Are miracles still for today?
In a recent message, Bill Johnson discussed the power and importance of miracles in the life of a believer. He says that miracles, signs and wonders are meant to follow the believer as they walk out the Christian life. He says that while we could just sit around and wait for the Second Coming of the Son of God, we are mandated to go and fulfill the Great Commission.
“We could sit in a pew and wait for the rapture,” Johnson says. “He gave us power and authority to deal with the works of the devil. He gave us power and authority to silence that illegal voice that torments people with lies and deceptions. And He’s given us the great privilege to walk in the anointing that Jesus Himself walked in. It’s a miracle mandate.”
He further notes that we don’t have the luxury to change the assignment God has given us. Instead, we must do the work God has called us to so that miracles may abound.
“I may stink at what God’s called me to do, but I don’t have the luxury of changing what He’s said to do just because I don’t do it well,” Johnson says.
Instead of learning how to walk in the calling God has given us, many people run and hide to what is comfortable and what they excel at. However, this isn’t typically the way God has called us to work. Instead, He places us in uncomfortable situations to grow us and expand His kingdom here on earth. He does not call the qualified, but chooses those He knows He can use.
However, doing miracles alone does not guarantee salvation in Christ. Citing Matthew 7, Johnson says it is only by having a relationship and being obedient to God that we will enter into heaven.
“He said, ‘just because you call me Lord it has to be demonstrated by your obedience,’” Johnson says. “Obedience seals what was revealed in Scripture.”
Part of that obedience, Johnson says, is healing the sick and casting out demons.
“Don’t say ‘He’s my Lord’ and yet you don’t pray for the sick,” Johnson says. “Jesus didn’t give us the Spirit of the resurrected Christ so that we could sit down and wait for someone else to do something. He put the Spirit of Resurrection in us because He’s looking for us to confront death, loss [and] destruction.”
Breaking News. Spirit-Filled Stories. Subscribe to Charisma on YouTube now!
Johnson also says that we are caught up in a time when Christians give excuses as to why they don’t pray for healing. However, that is opposite from God’s desire to see people restored back to health. It is by His stripes that we are healed, and that healing is still for people today.
While many Christians have not prayed over the sick or commanded for demons to leave, this does not mean that they cannot start now. If God has given you breath in your lungs, He still has a purpose and a plan for you. Part of that plan is to make Him known by sharing and demonstrating the power of the gospel.
“It just comes down to obedience,” Johnson says.
The question now remains: Are you obedient to what God has called you to do?
Join Charisma Magazine Online to follow everything the Holy Spirit is doing around the world!
Abby Trivett is a marketing copywriter and coordinator for Charisma Media.
Stephen Strang