The Spirit of God dwelling in us gives life to our mortal bodies (Romans 8:11), and we call on this life to arise and strengthen us. This power dwelling in us was sufficient to raise Christ from the dead! Envision the Holy Spirit within you moving into every part of your body, infusing you with His power to overcome every sickness and infirmity!
Many believers are asking God to do what He already told THEM to do. “Lord, send Your Spirit! Lord, send your angels to save my family! Lord, send…” But Jesus told us in the gospels, “As I have been sent so I send YOU….Go into all the world and preach the gospel” (John 20:21; Mark 16:15 author’s emphasis).
When you go outside the church walls with a clear proclamation of the gospel, the devil’s not going to roll over and say, “Welcome! Have your way!” But we know that the God we serve is bigger, He is far greater, He is mighty, and HE IS ALIVE IN US!
When Jesus was training His followers He sent them out to the villages, towns and cities, telling them to take no extra clothing, money or food. Go and preach the kingdom of God and heal the sick, demonstrating God’s plan and God’s love (Luke 10:1-9, author’s paraphrase). They obeyed, and discovered that God could be trusted to take care of them. I believe that when we practice His simple “road rules” in our own lives, we will always see His hand of provision!
The most dangerous time is to deal with a beehive is when the bees have stopped producing honey and the hive is full. Bees with no work to do become agitated and begin to look at the beekeeper and each other as enemies, so they begin to sting. The same thing happens in the church when it loses the larger purpose of reaching out to others. They begin an inward-spiraling cycle of backbiting, scorn, and criticism that can cause destruction to the church and the very people they are called to work with!
Scripture tells us in Luke 9:1-2 that “he called his twelve disciples together and he gave them power and authority over all devils and to cure diseases. And he sent them to preach the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick.” That power and authority was never withdrawn! What an opportunity each one of us has been given!
God can only go where our feet take Him. He can only touch the people we touch. He sees through our eyes and speaks through our mouths. His words are all-powerful, but for that power to be released they must be spoken through our lips of faith!
If we could see people through God’s eyes then we would win the world, but instead we see them through our own eyes, labeling them with a big sign that says “Sinner.” Have you ever asked how much that “sinner” is worth? How much God paid for them? It was the price of His Son. How much are you and I worth? The same. The difference is, they don’t know it. When we truly understand this, we will be motivated to tell them.
God gave each of us an important job, regardless of whether you are a janitor or a Fortune 500 executive. He gave the stay-at-home mom and the preacher the same honor of using His name to go to the world!
God created us for dignity and with a purpose! He created us to know His love and goodness through our relationship with Him, and to take that love and goodness out into the world with us and share it with others. How do we do that? “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give”! (Matthew 10:8)
