There aint no party like a Jesus party- Part 1

Aug 3, 2009 Blog
Posted by Shane Hatton

It’s so good to be home after spending the last 10 days enjoying myself, relaxing at the Gold Coast..i think its time to come back to reality though- So here i am refreshed and ready to go!

So i was reading on friday and working my way through John 2:1-11. Here are a couple of thoughts i found working through John 2:1-11 (NIV).

1.  If you want to receive a miracle, you need to invite Jesus to the party- 1On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.

It’s funny how when things are going really  badly for us…it is always God’s fault…he was the one who turned the traffic light red on us…funnily enough though, when the traffic light is green…its is amazing ‘luck’. Or maybe your in the job interview and you don’t get the job…then its not ‘God’s Will’..but as soon as you get the job “Man I was amazing..I blitzed that interview” haha. What i love about this first short verse is that, unless Jesus was at the party, the miracle would not have taken place. Sometimes we focus too much on the miracle and not enough on the person who is behind the miracle. 

2. Identify what it is you want Jesus to do- and be specific- 3When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

Pretty simple concept really. Have you ever had that person trying to ask you for something, and they spend the entire time beating around the bush and you never actually understand what it is that they wanted in the first place? I love Jesus’ mother. She sees what the need is and says “Jesus..they have no more wine” It really is as simple as that.
 
3. Understand that it is the heart of God to bless his children- 4″Dear woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied, “My time has not yet come.”

The thing i love here is that even Jesus had one of those mums…you know those mum’s who nominate you for stuff.. My mum went through a design phase when i was younger and guess who got to be her model….’oh shane will do that’…thanks mum!! But despite it not being Jesus’ time the cool thing is that it is in the heart of God to bless his children!

4. When Jesus asks you to do something- DO IT!!- 5His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

I remember one time i was driving around in the backside of the countryside listening to a message by Erwin McManus. The message was called ‘Spiritual Activism’. Erwin made a point that is something that has stuck with me. He said “The one thing that separates christianity from every other religion is not that we pray more. In fact, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindu’s all pray”..(sometimes even more that Christians). He said the difference is that “When we pray, we hear the voice of God, obey and something happens”. He said that when Jesus asks us to do something its not a request! If we want to be people who see miracles, we need to be people who hear the voice of God when he speaks and do “whatever” he asks. 

5. When God asks you to do something- Don’t half do it- Fill it to the Brim!- 6Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. 7Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

Can you stop and imagine for a second what this story would have been like if the servants had only half filled the jars? What would have had the potential to hold 180 gallons of wine, would have only had 90 gallons.  When we hold back from what Jesus has asked us to do, we can actually hinder other people from receiving the miracle that God has for them. It is just like the story of Jehoash in 2 Kings 13:18 when Elisha is about to die and asks him to hit the arrows on the ground, but Jehoash only hits the ground 3 times. Elisha becomes angry at the king and says, “If you had struck it five or six times, you would completely wipe out the Syrians. Now you will defeat them only three times”.  Imagine if Jehoash had known if the passion in which he struck the ground would determine the destiny. Would he have done anything differently? When God asks us to do something. Fill it to the Brim so everybody can receive the blessing of the miracle. 

To be continued…