Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

John 14:12 (NIV)

For so many years I’ve thought on this verse and wondered and marveled at the things that could be done in my life through the power of God. However, I confess that there have been times when I haven’t felt encouraged because I’ve looked at the things that Jesus did and haven’t seen the greater things in my life. Often I find myself looking forward to what God’s going to do instead of looking back on what He’s done and looking at what He’s doing right now. I also find that my perspective needs to be re-aligned with God’s.

When I think of Jesus’ ministry and the things that He did I’ve expected that those “greater things” would be similar but, well, greater. I’ve never raised a dead person, restored the eyes of the blind, multiplied food, healed the paralyzed, or anything like that. Are these the works that He was doing that we’ll do as well? I’ve thought for so long that those things He did were great and that doing more of the same would be greater. I suppose the Lord would tell me that I had in mind the things of man instead of the things of God.

When Jesus was glorified there were about 120 people who were counted as believers (Acts 1:15). We know that Jesus ministered to thousands of people through sermons and healing in the three years of His ministry here on earth. In the feeding of the 5,000 and the 4,000 the number of people that we know about, those who were counted, were men. There were women and children there but they weren’t counted so the number of people that were fed on those two occasions could easily be double or triple the number of men! Whether or not it was 18,000 or 27,000 people the fact remains that there were only 120 people who were counted as believers when He was glorified.

On the day of Pentecost Peter preaches a message that brings about 3,000 people into the fold of believers in one day (Acts 2:41). That’s 25 times the number of people that had believed and were saved by Jesus in His three years of ministry! I’d say that’s a greater thing right there. In that same year, Peter and John are preaching a message, and the number of believers increases to about 5,000, not counting women and children (Acts 4:4).

Our health and well-being matter to God. However, the well-being that matters the most to our Lord is that of our souls. “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8:36 NIV). As of last month, there were 7,772,850,805 people in this world (The World Factbook). That’s over 7 billion people. 2.4 billion (31.1%) are Christian! That’s an incredible increase from that initial group of 120 almost 2,000 years ago.

The real work that Jesus did was not healing people, multiplying food, or raising the dead. All of those were signs and wonders. It’s awesome to lay hands on someone and have them be healed, but it’s so much greater of a victory for them to hear testimony, believe, and be saved.

If you are a Christian then God has given you the ability to do greater things than Jesus did through the power of your testimony. Through your testimony, people who are spiritually blind and dead can be given the sight to see and a new life through the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. All we have to do is tell people what God has done for us and then let Him do the work.

Do you know God? God knows you and He loves you. He sees you as significant because you are. No one is insignificant to Him. He’s with you today, right now, and He wants you to know Him. Jesus died for your sins and mine so that we could be free of guilt, be freed from death, and live eternally with Him. Eternal salvation is just a prayer away.

Pray this prayer with me to accept the gift of salvation today:

Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. Amen.

If you prayed that prayer then congratulations! You are on the first step of a brand new life. Allow me to be the first to welcome you to my family, the family of God. There are abundant resources available online for new Christians. You can visit here for more information on what to do next. You can also leave me a comment and I’ll do my best to help you on the next step of this incredible journey.

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