Jesus Wants More
Here’s a simple thought I shared in our Monday morning staff meeting.
Jesus wants more for us. In Scripture, we always see Jesus calling people to more and greater. Think about His calling Peter, Andrew, James, and John. He called them away from their 9-to-5, away from their vocation, away from their accepted identities. He called them to more. More impact. More influence. More conflict. More sacrifice. More vision. When Jesus said “follow me,” they could have never guessed how much more they were being called to.
Think about Matthew. He had accepted such a pitiful calling for his life. He woke up every morning and set about gouging his tribesman on behalf of an occupying government. And he had grown OK with this. Can you imagine the shame and guilt he must have felt? Jesus reached into Matthew’s reality and called him to more.
Paul, too. Paul probably thought he was in the center of God’s will for his life. But Jesus called Paul to so much more than Paul could have ever imagined. Paul was to be God’s chosen instrument to carry the Gospel to the Gentiles. That’s about as much MORE as you can get.
Jesus wants more for you. And He wants more from you.
This is true for you, and me, and your students.
I believe God wants more for your youth ministry, too. I believe by His nature, God doesn’t want to see you resting or satisfied with where your ministry is. But I believe this much is true: if you want to see God move your ministry to more, you can’t neglect the “more” in your own life.
God will do what God will do. Often He works in spite of us. We should be at once thankful for this, and heartbroken. But I do believe that our ministries can be limited by our own lack of desire for knowing God more. I believe if we are constantly looking for the “more” God has in store for us personally, our ministries will naturally be impacted as a result.
In John 14:12, Jesus promises that when we come to Him in faith, the pump is primed for our lives to be full of more.
Jesus wants more.
Jesus wants more for us. In Scripture, we always see Jesus calling people to more and greater. Think about His calling Peter, Andrew, James, and John. He called them away from their 9-to-5, away from their vocation, away from their accepted identities. He called them to more. More impact. More influence. More conflict. More sacrifice. More vision. When Jesus said “follow me,” they could have never guessed how much more they were being called to.
Think about Matthew. He had accepted such a pitiful calling for his life. He woke up every morning and set about gouging his tribesman on behalf of an occupying government. And he had grown OK with this. Can you imagine the shame and guilt he must have felt? Jesus reached into Matthew’s reality and called him to more.
Paul, too. Paul probably thought he was in the center of God’s will for his life. But Jesus called Paul to so much more than Paul could have ever imagined. Paul was to be God’s chosen instrument to carry the Gospel to the Gentiles. That’s about as much MORE as you can get.
Here’s a truth: When God call us to more, it’s always related to His mission, and it’s always a call to action.
Jesus wants more for you. And He wants more from you.
This is true for you, and me, and your students.
I believe God wants more for your youth ministry, too. I believe by His nature, God doesn’t want to see you resting or satisfied with where your ministry is. But I believe this much is true: if you want to see God move your ministry to more, you can’t neglect the “more” in your own life.
God will do what God will do. Often He works in spite of us. We should be at once thankful for this, and heartbroken. But I do believe that our ministries can be limited by our own lack of desire for knowing God more. I believe if we are constantly looking for the “more” God has in store for us personally, our ministries will naturally be impacted as a result.
In John 14:12, Jesus promises that when we come to Him in faith, the pump is primed for our lives to be full of more.
Let this be a challenge for all of us to embrace this promise, and engage with God in such a way that we EXPECT to see Him call us to more.
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