Mankind has an innermost desire for miracles. You only have to look at Hollywood’s action-oriented movies to see what draws people to the theatre. Super heroes imitate the miraculous in scene after scene. Movie after movie depicts the hero winning against all odds and defying death at the hands of the villain. Man is intrigued by any event which defies his knowledge and understanding… miracles fall into this category. Peter spoke by THE SPIRIT in Acts chapter 2:
22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—
23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death;
24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.”
Throughout the Gospels, Jesus performed many miracles which were meant to confirm FATHER’S Word which He spoke to those who would have ears to hear. Lack of faith and unbelief were the deterrents to the effectiveness of miracles. The crowds were drawn to His message because of The Word being confirmed by signs and wonders, or miracles. Without the confirming miracles, FATHER’S Word would have been viewed as another philosophy. The word “attested” means to bear witness to; certify; declare to be correct, true, or genuine; declare the truth of, thus FATHER confirmed HIS Word spoken through HIS Son for all the world to be put on notice.
Jesus spoke in Mark chapter 16:
15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;
18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.
20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.
As maturing Sons and Daughters of Our Heavenly Father, we should come to expect the same results as we preach The Word to the world. Since Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever, we should not lower our expectations but we should expect FATHER to attest HIS Word spoken through us in the same manner as Our Elder Brother. Isn’t this going to increase the Kingdom in a dramatic manner thus causing it to spread throughout the earth? Won’t people flock to meetings when they hear about the miraculous occurring in their locale? When the Azusa Street revival occurred in the early 20th century, people from all over the world traveled to Los Angeles to receive the baptism of The Holy Spirit. From there it spread to various countries. Though the movement started in Topeka, Kansas, it gained notoriety once the miraculous was to be found in L.A. People desired the miraculous to operate in their lives then and it is no different now.
FATHER is willing to confirm HIS Word with accompanying signs so let us raise our expectations to HIS level as we go forth and speak HIS Word to those in need. Jesus expected FATHER to confirm HIS Word and so should we.