THE WORKS OF JESUS – A PRESENT REALITY (sent 20/12/2009) Have you ever wondered why we do not see the miraculous works of Jesus that was so evident in the lives of His disciples in our day and age? Have you read through the Bible and imagined what it would be like to heal the sick (Too many references), to cast out devils (Too many references), to raise the dead (Elijah - 1 Kings 17:17 – 24 , Elisha -2 Kings 4:20 – 35, Jesus - John 11:11 – 46, Jesus - Mark 5:40 – 42, Peter - Acts 9:36 – 42, Smith Wigglesworth (An Englishman!), and many others), to walk on water (Jesus - Matthew 14:25 – 31), to be divinely transported from place to place (Philip - Acts 8:39 & 40), to be physically empowered to run quicker than a formula one race car (Elijah - 1 Kings 18:45 & 46), to feed a multitude with 5 loaves and 2 fishes (We all know this), to exercise your dominion over nature (All of us - Genesis 1:26) and see it obey (Moses - Exodus 14:15 – 31, Joshua - Joshua 3:13 – 17, Joshua Joshua 10:12 – 14, Jesus Mark 4:37 – 40.) Well you can! Jesus said, greater works shall you do because I go to my Father and they did (Peter’s shadow healed the sick! - Acts 5:15), and his present day disciples are doing, all over the world.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believes in Me,
the works shall
he
do
that I do also; and
greater works
than
these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever you shall ask in my Name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you shall ask
any thing in my Name, I will do it...” John 14:12 – 14
“...And He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief..” Matthew 13:58
A few months into my conversion experience in 1998, and before anyone could explain away the miraculous in the Bible, I sought the Lord and He showed me things which I immediately believed and saw (and continue to see) come to pass:
•
Scarcity of petrol in Lagos, Nigeria and the Lord wanted me to deliver a message to someone at the other end of the city, quite a distance of several miles but had
less than a reserve tank left in the car I was driving. The Lord spoke to my heart, “...did I not feed 5,000 with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes?”. He also reminded me of the testimony of a man of God, Bishop David Oyedepo who faced with the same situation instructed his driver to fill his petrol tank with water and this would be turned into petrol just like Jesus turned water into wine, and it did (not by himself, but on instruction from the Lord might I add). I got into the car, took my eyes off the petrol gauge, my eyes on the road, and my heart
firmly fixed on this Word, drove there and back and around for some more looking for a petrol station with petrol. This became a common occurrence in my life to the extent that there were times I would deliberately not put petrol in my car till the Lord disciplined me that I have gotten His point, and I should channel my faith towards helping people, and provided petrol through other means (The company my mum worked for had a petrol depot).
•
A friend of mine organised a birthday party at Lekki beach in Lagos, Nigeria... we had barbeque sorted, drinks and all the works but the weather decided we were not having any fun and began to rain. Well I went to pray quietly with the Lord in one of the beachside grass huts and He reminded me how Joshua commanded the sun to stand still (Joshua 10:12 – 14) to give them some more daylight and time to win the battle in the conquest of the promised land Canaan, so I came out, and gathered everyone round, we held hands and prayed binding the demonic principality over this region (Eph 6:12, Matt 18:18 – 20, Luke 10:19, Ps 91:13, Eph 1:21 – 23) who by revelation knowledge of the Spirit of God (Romans 8:14-16) I knew to be the queen of the coast, and then commanded the rain to stop just like our Lord Jesus commanded the wind to cease, and of course it did. This happened instantly quite dramatically, and we had a wonderful barbeque party! This I followed on to do on several other occasions till the Lord said go get an umbrella son, the earth needs the rain! Though He would often hold it till I got to a shelter...
•
In the fellowship I attended at the University of Lagos while doing my undergraduate course in Economics, an Intercession and Evangelism Unit called Home-Base was formed. This Unit had an assignment to reach out and save cult members in the University (Would be known as gangs in the west). It was a real scourge to the normal running of the University, and even lecturers and the authorities were afraid of them. They issued threats and carried them out to evoke fear... These guys killed and were killed as a normal course of life, and you would often find cases of full demonic possession a lot of the time so this was no ball game, but the Lord said I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13), and greater is He who is in me, than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4), and If I believe nothing would be impossible unto me (Mark 9:23). I was made the assistant leader (later took over when the leader left), and we threw ourselves fully into this work. As no surprise, because the cults were quickly loosing members we got several death threats with an actual attempt made once. The new leader of one of the cults named `Innocent` (The
previous guy had been saved) was trying to get some respect, so he waited for us to come out of the hall where we had our meetings, aimed and fired on us... yes fired on... with a gun which had bullets in it, and these bullets were aimed for us! Well the Lord had said to us in Psalm 91, the arrow that flies by day would not touch us (They used arrows in those days but bullets now), so of course not a single one of us came to any harm, we were all in the secret place of the Lord, inaccessible to the enemy according to the Amplified version of Ps. 91. And of course, this not too `innocent` guy who tried to kill us faced the full wrath of our God. The fear and dread of the Lord came upon him just as we had prayed to such a degree that he went into hiding, his guns and all from a handful of namby pamby sissy Christians. And the Lord wrought a great salvation work amongst these cult members to the degree that the worst of them were continually being saved (This was a particular strategy the Lord gave us), delivered and filled with the Holy Ghost, speaking in other tongues, going in and saving their former compadres. Through prayer, the Lord empowered the Civil Authorities and they clamped down on the ones who refused to turn and cultism became a thing of the past in this University shortly after my graduation.
“You are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it
be
salted?...You
are
the light
of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick;
it gives light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in and
heaven”. Matthew 5:13 – 16
If you have any trouble believing these, its unbelief friend, and there are numerous more
you’ve got to grow your faith (Romans 10:17), we Christians have all been given a measure of faith by God’s matchless grace to start off with (Romans 12:3), and it is this faith that must grow I would be unable to share with you...
(Romans1:17), and live by (Habakkuk 2:4, Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, Hebrews 10:38), and
it is what pleases God and enables us to receive from Him
(Hebrews 11:6...). Faith is exclusively drawn from God’s written Word (Romans 10:17). Lots of Word, lots of faith... no Word, means no faith...
Jesus said greater works shall you do because I go to my Father, not greater works shall your pastor do... not greater works shall your home group leader do... , not greater works shall that big shot minister of the gospel do... but greater works shall do!
you
Mark wrote his account of Jesus’ life, and in the 16 th chapter recorded what would occur for those who would dare to believe... not just those who have spent 100yrs in the Lord... nor those who have been ordained into the ministry...
Jesus said to
the new believer “...And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover...”. I and so many precious others are witnesses to this, and the events I just told you of (amongst many others) occurred within the first 2 years of my being a believer 1998 – 2000.
“...If You can believe,
“...For with God
all things are possible to him that believeth.” Mark 9:23
nothing shall be impossible.” Luke 1:37
DID YOU KNOW GOD LOVES YOU AS MUCH AS HE LOVES JESUS?! HANG ON, THIS ISN’T HERESY!! DON’T CRUCIFY ME LIKE MY LORD YET, JESUS SAID IT!
“...Neither for these alone (the Apostles) do I pray (it is not for their sake only that I make this request), but also for all those who will ever come to believe in (trust in, cling to, rely on) Me through their word and teaching. That they all may be one, just as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe and be convinced that You have sent Me. I have given to them the glory and honor which You have given Me, that they may be one and perfectly united, that the world may know and definitely recognize that You sent
THAT YOU HAVE LOVED THEM EVEN AS YOU HAVE LOVED ME...” John 17:23 Me and
Every single one of us have believed through the first Apostles word and teaching giving us like precious faith!! Simon Peter, the rock of the New Testament church, who walked on water with Jesus, raised the dead, his shadow healed the sick, wrote a whole epistle introduction of this epistle to you...
to you personally...
Look at the
“Simon Peter, a servant and apostle (special messenger) of Jesus Christ, to those who have received (obtained an equal privilege of) like precious faith with ourselves in and through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ...” 2 Peter 1:1
I don’t have a special Bible, it is in yours too... Whoooww!! I feel like writing on and on but you’ve got to meditate on this, and say it over and over again for it to come alive in your spirit... You have not said it till you have said it 10,000 times!! Do you still think God wants less for you than the perfect works of Jesus? Do you want to see them manifesting in your life? Jesus said it is enough that a disciple be like his master! (Matthew 10:25) Do you want to raise the dead, walk on water, heal the sick, cast out devils, speak with new tongues and translate them... Do you want to feed a dying hungry world with the ever-living, indestructible Word of God, and have more than enough finances to feed billions with a paltry sum of currency, this being your willingness... YOU CAN HALLELUYAH, GLORY TO GOD!! His ability has got the ticket... You are in covenant with Him... He has committed the Word of reconciliation to you (2 Corinthians 5:19) which means if you don’t do it where you are it is not going to happen! His ability and your willingness would manifest the miraculous works of Jesus now, anytime, every time in our day and age! And
you would not just talk about the Bible but live
it! You would have days of heaven on earth...(Deuteronomy 11:21).
This must become more than pretty words to you... they must become life in your everyday experience... download it... print it out, write the words and scriptures down and meditate on them, and say them over and over again till you are swinging from the chandeliers.
Jesus is Lord!
Your brother in Christ, Temisan
“...You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavour? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. You are the light of the world-like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father...” – Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:13 – 16) New Living Translation