'Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.' (John 14:12)
Jesus clearly made it simple: 'If you believe in me, you will do His works and even greater. The only tool that qualifies us to greater and miraculous things is our ' belief'.
But if some of us struggle to manifest super natural power in our lives, this could mean that our understanding of the word 'belief' could have been affected by lower meanings. In other terms, the word 'believing' could have been given a less ethical definition.
The word 'belief' is defined as the state of mind in which a person thinks something to be the case, with or without there being empirical evidence to prove that something is the case with factual certainty. When someone believes something, he also agrees that the belief is true before seeing any factual proof. And when somebody requires a proof or a sign, he is not believing.
Every time that you require a proof or a sign when the Holy Ghost, the Word of God commands you to do something, then you are not believing. Consequently, a Christian who requires proof when the Word of God commands him/her something, excludes himself from the promise in John 14:12.
You will often hear many Christians say:
'I heard from God but I need time to reflect, and I want to see a sign...'
'God told me to act on this issue but the circumstances around me don't seem encouraging...(implying that he/she needs the circumstances around to get better as a sign) '
' Wait on God (even if He had already spoken for the past 10 years), we can't see a clear sign...'
'I will not tithe my money because there is no financial evidence that God will bless me...'
'God told me to marry X but that man seems so poor, I need more proof...'
Those examples above relate to behavior adopted when signs or proofs are required before we obey the Word of God in our lives. Every time we request more signs, every time we freeze ourselves in waiting for more proofs, we automatically exclude ourselves from the promise included in John 14:12
and there will be no wonders or miracles in our lives.
The original word for 'belief' mentioned in the New Testament, is coming from the word 'πίστι' (pronounce 'pisti') and it was originally defined as 'conviction'.
The word conviction is closely linked to 'actions triggered by a belief'
As an example, when a Judge convicts a criminal to prison, he simply decided to inflict a punishment on the accused solely based on the information brought to him by the prosecutor.
When you are convinced about something, it also means that you act according to your conviction.
The information you receive from the Word of God should be the base of your conviction.
The verse in John 14:12 says ...'whoever believes in me'...
A thorough study would inquire about who Jesus is. Right? This is what the Bible says about who Jesus is:
'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life,and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.' (John 1:1-14)
''Very truly I tell you, whoever decides on living accordingly to the Word from God. will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.' (John 14:12)
True belief is living by conviction and Jesus is the Word made flesh. The entire Bible is the Word of God.
Therefore when you act convinced only by what God told you, without a selective spirit, you will produce wonders. Miracles are just not limited to just healing the sick, there are plenty other miracles in this life, and we should experience them.
So why many Christians are living ordinary?
Many are living ordinary because they don't act accordingly to what God tells them personally to do.
They select what seems good and reject the 'unattractive' parts. They struggle in life because they don't believe , they get stuck in their walk because they don't trust God's Word.
Unbelief is the reason why the Israelite did not enter the promise land.
If things are not working well, revisit every single thing He told you in the past and obey to those commands you have refused to follow...You will see miracles.
Believe everything God tells you to do, even when it does not seem attractive now, you will still see the real benefits of obedience in a later time.
Jesus clearly made it simple: 'If you believe in me, you will do His works and even greater. The only tool that qualifies us to greater and miraculous things is our ' belief'.
But if some of us struggle to manifest super natural power in our lives, this could mean that our understanding of the word 'belief' could have been affected by lower meanings. In other terms, the word 'believing' could have been given a less ethical definition.
The word 'belief' is defined as the state of mind in which a person thinks something to be the case, with or without there being empirical evidence to prove that something is the case with factual certainty. When someone believes something, he also agrees that the belief is true before seeing any factual proof. And when somebody requires a proof or a sign, he is not believing.
Every time that you require a proof or a sign when the Holy Ghost, the Word of God commands you to do something, then you are not believing. Consequently, a Christian who requires proof when the Word of God commands him/her something, excludes himself from the promise in John 14:12.
You will often hear many Christians say:
'I heard from God but I need time to reflect, and I want to see a sign...'
'God told me to act on this issue but the circumstances around me don't seem encouraging...(implying that he/she needs the circumstances around to get better as a sign) '
' Wait on God (even if He had already spoken for the past 10 years), we can't see a clear sign...'
'I will not tithe my money because there is no financial evidence that God will bless me...'
'God told me to marry X but that man seems so poor, I need more proof...'
Those examples above relate to behavior adopted when signs or proofs are required before we obey the Word of God in our lives. Every time we request more signs, every time we freeze ourselves in waiting for more proofs, we automatically exclude ourselves from the promise included in John 14:12
and there will be no wonders or miracles in our lives.
The original word for 'belief' mentioned in the New Testament, is coming from the word 'πίστι' (pronounce 'pisti') and it was originally defined as 'conviction'.
The word conviction is closely linked to 'actions triggered by a belief'
As an example, when a Judge convicts a criminal to prison, he simply decided to inflict a punishment on the accused solely based on the information brought to him by the prosecutor.
When you are convinced about something, it also means that you act according to your conviction.
The information you receive from the Word of God should be the base of your conviction.
The verse in John 14:12 says ...'whoever believes in me'...
A thorough study would inquire about who Jesus is. Right? This is what the Bible says about who Jesus is:
'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life,and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.' (John 1:1-14)
The Bible clearly says in the above passage that Jesus is The Word made flesh.
Based on the analysis I presented you with, a raw version of John 14:12 , implying true elements of faith, would read as follow:
''Very truly I tell you, whoever decides on living accordingly to the Word from God. will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.' (John 14:12)
True belief is living by conviction and Jesus is the Word made flesh. The entire Bible is the Word of God.
Therefore when you act convinced only by what God told you, without a selective spirit, you will produce wonders. Miracles are just not limited to just healing the sick, there are plenty other miracles in this life, and we should experience them.
So why many Christians are living ordinary?
Many are living ordinary because they don't act accordingly to what God tells them personally to do.
They select what seems good and reject the 'unattractive' parts. They struggle in life because they don't believe , they get stuck in their walk because they don't trust God's Word.
Unbelief is the reason why the Israelite did not enter the promise land.
If things are not working well, revisit every single thing He told you in the past and obey to those commands you have refused to follow...You will see miracles.
Believe everything God tells you to do, even when it does not seem attractive now, you will still see the real benefits of obedience in a later time.