The exceeding greatness of His power. (part two)

In part one we were looking at the greatness of God's power that is already available in our lives, yet missed so often because we can be looking for it in the wrong places. To give an example; the greatest miracle of all in the New Testament is for a person to be Born Again. To have Christ forgive someone's sins and come and live in their lives. For so many Christians this is not appreciated as it should or counted as a true miracle. We may still be waiting for something like blind eyes to be opened before we really rejoice, yet this miracle of being Born Again is far more powerful than anything else and leads to Eternal Life. Having eyes opened is wonderful but it doesn't give Eternal Life, which is what the Gospel is all about. Jesus spoke of the greater works that will be done in our day, greater than what He did on earth and I'm sure that is being Born Again. John 14:12. People weren't Born Again when Jesus walked the earth.

We may long to see blind eyes opened, but did you realise that God is doing this all the time by opening our understanding to see things by revelation. It's the way He builds the Church. We may long to "see things" to help other people. (i.e. Words of wisdom and visions etc.) But far greater than this, is when God opens our eyes to "see Him" and to know Him. I have watched fortunetellers on TV with amazing words of knowledge, but we need to remember that they will go to hell unless they too get saved, no matter how accurate they are.

Look at 2 Kings 6:15-17. Elisha's servant had his eyes opened to see Angels on the hill far away and this gave him comfort. We too can have our eyes opened today to see Jesus by Faith, not far away but IN US. When you see this with the eye of faith it will do more than comfort you, it will empower you.
Having your physical blind eyes opened is great and I'm not saying we will not see this kind of thing happen in the days to come. It is possible though to be healed and still go to hell, but once you have had your spiritual eyes opened there is little chance of that ever happening.

If you don't see this truth of an ever-present God who is working in your life today, then you can become a frustrated Christian who is always waiting for something to happen in the future, and not appreciating the "God of the NOW." In this state you often try and force things to happen and end up going beyond what God wants you to do.
It's like many young people today. They are all frustrated about the things they don't have, instead of appreciating all the things they do have. We have so much of God working in our lives already, but often we don't appreciate it or even see it. We are waiting for something to happen in the future all the time.

I had been crying out to God for years for His Power to come and nothing much was happening. I asked the Lord why? And I believe He finally got through to me that He wanted to do other things in my life that were far more powerful and yet just as important, like 'knowing Him'. He told me to forget about the outward miracles for the present, as they will come as a by-product of me knowing Him. Since then I am a lot happier and without looking for it I have seen far more miracles than ever before and have got to know my Heavenly Father a lot better.

When you consider this one verse in John 14:12 about doing the works of Jesus, you need to look at it in the light of the rest of this teaching by Jesus. It is found in the midst of a discourse that goes on for 4 chapters and in them Jesus speaks more about knowing God and abiding in Him than in miracles. It shows me that God thinks that knowing Him is far more important than doing a miracle.

In the light of what I'm saying, did you know that there are people who are walking on water just about everyday? Those who have stepped out on the sea of life with nothing holding them up, but their God. They have got out of the boat and have walked where most people don't want to go, for the comforts of their lives are keeping them back. These people have got out of their comfort zone and stepped out in faith. You can be waiting for this water-walking miracle to come along and yet miss the opportunity to experience it right now.
To give you an example; I believe tithing and giving are like this. When you give to God even when you are short of finances, it's like stepping out on water, and if God doesn't come through for you, you sink. I have never seen Him allow that yet.

We have so much going for us today. The problem is that the Devil is trying to make us think that we don't have much of God in our lives at all. Maybe God is trying to say that we have His power in a way that is not as we think. If we embrace the truth about God's ever-present work and power, the end result will be far greater than a miracle.

Those who saw the Red Sea part were all moaning a few days later and wanted to go back to Egypt, that miracle didn't change their lives at all, in fact they never did see the promised land. God's secret power is far more effective than that and can permanently change our lives for good from the inside out. We need to remember that it's not so obvious and operates on a spiritual realm that has to be accepted by faith.