Christianity truly is about the relationship with Jesus Christ. I mean prophecy seems really amazing right? Casting out demons and working wonders sounds like some serious power of God right? Now Matthew 7:21-23 says there will people who do such things in Jesus’s name. The reason these things come about is because of the sheer POWER of Jesus’s name. It has all authority! Still, God will say to some: “and then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ That’s so crazy that people will have done all these incredibly powerful things in Jesus’s name, but they will not enter into the kingdom because their hearts are in the wrong place. There was this man named Simon who was a sorcerer. He saw that when the apostles’ laid hands on people they received the Holy Spirit. He offered them money and said “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” CRAZY! This man saw the power of God and WANTED it, but his motives were totally off! It wasn’t a deep personal relationship with God he sought, it was the power, the prestige, and the authority the apostles had that he coveted. Speaking the name of Jesus will make things happen just because of the power in His name, but we need to be careful. Because there will be people who speak the name of Jesus, and work many powerful things, but everything is based off self-image and self-gain NOT a hungering for Christ. As Christians (speaking to myself here) why are we really following Jesus? Is it because we are scared of going to hell? Is it because we grew up in a christian home and it’s our “duty” to follow Him? Is it because we are attracted to the power of God and the attention it can bring? Or is it because we are deeply, madly in love with Jesus and want to know Him because He’s our Father?! I’m so broken because I realize I spent so many years of my life “following” Jesus, but my heart was so in the wrong place. Duty, desiring the power, fear of Hell, man I’ve been in all three of those places and still have to fight daily to keep my heart in check. Our hearts are deceitful above all things and we need to keep close watch over our lives and especially our MOTIVES. Dear Lord Jesus, create in us a burning for you, a hungering for you, an unquenchable thirst for you! It’s not that working miracles and prophesying in Jesus’s name aren’t good things (they’re REALLY GOOD THINGS and SHOULD be desired! If you desire them that’s not wrong or abnormal because the bible says we should want them), the only problem is where are our hearts at. We shouldn’t want or need these things as confirmation of God’s love for us, or PROOF of His power or presence. If people are basing their relationships with God because they saw someone get healed or heard some prophecies or saw some miracles, they’re in a precarious position. Because an anti-Christ is going to come and work WONDERS! And people are going to be amazed and the bible says he will even try to deceive the elect of Christ! The point is our relationship with God should be grounded in LOVE and FAITH. Even if we’ve never seen any of His powers displayed. The person who has seen nothing and still believes, that person has some serious faith! John 20:29 “because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Now if prophecy and miracles come as a result of our deep love for God and we desire those gifts to make His NAME glorified that’s a wonderful and GOOD thing. If our hearts are there, then things are going great! “Seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” If our seeking comes from love for Jesus and a desire to glorify His name, all will go well. Be encouraged Christians God is on your side! Desire Him above ALL else, and don’t worry about the miracles, because when you draw near to God, He promises He will draw near to you.
Posted on: Sun, 27 Oct 2013 06:02:43 +0000
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