Ready for More
Pastor Johnathan Ellison
Are You Ready for the More? It's Time for a Supernatural Shift
What if the very thing standing between you and more of God isn't the enemy — it's your own comfort? What if the shift you've been waiting for has been waiting on you?
I'll be honest with you. I'm ready for more. More of His goodness, more of His wonder, more of His miracle power, more of His namesake, more of His correction and discipline. I'm ready for more of Him — because I'm nothing without Him.
A Burning Bush and a Bold Calling
That hunger for more is exactly what launched this new series, Ready for More. And it starts in a place you might not expect — a desert, a bush, and a man named Moses.
In Exodus 3:2, we read: "The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn't burn up."
Moses — a man who had fled Egypt after killing an Egyptian soldier and spent 40 years tending sheep in the wilderness — sees something that stops him cold. A bush on fire that isn't burning up. And he says to himself, "Why isn't that bush burning up? I must go see it."
When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush: "Moses, Moses." And Moses replied, "Here I am."
Then God said something that changes everything: "Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground" (Exodus 3:4-5).
God called Moses by name — just like He's called you by name. And Moses' job was to take off what was protecting him, because he was standing on holy ground.
Take Off Your Sandals
How many times do we put self-protective things on because we're a little nervous about what God could ask us to do? In this series, I'm asking you right now — start taking those things off.
What if this hurts? What if this makes me uncomfortable? Get rid of it. Because yes, it's going to make you uncomfortable. But it's going to challenge you to be better. It's going to challenge you to run toward the more.
Exodus 33:16 asks the question: "How will anyone know that you look favorably on me and your people if you don't go with us? For your presence sets your people and me apart from all other people on the earth."
The one thing that separates us from every religion, from everything else on this earth, is Jesus. The healing power of the cross. The moment He said, "You're worth it all. I will go to the cross. I will die. I will resurrect from the grave — for you." That's what it's about.
The Shift That Changed Everything
In Acts 2, something remarkable happened. The disciples were hiding. Jesus had gone back to heaven and told them to wait for the Holy Spirit. They didn't know how He was going to come. Jesus didn't give them all the details of the plan — just like sometimes you ask God for every detail and He says, "You can't handle every detail. Just trust me."
Then the Holy Spirit came, and a boldness came with them. In Acts 2:14, "Peter stepped forward with the 11 other apostles and shouted to the crowd, 'Listen carefully, all of you.'" He wasn't scared anymore. Why? Because a supernatural shift had taken place.
And how did that shift continue? Acts 2:42 tells us: "All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship and to sharing in meals, including the Lord's Supper, and to prayer."
A shift is taking place all over this world right now. And God is giving us a chance to declare whether we are with Him or against Him.
The Devil Is Real — But He's Limited
I want to be straight with you, because this is going to be a spiritual warfare series. I know some of you just went, "Ugh. Spiritual warfare. That's scary." But listen — everything we do matters in this fight. What we just did in worship was spiritual warfare. So stop being scared of the phrase.
Here's what you need to keep in mind. Three things:
Number one: The devil is real. One of his greatest tricks is convincing people that he doesn't exist — or that he's fun, or that he can love. He can't. And if Jesus talks about him multiple times in scripture, we need to believe everything Jesus says.
Number two: The devil wants to destroy you. John 10:10 says, "The thief's purpose is to steal, kill and destroy." The enemy consistently schemes, plans, and plots for ways to pull you away from Jesus and the truth. He is a twister of truth.
Number three: The devil is limited. He still has to yield to the power and the authority of the name that is above every name. He still has to back off when we call the name of Jesus. He still has to relinquish strongholds. As 2 Timothy 1:7 reminds us: "God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love."
As Pastor Chris Hodges says: "Spiritual warfare is not an option. It's an essential part of growing in your faith and living victoriously."
Get Off the Couch and Get on Your Knees
Here's a hard truth: The devil is not fearful of the Christian sitting at home scrolling social media on their couch.
We spend two hours going, "Oh, that's good. That almost got me to get up. Mm, that's so powerful..." — when we could have spent those two hours on our knees in prayer. I'm not saying social media is all bad — you can use it for the glory of God. But my goodness, get off your couch, get on your knees, and let's go for the more.
As Samuel Chadwick said: "Satan laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray."
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says: "Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus."
Prayer isn't a religious ritual. It's a relationship. It tethers us to a supernatural God. And our prayer life will always draw us closer to Him.
Cheap Grace Is Killing the Church
There's something else we have to talk about. We can no longer operate under a banner of cheap grace.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the man who gave his life for the gospel during World War II, said it this way: "Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate."
Cheap grace is a disease that's killing the Church because it's calling for forgiveness without transformation. And we have got to be a people of transformation.
Luke 9:23 says: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it."
Deny self. Take up your cross. Follow Him. That equals eternal peace and joy in life. But cheap grace will keep you stuck with no shift.
The Harvest Field Is Ready Now
In John 4:35, Jesus says: "Wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest."
The people need Jesus — now. The spiritual shift isn't happening sometime in the near future. The shift happens now. Your choice.
I want to hear Him more? Then I've got to shift. I want to see more of His miracles? Then I've got to make a shift. I have to do something. The question is — are you willing to reposition yourself for the more? Not your more. For His more.
Think about it this way. While I was on sabbatical, my wife and I were driving down the beach when we came across a young guy who had parked his brand new Ford F-150 in soft sand. The tide was rising, and his truck was sinking deeper with every spin of the tires. He stopped me and asked for help.
I grabbed my rope, hooked it up, and realized the only way to get him out was to shift his truck — move it at an angle until there was solid ground to pull from. Little by little, we shifted it until he could back up and pull forward.
There are times when we cry out, "God, where are you? Why aren't you answering?" But sometimes you and I have to make the shift — because we've been stuck doing the same thing for too long.
Putting It Into Practice
Here's where the rubber meets the road. The shift happens with us. Jesus has done His part. Now we either allow small shifts to come and change us, or we go to God and allow Him to make the shifts that will bring us closer to Him.
Shift your prayer life. Been praying five minutes every morning? Try ten. Try fifteen. Challenge yourself to thirty. Because I promise you — you can scroll your phone for thirty minutes.
Pray for the lost. When was the last time you spent serious time praying for someone you know who doesn't know Jesus? Incorporating prayers for the lost into your regular prayer life keeps them in your hearts and minds. As A.W. Pink said: "The measure of our love for others can largely be determined by the frequency and earnestness of our prayers for them."
Stop holding on to the wrong things. If you're going to make a shift, stop holding on to what you've been holding on to. Grab hold of Him and let Him shift you. Whether it's unforgiveness toward a person, a church, or a painful situation — God tells us to forgive and let it go.
Declare who you are in Him. When people come at you, don't just say, "Yeah, I'm a Christian, are you okay?" Say, "I am a follower of Jesus, 100%. This is who I am." Psalm 100:3 says: "Acknowledge that the Lord is God. He made us, and we are His — His people, the sheep of His pasture."
Stop being passive. Start being aggressive for the King. It's time to stop being scared of the enemy and start bringing fear to the enemy. It's time to see strongholds broken in our homes, our marriages, our children's identities, our neighborhoods, and our schools — and start working in the life, the promise, and the authority of Jesus Christ.
The greatest revivals in history began because of people's fervent prayer life. And I believe it's time for another one.
So here's my question for you: Are you ready for the more?
Because the more is here. The harvest field is ripe. And the time is now.