Why is it that people keep looking for some “secret” method to getting or receiving a miracle. There’s not a 7 part formula. There’s just one way. Here it is. Believe on Him whom God has sent. Too many are chasing after miracles, rather than chasing after the miracle worker. Seeking healing rather than seeking the healer. Working to provide rather than resting in the provider. It truly is all about Jesus and Him crucified. The finished work at the cross satisfied it all.
Many times people will ask, “What do I have to do. I’ve done everything I know to do. What in the world can I do to get a breakthrough”? Well, I’ve got two answers for you. First, get the “I” out of it. There is absolutely NOTHING you can do in this world except what John 6:28-29 states, and that’s my second answer. Look at this.
28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom he hath sent.
You notice that religion will always put works into the mix. “What must we DO?” There is no pasted on, behavioral, works oriented, performance based form of Christianity that will cause God to love you or accept you more. It’s all about trusting and believing in His love and grace for you.
I’ll even go so far as to say that every act of sin results from your mistrust and unbelief in His love and grace for you. So, trying to keep a set of rules or adhere to a religious program that either man or the institutionalized church has created, will not cause God to love you anymore than He already does. As you grow in loving Him you’ll find yourself increasingly set free from works and the tyranny of others and yourself.
Then here comes the "Ya But" ministry. But, he’s an elder, he’s the pastor, he’s an evangelist and he said… Well, just because people say something doesn’t make it so. Ya but if I don’t agree to what they say or agree to do what they ask, I’ll be rejected. How can you be rejected when you're already accepted? Let me just say that as long as you need other people to understand you and to approve of what you’re doing, you’ll be owned by anyone willing to lie about you or to you. Excessive need for support from others is proof of the bankruptcy of your beliefs of your inner man.
Others will find it threatening when you learn how to live free, because the religious system must devour what it cannot control. Remember, people who cannot control themselves or their emotions, are perfectly willing to try and control others.
Here’s a question that religion will ask. Do you really believe we’re good enough to hear God’s voice everyday? That’s the wrong question. Here’s what we should ask. Is Jesus big enough to get past your blind spots, overcome your doubts, and show you His way. Not sure who said this, but it’s good. “Religion equals shame management. It’s a system of shame management. Often religion has the best of intentions and always ends up with the worst of results.”
I said all of that to show how we can easily fall away from “believing on Him whom He has sent”. This bring us right back to relying on works and performance based Christianity, or on the traditions of men or edicts of the institutionalized church. Don’t fall into that religious trap.
Look at these situations. Mark 10:46-51. 46 And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. [It starts when we hear that it’s Jesus. Just Jesus.] 48 And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou son of David, have mercy on me. [There are those who will try to silence you when you call out to Jesus, but keep shouting, keep declaring, keep teaching.] 49 And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. [Your voice can cause Jesus to stand still. Notice, that once Jesus speaks, and others hear the revelation in His voice, they’ll have to change their minds. Now, they are so friendly to this blind man.] 50 And he, casting away his garment (RIGHT HERE HE WAS HEALED – GARMENT IS IMPORTANT), rose, and came to Jesus.
Bartimaeus gained his eye sight through the act of casting away his garment. People in those days wore certain types of clothing to reveal who they were. The blind wore certain types of garments. The Pharisees wore certain types of garments. Harlets wore certain types of garments. The leper wore certain types of garments. Bartimaeus was saying “I’m no longer blind. Get this garment off of me.
We today reveal who we are by what we wear spiritually. I can smell a legalist a thousand miles away by what they are wearing in their spirit. Their attitude towards works and sin. Their actions of performance and their speech about “have to” and “need to”. It’s what they are wearing.
51 And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.
Not that I might be able to see, or that I might gain sight. NO….that I might receive my sight. The sight I had before the foundation of the earth. The sight stolen from me, but gained back at calvary. Jesus thought it important that the man ask specifically. He was leading him to Mark 11:23,24.
Here’s another one. Mark 5:22-34. Who touched me? The crowd was thronging Him. People bumping into Him. People jabbing Him. They didn’t realize who He was. They were just looky lews. They come to church, or study in groups, and never touch Him, and never get touched by Him. They don’t enter in. They don’t recognize God’s Spirit. Many don’t believe on Him whom He hath sent. You look around and one is yawning while the one right next to him or her is coming out of their skin. One has no clue and the other is so full of the anointing of God…it boggles the mind.
With the crowd thronging, the only way she could have gotten to Him was by crawling. Everyone she touched on her way to Him became defiled according to their laws and beliefs. The problem was, they never knew it, because they didn’t pay attention. Which proves once again that what someone says doesn’t make it truth. She saw Him as her answer. She saw Him as a prophet from God. She believed He had the anointing.
Luke 4:18 says: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
She’d never been to a healing service, or a church growth seminar. She never went to a miracle signs and wonders service. (God just told me to study and write about signs and wonders, so watch for that in the next couple days). She just knew she had to get to his HEM. She had to get to HIM.
The disciples said lots of people are touching you. Jesus said no…………………someone just put a demand on the anointing by faith. It was more than just a casual touch. It was a touch of faith. She had the confidence to put a demand on the anointing. To break the yoke of her disease (Isaiah 10:27). Matt 11:30 – “for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
I'm going to stop right here, but don't miss part 2. There is much more to come. Grace and Peace.
