Celebrate Recovery UK Blogs

Joh 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

A very popular scripture, most often mis-quoted and mis-represented as saying something like this. “Jesus said that we can do the works that He did if we believe.”

That is NOT what this verse says. It is not about the works that Jesus DID. He is talking about “the works that I DO”. Present, not past tense.

Jesus is not proposing that we should try and do the same sort of things that He did but that we should allow HIM to carry on doing the same works through us!

This is the way that Jesus worked. He said that it was the Father who gave Him the words to speak and it was the Father who did the works. It wasn’t Jesus, it was the Father. In exactly the same way, the ascended Jesus wants to give us the words to speak and to do His works in and through us. Jesus said, “Just as the Father has sent me, even so, I send you.” John 20:21 In the same way of working, with the same promises, with the same results.

One of the common misconceptions of Christianity, and I hesitate to write this because it will sound like heresy to many, is that Jesus could heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and drive out demons because He was the Son of God. That is not true. Jesus on the earth could do those things because He was the Son of Man. It’s an authority thing. In the beginning the triune God gave dominion on the earth to man. God said “Let them have dominion …..” Adam yielded that authority to satan in the garden but that did not mean that God took the authority back. Jesus referred to himself constantly as the Son of Man. Why did he do that? To show that what he did, he did as a man, an unfallen man, a man with authority. If he did them because he was God then we cannot emulate Him. Jesus sent his disciples out as men and they came back having healed the sick and driven out demons. When Jesus sent them He gave them authority. Now, Jesus sends us with the same authority. Even better, we are not alone, He himself comes with us, within us.

The way Jesus worked is the way we should work. He spent 30 years soaking up the Word of God before He started it putting it into practice. We want the results without the homework. Jesus heard from Heaven. He knew how to hear God’s voice even in the midst of great pressure. When they told Him that Lazarus was sick, come quick, He did not respond to the situation but listened to what God was saying. “When Jesus heard, He said …” He lived to please one! No one else’s opinion mattered more, not even his mother. Jesus said to the Pharisees who lived for men’s praises, “How can you believe when you receive praise one of another and seek not the honour that comes from God alone.”

Jesus wants to continue His ministry to the lost and lonely, to the sick and wounded, to the poor and perishing. He cannot do that directly because he is no longer physically on the earth. This is not a limitation, quite the opposite. Before, he was restricted to one time and place at any moment. Now, he can be everywhere that we are. This is the greater works because he is not geographically restricted. Wherever we are, He is. Will we devote ourselves to the Word the way Jesus did? Will we learn to hear the way that Jesus did? Will we devote ourselves to him the way that Jesus did to His Father? Will we get free from pride and the need for men’s approval and seek to please Jesus only?

Joh 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

How many times have we read or heard this famous verse from Isaiah 40?

Here is the whole thing in context. Isa 40:29 – 31He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. 

I had a couple of days off sick with a virus recently and woke up on the third day feeling nauseous and trembly inside, no appetite, no strength, no energy. I am sure that feeling is known to many of us. I turned to this passage and began talking to the Lord about waiting, what does it mean? The way I read it, God wants to give power to the weak and strength to the faint. That was definitely me. God’s chosen delivery method was through waiting. “Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength”. So, I was asking the Lord, “what does it mean, to wait on you?”

I knew that it did not mean waiting FOR the Lord. That is a passive stance. God can heal me whenever He’s ready. No, it doesn’t work like that. Faith without works is dead. Passivity; waiting for God in that way is basically faithless. God is ready now, that’s why it says “He gives power to the weak” It doesn’t say sometimes, now and again, if you deserve it, if you are good enough.

I knew that God wanted to give me His power and strength, I just needed to understand his delivery method and put it into practice. First of all, my wife made porridge for herself with honey and I was reminded of the verse which says “Eat honey, my son, for it is good.” OK, I made myself some porridge with honey and ate it. Next thing, I had a haircut scheduled for 9:00 am, this was about 8:00 am and we were thinking about telephoning at 08:30 to cancel the appointment.  I asked the Lord about that and felt I should go. I was thinking very much about the word shall. They shall renew their strength. It does not say ‘might’ or ‘could’ but ’shall’. The barber was a 10 minute walk away so I decided to walk there and see how I felt.

I was singing these verses all the way there and I was very aware of the next bit, “they shall walk and not faint.”Sure enough, I made it to the barbers OK and all the way home again I was singing these verses again, particularly, “they shall walk and not faint”. We had originally planned to join our church walking group and do a 5.5 mile walk that morning and right there and then I knew what God was saying to me. “Do the walk!”

My wife was a little surprised by my suggestion but agreed and we set off to meet the group. When we arrived at the start of the walk someone drew my attention to a pair of buzzards circling lazily overhead. “Wings like eagles!” God is such an encourager! None of this flapping business, they just spread their wings and rely on the wind.

I can report that I completed the walk without any bother and felt 10 times better than I would have done if I had stayed tucked up in bed! I remembered a quotation from a South African evangelist called Benson Idahosa. “Life will not give you what you deserve, but only what you demand!” Faith had to make a demand on my bodily strength in order for it to be manifested. How much strength would I have needed to stay in bed, cancel the haircut and forget about the walk? None!

I don’t understand it all but waiting on the Lord is not waiting FOR the Lord. He is ready to act now if we will co-operate by faith. It definitely involves listening to the Lord, meditating on His word and putting into practice what it says, choosing the way of faith not the way of feelings. If I had allowed my feelings to dominate me and waited until I felt better, waited until I received the strength before I made a demand upon it, I would not have received it. I would have spent the day in bed. God was gracious and gentle in encouraging me to do the 10 minute walk to the barber before reminding me about the 5.5 mile walk we had planned earlier in the week. God is like that, he gently leads us in our steps of faith. I hope this has encouraged you, feel free to add your own comments  and posts about your own healing journeys.