You haven't see anything yet!
"When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”
“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you."
In Jesus's first days of his ministry, he began to call his disciples. I'm always amazed by their ability to just get up and follow, leaving everything behind. That is something I strive for and often fail at. When it came to Nathanael, Jesus let him know that he saw him earlier sitting under a fig tree and knew that he was a good man. Nathanael is blown away that Jesus noticed him and knew him. Jesus's response?
You haven't see anything yet!
It's like he's saying, "are you kidding me? you're impressed by that? you just wait and see what else I'm going to do." I'm taken back when I think about all that the disciples got to witness. Over and over they watched Jesus perform miracles. They saw him heal the blind. They saw him raise the dead. They saw him multiply food by the thousands. They also saw him love the unlovable. They heard him speak about loving their enemies and caring for the poor, orphaned and widowed.
I've seen him work in so many ways. I've seen him provide for me in many different ways. He's provided financially in time of need. He has provided physically when i'm exhausted and need energy. He's provided emotionally when I needed to be fulfilled in that way. I have the enormous privilege of being married to a high school youth pastor. Week after week, I get to witness first hand, God showing up and speaking through my husband into the hearts of these high school students.
For me, one of the biggest ways I've seen God works is in changing lives. I am a firm believer that the only surefire way to truly change one's life for the better is with Jesus. We are all victims of a sinful nature. We live in constant battle between our desire to do good and our desire to give in to temptations that look so good at the time. Satan's power is stronger than our own and he tends to win against us on our own. However, when we add the Holy Spirit in the mix on our side, we win every time. Psalm 56:9 says "This I know, that God is for me!" I've witnessed true change in the lives of people really close to me. I've also witnessed true change in the lives of the women at Teen Challenge Ventura during our visit a few months ago. It is so inspiring to hear their stories of transformation and hear them give all credit to God.
I cant judge the hearts of others. I'll never truly know what God has done in their lives. However, the one thing I know for sure is that I was blind and now I see. I have seen the change in my own life. I have seen him reach down pull me out of a pit of sin and place me exactly where he wanted me. I've witnessed him changing my heart from a heart that had no desire to obey what I had always learned about Him and a heart that only desired to give in to earthly temptation, to a heart that desires to obey him and serve him and give him glory and finds true joy in that. No one can refute my own story of what God has done in my life and that is so exciting to look back on and see.
When we live life in service to God and aim to bring him glory, we get to enjoy the incredible journey of witnessing Him make the impossible possible and turn this world upside down. Being able to look back and see how God has worked in the past, both in the bible and in my life, it makes me so stoked to see the miraculous things that God will do and I get to witness, as we continue in life seeking to serve Him first and love people radically.
“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you."
Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”
Jesus said, 'You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.' 51 He then added, 'Very truly I tell you, you will see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.'" John 1:47-51
In Jesus's first days of his ministry, he began to call his disciples. I'm always amazed by their ability to just get up and follow, leaving everything behind. That is something I strive for and often fail at. When it came to Nathanael, Jesus let him know that he saw him earlier sitting under a fig tree and knew that he was a good man. Nathanael is blown away that Jesus noticed him and knew him. Jesus's response?
You haven't see anything yet!
It's like he's saying, "are you kidding me? you're impressed by that? you just wait and see what else I'm going to do." I'm taken back when I think about all that the disciples got to witness. Over and over they watched Jesus perform miracles. They saw him heal the blind. They saw him raise the dead. They saw him multiply food by the thousands. They also saw him love the unlovable. They heard him speak about loving their enemies and caring for the poor, orphaned and widowed.
The most exciting part of being a follower
of Christ is getting to see him work.
For me, one of the biggest ways I've seen God works is in changing lives. I am a firm believer that the only surefire way to truly change one's life for the better is with Jesus. We are all victims of a sinful nature. We live in constant battle between our desire to do good and our desire to give in to temptations that look so good at the time. Satan's power is stronger than our own and he tends to win against us on our own. However, when we add the Holy Spirit in the mix on our side, we win every time. Psalm 56:9 says "This I know, that God is for me!" I've witnessed true change in the lives of people really close to me. I've also witnessed true change in the lives of the women at Teen Challenge Ventura during our visit a few months ago. It is so inspiring to hear their stories of transformation and hear them give all credit to God.
I cant judge the hearts of others. I'll never truly know what God has done in their lives. However, the one thing I know for sure is that I was blind and now I see. I have seen the change in my own life. I have seen him reach down pull me out of a pit of sin and place me exactly where he wanted me. I've witnessed him changing my heart from a heart that had no desire to obey what I had always learned about Him and a heart that only desired to give in to earthly temptation, to a heart that desires to obey him and serve him and give him glory and finds true joy in that. No one can refute my own story of what God has done in my life and that is so exciting to look back on and see.
When we live life in service to God and aim to bring him glory, we get to enjoy the incredible journey of witnessing Him make the impossible possible and turn this world upside down. Being able to look back and see how God has worked in the past, both in the bible and in my life, it makes me so stoked to see the miraculous things that God will do and I get to witness, as we continue in life seeking to serve Him first and love people radically.
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