April 10, 2025 • 24 mins
You will have trouble! Jesus made it clear that this is normal. You will have trouble in the world. All kinds of trouble. You're going to go through circumstances that will cause doubt and fear. You will lose friends. The world will hate you and people will persecute you. The enemy of your souls, the prince of this world is coming and there may be opportunities for you to lay down your life for your friends. There's going to be trouble, but listen... We often find trouble just before we get to a breakthrough. Right? It's always darkest before the dawn. Difficult times are a catalyst for spiritual growth.
You will have trouble, but...breakthrough is coming!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Hey, welcome to another episode of More Than
Bread.
This is number 27 in our seriesfor Lent, and it's number 533 in
the life of the podcast.
And the reason I say that,particularly this time, you know
what, every once in a while,someone comes along and
downloads everything from 1 to500 plus, from A to Z, 1 to the
end.
And when that happens, man, itpumps up my download week.
(00:23):
I love it.
All of a sudden, my dailydownload explodes.
So whoever you are, Thank you.
More Than Bread is a podcastthat is deeply and defiantly,
(00:47):
no, More Than Bread is a podcastthat is deeply and definitely
devoted to the value of everyword that comes from the mouth
of God.
Scripture, the Bible, the Wordof God.
And what I like to remind us isthat when we come to the Word,
there are three things we needto do to draw in that value.
We need to listen.
We need to learn and we need tolean in.
(01:08):
We need to listen to the voiceof the Spirit in the moment.
He speaks through the Word tous.
It's not just an old textbook, ahistory book, a story book.
The Spirit of God speaks to usthrough the Word of God.
And we need to learn.
We need to learn the ways ofJesus.
We need to learn about thekingdom of God.
Learn scriptural principles andthe forever truths that come to
(01:29):
us from Scripture.
But all the value of listeningand learning are lost if we
never lean in.
We need to lean into the Word.
We need to respond to it.
We need to do something withwhat we've heard and what we've
learned.
We put it into practice.
We surrender.
We obey.
We do.
And I just want to encourageyou.
Every time you listen to one ofthese podcasts, figure out
(01:52):
something that God is callingyou to do.
So our serious theme for Lenthas been the great gamble, which
flows out of the story of Jesusasking a rich young leader to
sell everything he had and giveit all the way to the poor.
But the guy walked away sad.
He had too much stuff.
He didn't trust God.
Jesus.
(02:13):
And then later, Jesus says thatthe pathway to greatness is
servanthood, that we will neverever out give him.
So the great gamble simply asksthe question, can I trust Jesus?
Do I believe what he says?
If I believe that I can neverever out give him, am I ever
tempted to try?
Do I believe what he says?
In the last couple of episodes,we've been hanging out in this
(02:35):
section of John's gospel, John13 through 17.
And John 13 kind of describesThursday night before he goes to
the cross on Friday.
But John 14 through 17 is Jesusteaching on that night, on the
Thursday before Good Friday.
And so we're going to hang outthere still for a little bit.
(02:56):
And I'll skip around to a A fewdifferent places in this
episode, or at least thisepisode, the next episode.
But I want to start by readingJohn 14, 1 through 14.
Here's what Jesus says.
Don't let your hearts betroubled.
You believe in God, believe alsoin me.
(03:16):
My Father's house has manyrooms, if that were not so.
Would I have told you that I'mgoing there to prepare a place
for you?
And if I go and prepare a placefor you, I will come back and
take you to be with me that youalso may be where I am.
Now, before I go any further,just realize that today we kind
of think of that as Jesus goingto heaven to prepare a place for
(03:37):
us.
In those days, that's not whatthey were thinking.
They were not thinking that theFather's house that has many
rooms, the place where Jesus isgoing to prepare a place for
them, that it had to do withJesus dying.
So he says, you know the way tothe place where I'm going.
And Thomas said to him, Lord, wedon't even know where you're
(03:57):
going.
How can we know the way?
Jesus answered, I am the way andthe truth and the life.
No one comes to the Fatherexcept through me.
If you really know me, you willknow my Father as well.
From now on, you do know him andyou have seen him.
Why?
Because they'd seen Jesus.
Philip said, Lord, show us theFather.
That'll be enough for us.
(04:18):
Jesus answered, don't you knowme, Philip, even after I've been
among you such a long time?
Anyone who has seen me has seenthe Father.
How can you say, show us theFather?
Don't you believe that I am inthe Father and the Father is in
me?
The words I say to you, I don'tspeak on my own authority.
Rather, it is the Father livingin me who is doing his work.
Believe me, when I say that I amin the Father, the Father is in
(04:40):
me.
Or at least believe on theevidence of the works
themselves.
Very truly, I tell you, whoeverNow, if you think about it, this
(05:06):
is a great passage of Scriptureto read in preparation for Good
Friday and Resurrection Sunday.
I mean, think about it.
In that first verse, Jesus says,trouble's coming.
And then in the last few verses,he says, one of these days
you'll do even greater thingsthan I have done.
Trouble leads to greater things.
Good Friday leads toResurrection Sunday.
I've been encouraging you toread these chapters in John 13
(05:28):
through 17 multiple timesbetween now and Resurrection
Sunday.
In fact, I'll narrow it down.
14 through 17.
That's kind of the teachingpart.
13 is that last supper, wash thedisciples' feet part.
But 14 through 17 is kind ofJesus' words.
So here's what I want you to dofor just a few moments.
(05:49):
I just want you to imagineyou're with Jesus, sitting by a
fire in a cabin, even thoughit's April here in Pennsylvania
right now, a fire in a cabin.
That sounds pretty good.
Or you're taking a walk in theafternoon with the leaves just
beginning to turn green, cup ofcoffee in hand.
Imagine walking through avineyard.
(06:10):
It's evening, and And you don'tknow it, but Jesus is sharing
his last words before he dies ona cross.
Most scholars call these fourchapters, 14, 15, 16, and 17,
Jesus' farewell discourse.
I think it's anything but hisfarewell discourse.
These are not his last words.
They're beginning words.
They're summation words maybe,transition words definitely, but
(06:33):
not his last words.
This is more like Jesus' lockerroom talk before you go out and
play the most important game ofyour life, your boss's promotion
challenge.
This is your favorite teacher atcommencement looking you in the
eye and saying, you got this.
It's your OBGYN doctor saying,push, it's time to push.
Jesus is walking with hisfriends and he's talking about
(06:55):
breakthrough.
And in the space of athree-chapter conversation and a
one-chapter prayer, he will hiton multiple things.
But over and over again, he willsay this, you will have trouble.
There's going to be trouble.
This is where Jesus starts inJohn 14.1.
Do not let your hearts betroubled.
And then again in John 14.27,don't let your hearts be
(07:15):
troubled and do not be afraid.
And then again in John 16.33, inthis world you will have
trouble, but take heart, I haveovercome the world.
Trouble's coming, Jesus, andthere's going to be trouble.
In this world you will havetrouble.
Now sometimes we see the troublecoming and sometimes it just
slips up on us, but trouble iscoming, like Chip.
(07:37):
I love this story.
You maybe have heard me share itbefore.
One minute life was good.
He had a song in his heart.
The next thing he knew, he wasin the middle of trouble,
surrounded by darkness and thedirt of life.
You could say it was nobody'sfault.
It just happened.
Circumstances beyond hiscontrol.
Trouble in the present momentthat was calling into question
his future moments because inthe space of a day, Chip would
(07:59):
go through circumstances thatwould cause many of us to lose
hope.
His name was actually Chippy.
He was a parakeet.
His problems began when hisowner decided to clean his cage
with a vacuum cleaner.
She removed that attachment fromthe end of the hose and began to
clean.
But at that fateful moment, thephone rang.
She turned to pick it up and hadbarely uttered hello when she
(08:20):
heard and Chippy had been suckedinto the dirt of life.
She frantically opened thevacuum canister to rescue
Chippy.
She found him alive but dazedand dirty, covered from head to
toe, beak to claw with the dirtof life.
She did what any good pet motherwould do.
She ran to the bathroom, turnedon the faucet, held him under
the water.
(08:41):
Chippy was sucked in and washedup.
After that ordeal, Chippy wasunderstandably shaken and
shivering, but the worst was yetto come.
His warm-hearted pet motherplugged in the hair dryer and
blasted Chippy with hot air.
Sucked in, washed up, and blownover.
A few days later, the reporterwho had written the initial news
story called back to see howChippy was doing.
(09:02):
Well, the owner replied, Chippydoesn't sing much anymore.
He just sits and stares.
Take it out of the pet vacuumworld and we can relate, right?
I mean, once upon a time, itseemed like the sky was the
limit, a song in your heart, butnow you've been sucked into the
chaos of politics and tariffsand a friend who is days away
(09:23):
from meeting Jesus face to face.
Maybe your work life isuncertain.
The stock market downturn haspushed your retirement back to
your 80 and add to that thetrouble you were in before any
of that came.
The rejection of a friend, thehealth tragedy, loneliness,
marriage on the rocks,depression, you name it.
(09:43):
You find yourself in the middleof trouble and you've lost your
song.
Listen, Jesus made it clear thatthis is normal.
You will have trouble in theworld.
He said all kinds of trouble.
You're going to go throughcircumstances that will cause
doubt and fear.
You're going to lose friends.
The world will hate you andpeople will persecute you.
The enemy of your souls, theprince of this world is coming
(10:05):
and there may be opportunitiesfor you to lay down your life
for your friends.
In fact, some people will thinkthey're doing God a service by
killing you.
There's going to be trouble.
But listen, I see this over andover again, especially in
Scripture.
We often find trouble justbefore we get a breakthrough,
(10:25):
right?
Those things that we say, we sayit because it's true.
It's always darkest before thedawn.
Difficult times are a catalystfor spiritual growth.
All of creation groans to seethe coming redemption of
humanity.
Listen, John 14 through 17 isnot a farewell discourse.
It's not Jesus' last words.
(10:46):
It's his get ready foropportunity challenge.
It's his halftime speech.
It's a call to push through, totravail for something new.
It's an expectant, hopeful callto breakthrough.
You're going to grieve, he says,but joy is coming.
There's going to be trouble, butdon't worry.
Don't be afraid.
I've overcome the world.
You'll be persecuted, but I'vegot your back.
(11:07):
Don't give up.
Persevere.
In fact, Jesus' exact words golike this in John 16, 20.
Truly, I tell you, you will weepand mourn while the world
rejoices.
You will grieve, but your griefwill turn to joy.
And now, today, we understandwhere Jesus had fixed his eyes.
Now we understand that Thursdayevening was the beginning of a
(11:30):
three-day story of amazingbreakthrough.
But listen to me.
These words, Jesus' message inJohn 14 through 17, was not just
for the days that came betweenthe cross and the empty tomb.
Those three days would set thestage for all the days to come.
Even our days.
We live in those days.
Listen to me, your days are notshaped by whatever hard stuff is
(11:51):
your hard stuff.
They're shaped by theresurrection.
Our past may be filled withtrouble, but our future is
filled with resurrection hope.
Our hearts may be touched byhope, but man, touched by hurt,
but man, they are filled withhope.
Breakthrough isn't coming, it'scome.
We live in those days.
(12:11):
So how do we live into, how dowe lean into those days?
Well, Jesus gives us someresources for breakthrough.
Now listen, I'm thinking aboutthis a bit differently than I
have in the past, so listenclosely because it may not sound
all that different, but I thinkit is.
These resources that Jesus givesus do not bring the
breakthrough.
Breakthrough is already here.
(12:33):
The burst of God is alreadyhere.
These resources help us diveinto it, help us dive into the
breakthrough that's alreadyhere.
We don't achieve breakthrough.
We receive it.
The resurrection of Jesusreleased it.
I mean, we've still got troublein this world.
Listen, life in Christ, in thisworld, is not filled with health
and prosperity.
(12:54):
We've still groaned forredemption, and we will until we
see Jesus face to face.
But even as we groan,resurrection power has been let
loose in the world.
In John 14 through 17, Jesusshares the resources he's
already given us that will helpus dive into the breakthrough
that's already here.
Resources like prayer.
(13:14):
Man, don't forget prayer intimes of trouble because when
trouble comes and we strugglewith doubt and fear settles into
the guest bedroom of our hearts,we need to pray.
If we want to dive intobreakthrough, we pray.
That's why I love Jesus'teaching in John 14 through 16
on what I call whatever prayers.
And what are whatever prayers?
(13:35):
Well, that word whatever hasbecome a code word for a
particular response to life,right?
It's the sigh of resignation, adenial of agreement, or a
passive-aggressive form of Idon't care.
When a person says whatever,they're basically saying that
the topic doesn't matter, yourresponse doesn't matter, maybe
you don't matter.
When the ladies in my family saywhatever, it's usually
(13:57):
accompanied by a roll of theeyes.
That's like total dismissal.
And when you ask somebody whatthey want to eat, whatever
doesn't mean anything.
It means I want you to choose,but choose well.
I'm not talking about that kindof whatever.
Some of you have been here longenough to know some of the
markers on my spiritual journey.
(14:18):
One of those markers took placealmost 25 years ago.
I was at Calvary praying withabout a dozen others.
We called our prayer exercisethat evening, praying onsite
with inside.
It was kind of like a form ofprayer walking way at the
beginning before we even knewwhat prayer walking was.
It's kind of like go somewherein the building or somewhere
outside the building and prayabout whatever God puts on your
(14:40):
heart.
Well, that evening I ended up onthe steps of the stage.
It had been a difficult fewweeks.
I'd had a friend.
I'd introduced him to Jesus,counseled him.
He started working with ouryouth, really doing a great job.
And then it all imploded.
And I was just calling out toGod for a promise to hold on to.
(15:01):
And while I was praying, thisverse reference lit up in my
mind like a billboard, John 14,12 through 14.
That's all.
I didn't know the verse.
It was just the reference.
And I hadn't been reading in theGospel of John.
It wasn't a verse that I hadmemorized, so I was a little bit
skeptical.
But I thought, okay, God, I'lllook it up.
Here's what it said.
(15:23):
Very truly I tell you, whoeverbelieves in me will do the works
that I have been doing and theywill do even greater things than
these because I am going to theFather and I will do whatever
you ask in my name so that theFather may be glorified in the
Son.
You may ask me for anything inmy name and I'll do it.
Whatever.
Whatever you ask.
(15:43):
You say, well, now, wait aminute, Dan.
You've got to be kind of carefulhow people take a verse like
this.
It's like we want to protectGod's fragile reputation.
We don't want people to haveunreasonably high hopes in God.
And so we let ourdisappointments or our
experiences translate this verseto simply mean you might do
pretty good stuff maybe somedayif you kind of believe in Jesus.
(16:04):
Or we try to minimize Jesus'words.
But what if whatever...
Means whatever.
I don't know.
It probably doesn't.
Maybe there's conditions.
But listen to me.
I think at a minimum, it meanssomething more than what we pray
(16:31):
for.
I think...
I think if Jesus looked at youand said, I'm telling you
something that's true, whoeverbelieves in me will do even
greater works than I have done,so ask me for whatever.
I think it would have encouragedus, lifted up our hearts, lifted
up our hopes, and caused us topray again for whatever.
(16:54):
I don't know, lately I've beenpraying for a lot of whatevers.
For people at Calvary.
Last week I was stopped by morepeople than typical.
They asked me to pray for them.
Hard things going on in theirlives, in their marriage, in
their families.
And my friend down in Pittsburghwho just has days before,
(17:15):
probably, before he goes home tomeet with Jesus.
There's been a lot of whateverprayers stirring up in my heart
lately.
And I just want to encourageyou.
Maybe there's a whatever prayerthat you've left that God kind
of put it on your heart and youprayed and you prayed and
nothing happened.
And I just want to say maybeit's time to go back to your
whatever prayers.
(17:38):
God, I don't know.
We'll dig into this more in thenext episode, these whatever
prayers.
And I don't.
I don't want to be silly andpray for things that are not on
your heart, obviously.
I'm not going to pray for thewhatever of winning the lottery.
But God, there are things thatare on people's hearts.
(17:58):
There are things that are on myheart.
There are things that I prayedfor for years that sometimes I
stop because I just think, youknow what, it's not going to
happen.
But God, I pray that you wouldrenew in our hearts, in my
heart, in the heart of everyperson listening, this sense of
expectancy and hope that thatyou have in store for us to do
(18:19):
even greater works than you did,and that it would cause us to
ask you for whatever.
Whatever.
In Jesus' name I pray.
Amen.
So take a moment or two and justquiet your heart before Jesus.
Ask him to help you do greaterthings.
Ask him to stir up your heart topray for whatever.
(18:42):
If you go until the end of themusic, you have about four
minutes, and then throughout theday, let your prayer simply be,
God, I want to do greaterthings.
I want to do more for you.
Hey, welcome to another episode of More Than
Bread.
This is number 27 in our seriesfor Lent, and it's number 533 in
the life of the podcast.
And the reason I say that,particularly this time, you know
what, every once in a while,someone comes along and
downloads everything from 1 to500 plus, from A to Z, 1 to the
end.
And when that happens, man, itpumps up my download week.
(00:23):
I love it.
All of a sudden, my dailydownload explodes.
So whoever you are, Thank you.
More Than Bread is a podcastthat is deeply and defiantly,
(00:47):
no, More Than Bread is a podcastthat is deeply and definitely
devoted to the value of everyword that comes from the mouth
of God.
Scripture, the Bible, the Wordof God.
And what I like to remind us isthat when we come to the Word,
there are three things we needto do to draw in that value.
We need to listen.
We need to learn and we need tolean in.
(01:08):
We need to listen to the voiceof the Spirit in the moment.
He speaks through the Word tous.
It's not just an old textbook, ahistory book, a story book.
The Spirit of God speaks to usthrough the Word of God.
And we need to learn.
We need to learn the ways ofJesus.
We need to learn about thekingdom of God.
Learn scriptural principles andthe forever truths that come to
(01:29):
us from Scripture.
But all the value of listeningand learning are lost if we
never lean in.
We need to lean into the Word.
We need to respond to it.
We need to do something withwhat we've heard and what we've
learned.
We put it into practice.
We surrender.
We obey.
We do.
And I just want to encourageyou.
Every time you listen to one ofthese podcasts, figure out
(01:52):
something that God is callingyou to do.
So our serious theme for Lenthas been the great gamble, which
flows out of the story of Jesusasking a rich young leader to
sell everything he had and giveit all the way to the poor.
But the guy walked away sad.
He had too much stuff.
He didn't trust God.
Jesus.
(02:13):
And then later, Jesus says thatthe pathway to greatness is
servanthood, that we will neverever out give him.
So the great gamble simply asksthe question, can I trust Jesus?
Do I believe what he says?
If I believe that I can neverever out give him, am I ever
tempted to try?
Do I believe what he says?
In the last couple of episodes,we've been hanging out in this
(02:35):
section of John's gospel, John13 through 17.
And John 13 kind of describesThursday night before he goes to
the cross on Friday.
But John 14 through 17 is Jesusteaching on that night, on the
Thursday before Good Friday.
And so we're going to hang outthere still for a little bit.
(02:56):
And I'll skip around to a A fewdifferent places in this
episode, or at least thisepisode, the next episode.
But I want to start by readingJohn 14, 1 through 14.
Here's what Jesus says.
Don't let your hearts betroubled.
You believe in God, believe alsoin me.
(03:16):
My Father's house has manyrooms, if that were not so.
Would I have told you that I'mgoing there to prepare a place
for you?
And if I go and prepare a placefor you, I will come back and
take you to be with me that youalso may be where I am.
Now, before I go any further,just realize that today we kind
of think of that as Jesus goingto heaven to prepare a place for
(03:37):
us.
In those days, that's not whatthey were thinking.
They were not thinking that theFather's house that has many
rooms, the place where Jesus isgoing to prepare a place for
them, that it had to do withJesus dying.
So he says, you know the way tothe place where I'm going.
And Thomas said to him, Lord, wedon't even know where you're
(03:57):
going.
How can we know the way?
Jesus answered, I am the way andthe truth and the life.
No one comes to the Fatherexcept through me.
If you really know me, you willknow my Father as well.
From now on, you do know him andyou have seen him.
Why?
Because they'd seen Jesus.
Philip said, Lord, show us theFather.
That'll be enough for us.
(04:18):
Jesus answered, don't you knowme, Philip, even after I've been
among you such a long time?
Anyone who has seen me has seenthe Father.
How can you say, show us theFather?
Don't you believe that I am inthe Father and the Father is in
me?
The words I say to you, I don'tspeak on my own authority.
Rather, it is the Father livingin me who is doing his work.
Believe me, when I say that I amin the Father, the Father is in
(04:40):
me.
Or at least believe on theevidence of the works
themselves.
Very truly, I tell you, whoeverNow, if you think about it, this
(05:06):
is a great passage of Scriptureto read in preparation for Good
Friday and Resurrection Sunday.
I mean, think about it.
In that first verse, Jesus says,trouble's coming.
And then in the last few verses,he says, one of these days
you'll do even greater thingsthan I have done.
Trouble leads to greater things.
Good Friday leads toResurrection Sunday.
I've been encouraging you toread these chapters in John 13
(05:28):
through 17 multiple timesbetween now and Resurrection
Sunday.
In fact, I'll narrow it down.
14 through 17.
That's kind of the teachingpart.
13 is that last supper, wash thedisciples' feet part.
But 14 through 17 is kind ofJesus' words.
So here's what I want you to dofor just a few moments.
(05:49):
I just want you to imagineyou're with Jesus, sitting by a
fire in a cabin, even thoughit's April here in Pennsylvania
right now, a fire in a cabin.
That sounds pretty good.
Or you're taking a walk in theafternoon with the leaves just
beginning to turn green, cup ofcoffee in hand.
Imagine walking through avineyard.
(06:10):
It's evening, and And you don'tknow it, but Jesus is sharing
his last words before he dies ona cross.
Most scholars call these fourchapters, 14, 15, 16, and 17,
Jesus' farewell discourse.
I think it's anything but hisfarewell discourse.
These are not his last words.
They're beginning words.
They're summation words maybe,transition words definitely, but
(06:33):
not his last words.
This is more like Jesus' lockerroom talk before you go out and
play the most important game ofyour life, your boss's promotion
challenge.
This is your favorite teacher atcommencement looking you in the
eye and saying, you got this.
It's your OBGYN doctor saying,push, it's time to push.
Jesus is walking with hisfriends and he's talking about
(06:55):
breakthrough.
And in the space of athree-chapter conversation and a
one-chapter prayer, he will hiton multiple things.
But over and over again, he willsay this, you will have trouble.
There's going to be trouble.
This is where Jesus starts inJohn 14.1.
Do not let your hearts betroubled.
And then again in John 14.27,don't let your hearts be
(07:15):
troubled and do not be afraid.
And then again in John 16.33, inthis world you will have
trouble, but take heart, I haveovercome the world.
Trouble's coming, Jesus, andthere's going to be trouble.
In this world you will havetrouble.
Now sometimes we see the troublecoming and sometimes it just
slips up on us, but trouble iscoming, like Chip.
(07:37):
I love this story.
You maybe have heard me share itbefore.
One minute life was good.
He had a song in his heart.
The next thing he knew, he wasin the middle of trouble,
surrounded by darkness and thedirt of life.
You could say it was nobody'sfault.
It just happened.
Circumstances beyond hiscontrol.
Trouble in the present momentthat was calling into question
his future moments because inthe space of a day, Chip would
(07:59):
go through circumstances thatwould cause many of us to lose
hope.
His name was actually Chippy.
He was a parakeet.
His problems began when hisowner decided to clean his cage
with a vacuum cleaner.
She removed that attachment fromthe end of the hose and began to
clean.
But at that fateful moment, thephone rang.
She turned to pick it up and hadbarely uttered hello when she
(08:20):
heard and Chippy had been suckedinto the dirt of life.
She frantically opened thevacuum canister to rescue
Chippy.
She found him alive but dazedand dirty, covered from head to
toe, beak to claw with the dirtof life.
She did what any good pet motherwould do.
She ran to the bathroom, turnedon the faucet, held him under
the water.
(08:41):
Chippy was sucked in and washedup.
After that ordeal, Chippy wasunderstandably shaken and
shivering, but the worst was yetto come.
His warm-hearted pet motherplugged in the hair dryer and
blasted Chippy with hot air.
Sucked in, washed up, and blownover.
A few days later, the reporterwho had written the initial news
story called back to see howChippy was doing.
(09:02):
Well, the owner replied, Chippydoesn't sing much anymore.
He just sits and stares.
Take it out of the pet vacuumworld and we can relate, right?
I mean, once upon a time, itseemed like the sky was the
limit, a song in your heart, butnow you've been sucked into the
chaos of politics and tariffsand a friend who is days away
(09:23):
from meeting Jesus face to face.
Maybe your work life isuncertain.
The stock market downturn haspushed your retirement back to
your 80 and add to that thetrouble you were in before any
of that came.
The rejection of a friend, thehealth tragedy, loneliness,
marriage on the rocks,depression, you name it.
(09:43):
You find yourself in the middleof trouble and you've lost your
song.
Listen, Jesus made it clear thatthis is normal.
You will have trouble in theworld.
He said all kinds of trouble.
You're going to go throughcircumstances that will cause
doubt and fear.
You're going to lose friends.
The world will hate you andpeople will persecute you.
The enemy of your souls, theprince of this world is coming
(10:05):
and there may be opportunitiesfor you to lay down your life
for your friends.
In fact, some people will thinkthey're doing God a service by
killing you.
There's going to be trouble.
But listen, I see this over andover again, especially in
Scripture.
We often find trouble justbefore we get a breakthrough,
(10:25):
right?
Those things that we say, we sayit because it's true.
It's always darkest before thedawn.
Difficult times are a catalystfor spiritual growth.
All of creation groans to seethe coming redemption of
humanity.
Listen, John 14 through 17 isnot a farewell discourse.
It's not Jesus' last words.
(10:46):
It's his get ready foropportunity challenge.
It's his halftime speech.
It's a call to push through, totravail for something new.
It's an expectant, hopeful callto breakthrough.
You're going to grieve, he says,but joy is coming.
There's going to be trouble, butdon't worry.
Don't be afraid.
I've overcome the world.
You'll be persecuted, but I'vegot your back.
(11:07):
Don't give up.
Persevere.
In fact, Jesus' exact words golike this in John 16, 20.
Truly, I tell you, you will weepand mourn while the world
rejoices.
You will grieve, but your griefwill turn to joy.
And now, today, we understandwhere Jesus had fixed his eyes.
Now we understand that Thursdayevening was the beginning of a
(11:30):
three-day story of amazingbreakthrough.
But listen to me.
These words, Jesus' message inJohn 14 through 17, was not just
for the days that came betweenthe cross and the empty tomb.
Those three days would set thestage for all the days to come.
Even our days.
We live in those days.
Listen to me, your days are notshaped by whatever hard stuff is
(11:51):
your hard stuff.
They're shaped by theresurrection.
Our past may be filled withtrouble, but our future is
filled with resurrection hope.
Our hearts may be touched byhope, but man, touched by hurt,
but man, they are filled withhope.
Breakthrough isn't coming, it'scome.
We live in those days.
(12:11):
So how do we live into, how dowe lean into those days?
Well, Jesus gives us someresources for breakthrough.
Now listen, I'm thinking aboutthis a bit differently than I
have in the past, so listenclosely because it may not sound
all that different, but I thinkit is.
These resources that Jesus givesus do not bring the
breakthrough.
Breakthrough is already here.
(12:33):
The burst of God is alreadyhere.
These resources help us diveinto it, help us dive into the
breakthrough that's alreadyhere.
We don't achieve breakthrough.
We receive it.
The resurrection of Jesusreleased it.
I mean, we've still got troublein this world.
Listen, life in Christ, in thisworld, is not filled with health
and prosperity.
(12:54):
We've still groaned forredemption, and we will until we
see Jesus face to face.
But even as we groan,resurrection power has been let
loose in the world.
In John 14 through 17, Jesusshares the resources he's
already given us that will helpus dive into the breakthrough
that's already here.
Resources like prayer.
(13:14):
Man, don't forget prayer intimes of trouble because when
trouble comes and we strugglewith doubt and fear settles into
the guest bedroom of our hearts,we need to pray.
If we want to dive intobreakthrough, we pray.
That's why I love Jesus'teaching in John 14 through 16
on what I call whatever prayers.
And what are whatever prayers?
(13:35):
Well, that word whatever hasbecome a code word for a
particular response to life,right?
It's the sigh of resignation, adenial of agreement, or a
passive-aggressive form of Idon't care.
When a person says whatever,they're basically saying that
the topic doesn't matter, yourresponse doesn't matter, maybe
you don't matter.
When the ladies in my family saywhatever, it's usually
(13:57):
accompanied by a roll of theeyes.
That's like total dismissal.
And when you ask somebody whatthey want to eat, whatever
doesn't mean anything.
It means I want you to choose,but choose well.
I'm not talking about that kindof whatever.
Some of you have been here longenough to know some of the
markers on my spiritual journey.
(14:18):
One of those markers took placealmost 25 years ago.
I was at Calvary praying withabout a dozen others.
We called our prayer exercisethat evening, praying onsite
with inside.
It was kind of like a form ofprayer walking way at the
beginning before we even knewwhat prayer walking was.
It's kind of like go somewherein the building or somewhere
outside the building and prayabout whatever God puts on your
(14:40):
heart.
Well, that evening I ended up onthe steps of the stage.
It had been a difficult fewweeks.
I'd had a friend.
I'd introduced him to Jesus,counseled him.
He started working with ouryouth, really doing a great job.
And then it all imploded.
And I was just calling out toGod for a promise to hold on to.
(15:01):
And while I was praying, thisverse reference lit up in my
mind like a billboard, John 14,12 through 14.
That's all.
I didn't know the verse.
It was just the reference.
And I hadn't been reading in theGospel of John.
It wasn't a verse that I hadmemorized, so I was a little bit
skeptical.
But I thought, okay, God, I'lllook it up.
Here's what it said.
(15:23):
Very truly I tell you, whoeverbelieves in me will do the works
that I have been doing and theywill do even greater things than
these because I am going to theFather and I will do whatever
you ask in my name so that theFather may be glorified in the
Son.
You may ask me for anything inmy name and I'll do it.
Whatever.
Whatever you ask.
(15:43):
You say, well, now, wait aminute, Dan.
You've got to be kind of carefulhow people take a verse like
this.
It's like we want to protectGod's fragile reputation.
We don't want people to haveunreasonably high hopes in God.
And so we let ourdisappointments or our
experiences translate this verseto simply mean you might do
pretty good stuff maybe somedayif you kind of believe in Jesus.
(16:04):
Or we try to minimize Jesus'words.
But what if whatever...
Means whatever.
I don't know.
It probably doesn't.
Maybe there's conditions.
But listen to me.
I think at a minimum, it meanssomething more than what we pray
(16:31):
for.
I think...
I think if Jesus looked at youand said, I'm telling you
something that's true, whoeverbelieves in me will do even
greater works than I have done,so ask me for whatever.
I think it would have encouragedus, lifted up our hearts, lifted
up our hopes, and caused us topray again for whatever.
(16:54):
I don't know, lately I've beenpraying for a lot of whatevers.
For people at Calvary.
Last week I was stopped by morepeople than typical.
They asked me to pray for them.
Hard things going on in theirlives, in their marriage, in
their families.
And my friend down in Pittsburghwho just has days before,
(17:15):
probably, before he goes home tomeet with Jesus.
There's been a lot of whateverprayers stirring up in my heart
lately.
And I just want to encourageyou.
Maybe there's a whatever prayerthat you've left that God kind
of put it on your heart and youprayed and you prayed and
nothing happened.
And I just want to say maybeit's time to go back to your
whatever prayers.
(17:38):
God, I don't know.
We'll dig into this more in thenext episode, these whatever
prayers.
And I don't.
I don't want to be silly andpray for things that are not on
your heart, obviously.
I'm not going to pray for thewhatever of winning the lottery.
But God, there are things thatare on people's hearts.
(17:58):
There are things that are on myheart.
There are things that I prayedfor for years that sometimes I
stop because I just think, youknow what, it's not going to
happen.
But God, I pray that you wouldrenew in our hearts, in my
heart, in the heart of everyperson listening, this sense of
expectancy and hope that thatyou have in store for us to do
(18:19):
even greater works than you did,and that it would cause us to
ask you for whatever.
Whatever.
In Jesus' name I pray.
Amen.
So take a moment or two and justquiet your heart before Jesus.
Ask him to help you do greaterthings.
Ask him to stir up your heart topray for whatever.
(18:42):
If you go until the end of themusic, you have about four
minutes, and then throughout theday, let your prayer simply be,
God, I want to do greaterthings.
I want to do more for you.
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