Matthew 10:7
“Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.”
Luke 10:19
“I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.”
John 14:12
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
John 1:12
Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.
Because I have received and believe in Jesus, He gave me the gift of becoming God’s child. As God’s child, I have been given the Holy Spirit and authority. Not just authority but the SAME authority Jesus has. Jesus raised people from the dead, and as a believer, I have the ability through Christ to do greater things than that.
Why would we who are selfish, sinful and prideful be given the ability through the Holy Spirit to do greater things than someone who is perfectly blameless and awesomely holy?
We don’t deserve this gift but we are given it.
Do we use it? Do we walk in the power of Jesus Christ… healing the sick and raising the dead? I know I haven’t been. Even knowing, or trying to convince myself, that I have this authority scares me a little bit.
When we got to Ireland, a man named Mark Marks (who is in charge of a ministry called healing on the streets) spent about 7 hours teaching us about the power we possess as believers. Not only did he teach us, he showed us what it looked like and how to use it. He prayed for a number of people on our squad over different issues and we saw miracles happen. There were people who had back problems because one of their legs was longer than the other and we saw their leg grow to meet the other in perfect symmetry. This happened right in front of me, I saw it with my own eyes and I’m still full of doubt. I’m afraid to be bold and believe I can do it myself.
Regardless of my lack of faith and the doubts I hold against myself and I apparently against the God who created the universe, I saw how much God loves His children. I saw how He wants to give us good gifts and He wants to make us whole. He cares about the little things and we aren’t selfish for asking him to heal us. God is anxiously waiting the moment when his beloved child looks up at Him and says, “Daddy, will you fix this?” He is also waiting for us to trust Him to the point where we have no doubts of His power; to trust Him enough to be able to speak words of healing over someone and know that He will do it.
I’m still trying to comprehend just how deep God’s love is for me – for every person – and the more I try the more I realize I will never know. It is too much and too crazy for me to understand and that fact makes me so incredibly happy. God deserves every part of me and after all the love He has poured over me, I don’t want to hold back… not one bit.
