Do We Need Miracles Today?

 Many people hear the Good News of Jesus and believe without being healed supernaturally. When sick believers die, they go to God's heaven, where there is no more sickness.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Jn 3:16 NIV

Many years ago, I heard from a friend that an old woman was dying in a hospital in Australia. She was Hungarian and could speak German but not English. With the chaplain's permission, I visited the very old woman to read the Bible to her in German.

So she heard various passages from the Bible, God's promises, the Good News.

My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. 
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. Jn 10:27–28 NRSV

One day she was very distracted, suffering from dementia, and looked around in confusion. Was it actually dementia, or was she looking into the spiritual world, as some people do as they approach death?

Then I read her the promise of eternal life.

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 
and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” Jn 11:25–26 ESV

It seemed as if she immediately came back from her inner wanderings and she answered strongly, clearly and decisively: “Yes, I firmly believe.”

I did not see her again. The next day I heard that she had died. I was satisfied. I knew she was in heaven.

This woman was a devout Catholic. She already knew that eternal salvation comes from Jesus and can somehow be obtained through faith. She only needed to hear the simple message of God's Word to understand the gospel.

But there are many communists, agnostics, Muslims and Hindus who have no biblical foundation at all, so we cannot lead them to faith so easily. 

Jesus said:

Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” Jn 4:48 NRSV

There are billions of people today who do not believe, and many will only believe when they see or experience miracles. God loves humanists, Muslims, occultists and especially Jews, and He wants to reach them and win them over.

This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, 
who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1 Ti 2:3–4 NRSV

I know a Jewish woman who converted because she saw Jesus with her natural eyes. 

I know a German woman who looked directly into hell every day for nine months and then converted when Jesus visited her personally and she recognised him by his tangible presence, without seeing him.

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Jn 20:29 NIV

But Jesus also wants to reach the millions who cannot be saved without signs and wonders.

What would you think if someone claimed, ‘Many sick people recover without major surgery. We no longer need surgeons.’ Many people believe in Jesus without miracle healings, but others do not believe until they experience miracles. 

There is a theology based on God's sovereignty, in which the love of God is not emphasised.

This often leads to dogmatism, resignation and cold hearts. As a result, many sick people suffer needlessly and many people whom God loves are lost who might otherwise be saved.

Your Time Will Come

Have you been a believer for a long time? Do you read the wonderful promises of fruitfulness in the Bible? Are you fulfilled and satisfied, or is your Christian life just a religious routine?

Maybe you have already broken out of the religious routine, but you can't see any fruit. You love God and you have a close friendship with Jesus.

You want to win disciples for Jesus. You want to lay hands on the sick and see miraculous healings. Maybe you love Jesus, but you haven't received a miracle healing yet, even though you desperately need healing.

You love God and your trust in God is real and strong, but your hoped-for miracles are not appearing. And you need these miracles because you are disabled by illness, because your relatives are not yet believers, because you must wrestle with financial problems.

In the Gospel of Luke, we find an elderly woman who served God with a faithful heart for decades. She had prayed for children since her marriage, but she never had a single baby. Yet she never became bitter.

Had God abandoned her? Not at all. God had a marvellous plan. She was to experience a miracle, but without the long years of disappointment, God could not bring about this miracle.

Her husband Zechariah was a priest serving in the temple when an angel of the Lord appeared and shared an amazing message.

But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. Lk 1:13 NIV

Elizabeth was to be the mother of John the Baptist, the great prophet who would announce the coming of God's Son.

Everywhere in this chaotic world there are faithful disciples of the Lord who are waiting for the second coming of Jesus. Some are well-known prophets, good pastors, or well-known evangelists, but there are also many unknown saints who are frustrated because their prayers seem to be unanswered.

Are you one of them? Take courage. God has not forgotten you. God has prepared a spiritual army that He will release in the great end-time revival. Hold on to your hope. Your time is coming.

I prayed for years and God healed my depression.
I prayed for years and God saved my parents on their deathbed.
I prayed for years and .... I am not disappointed.

“Sing, barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labour; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the LORD. Is 54:1 NIV

Experiencing the Holy Spirit

 In Mt Mk Lk and John we see again and again how people were entangled in impossible problems. It was only when Jesus came on the scene that they got out of their troubles. They needed a miracle. This was impossible for people, but no problem for the Son of God.

When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill. Mt 8:16 NASB95

I thank God for modern medical science. I have five doctors in my family. But there are so many sick and disabled people who, even with the best care, are just limping through life.

Thanks to modern medicine, many people are living longer, but for many people it is an uphill battle. They survive, but they have to deal with health problems on a daily basis.

Jesus is no longer on earth in the flesh. Even if Jesus were still here in human form, he would only be in one place.

But imagine if Jesus was with you in the flesh every day. You could expect all kinds of miracles. We can read about this in the New Testament. Do you think Jesus would have been any different?

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Heb 13:8 NASB95

The first apostles before the cross had Jesus as their daily companion. Imagine what that would be like. But at the Last Supper, Jesus said something amazing.

“But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. Jn 16:7 NASB95

Jesus said it is better to have the Holy Spirit in your life than to be in the bodily presence of Jesus every day! Wow!

Jesus helped people time and time again with numerous miracles that they needed to get out of painful problems and illnesses. With the Holy Spirit, we can expect God's help in the same way. In the Acts of the Apostles, the first Christians experienced the fulfilment of this expectation.

Why don't we experience this today? Because humanism and philosophical unbelief have blinded us like a dark shadow on Europe and other countries in the western world.

We hear testimonies of miraculous healings from Africa, Asia and South America. The dead are raised from the dead. Even when Christians in Europe hear such reports, many react with scepticism. Everything is questioned.

Jesus wants to give you the power, love and fellowship of the Holy Spirit. We can experience the Holy Spirit as a companion and friend, just like the first Christians in the Acts of the Apostles.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. 2 Cor 13:14 NASB95

This can not only be a beautiful blessing for you, but a daily experience. Jesus wants to give you this kind of fulfilment in your life.

Your Prayers can Change Things

We sometimes pray fervently and desperately, but then we hope that God might fulfil half of our longing.

You think you are just a Christian of little faith who can expect little.

It's true that our unbelief, bitterness or resentment towards someone can stand in the way of God's miracle-working power.

But if you pray fervently for someone out of love and care, you can expect miraculous help from God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, Eph 3:20 NIV

If your prayers are moved by God's love, you can be sure that the mighty power of the Holy Spirit is at your disposal. The same power will then be released in the lives of your friends or loved ones.

I will never forget how our beloved pastor confidently proclaimed blessings and healing over all kinds of suffering people:

‘’ We proclaim life, life, life!‘’

We saw so many miracles in this church.

A woman who could only walk with great difficulty because of emphysema was set free and was able to walk around unhindered for a while later.

I was visiting a church in Germany. The guest preacher proclaimed healings. Someone who was always trembling because of Parkinson's disease stopped trembling immediately.

My father was not a believer at the age of seventy. He had smoked 40 cigarettes a day for years and I expected that he would not live many years longer because of emphysema.

I prayed that he would not die prematurely, but would have enough time to find his way to saving faith.

He committed his life to Jesus at the age of 88 and died in peace at the age of 91.

YOU ARE THE REVIVAL

Revival is happening! God is doing amazing stuff around the world!

Prophets of God have been speaking of the coming of Divine Glory and of wonderful manifestations of God’s presence increasing in our time. 
In South America God has been doing dental miracles for years, healing toothache with instant supernatural gold fillings and in other cases perfect white enamel. 

God has given Heidi Baker the such a gift of healing, that profoundly deaf Africans are routinely healed instantaneously. The dead have also been raised.

In Germany there are schoolchildren and teenagers healing incurable infirmities by ministering in the streets in the Name and the power of Jesus. 

I have been in a Glory retreat where people saw a thick white glory cloud fill the room and digital photographs proved it was no illusion. I know the people who saw the glory cloud and produced the photos and I felt the glorious presence myself. In that meeting there was a major healing in which a woman with mental illness experienced a dramatic turnaround. 

Revival is happening! God is doing amazing stuff around the world!

People have been flying across continents to see and experience the glory of God. That is good. God rewards the hungry ones.

For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. Psalm 107:9 (NLT) 

You may fly around the world to catch the fire of God or you may spend hours in your home drawing near to God in Holy intimacy. How ever you seek God with holy hunger, God will bless you.

But don’t be satisfied to just be blessed. God wants to bless you to make you a blessing. Our model and example is Abraham, the father of faith.

Now the LORD had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you.  I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.  Genesis 12:1-2 (NKJV) 

God can make you a world changer if you leave your country. You may fly to a great revival somewhere or go to serve God in a mission somewhere.

But it is also possible to leave your country without modern transportation. There are people to fly to different countries in dreams and they really travelled there in the Spirit! 

One missionary received a message from China with a photo of herself with a Chinese friend. But she had no memory of being in China at that time.

A missionary went to the nearest airport with no money and no ticket. He walked into the bathroom and when he walked out again, he was in China, the country where God was calling him to. 
But there are also those who don’t relocate geographically but they visit heavenly realms in the Spirit and take the glory of Heaven with them to their own city. 

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6 (NKJV) 

But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him." 1 Corinthians 2:9 (NKJV) 

When God reveals to you what no eye has seen nor ear heard and enter spiritual realms that are not explicitly described in the Bible, many believers will call you a false prophet but that is what every true spiritual adventurer must endure.

Don’t just follow revivals, become the revival! What if you are not a preacher or a leader?

David was a shepherd boy delivering lunch when he challenged and killed Goliath. He, too, is our example, the under aged nobody who became a giant killer and then a king.

Perhaps you have experienced miracles in the past, but now your life has become more ordinary. Why not expect God to surprise you again?