An Ever-Present Help: How to Connect to the Source of All Things Great (Going Great #7, the Finale)

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. (Ps. 46:1 NIV)

Yep, this one’s gonna be different.

So far in this series, I’ve mostly avoided the spiritual side of things, but not so today.

There’s only so much you can do as a frail human being. And if you try to do great things on your own, there’s a good chance that you’ll break.

So instead of focusing on yourself here, this post will show you how to connect to the Source of all things great.

An Ever-Present Help

Do not look to man, look to Me. I will restore you…

It’s troubling how many Christians today take God for granted.

To them, the faith is just a get-out-of-hell-free card. They’re scared of the afterlife and don’t see much use in anything beyond the basics.

But while avoiding sin’s punishment is of first importance, the gospel is about so much more. 

Yes, the greatest benefits of Jesus’ work won’t be enjoyed until eternity, but Jesus also came to give us new life right now (John 10:10). And one of the perks of this new life is a restored relationship with God (Rom. 5:10).

The Bible tells us that the moment Jesus died on the cross, a veil enclosing the most holy part of Jerusalem’s temple was rent from top to bottom (Matt. 27: 50-51). This was a symbolic act that showed how Jesus’ work gave us unprecedented access to God.

Gone was the need for sinful priests and special rituals. Jesus Himself became High Priest, and through Him, we can approach God boldly (Heb. 4:14-16).

This is what John described when he wrote that Jesus gave believers “the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).

Jesus was completely innocent, God in the flesh who had no sin, yet He willingly took sin’s punishment in our place. So now that the barrier separating us from God has been addressed, believers join a spiritual family where the Creator of the universe acts as our Father (Rom. 8:16-17).

Yeah, that’s pretty cool.

And as a caring Father, God loves to act on our behalf (Ps. 37:4).

That’s why Jesus told us not to worry about our lives (Matt. 6:25-26), it’s why Peter said we can cast our cares on Him (1 Pet. 5:6-7), and it’s why Paul told us to “not be anxious about anything” (Phil. 4:6-7 NIV).

We have a relationship with Someone who has power to work all things together for good (Rom. 8:28 NASB)—even the things that, in isolation, are downright evil:

• He raised Joseph to power in Egypt after his own brothers sold him into slavery (Gen. 50:19-20).
• He chose Paul as an apostle to show how He can change even the worst of sinners (Acts 9:13, Acts 9:15).
• And He used the death of an innocent Man to give salvation to all who believe (2 Cor. 5:21).

God specializes in turning things upside down. He chooses the “foolish things of the world to shame the wise” and the “weak things of the world to shame the strong”, all so that no one can boast before Him (1 Cor. 1:27-29 NIV).

Believers know that God “is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Ps. 34:18 ESV). He strengthens those whose hearts are committed to Him (2 Chron. 16:9 NIV). He acts as our rock and our shield (Ps. 18:2). And when our human weakness is evident, He gives us strength evermore (Ps. 73:26).

But with all these amazing benefits, why doesn’t everyone seek Him out? And why do so many Christians not trust Him?

Well for one, we can’t see Him (2 Cor. 5:7). But this next section will explain a bigger reason why.

Connecting to the Vine

…I love you. I have created a pathway for you…

I’ve always found it funny how people talk about “the universe”:

• ”The universe brought me this job.” 
• “The universe didn’t want us together.” 
• ”The universe saved me from that car crash.”

It’s all so funny because they know. 

These people take a powerless, uncaring, created thing and assign personal traits to it because they know there’s a personal God (Rom. 1:19 NASB). But since they already know, why don’t they seek the real One?

The answer of course, is sin. 

People love darkness rather than light (John 3:19). No one naturally seeks God because sin has tainted our desire for Him (Rom. 3:10-11). So in order to find the ever-present help, we need a little bit of…well, help.

God has to draw each of us to Himself first (John 6:44). But once God does draw you in, how do you actually connect to Him?

That’s what Jesus explained here:

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.

…

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. (John 15:1-2; John 15:5-8)

Abiding in Jesus is how we connect to God (John 14:6). Without Him, we can’t do anything of spiritual value.

But now the question is, how do you “abide in Him”?

It’s simple: you do what He tells you to do. 

You abide in Jesus by keeping His commandments (John 15:10, 1 John 3:24). Not because you can get something out of it, but because you love Him for who He is (John 15:14, 1 John 5:2-3).

But since we’re talking about an all-powerful, all-knowing, and perfect God, surely this list of commandments is huge?

Well yeah, it actually is. But a certain Someone fulfilled each one of those impossible commandments (Matt. 5:17), and if you believe on Him, His work is credited to you (John 6:28-29, Rom 4:24 NIV).

So now we’re left with only two commandments:

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. ’All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matt. 22:37-40 NIV)

If you love God, you’ll do what He likes. And if you love people, you’ll do good to them.

Even Greater Things

…Do not fear, for I will be with you…

Jesus attested to the great things His followers would do in the Gospel of John:

Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. (John 14:12 NIV)

Jesus said that those who believe on Him will do even greater things than Himself, and if you think about it, that’s incredible.

No, this doesn’t mean believers will turn water into wine, cure blindness, and raise the dead—although with God anything is possible—it’s more so about the spiritual impact we’ll have on the world.

Jesus’ earthly ministry only lasted about three years, and it’s reach was confined to a small part of the globe, but the book of Acts shows us how the gospel quickly spread in number and in distance (Acts 2:41, Acts 4:4, Acts 12:24).

The early church’s work is one reason why we still talk about Jesus 2,000 years later, and I’d say that’s pretty great.

But we also know that believers continue to do great things today. 

Take me for example: I’m a no-name blogger in a sea of voices on the internet, yet even my words about Christ have spread further than His earthly ministry ever did.

And since we’re on the topic of greatness, it’s worth noting that Jesus never condemned the desire to be great; He just redefined what greatness is.

When the disciples argued over which one of them was the greatest (Luke 22:24), Jesus responded by presenting a humble servant as the ideal (Luke 22:26, cf. Mark 9:35), and He used Himself as the perfect model (Luke 22:27).

Jesus is God in the flesh, the second Person of the Trinity, yet “although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men” (Phil 2:6-7 NASB).

Before the Incarnation, Jesus lived in Heaven with God (John 1:1, John 17:5), but later, He lowered Himself for us and allowed His own creation to insult, falsely accuse, and torture Him (Phil 2:8).

If that’s not humility, I don’t know what is.

But because of His obedience, God exalted Him (Phil 2:9)—a reward that confirmed Jesus’ teaching that “those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Luke 14:11 NIV).

When we abide in Jesus and follow His example, God’s Spirit produces good fruit within us, and He gives us gifts to use for the common good (Gal. 5:22-23, 1 Cor. 12:6-7 ESV).

With this help, we’re truly able to do great things. We gain the ability to “rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Rom. 5:3-5 ESV). And we gain an ever-present help “who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God” (2 Cor. 1:4 NIV).

That’s the stuff you do when you know the Source of all things great. 

So please, seek Him out, and I promise He won’t disappoint.

Once you connect to Him, you will never be alone (Ps. 37:25).

Let’s Do Some Great Things

…And you will be, victorious.

Ladies and gentlemen, that is a wrap—not just for this post, but for the Going Great Series.

The last seven weeks have been a challenge, but I haven’t written consistently in a while, and it felt good to get back to my ways.

I hope you got something out of this series though, and if you did, feel free to use it as a resource when you need to ramp things up.

But with that said, I wish you well as we enter a new year too. I don’t know about you, but I’ve fought, waited, and hurt enough in recent years, and I think all that is about to change very soon.

So as we head into this new decade, let’s have some fun, and do great things.

-Drew

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Other Posts in the Going Great Series:

• The Decision to Be Great: Introducing the Going Great Series (Going Great #1)
• An Unrelenting Focus: 9 Strategies to Stay Sharp Amidst the Dullness of Life (Going Great #2)
• Eyes Fit for a King: 3 Steps to Avoid Pornography so You Can Do Great Things (Going Great #3)
• The Ego-less Servant: How to Provide Irresistible Value with None of the Headache (Going Great #4)
• Uncanny Perseverance: 5 Common Threats to Greatness and How to Survive in Spite of Each (Going Great #5)
• A Light in the Dark: Why You Need a Heart for the Underground to Do Great Things (Going Great #6)