The Impoverished Ministry of Jesus

February 27th, 2012 by JDVaughn Leave a reply »

Where then do You get that living water? —John 4:11

 

“The well is deep”— and even a great deal deeper than the Samaritan woman knew! (John 4:11). Think of the depths of human nature and human life; think of the depth of the “wells” in you. Have you been limiting, or impoverishing, the ministry of Jesus to the point that He is unable to work in your life? Suppose that you have a deep “well” of hurt and trouble inside your heart, and Jesus comes and says to you, “Let not your heart be troubled . . .” (John 14:1). Would your response be to shrug your shoulders and say, “But, Lord, the well is too deep, and even You can’t draw up quietness and comfort out of it.” Actually, that is correct. Jesus doesn’t bring anything up from the wells of human nature— He brings them down from above. We limit the Holy One of Israel by remembering only what we have allowed Him to do for us in the past, and also by saying, “Of course, I cannot expect God to do this particular thing.” The thing that approaches the very limits of His power is the very thing we as disciples of Jesus ought to believe He will do. We impoverish and weaken His ministry in us the moment we forget He is almighty. The impoverishment is in us, not in Him. We will come to Jesus for Him to be our comforter or our sympathizer, but we refrain from approaching Him as our Almighty God.The reason some of us are such poor examples of Christianity is that we have failed to recognize that Christ is almighty. We have Christian attributes and experiences, but there is no abandonment or surrender to Jesus Christ. When we get into difficult circumstances, we impoverish His ministry by saying, “Of course, He can’t do anything about this.” We struggle to reach the bottom of our own well, trying to get water for ourselves. Beware of sitting back, and saying, “It can’t be done.” You will know it can be done if you will look to Jesus. The well of your incompleteness runs deep, but make the effort to look away from yourself and to look toward Him.____________________________________________February 27, 2012

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, it seems to me that I recall a time when I was able to manage my life just fine, thank you. And as I think about it, it was not so long ago. I could look at my future and lay it out, just about the way I wanted: I could navigate the potential issues and problems, plan for contingencies and anticipate most of the unforeseen problems. I was in control of my life and it seemed like it was just fine…but it was not just fine.

And God says…”If you want to save your life, you must lose it. I love you enough to allow your circumstances to become so difficult that you cannot  deal with them..to the point where you must come to me. And I do this because I love you immeasurably.  I want you to experience the love, grace, and power of Jesus and to be shaped and molded into His image while you are in this life. Come to Jesus and live life and life abundantly. Turn to Jesus at every opportunity….and because I love you immeasurably, I give you these opportunities to surrender and to know me as you never could when you were/are trusting yourself. Trust in Me with all your heart and do not rely on your own understanding and I will make your paths straight.”

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