Greater Things

Jesus left all kinds of instructions to His disciples, who were closest to Him and traveled with Him. Those instructions were what they needed to continue to spread the message of the gospel, and along with their commitment to share the gospel, they needed the power of God to protect them, empower them, guide them, and work through them. All these years later, the same applies to us who are followers of Jesus, and our faith walk must have the power of the Holy Spirit to keep us on track to do what Jesus told us to do. In John 14 Jesus said the following. John 14: ¹² “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. ¹³ You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. ¹⁴ Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!

Here we think we have a choice whether to believe these words or explain them away, and in my study, I try to keep human reasoning out of the whole thing, because I can explain away many things I read in the Bible, but then the Holy Spirit convicts me and brings me back to believing God's Word, all of it!! In the above scripture, I don't need a commentary by a so-called theologian to try to explain what Jesus "meant." Only Jesus knows what He meant, and we can never know because it is in His mind. To the point: Are we committed to explaining away what Jesus means with His words, or are we committed to following His words? My choice is to believe what He says is what He "means," and I know that is not something you or others may believe, but if I can't believe one thing, how can I believe another? Am I allowed to "cherry-pick" which things I believe, or do I just trust and believe in what Jesus says?

In the above verses, Jesus starts out with the words "I tell you the truth" as if He wanted to emphasize the words after those opening words. I'm going to go with believing the words He says next are "true" and the "truth" as He said. Jesus is going to heaven to be with the Father, and He is leaving a "bomb" with His apostles when He says, "Anyone who believes in me will do the same works. Same works? Yes, it works. There are those who will say I am a fool for believing ALL the Bible as the explain away every scripture that deals with us having real faith. But they can believe or not believe. I choose Jesus, and I believe His words are true and real, and not some fantasy. Why? Because they are my life. Other words Jesus said are very strong also, when He says to the thief on the cross, "Today you will be with me in paradise", or the words to Nicodemus, "You must be born again to go to heaven", or "In my Father's house are many mansions". Since I believe those words, I will also believe that if I ask anything in the name of Jesus, He will do it. Believe it or don't believe it. You choose.

The Pilgrimage Continues,

David Warren