Have you ever heard someone say, I don’t want to listen to the “all-blessing” gospel? I’m just fed up
with people saying come to Jesus He will heal you, you’ll receive a miracle,
you’ll get the financial miracle. Well, just
this week I heard this from a sister during my conversation with her. This person is a believer in Christ. She has a deep longing and yearning to know
what exactly Jesus did by dying on the cross.
This made me think deeply and intently. Well, I am not a person who has diluted the
Gospel and by God’s immense and sustaining Grace and Power will never do
it. God gave me this vision and
burden -“to empower lives for a closer walk with God,” primarily focusing on the
relationship with God rather than just the blessing of God.
When we minister to people, there are different kinds of
audiences. Some people look for solutions to
life’s problems such as healing, finance, the blessings in life, etc. Some look for solutions to their emotional and
spiritual needs. No matter what the need
is, the only solution is God. In Him and
through Him all things are satisfied and made complete.
When Jesus was preaching the Kingdom of God on this planet,
there were different kinds of people around Him. Some came for healing, some for deliverance, some for other kinds of miracles, and some for hearing His sensational speech and His teachings, which were eye-opening and liberating. Some were His close
followers who had renounced their worldly work and occupations to be with
Jesus. Some were fault-finders, always looking for ways to trap Jesus and put
an end to Him.
Jesus after His 40 days of fasting began His preaching saying“Change your mind (repent), turn to God for the Kingdom
of God has arrived” Matthew 4:17 (paraphrased).
Those who changed their minds and followed Jesus closely became His
disciples. In the four
Gospels of the New Testament, we see that Jesus did not share everything with everyone in all situations. He shared the parables with all but
expounded the deeper meanings with His disciples and answered all their
questions to bring clarity to their minds. Many of His teachings were not openly expounded to
all. He shared them exclusively with His
disciples. For example,
Luke 17
20 Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would
come, He replied to them by saying, The kingdom of God does not come with signs
to be observed or with visible
display,
21 Nor will people say, Look! Here [it is]! or, See,
[it is] there! For behold, the kingdom
of God is within you [in
your hearts] and among you
[surrounding you].
22 And He said to the disciples, The time is coming
when you will long to see [even] one of the days of the Son of Man, and you
will not see [it].
He shares very little with the others, but He takes pain to
explain the whole matter and reveal the hidden with His disciples starting from Verses 22 through to 37.
Jesus gave the commission or the authority
granted for a particular action or function to His disciples who were His close
followers and who were with Him during His 3-1/2 years of ministry on
earth. He says “All authority (all power
of rule) in heaven and earth has been given to me. So my well-trained close followers go and
make others also close followers of me like yourself by teaching them God’s
Kingdom and God’s Kingdom Principles.
Matthew 28: 16- 20 (Amp)
16 Now the eleven
disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to
which Jesus had directed and made an appointment with them.
17 And when they
saw Him, they fell down and worshiped Him; but some doubted.
18 Jesus
approached and, breaking the silence, said to them, All authority (all power of
rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.
19 Go then and
make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 Teaching them
to observe everything that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all
the days (perpetually, uniformly, and on every occasion), to the [very] close and
consummation of the age. Amen (so let it be).
Therefore, as the Ambassadors of His Kingdom, we need to
have a living, active, and growing relationship with our King, growing in the knowledge of Him and His Kingdom. The Lord God reveals Himself in our daily
walk with Him through His Word and through our situations and
circumstances. So, shall we walk in the
progressive revelation that comes through the ever-growing and progressive relationship with the
Lord and King Jesus Christ?
Hope this post has been a blessing to you. What motivates you to come to Jesus daily? Please feel free to share.
Written by Shanta S. Daniel
[Copyright@ Permission is granted to duplicate this
article in its entirety, but only without additions, alterations, or omissions
of any kind, including the author and ministry name at the end]