A woman had lost her sight. Her eyes were badly injured and no doctor could help her. She attended a church service where the preacher prayed for healing.
She began to see again and was thrilled, but when she shared her miraculous news with her family, they didn't want to believe, even though they clearly observed how she could see.
Then she began to doubt herself and after a short time she could no longer see.
God wants to bless us beyond comprehension, but often we don't want to believe it. A negative thought is firmly rooted in our mindset.
‘It's too good to be true.’ With this thought, we often block the wonderful gifts that God wants to give us.
After Jesus died on the cross, the disciples were traumatised. They had believed that Jesus, as the Messiah, would free Israel from Roman occupation, and then he died.
It was supposedly too good to be true. The time for Israel had not yet come, but God had even better plans for his disciples.
So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”
He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:6–8 NLT
Thank God the disciples believed. We read in the Acts of the Apostles how the disciples ministered with the same miracle-working power as Jesus himself before his death on the cross.
Then, in the Gospel of Mark, we see Jesus authorising and empowering his disciples to continue his miracle-working ministry. Was this only for the apostles? No. It was for all who believed.
And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues;
they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mk 16:17–18 NRSV
But some Christians do not want to believe that this promise still applies to our time.
Some doubt whether this passage really belongs to the Gospel of Mark because it may not have been written by Mark himself.
It is possible that Mark did not write this last passage. So what!
The first five books of the Bible are attributed to the authorship of Moses himself, but the last chapter of Deuteronomy 5 was obviously not written by Moses.
So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.
And He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor; but no man knows his burial place to this day. Dt 34:5–6 NASB95
When I read this verse, I burst into tears. This is not normal for me. The Holy Spirit communicated to me in this way how God himself felt when Moses had to die. He wanted to bless Moses even more.
Then I heard the voice of God as a clear but inaudible thought.
‘Please don't limit God.’
Please open your heart to many more blessings and miracles from God.
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Eph 3:20 NLT
