Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the NET, netbible.org, all rights reserved)

So a report about him spread throughout Syria. People brought to him all who suffered with various illnesses and afflictions, those who had seizures, paralytics, and those possessed by demons, and he healed them.
Matthew 4:24 (emphasis added)

Healing draws a crowd. Some skeptics. Some hopefuls. Some believers. Some dragged there by others. But there is ALWAYS a crowd. This has always been the way it was. If it wasn’t for miracles, there are a lot of people in history that would have been unknown. Maybe even Jesus. Matthew 4:23-24 shows us that Jesus’ popularity, His fame, was in direct proportion to how many miracles He performed. The general populace may not ever have heard of Him without them. That is human psychology in practise right there. If Jesus needed them to get the crowds coming, why do we feel we don’t?

One of the big answers to that is technology. We have technology available to us that was not available to our Lord. We can post videos online that are able to be seen around the world moments afterwards. We can get put live onto all kinds of screens and devices. We can get into vehicles from automobiles to airplanes and get around to huge areas of territory. We can amplify our voices in ways that boggle the mind. While Jesus’ mission was very specific, imagine what the early church could have done. Think about how they could have evangelised. Think of who they could have reached. Yet if we look at their ministry, they reached the known world at the time. How? With miracles!

One of the reasons the devil convinced the church that the age of miracles had ended was to limit our reach. Can you imagine the number of people we could reach if we were all letting Adonai work through us? Can you imagine the souls that would repent and follow Jesus with that kind of proof that Adonai means what He says? It is unimaginable. Instead of that, we have christians standing up against other christians and calling them fakers and liars. Worse, we have people claiming to be christians faking and lying and muddying the waters. It is a terrible situation. A garden of skeptics. Each one trying to outdo, out argue, and out maneuverer each other. It is ridiculous. It is pitiful. It is sad. Truly sad.

The TRUTH is that Adonai is always the same (Hebrews 13:8). He is TIMELESS because He is the father of Time itself (Isaiah 9:6). He keeps His word. ““Since, I, the Lord, do not go back on my promises, you, sons of Jacob, have not perished” (Malachi 3:6). There is no indication in Adonai’s nature or in the Word (Old OR New covenant) that gives us and end date for miracles beyond the ending of all things. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had ceased to exist, and the sea existed no more. And I saw the holy city—the new Jerusalem—descending out of heaven from God, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Look! The residence of God is among human beings. He will live among them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will not exist any more—or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the former things have ceased to exist.” And the one seated on the throne said: “Look! I am making all things new!” Then he said to me, “Write it down, because these words are reliable and true.”” (Revelation 21:1-5). That’s it. THAT is the point that miracles will be no longer necessary to draw a crowd to Adonai.

“You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill cannot be hidden. People do not light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16). It is true that an orator can draw a crowd. Words can sway our hearts. But it is also true that it takes action to cement intention. For example, you can hear a message, get convicted, and give your heart to Yahweh by saying the sinner’s prayer. That is CONFESSION. It is the BEGINNING of things, not the end point. “Then Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age”” (Matthew 28:18-20). We confess Him Lord and then get baptised, putting an action as a demonstration to ourselves and others of what we believe in our hearts.

In the same kind of way, miracles are the demonstration to everyone who is present that what we believe in our hearts is TRUTH from the Father Himself. Miracles are proof because WE cannot do the works. The FATHER does the works through us. The Father, by the Word, through the Spirit does ALL things. We preach that. We teach that. Adonai Himself PROVES it through miracles. Healing is one of the most consistent because healing accompanies preaching. “They went out and proclaimed everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through the accompanying signs” (Mark 16:20). Jesus spoke in the synagogue and then went and healed people (Luke 4:38-44). That shows us that healing isn’t a product of preaching, but they are connected. Of course, we know this because hearing the Word strengthens faith (Romans 10:17), faith is how we accept healing (Mark 5:34), and the Word combats unbelief that prevents faith from being effective (Mark 9:23-24 & Matthew 15:38).

Don’t inhibit the Spirit. Get in the Word and see what it says. About healing. About miracles. About Jesus. About everything. Let it strengthen your faith. Let it work on you. Let it bless you. Let it kill your unbelief by proving to your spirit again and again and again that it is TRUE, TRUSTED, and able to be BELIEVED. Let your faith and belief in Jesus shine out to this world. Let Him work and see the miracles flow through you from Him. EXPECT miracles. They are part of the light that Adonai shines out from us to show the world He means what He says and He IS the Redeemer of all of us.

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Psalm 2:1-3

“Why do the nations rebel? Why are the countries devising plots that will fail? The kings of the earth form a united front; the rulers collaborate against the Lord and his anointed king. They say, “Let’s tear off the shackles they’ve put on us. Let’s free ourselves from their ropes.”” The kingdom of darkness, the kingdom that infuses this world of ours, hates Yahweh. Hates with a passion few of us could ever comprehend, let alone understand. Here we see that the enmity of kings will be directed at Messiah. “who said by the Holy Spirit through your servant David our forefather, ‘Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot foolish things? The kings of the earth stood together, and the rulers assembled together, against the Lord and against his Christ.’ For indeed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together in this city against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, to do as much as your power and your plan had decided beforehand would happen” (Acts 4:25-28). There has never been anyone as hated as Jesus was – and is. The enmity of kings has been directed at Jesus since the DAY He was born. The enmity of kings continues to be directed toward Jesus today. Jesus IS Messiah!

Your Daily Confession of Jesus/Yeshua’s Identity:

Yeshua is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Matthew 16:16b