Jesus was known for meeting the needs of the people He taught. What is this country most in need of? Obviously a change, not the kind spoken of in political speeches and campaign ads, but the kind that takes hold of the soul of a nation and transforms it from the inside out.
From a practical standpoint, our economy is in dire need of restoration or actually a renewal. It needs to be made brand new again, rebooted, if you will, not just refreshed or restored – brought back to life. Actually, brought into a state of life that has not existed for quite some time.
As I discovered while writing the blog, Revival of a Different Kind, this is what many Christians are seeking God for all over this country as they pray 2 Chronicles 7:14. Whether knowingly, or unknowingly, they are praying for the “healing of our land” which refers to the land itself and the economic base which is created from it. But what if we did more than just pray?
So many of the miracles that Jesus did were economic in nature. These miracles were not about healing, casting out demons or raising the dead. They instead had a direct economic or monetary impact. Turning the water into wine at the Wedding at Cana was the first. It was a miracle of convenience really, not of necessity. He saved the servants who had to bring more wine, the time and the master of the house, the money to go elsewhere and buy more.
The Fish in the Nets 1 miracle is one of my favorites. It was Jesus’ introduction to Peter. Imagine being a professional fisherman, making your living off of your catch and spending an entire night out working the nets on your boat only to come up empty. When Jesus directed Peter to “…let down your nets for a catch…” Peter was probably not too happy. He did it anyway even though He didn’t know who Jesus was. As He pulled in his nets, there was so much fish in them that they began to rip and the boat began to sink. Peter had to call to his partners in another boat to come and help him and when they did, their boat began to sink as well. Imagine so much fish you could hardly pull them into shore with 2 boats and commercial nets! Peter was so overwhelmed by this financial blessing that he fell on his face before Jesus and said, “…depart from me, for I am a wicked man.” His kindness expressed through over-the-top economic abundance was the catalyst that empowered Peter’s conversion and ultimately his calling. (see Why Repent?)
What’s really amazing about the Fish in the Nets miracle, is that he did it again just before He ascended. Peter’s discipleship experience with Jesus was punctuated by the same miracle on two occasions. This miracle of provision the first time gave him the faith in God to obey immediately and follow Jesus. The second time, it gave him a fresh reminder of the calling on his life and birthed the first outreach of the early church (see Love and Breakfast).
Who can forget the feeding of the 5,000 or the feeding of the 4,000? Incredible miracles of supernatural abundance! For serious dramatic effect, what about the four-drachma coin in the fish’s mouth? Now that one was off the hook! Many of the other miracles that were not direct healings of people had profound economic undertones. Walking on water, for example, surely Jesus could’ve waited for a boat. A miracle of convenience or a demonstration of the access He has to pull down the perfection of heaven and see it manifest on earth?
So, back to the question: what if we did more than just pray? What if we went? The model that Jesus laid out for us through His life and ministry was one of meeting the needs (& in some cases the wants) of the people practically. Jesus went. He traveled around the countryside, demonstrating and teaching the Gospel of the Kingdom. As He did, a culture of access to the perfection of heaven formed around Him or what we would call a Kingdom Culture. In this culture, economic miracles were part and parcel along with healings, deliverances, and other demonstrations.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
Matthew 28:19-20
The promise is clear – Go, and I will be with you always! So what are we waiting for? We have the same power that raised Jesus from the dead inside of us. He promised us that we would do “…greater things than I have done…” Might it just be time to step out?
What if we got a small band of radical warriors together, let’s call them “Economic Revivalists”, and we all hopped on a bus and drove around the country where God led us to go. Like one giant treasure hunt! We would ask for divine appointments and seek out opportunities to pray for individuals on the verge of foreclosure, churches on the edge of bankruptcy, businesses that needed more cash-flow, projects looking for funding, cities with budget deficits and even this country that needs a balanced budget and a huge amount of debt restructuring (or forgiveness). Imagine the miracles we would see, how fast the word would spread and what God will do with the bold willingness of a few.
The needs of this country, of our land, is real and evident in any newspaper. Let’s take the message of God’s incredible love, grace and rescuing heart of compassion to the so many in need! Can we not show America and ultimately the world that our God is greater than any challenge, whether sickness and disease, or economic recession and collapse? May we be so bold as to carry THIS message at THIS time to a lost and dying world and demonstrate in the most practical of ways the power and love of God in an economic way through the personal, regional, and global expansion of God’s kingdom through His manifest presence.
Who’s with me?
Go pack a small overnight bag, I’m looking into the bus…
It is time for us to step out. leave our comfort zones behind and challenge our faith in our God. To put ourselves in a posture of complete dependency on God to use us for His kingdom. Committing to deny ourselves and to deny our paradigms for the sake of having a walk with God that is beyond anything that we have ever experienced. Isn’t about time that we have some other testimony to share that brings us joy, excitement, and tears other than our conversion, that happened some umpteen years ago! Come on people!!!! Is the life of certainty and predictability really worth missing out on experiencing God the way the disciples did? When we stand before Him on that day, and we expect to hear “Well done thou good and faithful servant” What do we think that’s going to be based on? How well we kept the grass mowed??? Our car washed??? That we have our “Get out of Hell” card?????? I don’t know about you, but I am committed to be a faithful servant as I would expect a faithful servant to be to me. John, where can I meet the bus?
Whether 2 Chronicles 7:14, Matthew 28:19-20, or any other scripture encouraging us to “Go”, absolutely none of them will have lasting effect unless Christians FIRST understand their own condition of righteousness that has been given to us by Jesus. Because He gave us HIS righteousness, we confidently and boldly have access to the throne of grace to receive mercy and grace in time of need (for me, that’s 24/7).
Before I came into the revelation of the Gospel of Grace, I was a born-again Christian who struggled with “not being good enough” and “fighting sin” and “Lord, why can’t you use me” and “Lord, I’ll never do that again” for decades. Now that I understand the completed work that Jesus did in me (available to ALL who believe), that He AT ONE TIME forgave ALL my past, present, AND future sin, I have been set FREE from the law of sin and death into a life of no longer being sin conscious — conscious only of Jesus’ gift of my righteousness. “He whom the Son sets free is free indeed!”
Now, just TRY to get me to shut up about Jesus! I do not have to be encouraged, commanded, or provoked into action. My heart responds to His great love given to me every day. I have a testimony of Jesus in my heart that the enemy and no person can refute! Rev. 21:11 says, “And they overcome him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony, not loving their own lives, even if it means dying.”