Jesus says in John 5:17, “My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I, too am working.”
Jesus is saying that He and the Father are ALWAYS at work.
I will be completely honest. I have not always believed that.
I thought for a long time that God worked when “good things” happened and He was not working when “bad things” happened. I now get it. I understand that good and bad are human judgments on events and circumstances, not God’s.
Let me share some examples of “bad things” leading to good things.
I was spending several hours per week doing marriage counseling. I was spending additional time dealing with issues of conflict between spouses. These problems led me to cry out to God to show me a better way to help them. He had me put together a marriage weekend.
The weekend touched dozens of couples and made a huge difference in all the marriages.
I saw the hours spent in counseling as a “bad” thing. God saw it as an opportunity to bring me to a point of letting Him bring something awesome into couples lives.
Another example is when I was feeling that our church’s outreach into the community was ineffective and I asked God to show us how to do it better. He brought a huge outreach that touched the students in every school in our community and thousands of others.
In both of this situations I was seeing them as “bad“. God was seeing them as opportunities to do something big when I sought Him.
What do we need to do so we can see that Jesus and the Father are working all the time?
First, we have to understand who we are and who Jesus is.
1 Corinthians 12:27
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
Colossians 1:18
And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the first born from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy.
Jesus is the Head and we are the body.
As Jesus’ body we are His hands and feet. We are to take our direction from the Head. The body obeys the head.
Second, we have to a heart to seek God.
In 1 Samuel 16:7 God tells Samuel that people judge by outward appearance, but that the Lord looks at the heart.
In Acts 13:22 God describes David as “a man after My own heart; he will do everything I want him to do“.
If we are to see and experience Jesus and the Father working, we must have a heart to seek Jesus and a desire to focus our hearts and lives on Him.
Third, we have to allow Jesus out of any box we might want to put Him in. We have to let Jesus be who His is and do things His way.
Isaiah 55:8-9
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
God’s thoughts are better than ours.
God’s ways are better than ours.
His thoughts and ways are better than ours because:
He is all-knowing.
He is all-loving.
He is completely perfect.
Fourth, we have to know His Word.
Psalm 119:105
Your Word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.
Psalm 119:130
The teaching of Your Word gives light, so even the simple can understand.
God’s Word:
Gives direction so we know how to live in a way that pleases God and frees Him to bless us.
Give us understand so we can make godly choices and decisions.
Luke 11:28
Jesus replied, “But even more blessed are all who hear the Word of God and put it into practice.”
Matthew 4:4
But Jesus told him, “No! The Scripture say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
If we don’t know God’s Word, we can’t know God at a personal and intimate level.
If we don’t know God’s Word, we will never begin to understand God.
Last we have to focus on hearing God’s Spirit speak to us.
1 Corinthians 2:10-11
But it was to us that God revealed these things by His Spirit. For His Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit.
It is through God’s Spirit that He reveals to us His Word and His Will.
It is by God’s Spirit that He reveals to His Purposes and His Ways.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls involves trusting that Jesus and the Father are always at work in the world.
Raise the roof and Remove the Walls is about
Knowing who Jesus is
Knowing who we are
Seeking God with all our heart
Letting Jesus out of the box and letting Him do it His way
Knowing and obeying God’s Word
Hearing God’s Spirit
Jesus and the Father are always at work. Our responsibility is get out of the way and let God work.
Sidewalk Prophets have a song called Wrecking Ball. The chorus expresses what needs to happen in our lives so we can see and experience God working.
I need a wrecking ball
Slamming inside my heart
Breaking me all apart
Tearing the old away
Killing the fear in me
Until I can finally breathe
Even if it hurts so bad that I can’t even stand
Take it all, let me fall into Your hands
We need less of us and more of Jesus. Then we will see Him working in us and through us and all around us.
Working With Jesus to Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls
Joe
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