Doing Amazing Things

I had an epiphany the other night while simultaneously watching a new Hallmark Christmas movie and scrolling through some video ‘reels’ on my Facebook feed.  As I absentmindedly observed the two mediums, it dawned on me that there are so many things going on in the world… or at last represented on mainstream visual and audio programing… that seem to be NORMAL to most people, that are so ABNORMAL to me!

It seems like MY world… the one I grew up in as a child and through my teenage years, my relationship to my girlfriend who later became my wife, the way we raised and educated our kids, the recreational activities that we enjoyed and participated in, and our life that was in most aspects centered around our Christian beliefs, the Christian ministry we felt called into and the church families that we fellowshipped with… existed in a totally different universe than the one portrayed throughout public media today!

After I thought on it for a few moments though, I had to remind myself that according to the Biblical principles that I believe in… my world is the normal one… while the world’s “normal” is actually the “abnormal” phenomenon in today’s society!  In reality, the world outside of the Christian church should be looking at us as their model of living a most satisfying and exciting life!

People followed Jesus when He walked the earth because He was exciting to be around.  There was never a dull moment in His world!  Even the people who disliked Him and disagreed with His teachings attended His meeting just to see what phenomenal things He was going to do next! 

Luke 5:26 describes the results of such a meeting when Jesus healed a lame man… after the bed-ridden individual was lowered through a hole that was made in the roof of the house they were meeting in… because the crowd was too large to enter by the front door.  After the healed man got up and walked out, Luke wrote,

“And amazement gripped them all, and they were glorifying God, and they were filled with reverential awe, saying, ‘We have seen extraordinary things today!’" (EMTV)

The people who lived in the areas where Jesus travelled expected the unexpected when Jesus was around… and He didn’t disappoint them either!  According to Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries, the word translated “amazement” defines “a displacement of the mind.”  Thayer’s Greek Definitions says that it is “a throwing of the mind out of its normal state, an alienation of the mind” while E.W. Bullinger explains it simply as something that is “contrary to what is normally seen.”

For me today… the definition of “amazing,” when speaking of the things that Jesus did… and still does today… through His church on this earth (see: Hebrews 13:8, Mark 16:20, Ephesians 3:10), is when the supernatural power of God supersedes the laws that govern the natural realm.   

Over the weekend I started re-reading the book entitled “Ever Increasing Faith” that was first published in 1924 and written by Smith Wigglesworth, a world-renowned evangelist from England at the turn of the 20^th century.  He was an uneducated plumber who was filled with the Holy Spirit at the age of forty and then began a powerful healing ministry that eventually touched the world.  It was documented that over 20 people were raised from the dead through his ministry, with literally hundreds more healed from almost every kind of sickness known to man at the time.

The book is one of two that were put together as a compilation of his sermons and testimonies at the time and highlights the supernatural power of God that was aflame throughout his ministry.  He was actually arrested on numerous occasions in some of the different countries that he ministered in, for healing without a license but was usually released after the police agencies were flooded with documented reports of the actual healings that occurred.

And his ministry was not… and is still not unusual through the centuries up to and including today.  I have been a student of rivals across America, some reportedly starting in the 1700’s in the early settlements along the east coast, continuing on with huge revivals in major cities like Chicago in the 1800’s and the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angelos in 1906.  After those came the healing revival of the 40’s and 50’s followed by the more modern-day revivals with nationally known ministries like Oral Roberts, Aimee Semple McPherson, Kathryn Kuhlman (Piper got to attend one of her meetings in northern California), Billy Graham and dozens more.

The amazing moves of God have never waned over the annals of time and continue on today in countries across the globe.  But as I witnessed over the weekend, they do not get the publicity as they used to in the mainstream media.  These things that I… and many like me… consider to be the norm for our lives and consider to be a strong, healthy, happy and rewarding foundation in our lives, gets pushed aside by others attempting to push another agenda.

But… like I said before… revival is still happening around the world… and if we want to see it in the places where we each call home… then it is up to us to be the voice of God and His powerful Word right where we are today!   At the conclusion of the book of Mark, the writer (who was said to be writing for or from Peter’s notes) gives us not only our marching orders but also shows us how to physically accomplish it!  After Jesus was received up into heaven and seated at the right hand of God, the Apostles and other followers of Jesus went out and followed through on the instructions that He had given to them… and it was recorded for our benefit saying:

“And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the Word with (miraculous) signs following. Amen.” (KJV) 

So… What more can I say except, “Go Ye and do the same!”

Wow!  What a way to start off the New Year… and while you’re at it… Keep EXPECTING God’s best for your lives!