God's Miracles for All

When Peter preached the first Christian sermon after the cross, he delivered a revolutionary message.

The glory of God is no longer only for prophets, kings and priests, as in the Old Testament, but for all those who believe in Jesus, receive the Holy Spirit and give free rein.

‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.

And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days;
And they shall prophesy. Acts 2:17-18

Religious tradition has robbed us of our heritage. The spiritual gifts and manifestations of God's power and presence are severely limited or excluded in many communities.

When they are permitted, sometimes only men and not women are allowed to speak for God.
In other churches only pastors, preachers or leaders are allowed to speak for God.

But in his sermon Peter completely abolished these rules and restrictions.

But this was not only in one sermon. In the Gospel of Mark we see something similar.

And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;

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.” Mark 16:17–18 NKJV

There are strange sects where people play with snakes, but this was not meant in the Bible. Paul was bitten by a poisonous snake.

But Paul shook off the snake into the fire and was unharmed. Acts 28:5 NLT

We should not play with poison or snakes but God promises us His protection in time of need.

I have an Arab friend who converted to Jesus from extremely fundamentalist Islam but along the way he was misled and joined the Mormons.

When God freed him from this sect, he visited many Mormons and also helped them to escape from that religion.

Then all the Muslims around him heard about his new faith and some converted.

He was not ordained but God used him with supernatural power.

An Arab once gave him food. A week later he was amazed that his  Christian countryman was still alive. He had put enough poison in the food to kill a camel.

The unsuccessful assassin converted to Jesus.

Heidi Baker is a missionary in Africa.  She saves little girls from sex slavery and little boys from forced service as soldiers.

She adopts these orphans, and they get to know Jesus well.

One girl at the age of 11 became a preacher, not ordained of course. She went to a village where Islam and witchcraft were dominant. When she spoke loudly about Jesus, people started throwing big stones.

Suddenly she proclaimed healing for a deaf person among her persecutors. The man dropped his stone. He could hear and cried out loud. "I can hear."

The stones stopped flying. The crowd heard the gospel and converted to Jesus en masse.