Can They Believe You
This is the crux of the matter. Where the "rubber meets the road". Jesus could not do any miracles in his home town, Nazareth, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith. Jesus was God in the flesh, with the words of God. With the unlimited power of God. With the knowledge of God, and the nature of God. Yet because the people didn't believe what he said, he could not work miracles. God can't work for us unless we trust what he's said to be the truth.
Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. With these instructions; "preach the kingdom of heaven. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give."
This is the beginning of the work of the church; now that we are the church we are to carry on this work. As Luke said, "In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus BEGAN to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen." Acts 1:1.
Jesus BEGAN this work through his chosen, and to this day works through his chosen, the church. We also have been given this authority, Jesus said, "all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
All that's required is that they believe our testimony, our word. The same as it was for Jesus. We have received the authority to do the works, but the people have to believe. To illustrate; a man of God received a gift of healing from Jesus in a vision. Jesus placed his finger in the palm of his hand and a tangible anointing was imparted. Jesus instructed him that the anointing would heal every sickness, and drive out all demons. Jesus then told him to tell the people he ministred to about this anointing, and what Jesus said about it so they could believe. As the man preached and told the people of this anointing, it would start to burn in his hand. The obedience brought faith to the people, and an active tangible anointing to heal and deliver.
We don't need to have a special anointing, we have the word and the Spirit, and we can ministrer by faith. But we do need the people to believe that we are the vessels of the Lord and have this authority. Jesus first sermon was, "the Spirit of the Lord is upon me..". The proclaiming of the anointing for works of the kingdom is the starting point to a ministry in the power of the Spirit. If we don't tell the people what the Lord in us wants to do on their behalf, we are shorting them of His blessings. It was first in Jesus mind, and preaching, and it should be first with us so we can accomplish the same works, and fulfill the will of God.
This then is our testimony; "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclam the year of the Lord's favor."
Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. With these instructions; "preach the kingdom of heaven. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give."
This is the beginning of the work of the church; now that we are the church we are to carry on this work. As Luke said, "In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus BEGAN to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen." Acts 1:1.
Jesus BEGAN this work through his chosen, and to this day works through his chosen, the church. We also have been given this authority, Jesus said, "all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
All that's required is that they believe our testimony, our word. The same as it was for Jesus. We have received the authority to do the works, but the people have to believe. To illustrate; a man of God received a gift of healing from Jesus in a vision. Jesus placed his finger in the palm of his hand and a tangible anointing was imparted. Jesus instructed him that the anointing would heal every sickness, and drive out all demons. Jesus then told him to tell the people he ministred to about this anointing, and what Jesus said about it so they could believe. As the man preached and told the people of this anointing, it would start to burn in his hand. The obedience brought faith to the people, and an active tangible anointing to heal and deliver.
We don't need to have a special anointing, we have the word and the Spirit, and we can ministrer by faith. But we do need the people to believe that we are the vessels of the Lord and have this authority. Jesus first sermon was, "the Spirit of the Lord is upon me..". The proclaiming of the anointing for works of the kingdom is the starting point to a ministry in the power of the Spirit. If we don't tell the people what the Lord in us wants to do on their behalf, we are shorting them of His blessings. It was first in Jesus mind, and preaching, and it should be first with us so we can accomplish the same works, and fulfill the will of God.
This then is our testimony; "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclam the year of the Lord's favor."
posted by pete porter | 10:45 AM
1 Comments:
Phil,
Thank you for the encouragement. Some times I have so much to say that I have to break it into little pieces, to make it digestable. I hope there's still enough meat for the mature.
Be Blessed,
Pete
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