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Harvest NYC Devotional for Today: "Not Just Spectacular"
August 03, 2007 by Pastor Greg Laurie
Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.
- John 2:23
Jesus attracted crowds. And what really fascinated the multitudes was that He did something that none of the religious leaders or so-called prophets of the day could do. He performed miracles. His fame spread throughout the land. Naturally, all those who were sick began to follow Jesus, not so much to hear His teaching, but to be delivered from their sickness.
There are many people today who are looking for the spectacular, for something exciting. And there are many people who come to God on the basis of what He can give. We say, "If you follow Jesus, He will give you joy." That's very appealing in a miserable world. "He will give you hope," we say. That's very appealing in a hopeless world. "He will give you eternal life." That is very appealing in a life that is so uncertain.
The truth of the matter is that God delivers. He gives hope. He gives peace. He gives joy. He gives all the things that He promises. But here is the problem: He does not promise you will always have an emotional experience. Now when you have encountered Jesus Christ and have had a conversion experience on an emotional level, it can surpass anything you have experienced in life up to that point.
But the point is that if we build our faith on the emotional plane and on the spectacular, we will quickly fall away, because God never promised us a continual emotional experience. After we have initially come to Him, we need to grow beyond emotional experiences and get down to the reality of what it means to be a Christian.
This devotional delivered by: Harvest Christian Fellowship, NYC
August 03, 2007 by Pastor Greg Laurie
Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.
- John 2:23
Jesus attracted crowds. And what really fascinated the multitudes was that He did something that none of the religious leaders or so-called prophets of the day could do. He performed miracles. His fame spread throughout the land. Naturally, all those who were sick began to follow Jesus, not so much to hear His teaching, but to be delivered from their sickness.
There are many people today who are looking for the spectacular, for something exciting. And there are many people who come to God on the basis of what He can give. We say, "If you follow Jesus, He will give you joy." That's very appealing in a miserable world. "He will give you hope," we say. That's very appealing in a hopeless world. "He will give you eternal life." That is very appealing in a life that is so uncertain.
The truth of the matter is that God delivers. He gives hope. He gives peace. He gives joy. He gives all the things that He promises. But here is the problem: He does not promise you will always have an emotional experience. Now when you have encountered Jesus Christ and have had a conversion experience on an emotional level, it can surpass anything you have experienced in life up to that point.
But the point is that if we build our faith on the emotional plane and on the spectacular, we will quickly fall away, because God never promised us a continual emotional experience. After we have initially come to Him, we need to grow beyond emotional experiences and get down to the reality of what it means to be a Christian.
This devotional delivered by: Harvest Christian Fellowship, NYC
