MARK ANDERSON MINISTRIES

How Big Is Your Jesus!

By Mark R. Anderson

“Looking unto (Greek- eyes riveted on) Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who bore such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your soul.” (Hebrews 12:2-3)

I hope this article will cause you to ponder the question of ‘How big is your Jesus’. How big or small your revelation of Jesus, in any area of your life, will determine the quality of life you live. Your revelation of Jesus, who He is and what He can do through and for you is key to success in life and ministry.

Verse 2 of the above scripture says, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of your faith… Where is your focus and attention, or what is your focus? Many believers are overwhelmed by their problems. Their focus often is ‘me and my problems’. If that is your focus you need to readjust your focus. Many behold their huge problems and out of the corner of their eye catch a small glimpse of Jesus. If we first and foremost behold Jesus, then see our problems out of the corner of our eye, with our peripheral vision, our problems will be so small in comparison.

In the Amplified version Hebrew 12:2-3 reads, “looking away (from all that will distract) to Jesus….  Just think of Him….consider it all in comparison with your trials.” If you look away from your problems and focus on Jesus your problems will become tiny and easy to conquer because Christ in you is at work on your behalf. He is on your side! Romans 8:32 says “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”

How big is your Jesus in some of the predominant areas you have to deal with in this lifetime, like your physical and mental health a well as finances. I would like to share some insight on how your revelation of Jesus can help in these areas of your personal life.

Looking to Jesus as your Source Financially

Just out of High School and living on my own I learned these valuable principles that have helped me in life and ministry. Once while working as a parking lot attendant, I was listening to a Bible teacher on the radio. Many times during the teaching he said, “Get your eyes off the problem and get them on the answer, God’s Word!” I realized that the word was for me and decided to do just that. Little did I know that I would lose my job later in the afternoon. I went to God’s word for the answer and kept my eyes focused on Christ. I came across Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” I felt the best way to seek His kingdom would be to expand it on the earth by sharing Jesus with others and as I did I believed He would meet my needs for another job. I went to the lake and led a man to Christ that day. He told me about a job where they were hiring and paying more than my previous job. By keeping my eyes on the answer, Jesus and His word my need was met.

Acts 17:28 says, “For IN HIM we live and move and have our being….” God desires to have permanent residence or control of every area of our life so we can be all He has for us. He even wants to take control of our finances. Malachi 3:10-11(a) talks about giving our tithes and offerings, and what will happen when we do, “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this says the Lord of hosts, If I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes….” Notice God says to “try Me” in this. That means prove Him or put Him to the test. It is the only place God ever says, “to try Him”. He goes on to say that He will open the windows of Heaven and will pour out such a huge blessing on us that we will not have enough room to contain it. And yes, He will even rebuke the devil and his demons from stealing your finances. Instead of spending a lot of time trying to rebuke the devil off our finances we should get God involved in the process as He says He will rebuke the devourer. We watched God do just this for us in a real estate investment we made. We were heading towards financial disaster as the economy in that area took a turn for the worse. He completely turned the circumstances around, and into a blessing when we cast our cares on Him and allowed Him to rebuke the devourer. We in ourselves could never have accomplished this. It brings tremendous rest when we do our part and then allow Him to do His.

Main Hindrance to Healing

Many believers battle with physical and mental afflictions. Is Jesus big enough to deliver you and bring health to you? Last year we did a series of teachings in our Good News magazine on hindrances to healing.  We were unable to mention one of the main hindrances to healing. That is demon spirits! In Mark 16:17-18 Jesus mentions two ways to minister healing to individuals needing healing. One way in verse 17 “These signs shall follow those who believe: in my name they shall cast out demons… then another way in verse 18 They will lay hands on the sick and they will recover.” It has been a privilege to watch Jesus heal many 1,000’s of people in our evangelistic outreaches or just one on one.   I have to say that at least ¾’s of those healed where healed as a result of casting demons out of them. Demon spirits cause many physical and mental health problems. Not all infirmities or sickness is caused by demons but much of sickness, disease, and infirmities are.  Many try to ignore the demonic realm hoping their problem will go away. Paul said, “Lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his (demonic) devices.” (2 Corinthians 2:11). Healing does not take place by ignoring the problem.  Acts 10:38 says “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and HEALING ALL who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” Notice Jesus healed ALL (nobody was left out) but we need to address the issue of who was causing the physical or mental pain and deal with it properly.

Lasting Change

Many deal with the problems from the outside rather than the root of it. Dealing with problems on the outside keeps your heart and mind on the problem. Lasting or permanent change starts from the inside and works outward. Romans 12:2 says, “And do not be conformed (Greek- fashioned or patterned after) to this world, but be transformed (Greek- metamorphosis, change from one form to another) by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” The perfect will of God is His Word (see Psalm 19:7).

True and lasting change comes by allowing our minds to become immersed in God’s word concerning all areas of our life and knowing that we are IN CHRIST. Many people try to dig up the past in an effort to change the future. They try to figure out how many curses have come into their lives or what from their past is hindering them rather than focusing on Jesus. How big is the Jesus, who lives in you to deal with curses in your life? Sometimes to find freedom from curses, deliverance from demons is necessary. I know the freedom there is in having demons cast out and being delivered. But that is not the only way to find freedom! I am sure that I did many negative things before coming to Christ and after coming to Christ as well, which could have brought curses into my life. Look what God’s word says in Galatians 3:13-14, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree^’), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles IN CHRIST JESUS, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” The Christ in me redeemed me from the curse and is greater than any curse or demon that can ever come into my life. He became a curse so that I could be blessed and free in every area of my life. I do not keep looking back to see what curses I have brought into my life. Rather I focus on Christ in me and let His word transform me into His image. If deliverance is needed do that and then move on to victory. We do not have to keep living and digging in the past, allowing it to beat us up.

Philippians 3:13 says, “forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead….” Understanding who we are in Christ and leaving the past behind can cause a lot of junk in our lives to fall by the wayside. Many believers are conscious of all their problems and/or failures and are living on the wrong side of the cross.  As believers in Jesus we need to live life in relation to what Jesus accomplished at Calvary. I like what Peter Youngren calls it: NEW CREATION THERAPY!  It works! Changing your physical and mental state does not take a tremendous amount of time digging up the past but it comes by getting your focus and attention on and IN CHRIST and His word, which can continually set you free (see John 8:31-32).  “No word from God is without power or impossible of fulfillment.” (Luke 1:37amp)

Amos 3:3 says, “Can two walk together unless they are agreed?” This is a key for obtaining freedom from problems, demons or curses. Fall out of agreement with that problem or demon, take on Christ’s nature, turn from things that are wrong in your life, repent, and allow the Christ in you to drive out those problems. We are his temples! Most of my problems disappeared as I did these things. My focus was Christ in me, not problems, demons or past failures. Many former curses or problems in my life could not remain in that kind of environment. The result; freedom and deliverance!

How Big is the Devil and your Problems?

Many focus on the devil and their BIG problem as opposed to a BIG JESUS! A large part of Jesus’ ministry was casting out demons and healing the sick. Many Christians desire to follow in His footsteps doing the same (see 1 John 2:5 & John 14:2).  “And all of us, as with unveiled face, (because we) continued to BEHOLD (IN THE WORD OF GOD) as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are CONSTANTLY BEING TRNSFIGURED INTO HIS VERY OWN IMAGE in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; (for this comes) from the Lord (who is) the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18 Amp) One way I prepared for the healing and deliverance ministry was by beholding Jesus in the word of God. I read and meditated on Him healing and delivering people from sickness, infirmities and demons. Soon I was being transformed by God’s word into that same image. This will work for any one who does the same. The focus has to be Jesus in you not your past, problems or failures. Go beyond trying to work up your faith, joy and peace.  Tap into His Faith, His joy, His peace, His healing, and His deliverance (see Mark 11:22, John 15:11, Ephesians 2:8-9). All of this is IN HIM.

Paul said in Colossians 1:26-27, “ the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is CHRIST IN YOU, the hope of glory”. Jesus in me is much bigger than any demon or problem that comes my way. 1 John 4:4 says “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” Colossians 2:9-10 says, “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.” Think about it, the Creator, God Himself resides in you and everything thing that He is resides in you! It is available to you! Nothing is impossible for Him (see Matthew 19:26) or for you if your focus is Him. Just tap into His life residing in you.

Should we give Beelzebub need much Attention?

In Matthew 12:24 Satan is referred to as Beelzebub. Beelzebub means lord of the flies and dung. If you seriously meditate on this you will see how defeated he really is. Flies to me are nothing more than mere irritants. Same with demons! Jesus talks about casting out demons with the finger of God. Does it take much effort? No! Satan is also lord of the dung. There is not much to say about waste (dung)! Not something I like to give much attention to. This is what Satan and his demons are equivalent to. Beelzebub has no power other than what we give or allow him and his demons. Satan and his demons were defeated 2,000 years ago (see Colossians 2:15 & 1 John 3:8).

Unfortunately, often Christians talk about all their problems and how the devil is beating them up. Many times the devil, and their problems get more glory and attention than Jesus Christ. Isaiah 14:16 tells us how surprised many will be when they finally see Lucifer or Satan. It says, “those who see you will gaze at you, And consider you saying is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms?” Some day we will see with our eyes just how weak and defeated he really is.

When your focus is more on the problems and demons then they will get the better of you. If the focus is Jesus then they do not stand a chance. When Jesus came on he scene John the Baptist said, “HE MUST INCREASE, but I MUST DECREASE.” More of Jesus and less of us also means less problems and less of the devil and demons. More of Jesus also means more heaven on earth and less hell on earth. Are we allowing Jesus to increase in our life or is the focus ‘me and my problems?’

How to Deal with Opposition

How a person deals with oppositions reveals where their focus and attention is based. We can learn from the early Church, “And daily in the temple and in every house, they CEASED NOT TEACHING AND PREACHING JESUS CHRIST.” (Acts 5:42 KJV) Their focus was not their problems or opposition, the devil or demons. Their entire focus was on Jesus Christ; and Him crucified.

Paul’s approach to opposition was laudable “….For I am not ashamed of the GOSPEL OF CHRIST, for its is the POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION…..” (Romans 1:16). The word salvation in the Greek means forgiveness, physical healing, deliverance, protection and prosperity. The gospel (goodnews) of Jesus Christ IS THE POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION. Do not get sidetracked from allowing the good news of Jesus Christ from being first and foremost.

As I have traveled to India and many other countries I have witnessed the enemy at work killing, stealing and destroying lives. If my focus were the sickness, disease, sin and demonic oppression I saw, it would be overwhelming. My main focus is on Christ and in communicating and demonstrating the Gospel of Jesus Christ. On occasions we have walked into cities in India where literally all hell was breaking loose. I did not pray any harder or get focused on the problem or what other demons I needed to bind more than normal, but my focus was the Gospel. The more intense the opposition the more the focus needs to be on Jesus. What was the result: 1,000s came to Christ, undeniable miracles, many demons manifesting and being driven out by the power of Jesus. The good news of Jesus of Christ was the power of God or all we needed.

Jesus said Luke 10:19 “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Demons and problems are subject to us  (Luke 10:17) not us to them. Know who you are in Christ and operate from that perspective. Ephesians 1:22 says all things are under His feet (that includes demons and your problems). Ephesians 2:6 says, “He raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places IN CHRIST JESUS.” The devil, demons and problems are under your feet.

Keep your focus on Jesus. Consider Him and do not get distracted by life’s problems. Look at Him as the source for everything. Understand this that apart from Him you can do nothing (see John 15:5). When you understand this, notice what Jesus says “If you ABIDE (Greek- constantly reside) in Me, and My words ABIDE in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” (John 15:7). If the focus is Jesus and we stay in constant residence IN HIM we can ask whatever we need and it will be done for us.  Nothing we face can overcome us when our focus is on Him.

If you would like to know more about demons and how they operate we will gladly send you our tape Answers about demons free of charge. Many ask the question how can you tell if someone needs deliverance or if it is just the flesh. We answer that on this tape with God’s word being our authority.  Just request this tape by name and we will get it sent to you.