In my blog on Miracles, God told me study and write about signs and wonders while I was writing the things God was telling me about Miracles. Cool God. He’s awesome. Well, here it is.
Why is it the majority of the “church” continues to run after signs and wonders? They go to this miracle working conference, to this healing conference, to this supernatural conference all the time chasing after signs and wonders. Instead they should be seeking and chasing after Him.
Signs and wonders are not things that you go try to see or find, they are a product of your partnership with Him. If you want to see a sign or wonder, look behind you. Mark 16:20 says “And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.”
Sadly, many fail to believe anything without a sign and wonder, but this didn’t surprise God. John 4:48 reads “Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe”. Also, it just seems as though parts of the Christian community keep talking about last moves of God and how wonderful it was. Still trying to live in that past moment. Even trying to re-create that moment or event by some formula or procedural process.
Bill Johnson says religious spirits congregate around last moves of God, because they are incapable of entering into what God is doing right now. I want to know what God is doing right now, and the only way to know that is to be yielded to Him and rest in His presence.
There are kingdom principles and there is kingdom presence. It’s better to live in His presence than it is to live by principles. It is good to gain knowledge and wisdom about God’s principles through study, but God doesn’t expect us to just stay there. In His presence is fullness of joy. Also, in His presence is absolute truth. So, chasing after signs and wonders could easily lead the undiscerning into false anointing that appear to be works of God. Look at some of these scriptures.
Matthew 24:24. “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.”
How about this one. Mark 13:22. “For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.”
The NLT version says that these false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders in attempts to try and deceive God’s very chosen ones. Did you see that? It says these false prophets WILL perform great signs and wonders. That’s why scripture says to try the spirits whether they are of God (1 John 4:1). Besides, it is God working through the true prophets and ministers of the gospel to perform these signs and wonders, not the person.
Acts 2:22 reads “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know”.
Even Jesus didn’t do signs and wonders on His own. God did them by Him, but then people who study the bible rather than just read it would know this, because Jesus said in John 5:19 and again in verse 30 that He could do nothing on His own. Study those two scriptures for yourself.
Look at this set of scriptures. I love how God always brings His great grace into everything.
Acts 14: 1-3.
1 “The same thing happened in Iconium. Paul and Barnabas went to the Jewish synagogue and preached with such power that a great number of both Jews and Greeks became believers”.
Did you notice that? It says they went right into the legalistic, religious, law following camp and preached with “such power” that a great number became believers. What was it they preached with great power? Easy. Look at verse 3. Here’s part of that verse. “Preaching boldly about the grace of the Lord.”
They preached the great grace of God with boldness. I like in this instance how the KJV says it. “Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of His grace”.
Wow. I just realized how powerful those six bolded words are. I see Jesus in there three times. Look. Unto the word of His grace.
We will continue with verse 2 and following in part 2 of this blog. Don't miss it. Grace and Peace.
