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A Lifestyle Of Signs, Wonders, Miracles And The Power Of God
Living the
Supernatural Lifestyle
Craig
Tanner
When was the last time you
raised someone from the dead?
How about the last time you
laid hands on someone with terminal cancer and had their cancer completely
wiped away?
When was the last time you
cast demons out of someone?
How about prophesying and speaking
in tongues?
Have you recently calmed a
storm?
Now I’m not trying to be
judgmental or flippant here. But as you will see, these are all things that
should mark the life of a “normal,” every day, run of the mill Christian.
It is sad that the vast majority
of Christians would have a difficult time answering any of these questions in
the affirmative.
In fact most churches would
never even think of teaching their congregations about doing any of these
things.
So what makes me think that a
Christian should perform any of these miraculous acts? Let’s take a
look at Mark 16.
“14 Later
He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their
unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen
Him after He had risen.
“15
And
He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every
creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved;
but he who does not believe will be condemned.‘
“’17 And
these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out
demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they
will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means
hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.’
“19 So then,
after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down
at the right hand of God.
“20 And
they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and
confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.” (Mark
16:14-20)
The working of miracles,
signs and wonders, speaking in tongues, and healing are normal works of a
Christian.
These verses say to us that
anyone claiming to be a Christian and any church claiming to preach the Gospel,
should exhibit these signs:
Preaching
of the gospel
Baptizing
people into salvation
Casting
out demons
Speaking
in tongues
Taking up serpents (satan is the serpent, and taking
up indicates defeating satan in your life and in your domain)
Not being harmed by deadly venom or poisons
Laying hands on the sick and having them recover
If you follow the lives of
Jesus and the Apostles as they carried out their ministries, there are many
more miracles and works that serve as examples for what we should see in our
lives and in the church.
Jesus
Christ did mighty works such as:
Raising
the dead
Healing the sick, diseased, maimed, and oppressed with
spoken words, with a touch, or by having his garments touched
Commanding devils come out of people, and to do things
such as go into pigs, to speak or to shut-up
Turning
water into wine
Calming
storms
Cursing
trees and having them die
Walking
on water
Knowing what people were thinking
Knowing exactly what to say in any situation
Prophesying
Multiplying fish and bread to feed thousands
Disappearing when crowds threatened Him
So you might be saying something like, “Sure, that was Jesus Christ, the Son of
God. Of course He could do miracles.”
But are the rest of us run of
the mill Christians supposed to do these same things? This list is
impressive.
However, Jesus told us in
very clear and specific words that we are to do these same works.
But get this; we are to do
them even greater!
“11 Believe
Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the
sake of the works themselves.
“12 ‘Most
assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do
also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.’” (John 14:11-12)
Even greater? Yep!
That’s what Jesus told us to
do.
Jesus tells us in verse 11
that the great works He has done can stand on their own merit, proving that He
is in the Father and the Father is in Him.
And of all the great works
that He has done, the person who believes in Him will do likewise, but even
greater.
Wow! How can any of us, that
in no way comes close to measuring up to Jesus Christ, do those works?
Jesus tells us in verse 12
that we will do them because He has gone to be with the Father.
Okay, what does that mean to
me?
Jesus said in several places
that when He left earth, He would send the Holy Spirit to be within each one of
us!
It is the Holy Spirit living
inside of us Who will perform these works. All we have to do is have faith and
carry out the actions.
“He who says
he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” (1 John 2:6)
How did Jesus walk? (“In
sandals!” is not the answer I’m looking for.)
Did He go around living a
life of sickness, disease, poverty, lack, oppression, and defeat?
NO WAY!
Jesus Christ lived a life of
great victory, great peace, great joy, great prosperity, great health, and
absolute wholeness. He was living and being the very image of God.
The normal Christian life is
a life in the supernatural.
God is not looking for a
vessel of gold or silver to use, but is simply looking for willing vessels (I Samuel 6:7),
young or old.
He looks at our hearts and
sees if we have even a mustard seed sized amount of faith.
If so, He knows that we can
become willing vessels for the His supernatural power.
Going back to Mark 16 above, Jesus says that “these signs will follow those who
believe.”
Notice the word “will”
in this verse. It doesn’t say “maybe,” or “could,” or “might” - it says “will.”
So who will have these signs?
Those who believe.
How can you recognize those
who believe?
They will be seen casting out
demons, speaking with new tongues, laying hands on the sick and seeing them
recover, fighting the devil at every turn, and not being effected by deadly
poisons.
Now for the hard pill to
swallow part of this post.
You see, the reverse of this
statement also speaks truth.
If you come across an
individual, a group, or a church claiming to believe, and these signs are not
present, then they are lying!
They don’t believe because
Jesus says that these signs will (must) accompany those who believe.
I’m not trying to chastise
any person, group, or church here.
But I am trying to
get people connected with the Power of God in their lives.
I spent too many years in
“dead” churches where none of the Power of God existed.
People in those churches were
sick, dying, living in turmoil and trouble, and just as impoverished as the
rest of the non-believing world.
Oh they would pray over people who were sick and
dying, but they would always end their prayers with “if it be thy will.”
Oh my, they better find out
just exactly what is the will of God and then go and do those things (such as
laying hands on the sick so that they will recover).
Don’t you want to belong to a
church that treats all sickness and disease as something totally illegal in the
body of a believer?
Don’t you want the assurance
that if you ever got sick, they would lay hands on you in a second?
Wouldn’t you love it to have Scriptures spoken over
you such as “By His stripes you were
healed?”
And wouldn’t you love to be
taught regularly that you are living in a body that is the temple of the Holy
Spirit and that healing is your birthright in Jesus Christ?
That would begin to give you
the assurance of your abundant life right here on earth.
I bet that if a church raised
a few people from the dead, they would never have a problem with maintaining
and increasing membership.
People are hungry for the
Power of God. People are tired of living defeated lives.
Too many people have been
brainwashed into believing that God wants us to suffer things in order that we
be taught various lessons.
What a bunch of twisted,
powerless, dead religious stuff!
Instead, God wants you full
of joy, peace, health, wholeness, prosperity and abundance.
If your life isn’t those
things right now, don’t fret, just get involved with other people who believe
in them as God intended and are willing to do what Jesus did, even greater.
The supernatural lifestyle IS
the normal Christian lifestyle.
The normal Christian life should
be filled with miracles, signs and wonders, and the Power of God.
This is the very heart of
Jesus Christ.
In heaven there is no
sickness or disease, no poverty or lack, no crying or pain.
We are commanded in Scripture
to call Heaven to earth.
In the Lord’s Prayer, we are
taught that His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven (Matthew 6:9-10).
His will in heaven is
complete wholeness. So then it is also His will here on earth for those
who believe.
So let me ask you this? Will
you do greater works in your life and for those who are sent across your
path?
Will you let God’s
supernatural lifestyle come into your life and flow like rivers of living water
from your belly?
I’m ready Lord! Let’s start a
new revolution of Jesus Christ right now, in our very own lives!
Let’s begin to see and
believe the miracles, signs and wonders, and greater works in our lives and
trust God to bring it about.
He says that it WILL happen
in our lives. So let’s get the supernatural lifestyle party started right
now!
I’m
Craig Tanner from Virginia in the
U.S. This blog is about giving hope to every person who finds themselves in
seemingly impossible situations. To unleash the flowing river of revelation of
Jesus Christ into this world full of hurting, trapped, and bound up people.
There is absolute freedom and deliverance in the revelation of the truth of
Jesus Christ, manifest in His full authority and power. This cries out to be
released to everyone who seeks to be free of the trials, tribulations, troubles
and turmoil of this world. My goal is to introduce the full anointing of Jesus
Christ to everyone who needs to see their lives turned from defeat and failure
to joyous victorious living; from sickness and disease to total health and
wholeness; from poverty and lack to abundance; from bondage to freedom.
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