The Glory of Christ and His Church—Faith for Miracles
In my last article, I shared how the Church is Destined for Greatness. Why? Because Jesus died for us, restored us, and lives within us through the Holy Spirit. As Paul stated, it is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). This isn’t an abstract thought; it is a spiritual reality for the born-again follower of Christ!
Remember, Jesus said He would send us another helper, the Holy Spirit (John 14). Jesus said the Holy Spirit will be in us and with us. The power to share the gospel, to grow in the fruit of the Spirit, and to operate in the gifts of the Spirit is possible by the Holy Spirit’s presence and our union with Christ.
The essence of our new life in Christ is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. In fact, it was the Spirit who places us into the body of Christ at new birth. Paul writes that we are “…baptized by one Spirit into one body…” (1 Cor. 12:13 NKJV).
The precious blood of Christ pays the price for our sin and reconciles (or justifies) us with a Holy God. We are loved, forgiven, accepted, and adopted into God’s family. Such marvelous grace!
But God has accomplished more than just forgiving our sin through Christ. The Father has restored our ability to live in Him through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. From our new life in Christ through the Spirit, we can learn to commune with God, live righteously, be empowered to operate in the gifts of the Spirit, and have power to be witnesses for Jesus.
God wants us to be ready, to be full of Jesus, to be full of His hope and glory to reveal Christ to a lost and hopeless world. If you are empty, He will fill you afresh; however, the greater One is already in you through New Birth!
“Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world!” (1 John 4:4 NKJV)
Because Christ lives in us, greatness resides in the heart of a believer. We are recreated in Him for something beyond mediocrity. We are not perfect. We can be tempted, and we can sin, but what Jesus has done for us invites us to live out of this new creation reality. This includes sharing our faith and praying for the sick, with expectation that some will be saved and healed!
Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8)! He is still the Savior and the Healer. He expects us to go, proclaim, pray for the sick, and trust Him to move.
Holy Spirit Interrupts Passion Church Service
Yesterday, during our Sunday service at Passion Church, the Lord highlighted the reality of His presence with us. I had a couple of people share testimonies of healing and one about financial provision. The entire course of the meeting changed after that. Instead of sharing the message I had prepared, the Lord had us pray for many who needed healing. I’ll share more in a moment about what took place.
But remember, as we have been studying in Ephesians, through Christ, God has revealed the mystery of His will (Eph. 1:9-10) to gather all things together in Christ—in Heaven and on Earth. Through the death and resurrection of Christ, God’s enemies have been defeated. Christ is victorious over the powers of darkness. He is supreme, and so is the Church.
Jesus has assured His Church ultimate victory; He stated, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church” (Matt. 16:18 NKJV). We are on the offensive, not the defensive! The powers of darkness simply cannot stop the advancement of God’s Church and His Kingdom, for Jesus is the Victor!
The Lord Wants to Heal Blind Eyes!
Okay, back to what took place Sunday in our service. I first had Sherri share how she was miraculously healed (word used by the doctor) of a stroke two weeks ago after prayer from others in the church! She went into the hospital on a Sunday afternoon suffering from the stroke. They were able to do a special treatment on her to break up clots. However, the procedure wouldn’t have cured the effects of the stroke, nor would it have restored her brain to a renewed state. The doctor was so amazed, he had interns come in to see the brain scans, etc.! She was able to openly share how Jesus healed her! By Tuesday, she was released from the hospital with no effects from the stroke! Well, her testimony primed the pump in our service for God to move and heal.
While the offering was being received, I had Tony come up to share a testimony about his blind left eye beginning to see after prayer! He began to share that after receiving prayer the day before, he was beginning to see images, my face, etc. out of his eye! He has been blind in the eye since the age of five when a piece of brick struck him in the eye. His testimony was so moving that I then felt led to begin to pray for any in the congregation who had eye problems, which then led to other words for healing and God kept moving in the service.
But the reason we prayed for Tony’s eye the day before was because of a word God gave me about healing of blind eyes the week before. The Lord gave me a word of knowledge about healing of a blind left eye through a dream on the previous Saturday night. In the dream, a young man came to me who was blind in his left eye. In the dream, I saw where he lost his sight through a work accident; something struck his left eye, and he went blind. I, then, prayed for his blind left eye, and he was healed.
I shared this dream and word of knowledge for healing the previous Sunday. It turns out that one of our members, David, shared with me how he was blind in his left eye since the age of 19 after a metal object from a machine press hit him in the eye. He has a prosthetic eye in place. So, I and two others prayed for him at the end of the service. He didn’t notice any change, but we committed to continue to pray for him.
Then, during our men’s breakfast last Saturday morning, I shared the dream and word for healing about the blind left eye before we began to pray for David again. Then, Tony, who hadn’t heard the word, interrupted, and shared how he had been blind in his left eye since five! So, we prayed for both, and that’s when Tony noticed a change and could begin to see images.
When Tony shared the next day during our Sunday service, faith just grew in the room for healing. Several others shared how God began to touch them. Some for their eyes, others with other conditions. Truly, the Holy Spirit was working among us doing the greater works of Jesus (John 14:12). Many didn’t want to leave at the end of the service. One young person told me, “I just want to stay here for a while and soak all of this in! I’ve been longing to be in a meeting like this and see God move!”
I shared how, in Mark 16, we are encouraged to pray for the sick. When we lay hands on them and pray for healing, they will recover (Mark 16:18).
I discuss this in detail in my book, Receive Your Miracle Now! A Case for Healing Today. I also discuss a model for healing prayer and about words of knowledge in this book. Here is a video link to a teaching I did a few years ago on words of knowledge: https://youtu.be/9I1XH4GNjOs
What Are You Believing God for Today?
Jesus said if we had faith as a mustard seed in who He is and what God can do, we could speak to the mountains and tell them to be removed and cast into the sea. Trust God today; cry out to Jesus like blind Bartimaeus, “Jesus, Son of David, don’t pass me by!”
For a deeper look at this topic, watch the Passion Church message “Faith for Miracles”:
