"The baptism of the spirit will do for you, what a phone booth did for Clark Kent, it will change you into a different being." ~Rod Parsley
We talk about the Holy Spirit as being a whole lot of wonderful things and doing a whole lot of wonderful things in us and through us, but very few, very very few people talk about the Holy Spirit and how HE uses them to do mighty signs and wonders along with special miracles.
Do you ever think of being the person in the "cloak of the anointing?" rather than the spectator who takes in all the excitement? Never settle for substandard Christianity.
Christians are too anointed to talk and brag. But that doesn't scare no one. The world will be scared of you if you manifest Power - The power of the Holy Ghost. The singular reason we are struggling to get people to believe the Message and become followers of Jesus Christ is because we make the cross of Christ of no effect with too much wisdom-talk.
Anyone can be a motivational speaker. But not many people can be Miracle Workers! Imagine a world of Christians who are so full of power and grace that when the walk down the street their shadows heal the sick and the stare in their eyes alone drives out devils from the possessed! We are too anointed to "speak". We speak to ourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, we speak in tongues, we speak words of wisdom, we speak words of knowledge, we speak when we teach and preach, and we just keep talking everywhere you find us! Ya, it's a real beautiful thing but what happened to the dynamic ability that was given to use to cause changes, NOT just in the place of prayer but through mighty signs and wonders.
Acts 4:33 points out that "with GREAT POWER gave the apostles witness of the resurrection and GREAT GRACE was upon them all." Are you really saying, "but those where apostles"? Well how about Stephen, a guy from the 'congregation' "full of faith and power...and he did mighty signs and wonders among the people" in Acts 6? Paul said, "For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with WORD OF WISDOM..." because it didn't matter where the wisdom is from or how good it sounded or how much it flowed from you. And he told us why! He said "...least the cross of Christ should be made of no effect." Every time we battles words to try to get someone to be born again and follow us to church, we make the cross of Christ of no effect. What does that mean? We make it look like GOD never raised Christ up from the dead.
The evidence of Christ resurrection is not just salvation, but also MIGHTY SIGNS AND WONDERS, SPECIAL MIRACLES, SHADOWS HEALINGS and a whole lot more. Have you not heard people who say, “I received a word of prophecy from a certain preacher but there has been no solution to my problems”? I have! Imagine if they had experience the power of GOD in their situation, don’t you think they will never hold the word of GOD to doubtful disputation? This same Paul understood this so much until he had to make it his aim. He said "That I may know Him and the POWER that raise Him from the dead..." You cannot make people obedient to the faith in words and deed without mighty signs and wonders!
Apostle Paul says in Rom. 15:18, “I dare not speak of the things for which Christ wrought through me in MIGHTY SIGNS AND WONDERS in making the Gentiles OBEDIENT to the faith in WORDS AND DEEDS.” You want to get them to become kingdom partners financially? You want them to have a passion for evangelism? You want the world to believe them in whom you train and send? The answer is in the “POWER OF GOD.” You cannot get that man to burn like you burn for Christ without the POWER OF THE HOLY GHOST. I told myself last year, I am done being a spectator of miracles and signs and wonders. I am done trying to talk words to persuade people to come to Christ. The reason is because, one miracle settles every argument!
Imagine our little prayers meetings, full of POWER and miracles workings, and our small campus fellowships burning with supernatural manifestations! Do you really think you will have to tell someone to come to church next Sunday? Jesus our master said it Himself "This generation looks for a sign." He said that after the MIRACLE of feeding the 5,000 with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes with 12 baskets of remnants left!
The world say there is no power in the Church today. Why? Because we have refuse to ACT like there is! ACTS of the Apostle in the bible was specifically written to enumerate the mighty signs and wonders done in the early church. He said “These things I do, you will do, and even greater things than this.”
Don't settle for substandard Christianity. What do we say when we know "that the creation waits with eager expectations to see the manifestations of the sons of GOD" and they just keep waiting until Christ tarries? They wait for us to take up the mantle for which we have been dealt. Isaiah prophesied this when he said “the spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to make the poor rich, to bind up the broken hearted, to comfort them that mourn in Zion. To give them beauty for ashes. A garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. To open the eyes of the blind and bring out those who are locked up in prison.”
What have we done with ALL that POWER of the Holy Ghost? We say we have received the gift of the Holy Ghost; and that alone should be enough to turn this whole nation into something else for GOD; with outburst of miracles and mighty signs and special miracles. “You shall receive POWER after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you” is now a byword to a lot of Christians. We cannot be failures to our Fathers of Faith gone before us. We are the last lap of the race, the baton has been handed us. I feel sick in my stomach when I hear some religious folks say “Miracles, signs and wonders, healings died with the last disciples of Jesus’ days.” How ignorant they are. They are the ones of which Paul says “they have a form of godliness but deny the POWER thereof.” He added, “From such turn away.”
Miracles and mighty signs and wonders have to become an everyday reality for every Child of God. Healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing the leper, touching the untouched, making thousands come to Christ in that number takes the power of GOD. We win people to the body of Christ and tomorrow they renounce the faith and walk away from GOD and we wonder, what happen. I will tell you what happened: their faith was never rested on the POWER OF GOD but in the wisdom of words. I remember a day when I was studying the word of GOD and the Holy Spirit told me, “Don’t ever preach to anyone without empowering them.” That stuck with me! If they will remain in the faith, bring them to where you have been.
The bible tells us that every time people leave the meetings of Jesus, people will know “they have been with JESUS.” That’s so remarkable! It will show that they have been with JESUS! This was because there will always be a rub off of the anointing on them that keeps them aglow and fired up! Can that be said of many of our meeting today? That the first timers will go back and people will look at them and say “they have been with Jesus.”?
This is so important because if it were not, the word of GOD wouldn’t have had to give us an account of how Paul met with certain disciples in Ephesus and asked them “Have you received the gift of the Holy ghost since ye believed?” How did Paul know this? I believe Paul being a man full of the Holy Ghost and POWER he sensed that there was something wrong with the message they were preaching. It was empty, without POWER. Their reply is the same most Christians give today, “we have not even as heard about such thing as the Holy Ghost.” What??? Paul must have screamed! I imagined that they may have been sweating and trying to get people to listen to them. They must have been struggling from city to city trying to get the attention of the crowd. But oh! How different that became after the received the Holy Ghost. The bible says “they spoke in tongues and prophesied.” The engine room had now been turned on! Glory!!! Never confuse BOLDNESS with POWER!
This was exactly the same thing that happened to a young man named Apollos from Alexandria. The bible said, “He was learned and had a good knowledge of the scriptures and spoke with fervor.” Even with all this, the word of GOD tell us “…but he knew only the baptism of John.” That means, he was not complete. He was lacking, not the BOLDNESS and FERVOR but the POWER. Read the whole account in Acts 18:24-26. After “the way of GOD was explained to him more accurately”, in verse 27, his energy changed from “being with fervor” to being “vigorous.” The switch had been flipped on! Glory!!! This same man is spoken of by Paul as having to “water” the plantings of GOD when Paul spoke to the church about choosing sides.
Brother, you too can carry power! You need to carry it and manifest it! You need to hunger to see it manifest! Paul clearly said this in 1 Corinthians 2:1, 4-5 “1And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God…4My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.”
Make up your mind today to be described as “a man…a woman, FULL OF FAITH AND POWER…” and not stopping there but going on to add “and he…and she did mighty SIGNS and WONDERS among the people.”
Don’t become “obese” in the ability of the Spirit because you have fed on too much and have refused to “exercise” too much also. It doesn’t matter what your position of leadership in the church of Jesus Christ is. It doesn’t matter if you just gave your life to Christ. It doesn’t matter if you look to small and feeble. What matters is that “You are FULL OF POWER... Doing…”
