Lee McDowell Christian Ministries LMCM
Nacogdoches, Texas Gal. 2:20 KJV
Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength, # 2
Today’s verse, John 12:21, has words that I had inscribed on a small metal plate that I then glued to my pulpit that I preached from for almost 20 years. “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” A constant reminder to me that the folks who came wanted one thing: they wanted to see and hear Jesus. Wow! Things have not changed since Christ walked on this terra firma we call Earth. People really want to see and hear Jesus every time a Sunday School teacher teaches, every time an Awana worker talks with kids, every time a preacher preaches, every time a missionary goes to a foreign country and speaks to someone through a translator. Every time folks saw and heard Michael Wells they saw and heard Jesus. In “Day 112’s” writings, the message is simple and clear.
Oh, in my Intro Letter I mentioned several things I wanted to get across in these blogs…I am using the following “colors” to highlight those things:
Yellow – VIP, Very Important Point
Turquoise – UR, Unfathomable Riches
Red - GP, Greatest Promises
Pink – PV, Priceless Victory
Day 112
Give Me Jesus! Please!
Sir, we wish to see Jesus. --John 12:21
I want Jesus! I want to see Jesus! In me, around me, in all things created, in everything good and bad, I want to see Jesus. I keep getting in trouble for saying it, and I do not understand why. I am more excited about Jesus than anything else. I will tell you a secret, something rarely heard, “He is not dead!” Jesus is alive. I am more excited about this living Jesus, raised from the dead, than I am the Bible, church, material gain, health, relationships, or all else that, when compared to Him, is considered rubbish. He must come first, or nothing else will have significance, meaning, or life.
Jesus is alive, but where do we look for Him? Amazingly, the very Jesus we read about today does not live on or in a page. He lives in us, if indeed we have recognized Him as Lord. There is no need for us to read the Bible to have something put into us, when its purpose is to reveal and witness to what is already in us, Jesus. We may or may not want to hear or read the words, but we know we want the Living Word, the life that the page is proclaiming and pointing to.
God is very excited about Jesus. He does not want you to be like Jesus; He wants an exact expression of Jesus flowing out of you. God does not intend for you to spout out the things of God; He wants you pouring forth the very articulation of God, Jesus Christ. It is your birthright! Is it possible? Is it believable? It is truth! The Man who did everything did nothing, and you could do greater things, not know greater things but do greater things (loving an enemy, forgiving, being a leaven, and having a peace that passes understanding). It will not happen without Jesus exactly presenting His Life through you. Do not substitute anything for Him; that will end in disaster. Good is the enemy of the best. Do you believe it? Just keep wishing to see Jesus! With Him comes everything that you have looked for in vain outside of Him. I am tired of teaching, tired of knowing, exhausted with putting into others, and weary of hoping for change. I want to know Christ in me. I want you to know Christ in you. I wish to see Jesus!
Very simple isn’t it. Jesus is alive. He lives in those of us who are God’s children. (first time I read Romans 8:11 I just about flipped out!). And life as a Christian is NOT about trying to “be like Jesus.” God intended all along for Christianity to be Him being Him through us. That’s why we all should want to know “Christ in me,” and especially for others to see Christ through us.
The first 15 years of my life as a Christian I wanted more and more of “who I was in Christ.” Then God took my wife and me, along with another couple, to a couple’s retreat in Colorado…where Michael Wells introduced us to “Who Christ is in us.” It was as staggering as the Romans 8:11 encounter!
By the way, some may wonder what Michael was referring to when he said, “you could do greater things.” Jesus said that in John 14:12. And for generations Christians have been trying to “figure out” what Jesus meant. Michael meant what he mentions right after he wrote those words: “It will not happen without Jesus exactly presenting His life through you.” Jesus meant the same, and then the possibilities become limitless when we compare and think of the limitations Jesus had in one body, a small territory He could cover, and not able to be in but one place at any given point in time with one type of communication…and those same limitations not applicable to us today. And then think of how many Jesus is flowing His life out of at any given moment! It could mean several things to an innumerable number of people, but the main thing is that “it will not happen without Jesus exactly presenting His life through me/you/any Christian.” Well, amen!
Lee McDowell Christian Ministries
P. O. Box 633244 Nacogdoches, Tx 75963 936-559-5696
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