Gifts of the Spirit Series: Miraculous Powers,Ep 2-49
Welcome Back! I am your host Dawn Simmons and in this episode of Conquering Our Unseen Enemies we are continuing our discussion of the spiritual gifts and in this episode we are discussing miraculous powers. This is the 9th gift, our last gift to discuss and the last episode of 2023. What a great topic to close out the 2023 and begin 2024 with. All these gifts are alive and active in 2024, just as they were in 34!
As always, we want to start off by laying the biblical foundation. This foundation can be found in 1 Corinthians which summarizes all of the gifts. Let’s start there, and then we will dig in and look at what this gift looks like in operation.
1 Corinthians 12:4-11.
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,[a] and to still another the interpretation of tongues.[b] 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
To summarize what Paul shared, the 9 Spiritual Gifts are: wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, healings, miraculous powers, prophecy, discerning of spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues.
The gifts can be categorized by what they provide to the receiver. The Holy Spirit is the giver of the gift and we, Holy Spirit filled believers, are the receivers of the gifts.
· Gifts we use out of the Power we have from the Holy Spirit are: faith, healings, miraculous powers
· Gifts we have where the Holy Spirit uses us in Revelation are: wisdom, word of knowledge, discerning of spirits
· Gifts where the Holy Spirit uses us and are Spoken are: prophecy, tongues, interpretation of tongues
One of the misconceptions I want to clear up is we are truly speaking of gifts of the Holy Spirit. Specifically, an action or a behavior that produces an outcome as a result of the Holy Spirit’s supernatural activity provided to us in a gift.
Acts 8:26, “Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian[a] eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
“How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.”
Verse 34, “The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.”
Azotus, was a Philistine town about 18 miles northeast of Gaza. The modern town of Ashdod in Israel sits there now. Its about halfway between Gaza and Tel Aviv. Philip was transported there in that moment. This may be hard for you to believe, but this is what the Holy Spirit chose to do with Philip to get him where He needed Philip to be at the moment He needed Philip to be there. In our own power, we are limited to time and space constraints, but the Holy Spirit is not and when He wants to use us, we only have the limitations He gives us.
This next one either gets overlooked a lot or people aren’t reading 2 Kings a lot, I don’t know which. I personally find it fascinating. We’ve talked about Elisha before. He was a prophet of God with an amazing anointing. He asked for a double portion of Elijah’s anointing, and he received it.
2 Kings 13:20, “Elisha died and was buried.
Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring. Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.”
Can you imagine? Even having passed, the power of his anointing, the power of God was so strong and was contained in his body that this man was brought back to life. I know there are huge advantages to living now, medicine and the advancements we have, but don’t you sometimes feel like you missed out on some powerful events? Ok, let’s keep going.
We know the gospels have recorded 37 miracles for us that Jesus performed in his ministry. Most people don’t question that, and then even more people will likely tell you that the time of miracles has passed or it isn’t necessary. When I hear people who say “we have the Bible, we don’t need the working of any of the Spiritual Gifts” all I can do is shake my head. You can’t argue with that limited mindset. They will know the truth one day, but in the meantime, I can at least make sure I tell as many people as I possibly can that the Holy Spirit is here. The Holy Spirit is the same Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the same God Elisha worshipped. This is the same God that parted the Red Sea, or whatever sea it was, that doesn’t really matter. God hasn’t changed, we have. God’s power hasn’t diminished, we just stopped pursuing Him and instead look to do everything in our own power. Personally, I want to go back to the way it was. I want the Lord to use me in what He wants to accomplish and if what He wants to accomplish is done through the workings of a miracle, then I am fully on board. If the Lord wants to regrow a limb, I’ll be His hands in that, I will use my faith for that. Will you? If the Lord needs a car lifted off of someone trapped from an accident, I’ll grab some gloves, let’s go. If the Lord wants to transport me to some remote jungle to share His word, then I’ll get some bug spray and let’s go. Maybe some netting at least. Years ago I heard a story, I wish I had kept the details, it was a testimony from a man who lived in Northern Europe, maybe Norway or Finland, somewhere like that. He was in a bad situation, can’t recall what that was about but He cried out to the Lord for something and then all of a sudden a man appeared, a man smiling. He said it was an older man, and he looked to be from a Latin American country. This man gave him something, smiling but not speaking. He described the man as seeming to be elated to be there. Then suddenly the man disappeared. He understood that to be the man was transported in the Spirit to help him when he cried out. Ever since I heard that, I told the Lord I would be willing, but He hasn’t taken me up on my offer just yet.
Let’s take a look at an example Jesus gives us that does happen a lot. It’s happened to me and I know several people who have told me their stories of having been a recipient of this miracle. Let’s take a visit to a little village called Tagbha. I was there in February. It is off the coast of the Sea of Galilee, the northern part of Galilee, the northwest corner almost. The Sea of Galilee is kinda pear shaped but with the bottom of the pear the top of the Sea of Galilee, so stem down.
Matthew 14:15 is where we find Jesus about to perform a miracle. He just got the news that John the Baptist was beheaded.
“When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”
Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
“We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.
“Bring them here to me,” he said. 19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.”
This miracle of multiplication is more common today than most people realize or give the Lord credit for being a recipient of. Heidi Baker has seen this happen in her ministry in Mozambique with food that multiplied, along with many other miracles.
God still moves in miracles. So why does it happen for some people and not others? If you are willing to believe with me that miracles can still happen, then isn’t the next natural question how can you be a part of this? What is it about the people or circumstances of today that are allowing these miracles to occur?
First of all, all of the people I personally know and if you look at the public ones there is a commonality. Their heart is positioned for the Lord. They have a need, they voice that need, and they present it to the Lord. Some are more urgent than others, but He is not a respecter of persons, a need is a need. So the heart has to be in the right place.
Second, all of these people also had a true relationship with the Lord. They spent time with Him.
Third, all of these people submitted their request to Him in faith. They surrendered their need to Him.
Fourth, when He provided, no one took credit for this in their own power. They all acknowledged it was by the hand of God.
Fifth, all of these people were humble before during and after. When He provides in this way it can be a humbling experience.
Sixth, these people exhibited a spirit of thankfulness even as they made the request. They had no idea what was going to happen, but they were thankful no matter what.
While the Lord may reserve some miracles to be done with people He has anointed, the miracle of multiplication I have seen happen for people who exhibited the 6 traits we just discussed combined with a level of faith that rests in Him. Can you have a need and after you presented it to Him, rest in Him?
Nothing is stopping us from seeing the same miracles today that first century Christians witnessed except our own minds. If we position our hearts with His and we pursue Him, miracles can happen anywhere at anytime.
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I hope this has been time that inspires you to want to learn to grow in your relationship with the Lord and build your desire to partner with Him at a supernatural level. We want to grow in Him and learn how to work with Him to build the Kingdom and Conquer Our Unseen Enemies. The more we grow the more our life will change, and you can help change the lives of anyone around you who is willing.
If you know anyone who might benefit from this, please share.
As always, let’s discuss our Top Show points:
· Discussed the Gift of Miraculous Powers. This gift is still alive today.
· 1 Corinthians 12:4-11.
· To summarize what Paul shared, the 9 Spiritual Gifts are: wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, healings, miraculous powers, prophecy, discerning of spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues.
· There are Power Gifts, Revelation Gifts and Spoken Gifts
· Acts 8:26, Philip gave the gospel to the Ethiopian Eunich then was transported by the Holy Spirit to Azotus
· 2 Kings 13:20, dead man came back to life after being thrown into Elisha’s tomb and touched his body.
· The Holy Spirit is the same Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the same God Elisha worshipped. This is the same God that parted the Red Sea. God hasn’t changed, we have.
· God’s power hasn’t diminished, we just stopped pursuing Him and instead look to do everything in our own power.
· Story of a man from Latin America being transported to a man in Europe in a time of need.
· Matthew 14:15, multiplication of the fish and the loaves of bread
· Heidi Baker has seen this happen in her ministry in Mozambique, along with many other miracles.
· Why does it happen for some people and not others? If you are willing to believe with me that miracles can still happen, then isn’t the next natural question how can you be a part of this? What is it about the people or circumstances of today that are allowing these miracles to occur?
· 6 common traits of those who receive miracles today:
o First Their heart is positioned for the Lord. They have a need, they voice that need, and they present it to the Lord.
o Second, all of these people also had a true relationship with the Lord, spending time with Him.
o Third, all of these people submitted their request to him and surrendered their need in faith.
o Fourth, when He provided, all acknowledged it was by the hand of God.
o Fifth, all of these people were humble before during and after.
o Sixth, these people exhibited a spirit of thankfulness even as they made the request, they were thankful no matter what.
· While the Lord may reserve some miracles to be done with people He has anointed, a miracle of multiplication combined with faith can produce a miraculous outcome
· If we position our hearts with His and we pursue Him, miracles can happen anywhere at anytime.
We encourage you:
· To have an active Bible reading plan, it will be helpful in gaining wisdom and understanding and it is required for the gift of spiritual discernment
· If you want to learn more about how to Hear God's Voice, visit our website, lovingconversationssalo.com. My book, Loving Conversations: How to Pray and Hear God's Voice has helped so many people in their relationship with the Lord, check out the testimonials. There is also a companion Study Guide and two devotionals out based on the Loving Conversations Book. Those are available on the website www.lovingconversationssalo.com.
· Follow us in Instagram, @conqueringourunseenenemies
I have enjoyed our time this week and look forward to spending time with you again next week!