THE PURSUIT OF MIRACLES

The crowd in Acts, the 3rd chapter are a lot like us, today. They loved the sensational--they did the same thing to the apostles that they did to Jesus. They followed them for the miracles. They went after Jesus often for the fishes and the loaves--because He fed them, or to see something amazing.

Now, Jesus is no longer walking the earth, in the flesh. His disciples are now walking in His footsteps, empowered to do "greater works"--in quantity, that is. Jesus' ministry only lasted three years. Miracles just happened--as they should when the Holy Ghost is present, but they are a means to an end, other than to (simply) heal and deliver the individual. That's good, but not the main purpose. Jesus told us that miracles are to raise the level of faith of those who behold them--so that they "might believe on Him".

Miracles should lead mankind to believe on Jesus; belief in Jesus will convict and draw man to salvation. Miracles are the attraction that gets the attention of unbelievers--we need miracles. We don't need them to get what we want, but to see the salvation of those around us.

We lack miracles though. They abounded after Pentecost--why? Because, those who had been empowered by the Holy Ghost, lived a life of fellowship, of love, and enthusiasm for God and worship. Between worship of Him and love for one another--they were magnets that couldn't be resisted! The Holy Ghost in them wrought miracles and spoke the Word of God with power and authority, in the face of persecution, without fear of retribution. Even though people knew that they would suffer if they became Christians the Church grew by thousands daily!

What if we allowed--and invited the Holy Ghost to become that explosive in our hearts--as at Pentecost, today??? What if we laid aside "every weight and the sin that so easily besets us", and truly sought God in repentance [2 Chronicles 7:14]???

He would heal our land.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why Does My Hate Have to Match Your Hate?

    Globally, we are so disconnected from anyone who doesn't think, look, or have the same political and religious beliefs that we do.    We have no respect for differences, today. In fact, we have no desire to hear from anyone that has a differing opinion. We choose our news based on our political leaning, rather than looking for news that presents facts and gives us the opportunity to decide what to believe, based on the facts. We're too lazy to think for ourselves; or as Christians, we have become too lazy to check facts and pray. We rely on pundits rather than spiritual discernment and God's Word to direct us, in our decisions. If we're Christians, our choices--all of them, political, churches, what we watch and how we spend our time (and with whom we spend it) should be made based on prayer and discernment.     For Christians, we owe it to ourselves and the world, to seek God before we decide things that have the potential to affect other people. The way to do that
Read more

Who's a Failure???

The next time you have the urge to write someone off, because , they have fallen short; Or, perhaps yourself (or someone else wants to dismiss you as worthless), I suggest you read Matthew 1:1-17. It is a listing of the lineage of Jesus Christ. It is chock-full of folks that many of us would quickly label "Failure!" Ruth, who was King David's grandmother was a Moabitess--she was raised by, and among pagans--idol worshipper's--and enemies of Israel; but God chose Ruth and changed her identity. The KING, David, was a murderer and adulterer-- but God chose him, and gave him the label: "man after God's own heart". Understand, though, God didn't dismiss his sin--or ours, either. However, it was the heart of David that won God. It was his heart that accepted the judgement of God--that didn't pass the blame or deny what he had done. God didn't care that David was the king! That's the kind of stuff that WE look at! Let's Look at th
Read more

Oh, that Fire, that Tongue, that Tongue...

In this day, we are pretty consumed with our bodies; we are very health and beauty-concious. We want very much to prolong our lives from the physical perspective and to look our best while we're at it. It isn't a bad thing at all, to have these pursuits, since the Bible declares that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit--and we should give them great care. There must be a prioritizing of things, however; our physical bodies are not first on God's list, but at the top of His list: that our "soul should prosper". The Scripture in Psalm 34, provides the formula for living a long and peaceful life. What must we do? First: KEEP THY TONGUE FROM EVIL ! That is striking! It is striking because, on the surface, it doesn't seem like such a big thing--in terms of prolonging life! Also, because often it seems as if this is the very thing we neglect to give care to, the most! We allow our tongues to say whatever they will without thought, or to lie--with great tho
Read more