Christian Living

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Reading the life and times of Jesus through the first four books of the New Testament is a journey of life changing proportions. It is impossible to read these accounts of Jesus’ early life without desiring to be more like Jesus in our thoughts and behavior. For years, I have imagined what it would have been like to walk with Him through the dusty roads of Israel, to see lives changed through His outstretched hands, and to listen to His anointed words. How many times I have promoted a return to the days of the Bible. How many times I have advocated a return to the ministry of Jesus. How often I have desired to see the church exhibiting the characteristics of Jesus’ life. One day, while surfing through the Scriptures, I realized that to crave these desires was to limit the potential of the Kingdom of God. To revert to a historical understanding of the Gospels is to fail to understand what God wants to accomplish beyond the New Testament Church. We are so stuck on the historical foundation that we fail to build upon those experiences.

Jesus told Peter that he would be able to do the same miracles that He had done. From that moment on, the Church began to seek and display the miracles of Jesus. From generation to generation, signs and wonders were sought after. If Jesus did it, we should be able to do the same thing. There is validity to that claim, but to set up camp around this belief is to fail to see the bigger picture. Jesus expanded His words to take in more than just repeating His miracles. He told Peter that he would do greater works than Him because He would go to the Father. Jesus would send the Holy Spirit to empower the Believer and to oversee the earthly ministry of the Church. Not only would miracles be parallel to Jesus ministry, but greater miracles would be exhibited. What were these greater miracles?

Careful study of the Scripture reveals that the miracles that Jesus performed were around the outer man. Physical healings encompassed the majority of the supernatural manifestations. Today, we continue to see the seeking of this type of miracle within the church. The desire to see miracles has evolved around Believers, instead of the non-believers. Believers think signs and wonders show God’s love for His people. Some how, we have reversed the purpose of miracles. Miracles are not designed to stoke our spiritual furnaces, but to draw the non-believers to a place where they would be open to the Gospel. We need to get our eyes off self-promotion and seek to reach out to those outside the camp. We need to display the miraculous evidences of God’s power. I believe in miracles, but within the confines of God’s Word. Instead of laying hands on Believers only, let us be the instruments that God uses to reach the unsaved. When is the last time we prayed for a miracle in the life of an unbeliever? Instead of getting “high” in an emotionally charged service, let us hit the “highway” displaying the supernatural power of the living God.

The greater works that Jesus said would be done by Peter and other Believers dealt with the inner man, not the outer man. It is wonderful to witness the physical healing of the temporary body, but it does not compare to seeing the spiritual healing of the eternal soul.

If we truly understand the Scriptures, we will center on responding to the Holy Spirit’s leading. Instead of picking and choosing which Biblical verses we are comfortable with, let us grasp what Jesus was truly saying. Instead of reaching up and asking God to bless us, let us learn to reach out and bless others. Instead of seeking personal “goose bumps,” let us reach out with the hands of God displaying His power, and then share the Gospel Truth to receptive ears. When are we going to start doing those greater miracles that Jesus spoke of?

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