I want you to think about something for just a moment. How often have you heard someone take one of the promises of Jesus and say "What He was really saying is..."? Then we get to hear their dissertation on why we cannot expect Jesus to fulfill His Word to us. These types of arguments are typically based upon logic and/or a person's lack of experience. Any mindset or theology that keeps me from stepping into the fullness of God is not from Him. In fact, Scripture teaches us that we can be filled with all the fullness of God.
John 14:21, "Whoever has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." I want you to consider the weight of these words to the disciples. Do you think there was anything in them that expected less than what Jesus promised? I don't think so. I believe that they expected exactly what He said. They were not looking for an explanation that would play down the words of their Master. They trusted Him, they trusted His heart, and they lived with an expectancy of continually experiencing the presence of Christ. I'm not saying that Jesus cannot manifest Himself in a variety of ways, but I am saying that He can manifest Himself to His followers.
Another passage from John (verse 12) teaches us that the followers of Christ will do the works that He has done AND even greater works because of the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us. This is a verse of great debate because there are many people who refuse to believe that we can even attain to the works of Jesus. Did the disciples question what they would be able to walk in? Did the disciples think that Jesus meant anything other than what He said? I don't think so. I believe they fully expected to do the things that Jesus did and to walk in greater works. Why? Because Jesus never lied to them. Whatever He said - He delivered. And on the day of Pentecost when they received the fullness of the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, the stepped into the realization of this promise.
I think it's time for the church to rethink her position in many areas. We have allowed ourselves to live in a mediocre Christianity that expects less than what God has promised. We have settled for a faith that can be explained, that can be controlled, and can be argued. Rather than step into the fullness of what it means to be sons and daughters of God in the earth, we have settled for church membership. Please hear my heart - today is the dawning of a new day for many of you. God is stirring something inside of you that cannot be contained. You are refusing to settle for less than Jesus promised. You are looking for the blessed hope of His coming but you are also expecting to experience His fullness while living in the earth. You are not settling for a faith that simply looks for its culmination in heaven but stepping out in a faith that believes you are the righteousness of God in Christ. You are not settling for a faith that sits and soaks and sours but pressing forward in a faith that is reaching for the mark that was set in the life of Christ.
One of my favorite images is the rising of the sun over the mountains. You know...it's a foggy morning but as the sun rises higher and gets warmer you see the fog disappear into nothing and everything is revealed. Today is one of those days. This morning is one of those mornings. As you allow the Spirit of God to continue to illuminate His Word in your hearts, you will no longer be looking through a glass darkly. You will be able to see clearly all that God has planned for those who love Him. As this illumination continues, you will feel the warmth of His grace, love, and mercy. The heartbeat of God becomes your heartbeat. Faith begins to rise up in you that screams "You are everything that God says you are and you can do everything that God says you can do!!!"
This is the dawn of a new day!!!
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