17th september, 2006
if you are to only read two passages from the bible today, it would be luke 10:17-19, and then john 14:12. obviously if you are reading this and don't follow Jesus, i'd rather show you some other verses, like john 3:16, but keep reading anyway, because you may find this interesting.
in luke 10, Jesus has chosen seventy-two of his many followers and sent them out along through the nearby towns around where he was staying to preach and spread peace. they do this and then come back to Jesus with joy, and in verse 17 they say "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name!"
read that again, and understand what it means. it means that these people are surprised that they could cast out demons. if they were surprised, it means they weren't just the super-christians who give talks at new wine, they were normal people and they were surprised that with so little faith, they could command demons. Jesus then says that He has given them the power.
i've heard things like this before. debbie wright healed someone of a long-term illness within a few days of being converted. she hadn't even spoken to a christian since she'd decided to follow Jesus, so she just made it up as she went along and the woman was healed.
so when was the last time you heard about somebody who got healed? when was the last time you saw someone get healed? when was the last time you healed someone?
i don't know about you, but i have this mind-set that says that God's miracles don't happen to normal people like me. but why not? it's not like God doesn't perform miracles any more. even since the end of the writing of the bible, God has shaken buildings, ripped fabrics, set things on fire, knocked people off their feet, healed people in science-baffling ways, shattered glass, made bibles invisible, stopped people from feeling pain and done a ridiculous number of staggering coincidences. God does miracles, even now.
but it's just me - these things don't happen with me.
well why not? it happened to the seventy-two and it happened to debbie wright.
john 14:12 is my second verse, and in it Jesus says this:
"i tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what i have been doing. he will do even greater things than these, because i am going to the Father."
again, read that again. anyone who has faith. anyone. you don't get off because you're british, or aren't a street evangelist. anyone who has faith will do greater things that Jesus did.
so - you can heal people - what next? we can also cast out demons. my friend knows someone who saw somebody cast out a demon from a glass, which promptly shattered on the spot. how impressive can the miracles God does with us become? i met someone who prayed and managed to drive many miles to the nearest petrol station despite not actually having a drop of petrol. how impressive can they get?
i think there is a line. i wouldn't expect anybody to walk through walls. Jesus did it, but He was in His ressurection body when He did, so He's got an awful lot of power in there.
however, anything He did before His death i'd guess you could do, proving of course God decides you should.
rev mark aldridge did a talk at new wine that i went to (and inspired me to write this) about stepping out of your comfort zone. he said at one point he flew all the way to northen siberia to do a talk in a church. as he stepped off the plane he was met by the head of the church he was to be talking at, and the guy asked him:
"how many people have you raised from the dead?"
after pausing for a while, trying to decide who to answer this, mark admitted he had raised nobody, but being a polite englishman, he asked how many people the siberian had rasied from the dead.
"only four", he said.
page 2
