Let me ask you a question... If "Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever", why do we not experience this sort of evangelism more often today?
Jesus used this ability to see into the woman's life supernaturally to grab her attention. Wouldn't that be a tremendous gift? To be able to meet people, strangers, and know their deepest secrets? Their life story? To see the sin they struggle with?
Yes, it would be tremendously effective. BUT, are you ready?
How foolish to hand a working loaded machine gun to a child? Shall God hand this powerful ability to a child in Christ? To someone so immature that they misuse what perception they already have?
When we abuse others, using our limited knowledge of them to take advantage of them, to abuse them, to cheat them, to criticise them, to hurt them for personal gain... How can God give us more power? When we abuse the power and authority we possess, no matter how slight it may be, how can He grant more?
Paul spoke of love as the greatest need. Without love, all becomes abuse. It is the act of putting others above and before ourselves that allows God to move through us. Only if He knows that we will willingly die to help another, can He give us this ability to "see" them as Jesus did here. It must be grounded in love, nothing else.
What drives you? If it is anything but love, anything other than a pure desire to sacrifice oneself for the one hurting, we need to repent! Can God empower the selfish ambitions? Can God give vision into hurting hearts if our goal is not true sacrificial love?
To walk in God's power, we must first repent of the desire to walk in power! We must open our own heart and ask God to fill us instead with love, compassion, a desire to heal and serve.
Then, we too can walk as Jesus did, and "do greater things than these"... When our sole motivation, our hearts desire is to love.
Jesus used this ability to see into the woman's life supernaturally to grab her attention. Wouldn't that be a tremendous gift? To be able to meet people, strangers, and know their deepest secrets? Their life story? To see the sin they struggle with?
Yes, it would be tremendously effective. BUT, are you ready?
How foolish to hand a working loaded machine gun to a child? Shall God hand this powerful ability to a child in Christ? To someone so immature that they misuse what perception they already have?
When we abuse others, using our limited knowledge of them to take advantage of them, to abuse them, to cheat them, to criticise them, to hurt them for personal gain... How can God give us more power? When we abuse the power and authority we possess, no matter how slight it may be, how can He grant more?
Paul spoke of love as the greatest need. Without love, all becomes abuse. It is the act of putting others above and before ourselves that allows God to move through us. Only if He knows that we will willingly die to help another, can He give us this ability to "see" them as Jesus did here. It must be grounded in love, nothing else.
What drives you? If it is anything but love, anything other than a pure desire to sacrifice oneself for the one hurting, we need to repent! Can God empower the selfish ambitions? Can God give vision into hurting hearts if our goal is not true sacrificial love?
To walk in God's power, we must first repent of the desire to walk in power! We must open our own heart and ask God to fill us instead with love, compassion, a desire to heal and serve.
Then, we too can walk as Jesus did, and "do greater things than these"... When our sole motivation, our hearts desire is to love.
