Doing the Works of God

Acts 8:6 & 12 “When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said…. But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.”Recently I listened to a woman sing a beautiful song about worshipping the Lord in spirit and truth. As I was listening to the words she was singing, God began to speak to me heart about worshipping Him in spirit and truth. Suddenly I could see the centurion who had come to Jesus and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.” The Lord was greatly pleased with the centurion and his great faith. We read in Matthew 8:10 “When Jesus heard this, He marveled with admiration and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.” How many people can say they have astonished God?

The Lord began to speak to me about how pleasing it is to Him when people will take Him at His Word and have faith and believe like the centurion. He said that the centurion was worshipping Him in spirit through his attitude of trust and faith. Then the Lord began to minister to me about how pleasing it is to Him when people will not water down His Word or try to explain away or be afraid to talk about all who He is and what He desires to do. He ministered to me that when we declare to others His love, His will, His power, and His provision, then we are ministering to Him in spirit and truth.

God’s Word tells us to “declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.” When Jesus was on the earth, His fame and reputation grew. Do you think it grew because they were just talking about a man that taught people how to love others? Do you really think that’s what drew people out everywhere? There are always people talking about the need to treat others in love. They come from many perspectives – many teaching biblical principles and making money and fame from what they teach but giving glory to themselves and never pointing people to Jesus – the true and only author of love and power. What drew people out were the voices that said, “Come and see this man that gives sight to the blind.” “Come and see this man that raises people from their death bed.” “Come and see the man who healed my withered hand.” Come see the man who cast out devils.” Come and see the man who does miracles in the name of Almighty God.” This is what drew the crowds. What people saw were more than Words. They saw the demonstration of God’s love manifest in the miracles.

The reason we are called the body of Christ is because we are the Lord’s body in this earth. Jesus’ disciples made many mistakes as they learned to walk in the things He instructed them to do. The power of God did not just operate through His 12 disciples who later became His Apostles. His power was manifest in seventy others. Then through others like Paul & Philip who declared the “truth” and did mighty miracles. That is what we see in today’s Fresh Manna verses. “When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said…. But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.”

Jesus left us with a mind blowing truth we read in John 14:12. “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” We are to be the church in the earth. We are to worship Him in spirit (or in faith) and in truth. He is the miracle working Savior that is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. We are to have that centurion’s kind of faith and believe in that truth as we read God’s Word and it speaks hope and stirs our faith to believe in miracles. We are to have the kind the centurion’s kind of faith when we walk out the door each day to represent Jesus as His body in the earth.

A man walked up to me at a breakfast that I ministered at. He said that I had ministered to him and prayed for him two months earlier at the end of one of our Wednesday night services. He said when he came here to Minnesota (he was from another state,) he was in a wheelchair and had braces on his legs. When he reintroduced himself to me Saturday, he was a spectacle of health standing before me telling me that he was ready to return home. He said he had no medical treatment here. He was healed that Wednesday night and was now walking 4-6 miles a day because he had been healed. He wanted to let me know. I assure you I had nothing more to do with it than put my hands on his head and pray for him in faith asking God to heal him since Jesus had born his sicknesses and diseases at the cross.

Praise God. The Lord is the healer. We are all made of flesh and bone. We all struggle to live our lives upright before God. What we give to others in His name is not of ourselves. It is us being a vessel of the Lord acting in faith each time we attempt to touch others with God’s love and simply take God at His Word and do what He says. We worship the Lord in spirit and truth when we declare His love and power and touch others praying for them in Jesus name. Oh the wonder of getting our heads out of the way so that we may have childlike faith that is so pleasing to God!

In His Love,
Pastor Tim Burt
http://readfreshmanna.blogspot.com/