AUGUST 2018 throughout this country and beyond? Of course not! Yet God has chosen to limit His works, at least in some measure, to those things we trust Him to do through us.
Why is it that so few Christians ever accomplish great things for Christ? I believe it is because we lose the ability to dream great dreams. For God to use us again, we need to confess our unbelief and say:“ Lord Jesus, renew my vision of Your power. Renew my confidence in Your abilities. Renew my trust in Your resources.” Then begin to dream again!
Christ Himself never limited His disciples ' vision. Even though He restricted His own public ministry to Palestine, He came and lived and died for all mankind. And after His resurrection, He commissioned His followers to“ make disciples of all nations”( Matt. 28:19) and sent them first to Jerusalem, then to all Judea and Samaria, and ultimately to the ends of the earth( Acts 1:8).
Where have your own dreams stopped? Have they been lost somewhere between your living room and the house next door?“ If your dreams aren ' t greater than finishing your education, paying your bills, or raising your children, then your vision isn ' t divine.” Maybe it ' s time to consider how God could use you to make a difference in the lives of others.
The opportunities are great throughout the globe. But how can we impact our generation for Christ? Is it really possible to preach the gospel to all nations? I believe it is possible by taking God at His Word and making plans to accomplish great things by His power working in us.
Plan Great Plans
Jesus Christ declares,“ He [ who believes in me ] will do even greater things than these [ I have done ], because I am going to the Father”( John 14:12).
That is a fantastic, almost incredible, yet true promise. It came from the lips of the Lord Jesus and has been proved trustworthy many times. Christ promises we can do greater works than He did! Perhaps a look at the ministry of Paul will help us understand what Christ is saying here. Without a doubt, God used Paul tremendously during the crucial, formative years of the New Testament church. Even his opponents admitted Paul had saturated entire provinces with the gospel( Acts 19:26) and turned the world upside down( Acts 17:6). Some scholars have even claimed that, from a human point of view, this Pharisee-turned-preacher influenced history more than Jesus Christ Himself.
What was Paul ' s secret? Simple.“ He dreamed, but he wasn ' t just a dreamer.” He also planned great plans and carried them out in the power of the Holy Spirit. These plans included utilizing ministry teams, traveling extensively, taking advantage of opportunities to witness for Christ, and establishing local churches to nurture new believers.
You see, Paul wasn ' t content to saturate one small area with the gospel at the expense of the rest of the world. He had a strategy for reaching the entire Roman Empire! He could say,“ But now that there is no more place for me to work in these
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