Encouragement

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HOLDING ON TO THE BLESSING
(John 11:45-48 & John 12:9-11)

“Therefore, many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in Him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.

“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in Him and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” (John 11:45-48)

“Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of Him but also to see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in Him.” (John 12:9-11)
This message is for many of you who may have experienced or expected a miracle but are wondering where it went! It is also for some who have been experiencing the discouragement that comes from the powers of darkness.

Two weeks ago, we looked at how Jesus, by the power of God the Holy Spirit, raised Lazarus from the dead, after four days in the grave. It was a mighty miracle witnessed by many of the people in the community. People who saw the awesome miracle of Lazarus coming out of his tomb alive, experienced the revelation of the divinity of Jesus, and put their faith in Him. But this was bad news for the Pharisees and the other leaders of the people, who felt very threatened. They feared that they would lose their place of power and control over the lives of the people.

Whenever there is divine intervention through the miracles of God, the kingdom of darkness suffers defeat. Signs and wonders are spiritual warfare! Miraculous healings are the evidence that God is alive and powerful, and that the name of Jesus is above every name of every sickness and every problem known to man. They are the evidence of the love and compassion of an omnipotent God for whom nothing is impossible! Miracles are the manifestations of the powerful living Spirit of God, who can overturn any mountain that stands in the way!
Miraculous signs are for unbelievers to see and believe (Matthew 12:39, Romans 15:19) - that Jesus is Lord, and that God is real and manifested by the power of His Spirit. In Mark 16:17 & 18, Jesus said: “These signs will accompany (or follow) those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” Signs and wonders are meant to be a part of the daily life of the believer, as we walk trusting in His name and His saving, healing power.

God’s healing power is available to anyone who seeks and believes for a miracle. However, this may not always be the end of the story. Sometimes we may have to continue to believe and stand strong to keep our miracle! The kingdom of darkness will always try to destroy or take away the good thing God has given you. It also seeks to destroy the channel of your blessing. This is why the Jews wanted to kill not only Lazarus, but Jesus as well, because these miracles were all signs of His divinity, and people were placing their faith in Him. To the religious, Lazarus was too much of a ‘sign’ of God’s power and reality. Miracles made these religious people uncomfortable – they were too ‘out of the box’, and too ‘real’ and uncontrollable! Too many people were turning away from the ‘old’ and turning to the ‘new’ when they saw from the life of Lazarus that God is real and alive! The Pharisees wanted this stopped, and they thought a good way would be to kill the one who had been raised to life!
The devil seeks to control the lives of people through addictions, infirmities, family division, compulsive thoughts, fears etc. His one desire is to establish his control over the lives of people on the earth, and keep them from walking in the blessing and freedom which Jesus died to give them. Each time someone is set free by the power of God, Satan loses his hold over another life. His next assignment is to try to take away the healing or deliverance that was given. However, we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus who loves us (Romans 8:37). The enemy has no victory over the people of God unless they give it to him! 1 Peter 5:8 says “Be self controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” He works through deception. If he can make the people of God believe that he is a roaring lion, when he is in reality pretending, then he has won the battle!

Friend, I want to encourage you today to hold on to what God has given you already. There may have been times you received prayer for healing, for the deliverance of a loved one, or for peace of mind, and you really felt healed and whole, or filled with the awesome peace of God. But you woke up the next day experiencing the old symptoms, or wondering what the peace of the day before felt like! This is just a trick of the enemy. He comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10), and take away what God has given you. God does not change His mind and take back what He blessed you with! It is yours to keep and already released for you in the heavenlies. But if the enemy can lie to you that you never received your miracle, steal your faith and hope, and destroy your peace of mind, he has already won half the battle. The other half you may just give away without a fight because of the discouragement that you allow!

Therefore, to keep your miracle or see it come to fulfillment, let us take Peter’s tip from 1 Peter 5:8 & 9: “Be self controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.””

1) Be self-controlled – Stand strong in your faith. Do not allow fear, or anxious emotions to take over and make you weak inside.

2) Be alert. Know that there will be a backlash and a fight over what you have received or are to receive. Knowledge is power, so expect it and strengthen yourself against it by feeding on the Word of God.

3) Resist the thoughts of doubt that are fed into your mind – 1 Peter 5:9. This simply means that you refuse to be moved or to bow down to what the enemy wants you to do in terms of panicking or losing faith. James 4:7 says “Submit yourselves then to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

4) Submit to God continuously (James 4:7), by affirming His Lordship over your life, and proclaiming the Truth – the Word of God – over your situation.

5) Remember that you do not battle alone (1 Peter 5:9 – “Your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings”). As you seek the help of God, the blessed Holy Spirit comes alongside you to empower you, and give you the victory which is your due.

6) The battle is only for a season. 1 Peter 5:10 says “And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”. This is good news!

Dear friend, be assured today that you are so very precious to the Father, and that He loves you and cares about the pain you are going through. According to Ephesians 1:3, He has already blessed you in the spiritual realm with everything you could ever want. (Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”) The miracle you received or are to receive, is yours, and no one can take it away from you. So rise up today, and reach out to God. Take with both hands what is yours from the Father, and hold on tight – nothing can separate you from His love!

May you know from the depths of your being that God wants to bless you and has beautiful plans for you. May you experience the revelation of His absolute love, and His passion for you, His Bride. May you, like Lazarus, be a witness and a powerful testimony to the world – that God saves, heals, delivers and resurrects! I will be praying for you. You are a victor in Jesus!

Minoli Haththotuwa
www.wingslikeeagles.info

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