Brian Houston - There is More - When the World Says You Can’t, God Says You Can

—ROMA DOWNEY, actor, producer, and president of LightWorkers Media

‘Brian Houston is an exceptional leader—God loving, Jesus focused, Holy Spirit anointed, authentic, credible, and pioneering. There Is More is a treasure trove of inspiring visionary teaching and leadership insights, combined with fascinating anecdotes and his own powerful testimony. I hope you will enjoy this book as much as I did.’

—NICKY GUMBEL, vicar of HTB Church, London

‘Brian’s approach in explaining how to seek God, walk by faith, dream big, and trust Him completely is very effective. I believe many will experience more of God’s destiny in their lives through the inspiration he shares.’

—JOYCE MEYER, Bible teacher and best-selling author

‘I respect and admire Pastor Brian so much that when my own dad and pastor was valiantly fighting cancer, it felt only natural to me that Pastor Brian was the kind of father, husband, and pastor I could look to for leadership in these next seasons of my life. I literally began to call him ‘my pastor,’ and the rest, as they say, is history. When I read There Is More, I noticed that the character of God has spurred Pastor Brian on to desire more of Him, to learn more about Him, to follow His hand with great faith, and to live with an expectation of His goodness in all circumstances. This hunger for more is sincere and deep and very real; not for things but for a vibrant relationship with his God. Not because he is a pastor, or a husband, or a father, but because he is first a follower of Jesus. It’s clear from these pages that Pastor Brian actively cultivates this beautiful appetite for more of God. And now he whets all of our appetites as well.’

—JUDAH SMITH, lead pastor of Churchome.organd best-selling author of Jesus Is _____.

‘God has a plan and a purpose for your life that is bigger than you. But God needs you to believe it, know what’s inside of you to achieve it, and build the character that sustains it. Brian Houston’s new book, There Is More, will show you the way! Don’t just make it a part of your library; make it a part of your life!’

—A. R. BERNARD, ambassador for Christ in Culture

‘My friend Pastor Brian is a strong man of God and a phenomenal leader to the body of Christ. His new book, There Is More, will challenge you to pursue the calling God has given you with renewed passion and fervor. This book is an invitation for God to take you beyond what you dreamed to be possible!’

—JOHN BEVERE, author and minister, Messenger International

To the wonderful people who have loved me through the highs and lows of my best and worst seasons, none more so than Bobbie and our beautiful extended family, thank you for doing the journey.

To the long-serving board and elders of Hillsong Church, you have led the way and faithfully stood alongside us, always seeking the will of God. I am eternally grateful to each and every one of you.

And to the team who have worked closest to Bobbie and me through all these years, who have always wanted only God’s best for us and spurred us on toward the “more” of God’s ever-unfolding purposes, you have my deepest respect and appreciation.

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Praise for There Is More

Dedication

Introduction: Exceeding, Abundant, and Above

1. Dreams and Destiny

2. Myth or Mystery?

3. Obedience and Abundance

4. Gifted and Graced

5. Calling and Confession

6. Appointment and Disappointment

7. Ready and Receptive

8. Credibility and Consistency

9. The Walk and the War

10. Troubling the Troubler

11. Uncommon Grace and Unusual Miracles

12. New Roads and New Rivers

13. Ceilings and Floors

14. Spiritually Dead and Spiritually Alive

Epilogue: There Is More

Footnotes

Acknowledgments

About the Author

About the Publisher

Please, sir, I want some more.” 1These famous words of a starving Oliver Twist have undoubtedly echoed in the hearts and minds of millions of people who also long to have just a little bit more. Perhaps you long for more time, more resources, more space. Maybe you simply need to find a bit more energy and motivation to continue along the path you currently find yourself on, or maybe you have a dream in your heart that continues to evade you. Maybe you’re walking in your calling but still find yourself asking, What is this all about? Should I be doing more with my life?

The narrative of this book is not about selfishness and greed. It’s not about acquiring more, about avarice and indulgence. It’s not even an essay on satisfaction and self-fulfillment. It’s about calling—God’s amazing plans for your life and the sufficiency of His grace in superseding your wildest dreams, all for a purpose bigger than you are.

Have you ever stopped to wonder what God’s response would be to your heart’s cry for more? It is my firm belief that, unlike Mr. Bumble (the tyrannical caretaker of the orphanage in Charles Dickens’s classic novel), the Savior of the universe would bend down and in the most caring of manners say, “More what? And how much more? My supply is unending. My mercy is limitless. My grace is more than you need.”

You see, the more that God wants for your life is beyond comprehension. It’s not limited to space and time, not able to be measured with earthly devices or human minds. Ephesians 3:20–21 tells us plainly, “God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us” (MSG). Other translations put it this way: He can “do above and beyond” (HCSB) or “exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.”

Have you ever stopped to think about that? God can do anything. And not just a little bit more than you have already asked for or dreamed of. Far more.

What are your wildest dreams? Your craziest ideas, deepest longings, and grandest plans—the things you’ve not dared tell anyone and barely allowed your soul to imagine? Because it is exactly that dream, that vision, those grand plans of yours that I’m telling you aren’t enough. What a small thinker you are! All of heaven is looking down upon you, shaking their heads, and saying, “Is that all ?! Is that all he wants? Is that all she can dream of?”

Allow me to stretch your thinking here, dear reader, because we serve the ultimate Big Thinker. No plans of yours even compare to His. Your heart’s cry for more has been answered with a chuckle and a grin from a Father’s heart that takes what you see and expands it into something you can’t see.

God can take every limitation that has been put on your life—by yourself or by others—and expand your heart and purpose in a way that is way bigger, way higher, way more effective than anything you could imagine.

I’ve seen it in my own life. I can testify to His faithfulness when it comes to more—more than I wanted, more than I dreamed, more than I ever thought I would need. I’m not speaking of simple material matters, of monetary things or things that can be counted or valued by earthly standards. I’ve watched as God has exceeded the dreams in my heart, the visions I’ve had for my own life and the lives of my family and those closest to me. I’ve experienced the “much more” favor of God when it comes to my marriage, leadership, children, and friendships.