In the Gospel of John, chapter 14, Jesus says, “If anyone has faith in me, the works that I do they will do also and greater works than these shall they do, because I go to the Father!” This declaration, if we are honest, would cause most of us to admit that we are not there yet. So, as the song says, what is a poor boy or girl to do?
I have been asking myself this question for over 35 years. After much confusion, pain and frustration I have come to believe the only way we will ever exhibit the evidence that Jesus declares shows faith in him is through intimacy with him! Jesus said many times that he could not do anything on his own. He only did those things that he saw his Father do! How can we expect to do anything that Jesus did unless we do it the same way he did? For many years I tried to get God to bless my ministry, but that is just not the way it works. On occasion, he has used me to do a miracle or two, but nothing like the consistent, daily life of miracles we see flowing from him or his disciples in the New Testament accounts.
The word faith is the same as the word believe and means: cling to, rely upon and trust in. It is a complete committal of the will and life of the one who has faith and is invested in the Faithful One. Faith is not the ability to make supernatural things happen by using the name of Jesus! Faith is a doorway we walk through into the presence of God! While we are communicating with him he may reveal to us something he wants us to do or say. It should also be noted that in order for this faith to work there must also be love involved. Faith works by love. The love spoken of here is the love that exists between us and God because of a correct understanding of who he is and what he has done for us through the work of the Cross, resulting in an intimate relationship with him. Without consistency here we will not have his miracle working life consistently flowing in and through our lives!
I have been asking myself this question for over 35 years. After much confusion, pain and frustration I have come to believe the only way we will ever exhibit the evidence that Jesus declares shows faith in him is through intimacy with him! Jesus said many times that he could not do anything on his own. He only did those things that he saw his Father do! How can we expect to do anything that Jesus did unless we do it the same way he did? For many years I tried to get God to bless my ministry, but that is just not the way it works. On occasion, he has used me to do a miracle or two, but nothing like the consistent, daily life of miracles we see flowing from him or his disciples in the New Testament accounts.
The word faith is the same as the word believe and means: cling to, rely upon and trust in. It is a complete committal of the will and life of the one who has faith and is invested in the Faithful One. Faith is not the ability to make supernatural things happen by using the name of Jesus! Faith is a doorway we walk through into the presence of God! While we are communicating with him he may reveal to us something he wants us to do or say. It should also be noted that in order for this faith to work there must also be love involved. Faith works by love. The love spoken of here is the love that exists between us and God because of a correct understanding of who he is and what he has done for us through the work of the Cross, resulting in an intimate relationship with him. Without consistency here we will not have his miracle working life consistently flowing in and through our lives!
Our challenge is to learn to live in the realm of faith and not just visit. Jesus said, “If you abide in me and I abide in you, you may ask whatever you will and I will do it.” This abiding or living in faith is sometimes easier said than done. With all the distractions available to us in our fast paced society it is easy to become a visitor instead of a permanent resident! We end up looking for a feeling or a blessing instead of the lover of our souls—the one we cannot bear to be apart from.
Some of you reading this article may feel that you are not up to the challenge. Sometimes, seeking God can seem like a real work. After working a sixty hour week, commuting another ten and doing all the other things we simply need to do to live life there is not much energy or time left for anything but relaxation, if we’re fortunate. Then one day we look around and realize that 30 years have gone by and our relationship with Jesus is the same as it was thirty years earlier. Oh sure, we know a whole lot more about him than we began, but do we really know him?
I have been married for 30 years and sometimes I wonder how well I know my wife today. We live in the same house, sleep in the same bed, share some of our meals together and occasionally go to a movie. We have become familiar with each other’s habits and way of life. One definition of familiar might be, “taking someone for granted” in the end we can fail to grow closer or more intimate. One might think that because we are flesh and blood and can actually touch each other it would be easy to get to know each other better. How much more difficult, then, to get to know Jesus, whom we can’t see or touch, more intimately?
The truth is that apart from the grace of God it is quite impossible to get to know or enter into an intimate relationship with anyone. Scripture declares that no one comes to Jesus unless they’re drawn by the Father! If we want to have true and intimate relationships with Jesus and one another we must pray and cry out for God’s enablement! If we want to be like Jesus we must be with Jesus! My wife enjoys spending time with her friends doing nothing special except enjoying their company. Wouldn’t it be great if we could have a similar relationship with Jesus? We may need our perspective adjusted. We “get” to spend time with him, not “have to”, spend timewith him. What a privilege and a wonder!
I pray that we will all be able to answer “yes” to Jesus’ question, “Will I find faith on the earth when I return?” Some of us may need to ask God to search our hearts and souls for any wounds or scars in our in lives, past or present, which may be a blockage to this type of relationship. It is time do deal with all those issues that we have swept under the rug so long ago we have forgotten about them and move into the abundant life Jesus has waiting for us. He is patient, but he is a jealous God. Jealous for you!
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