accept advices; they are on their way to disgrace and soon they will be frustrated.
Whoever thinks they are good enough will be stagnant, but whoever thinks they know everything and does not submit to God’s Word, will walk on pride, will fall and soon be frustrated.
These two places are terrible and dangerous and you cannot live like this!
What Jesus wants from you is for you to live a life of great things!
You can not accept mediocrity, but you do not all have to wish to become the president either, or the greatest leader, the number one, to win all the gold medal, to know everything always be right.
What did Jesus meant by greater things? Living greater things is to have a transformative understanding.
This is not for everyone, because Jesus said it is only for those who believe. Greater things is a right and privilege of those born again!
Everyone has this right! You are the Son of God, you are forgiven, you are happy, the angels of God are working for you, there are many promises for you and you have the right to live greater things!
When you are born again you get a promise, a “voucher card” that is only yours!
That’s why you do not have to be mediocre, to live a defeated life.
I will repeat what Jesus said,
“I tell you the truth , 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.”
John 14:12
May God open your eyes for you to realise that He has great things prepared for you.
Today you have to believe that God has a greater vision for your life. We have to have a vision of God’s plan.
Shalom has a clear vision: we are a church in cells that lives the love of God and that transforms the world by reaching the lost. We will reach Monaghan, Ireland and the nations.
I hope God lights up this flame in your heart with this vision! For God wants you to live greater things.
Your life in the past may have “labeled” you as a loser, a failure, as small, ugly, fat, silly… Maybe you were labelled as insignificant.
But I am here to say that God has greater things for you and you are a candidate to live bigger things, no matter your age, you can be young or you can be 50, 60, 80 years old and you can still be greatly used by God.
There are those who have a long list of failures in life, started many things you did not see through, started a cell meeting and failed, tried to have your business and failed. But I’m here to say that God has even bigger things for you and you must have a greater vision.
God only needs your availability, humility and broken heart to use you !
Repent from your sins, humble yourself , restore your relationship with people and God will exalt you!
If things are going well for you, if you are married, you are working, have a good family, God is still telling you: I have greater things for you.
God’s vision is greater than the good you have experienced so far! And you have to understand, God has something bigger and greater for you!
May God bless you and open your eyes to experience greater things!
(Next week will have the second message of this series)