I used to believe the ultimate thing I could receive from God was a miracle. But He gave me something so much greater — Himself!
Key scriptures in this episode:
- 📕 John 6: 28-35
- 📕 Romans 12: 2
- 📕 Romans 15: 13
Transcript
Today, we are going to take a Posture of peace by choosing our source.
Posture is a short, audible fist bump to remind you God is with you in everything. Together, we’re going to be emboldened to take a daily Posture of perfect peace.
In John 6:28, the crowd said to Jesus, “What must we do to be doing the works of God?” And Jesus said to them, “This is the work of God. That you believe in Him who He has sent.” Jesus is talking about himself here. So they said to Jesus, “Then what sign do you do that we may see and believe? What work do you perform?” This is a very interesting conversation that Jesus has with the crowd. Some quick context, a quick summary if you will of the chapter. In the beginning of chapter six, Jesus feeds the 5,000 miraculously and the crowd doesn’t just see, witness the miracle with their eyes, but they partake of the miracle. They get to eat the bread that Jesus miraculously provided and be satisfied. Their natural hunger was satisfied by the miracle.
Jesus moves to the other side of the sea, walks on water along the way, freaks the disciples out, another story for another day, but the crowd follows Jesus to the other side. And when they find Jesus again, they ask him this question. “Jesus, what do we have to do to do what you just did?” And Jesus says to them, “The work of God is to believe in me.” And the crowd says this to Jesus, “Okay, then do something that makes you believable. Prove that you are worthy of our belief.” And they even cite some experience that they’ve had with God in the past, not what Jesus just did by feeding them miraculously but what God did with their ancestors in the wilderness with Moses, and they talk about manna falling from heaven. So Jesus answers them by saying this in verse 32. He says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the manna from heaven but my father gives the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Again, Jesus is talking about himself. And they said to Jesus, “Sir, give us this bread always,” and Jesus replies, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” Jesus is not holding out on the crowd of people by not performing the miracle that they’re asking for, the sign that they’re asking for. Instead, he is holding out to them something so much greater than what they are asking for. He is holding out to them himself.
Now, often when I share about our relationship with God, our identity in Christ, I get a question. It comes up a lot, and that is, can you please tell me what this practically looks like? What do I need to do to access this kingdom reality? What steps do I need to take to experience this in my daily life? And I totally understand that question. What must I do? It’s not a silly question. I’ve asked that question many times before. We hear the truth, we wanna embrace it, we want it to be our everyday experience, but we are in the process of unlearning worldly ways of doing things and we’re practicing every day living in these kingdom realities. So sometimes those two things, those two ways of thinking overlap, and we try to access kingdom truth through worldly ways of doing things. So we think of things in terms of earning and gaining, like passing a test, earning a wage, following a formula, taking the steps, and we apply that to kingdom truth. So for example, the love of God. Some of us live in a way, thinking we have to earn God’s love for us, or we think we have to do certain steps or follow certain formulas in order to maintain His love for us. We have the ability to keep up what He has given us. So we think His love can be depleted by our bad behavior or increased by our success in life, because in this world, we are so used to doing things to get things. We’re so used to having to do stuff to keep stuff.
Remember, Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this world. Don’t copy the way of the world, the world’s way of doing things. Instead, be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” So we need to take on a new mind about everything. If we try to experience kingdom reality through the world’s way of doing things, we will be double minded. “And being double minded,” the Bible says, “Makes you unstable in everything,” because you’re tossed around by everything. You’re bouncing between two realms. You’re bouncing between two realities, and you’re trying to be satisfied by two different sources. And living that way makes you utterly confused, and confused people are doubt-filled people. Understandably so, they’re confused. They don’t know what to believe.
So often, they believe only what they can see. And all that to say, what is practical in the world may not be practical in the kingdom. So kingdom truths, like receiving and believing, they don’t always feel very tangible or practical in this world. They’re not always practical because they are relational. We are in relationship with the creator of the universe, and believing and receiving just seem a little bit too simplistic in accessing that wonderful relationship. Because, again, we’re comparing them to what we have to do, all the things we have to do to pull off things in this world. And those things that we pull off in the world, that we achieve in the world, seem very low in comparison to this majestic relationship we have with God. So you might be thinking, man, the blood, sweat, and tears that I had to sow to get that promotion, or to get my health back on track, or to find a worthy soulmate. I had to do all that work for that. So it’s definitely gotta be harder to access the promises of the kingdom ’cause they’re so much greater. So if we think that way, we make believing, and we make receiving, and we make our relationship with God complicated in order for it to feel tangible, in order for it to feel practical. So we reach for the 27 steps to a better you program and we attend every conference we can, thinking the next one’s gonna change our lives, and we pray the five prayers that we must pray for our marriage and for our children and for our health, and none of these things are evil in and of themselves. Most of them are helpful tools. We have to recognize that’s all they are. They’re tools that we can use and they can be helpful, but we are not subject to them. They don’t dictate our freedom. They don’t determine our destiny. They are not our Savior, and they are not our source.
In the kingdom, it’s not about what you see or what you don’t see. It’s about what God said, His word, His nature, Him. He is the one who sustains you and me. He is the one who satisfies, not the miracle, not the sign, not the wonder, not the promise being made manifest in a particular way. As wonderful as those things are, I have come to realize that they are not my source. He is my source. And I have stopped chasing the instantaneous and the quick fixes, because I’ve realized I’m on a relational journey and it is a journey. It’s not some destination. It’s not some achievement. It’s not some level. It’s a relationship, and it’s a journey. And because I’m in relationship with the answer, I don’t have to chase down a quick fix. Instead, I can enjoy, I can receive the relationship that He initiated, not the one that I did. So you might be thinking, okay, great, I just have to believe. How do I believe?
Again, we wanna make it practical. I’m going to try to help you by telling you this. You believe by making a choice, by choosing your source. In the overcoming, and we’re all over coming something, right, because we’re overcomers. It’s what we do. In the overcoming in different areas, I have to decide and make a decision. I am not choosing what I see or don’t see. I’m choosing what You said, Lord. I’m choosing You. And in that choice, let me tell you, there’s often no tangible difference at first. But in the choosing, in the choosing Him, in the choosing what He said, there is a knowing that is deepening and informing all that is tangible. My emotions, my thoughts, my bodies, they’re gonna get the memo. They will catch up. As I make the choice and experience that joy and peace in believing that Romans 15:12 talks about, here’s what’s happening. Instead of just experiencing a healing, I’m experiencing the healer. Instead of just experiencing a provision, I’m experiencing the provider. Instead of experiencing just peace, I’m experiencing life in relationship with the Prince of Peace. I’m choosing my source.
Today, I wanna encourage you to choose your source. It’s Him alone. You don’t have to chase down a quick fix. You don’t have to chase down an instant solution. Instead, you can take step by step each and every day and enjoy this relationship, this relational journey that you’re on with the Lord. You’re in relationship with Him, not a sign, not a wonder. You don’t need to see it to believe it because you’re a son, a daughter, of the most high king and you are experiencing His presence in your life every day.