Jesus said “What I tell you now in the darkness, shout abroad when daybreak comes. What I whisper in your ear, shout from the housetops for all to hear!” Matthew 10:27 So I shout from this housetop to you this morning.
Jesus asked,"Must I do miraculous sings and wonders before you people will believe in me?" John 4:48
I believe Jesus does do signs of miracles and wonders. He has done that many times for me to encourage my faith in him. I have laid hands on the sick and injured and they were healed. He has allowed me to see and sense things that are not possible in the human sense but are possible as we draw close to him. He has done a miracle inside of me with his love and Holy Spirit. But there comes a time when we must trust in his love and through that trust in his love comes mature faith and fellowship with the Father and the Son- Jesus Christ.
I sense Jesus' disappointment here. It's like he knows he can't just show up and say I am the Christ that is written about in your scrolls but he knows he has to show some proof of that.
He knew people would want some signs and wonders like today- where people of this world can't believe something unless they see it in person. Faith in God is hard to see when you have little faith in God. It's sometimes like the wind. You see the tree branches move and the leaves blowing and falling to the ground and moving the clouds in the sky and over the mountains and hills but we can't see the wind just the evidence of the wind. Signs and wonders are for the unbeliever.
Signs and wonders are not for the strong believer or mature believer but for the weak believer and those with little faith or no real faith at all. Does that mean we no longer believe in signs and wonders- of course not. God's signs and wonders and they are very encouraging and we should walk and use those gifts God has given to encourage the weaker believer and awaken the unbeliever.
The question we must ask it this:
But is that really true faith if we put our faith solely on signs and wonders?
Remember Jesus asked,"Must I do miraculous sings and wonders before you people will believe in me?"
Signs are wonders are different then God's presence. I believe God's presence should be evident in every believer's life.
"Outward" signs and wonders should NOT be an "emphasis" point of our faith. Signs and wonders can be a "sign" of our faith but not an "emphasis" point of our faith. Example: I may be able to pray over someone and they be healed in Jesus name but that is a "sign" of my faith in God - my emphasis should be in my "hope in God" and "his love" for me not in the signs and miracles. Same with tongues and prophecy. I may speak in tongues and have the interpretation of tongues and have the gift of prophecy but that is a sign of my faith- it should not be an emphasis point of my hope and Gods love for me.
God himself should be our emphasis point- for the mature believer has surrendered their life to the will of God regardless of what appearances look like on the outside. No matter what gifts I have or not have. No matter if I am saved from my suffering condition or not - my faith and conviction in God stays the same.
I sense Jesus' disappointment here. It's like he knows he can't just show up and say I am the Christ that is written about in your scrolls but he knows he has to show some proof of that.
He knew people would want some signs and wonders like today- where people of this world can't believe something unless they see it in person. Faith in God is hard to see when you have little faith in God. It's sometimes like the wind. You see the tree branches move and the leaves blowing and falling to the ground and moving the clouds in the sky and over the mountains and hills but we can't see the wind just the evidence of the wind. Signs and wonders are for the unbeliever.
Signs and wonders are not for the strong believer or mature believer but for the weak believer and those with little faith or no real faith at all. Does that mean we no longer believe in signs and wonders- of course not. God's signs and wonders and they are very encouraging and we should walk and use those gifts God has given to encourage the weaker believer and awaken the unbeliever.
The question we must ask it this:
But is that really true faith if we put our faith solely on signs and wonders?
Remember Jesus asked,"Must I do miraculous sings and wonders before you people will believe in me?"
Signs are wonders are different then God's presence. I believe God's presence should be evident in every believer's life.
"Outward" signs and wonders should NOT be an "emphasis" point of our faith. Signs and wonders can be a "sign" of our faith but not an "emphasis" point of our faith. Example: I may be able to pray over someone and they be healed in Jesus name but that is a "sign" of my faith in God - my emphasis should be in my "hope in God" and "his love" for me not in the signs and miracles. Same with tongues and prophecy. I may speak in tongues and have the interpretation of tongues and have the gift of prophecy but that is a sign of my faith- it should not be an emphasis point of my hope and Gods love for me.
God himself should be our emphasis point- for the mature believer has surrendered their life to the will of God regardless of what appearances look like on the outside. No matter what gifts I have or not have. No matter if I am saved from my suffering condition or not - my faith and conviction in God stays the same.
1 Corinthians says 13:7 "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance."
1 Peter 1:39 talks about our lasting hope- in God. A trust in God with roots of depth that when we go through trials our hope in God is refined and we have a glorious inexpressible joy because he shows us in that trail and fire that he is faithful and loves us so much. This kind of trial and fire builds our faith in God's salvation for ours souls because during that trial we are drawing even more closer to God and we stop putting any kind of hope or emphasis on the things of this world. We stop putting emphasis on signs and wonders. We let the world have itself and we let ourselves have God in the midst of this world. For we are not citizens of this world but our heavenly home.
Think of the assurance we have in God's love and hope. Remember understanding God's love and consistently putting our hope in God- think what a difference it would make in our lives and those around us especially in trial, challenges, conflict and loss.
Think of the assurance we have in God's love and hope. Remember understanding God's love and consistently putting our hope in God- think what a difference it would make in our lives and those around us especially in trial, challenges, conflict and loss.
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