I have a friend who works at RadioShack and the other night, me and some other friends went to visit him for some pizza and conversation. I ended up having to leave in the middle to grab something from home for one of my friends. Once I returned, I went into RadioShack and only my friend who was working was still there, so I asked him where everyone else had gone, and he said they had went to buy him a water from the store just next door. Me and Him talked for about fifteen minutes before I realized that the other friends were still gone.
Now before I continue my story, it's important to realize the kind of person I am. Firstly, I am a skeptic. I have trouble believing things that I don't have evidence for. Secondly, I was raised as a Baptist and therefore am not in the least Charismatic--that is, I don't heal or speak in tongues, that sort of stuff. I have always admitted that those kind of miracles are possible, I just never had seen or felt it done.
When I realized that the other friends were still gone, I asked my friend why he thought they were taking so long. I figured it would be a somewhat pointless question. How was he supposed to know anyways? He replied "They are praying for someone". I thought he was crazy, there was no possible way for him to know that they were praying for someone. Ridiculous. I said "what?" and he said "at this moment, they are praying for someone". Being able to see the skepticism in my eyes, he prompted me to "go look". What did I do? I looked. I felt this would be an opportunity to prove him wrong, not only that, but there was something inside me saying "prepare to be amazed" but I just kept ignoring it. That is why I went. There was no way that right at the moment I had asked him what was taking them so long, they had been praying for someone and my RadioShack friend had known. I ran over to the store to test what was happening. As I looked around, I looked down several different aisles, not being able to find them. I kept expecting to see them just browsing about the store and then I could say "hah! you were wrong!" As I looked down the next aisle though, my reality shattered. There were my friends talking to some woman that I didn't know. I walked up and before my friends could say anything, the lady, while pointing at my friends, said "hey, they just prayed for and healed me". My jaw dropped and I didn't think I would ever get words out. I felt speechless.
"And he said to them, 'Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.'" -- Mark 16:15-18
The Bible says that the signs in this verse will accompany those who believe. Do you believe? Than you have the power to do these signs. It's right there in the Bible. Jesus said that he gave us the power to do them; those who believe. Not just the disciples, not just the people from back then. But believers in Christ today. Do we not serve the same God now that the disciples did than? Our faith is small, smaller than a mustard seed.
Not only are we called to preach, teach, and disciple, but we are called to heal and cast our demons. Not for our own sake, but for the sake of God's glory and Jesus' kingdom. Not so that we look cool, but so that people realize the power of God. People will see signs, and wonder how? They will see our love, and wonder why? They will see our faith, and say wow! They will feel God and proclaim YES!
2 comments:
pics or it didn't happen
That's exactly what I would say to myself had I not been there. Unfortunately, there aren't any pictures, no one was really expecting to minister to anyone. It just kind of happened.
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