Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. Jeremiah 33:3
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. I Corinthians 2:9
Happy New Year to the most precious people in the world – the Saints of the Most High God! What a blessing to be allowed to speak a word to encourage you in the Lord. It is a task I do not take lightly.
Here at Holiness Tabernacle, 2010 was a tremendous year. We witnessed God blessing us in so many ways. We saw church growth, saints were promoted, some were blessed with new homes and automobiles, others received salvation, some were filled with the Holy Ghost, we saw miraculous healings – it was awesome!
On Christmas morning, while having devotions with my family, the Holy Spirit began dealing with me. He brought back to my remembrance several of the blessings I just mentioned. Then He told me if we continued in what we were doing, we would experience blessings we never thought possible. In other words, I could hear the Spirit saying – You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet!!
As much as the Lord has blessed me, there is still so much more He wants to do. Unfortunately, I sometimes limit Him. I do not always mean to, but my lack of faith, low self esteem, fear and doubt all have a tendency to influence my commitment to God and what He has destined for me.
You must admit, the world has worked quite a number on us. Like Adam and Eve we have allowed doubt in God’s Word and His promises to cloud our vision and decision making. The truth be told, God desires to blow our minds with blessings, but we limit Him!
Luke 5 records a classic example. Peter, a professional fisherman, had just finished a night of fruitless fishing. According to the text, they had drawn in, washed and folded their nets (this required a great deal of work as these were large nets). When Jesus told him to let down their nets for a large catch, Peter was reluctant. Listen to his response, “Lord we have toiled all night, nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net” (not plural, just one net). You know how the story ends – they catch so many fish the net breaks and they have to call for help! When the second ship arrives, the number of fish is so great it almost sinks both ships. Imagine if Peter had not limited the number of nets he let down. But in his mind, he knew more about fishing than Jesus did. Sound familiar?
Our vision is limited. When Elisha and his servant were cornered by the Syrian army, the young man was frightened. Elisha, however, had a different perspective – he saw angels on chariots hiding in the mountains. Elisha, sensing the young man’s fear, simply prayed, “Lord, open his eyes that he might see” (II Kings 6:17). Child of God, what the Lord wants to perform in us and through us is mind blowing, but our minds and our limited vision hinders Him. Stop worrying about what you cannot see; you’re not supposed to see it until He reveals it to you.
Even as I write this message, the Spirit is convicting me. I confess, some things have been prophesied concerning our Church that are awesome, but if I do not let go and let God we will never experience those promises. Jeremiah penned these words, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show you great and mighty things that thou knowest not” (Jeremiah 33:3). The apostle Paul puts the icing on the cake – “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them” (I Corinthians 2:9).
We may think we’re doing good, but when we learn to trust God more, when we learn to stop limiting Him with our limited eyesight and understanding, when we learn to believe what He says in His Word, we’ll truly see signs and wonders!! We’ll actually do as He said we would do, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greaterworks than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father” (John 14:12). Join me and the saints here at Holiness Tabernacle – let’s raise our level of expectation and let’s believe God for the impossible in 2011! Our Presiding Bishop, Charles E. Blake, coined the phrase, “I see you in the future, and you look much better than you look right now!” Well, kudos to Bishop Blake! Here at Holiness Tabernacle, we are seeing a mighty move of God – and we know WE AIN’I SEEN NOTHING YET!!