I've had this post on my mind for a while now, but have not gotten around to writing it. I am a different person then when I got here, that much is apparent. Growing up in a Christian home, my thoughts were, if I did the right things, prayed, went to church, read my Bible, did not drink or do drugs and led a morally right life I was doing what God called me to do.
But I learned something that rocked my world. I wasn't living as God called me to. At the end of Matthew and Mark Jesus gave all his followers these words:
Matthew 28:18-20, "And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Mark 16:15-18, "And he said to them, 'Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover, (emphasis added)."
If you look back at all the stories told about Jesus, he did three major things over and over again. He told them who he was, he healed the sick and he cast out demons. Again and again with different people in different places he repeated those miracles. His last words to his disciples was the same message, he has given us authority to do even greater things then him, John 14:12, "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father."
As Christians we are called to do those three things: heal the sick, cast out demons and tell people about Jesus and his love for them. Looking at it through those lenses, radically changes how you live your life. It is not enough to show Jesus through our actions, that should be a given because John 14:15 says, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." When you befriend Jesus you will want to change your life to be more like him so people SHOULD see Jesus in our actions. But that is not enough. We have been called to do greater things.
But these things are not normal. We do not see those things in America. Or at least do not see limbs growing back, dead coming to life and demons sending shrieking out of people. So how do we gain that kind of authority where we can heal a blind man? There are a few ways that will give you more "power". One, spending time with Jesus, just loving him and getting to know him more and more. Two, dedicating a chunk of time out of your life and give it to God, whether that means fasting or giving a period of time to just spend it completely with Him. Three, your belief in God whether or not it will actually heal the person. There is a spiritual atmosphere always around us and our faith and the faith of other people can affect the healing of another person. Jesus was known to take a person out of the city walls away from people to heal them because other people's faith was interfering. And four, you may be able to heal a man with a disease easier than someone else if you have the spiritual gift of healing. It will give you an "edge".
We also have authority over demons. Another way to gain more "power" is to make sure our life lines up as closely to Jesus' as possible. If you are walking down the street, see a homeless man who is drunk and oppressed making it more difficult for him to quit his alcoholism and you try to cast it out, that demon will look at your life. If it sees a bottle of Jack Daniels in your hands that you just picked up at the store, it may decide that you aren't walking the talk and didn't have enough authority over it and ignored your command.
We are set apart as Christians to live radical lives. I barely scratched the surface of the things I talked about, I'm still learning what it all means as well but it has turned my world upside down. You see opportunities a whole lot different when you realize what God has told us to do and realize you need to be as close to Him as possible to be able to do these things. The most important thing to realize though is to love Jesus as much as you can then the miracles will follow.
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