Do you know you have been given the same glory Jesus had when he was here? Why was this given to us? Do you know what this really means? In this book I am reading the author said something that really made me think. He used James 1:22 which says, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” He used this scripture in the context of the work we as Christians should be doing. It caught my attention, I said WOW; I never looked at this particular scripture in this light. Whenever I think about this scripture of being doers and not just hearers I always saw it as keeping the commandments of God, to show love, to put off the works of the flesh, to put on the whole armor of God, etc., etc. This made me realize that what I have been speaking about for years, what I been saying the church is not doing enough of has caused many believers to become hearers of the word and not doers and therefore they are deceiving themselves. Many Christians have been deceived into believing that this is all they are supposed to do. Go to church, live the best they can, do charitable work and give.
This is important because the majority of Christians believe what I mentioned above is all we are called to do. NOT SO. Jesus commanded us to go forth and heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, and cast out devils, we should be operating in the prophetic and whatever area God has given us to operate in; he said freely ye received, freely we should give. Jesus said we would receive power when we receive the Holy Spirit. He said we have the same power to do the things he did when he was here on earth; this is for everyone who is truly a disciple of Jesus Christ. Not just for people who are in a position of authority, however many people do not believe this. They are not being taught this truth, that we have the same glory Jesus had. We must study the word of God for ourselves.
We must understand that it was the spirit that dwelled within Jesus that did the works, and it is the spirit of God; the Father that dwells within us that will do the work. We only have to be willing vessels. St. John 14:10-14, “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works…Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” We need to understand that it takes more than preaching to reach people; we must go forth with demonstration of the power of God so the world will see.
Jesus said in St. John 15:22-23, “If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin. He that hateth me hateth my Father also. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.” If Jesus had not come and the people had not seen the mighty miracles the people would not have been guilty of the sin of rejecting him, they would still have a cloke for their sins. After all of the mighty works Jesus did among the people, many still rejected him, especially the religious elite. When we preach the gospel and demonstrate the power of God, it becomes difficult for people to say that he does not exist and it takes away their excuses. Acts 17:30 says, “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent.”
Jesus said in St. John 17:21-26 that we should be one even as he and the Father are one so that the WORLD WILL SEE that the Father sent him. He also said HE HAS GIVEN US the SAME GLORY he had with the Father so that the WORLD MAY SEE that the Father sent him. How would the world know the Father sent him? Through the words he spoke and the mighty miracles he performed. The same way the world will know today that God, the Father has sent us, through the words we speak and the mighty miracles he performs through us. The Father loves us so much, but everything he does through us he does it so that he will get the glory, so that the name of Jesus will be magnified among the people, not our name.
How will the world know that God is real and that his power does exist if CHRISTIANS do not demonstrate the power? Luke 9:6 says, “And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where.” This is what the early church did; this is what the Apostle Paul and the rest of the apostles did. Jesus said in Luke 10:8-9, “And into whatsoever city ye enter…heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.” God always confirms his word. This is what it says in Mark 16:20, the disciples went forth and preached the word everywhere and God WORKED WITH THEM confirming the word with signs following. Did you hear that? The Lord, the Spirit of the living God worked with the disciples confirming the word with signs. They didn’t just preach the word; they demonstrated the power of the living God. However we must want the manifestation, we have to hunger after it, and we have to desire it. Therefore when James said to be doers of the word and not hears only, he was saying if we don’t walk in the power and authority of God the same way Jesus did, we then become hearers only and we are deceiving ourselves. That’s heavy. James 1:23-25, “For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”
This should make each of us begin to search ourselves. We should be praying right now, Lord help me to walk in your power and authority, show me how I can go forth and demonstrate your power so that people will see you.
Nadine Richmond prophetess with The Church Readiness Ministries