In the third chapter of Acts, after Peter and John had healed a crippled beggar at the gate leading into the temple, a number of onlookers stood in amazement at the sight. They had known the man for years, and the healing was undeniable. When the people questioned the disciples about it, Peter said to them, “Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we have made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus” (3:12-13).
When God decides to display his power in the presence of unbelievers, he does it for a reason. The intent is to glorify Jesus, to draw people to himself, to give us a small glimpse of what heaven is going to be like. He wants to demonstrate the amazing possibilities that lie ahead for those who choose to serve him. He’s displaying his complete and encompassing authority over the natural world and when he chooses to do that, it isn’t our place to question or manipulate the situation. We are to accept it and give him the recognition and praise he deserves.
Sadly, I’ve found more resistance to God’s supernatural power from within the body of Christ than from outside of it. Many believers are skeptical because they have not seen God working such miracles in their own lives and they doubt that he does so in the lives of others.
This used to worry me a lot, but now I choose to just push forward, to continue ministering and preaching and moving in God’s Spirit. If others seek God’s power and Spirit, he will reveal it to them.
Purpose in your heart that you will not miss out on the joy and power that Christ can bring into your life. Open up and accept it!
Nicky Cruz, internationally known evangelist and prolific author, turned to Jesus Christ from a life of violence and crime after meeting David Wilkerson in New York City in 1958. The story of his dramatic conversion was told first in The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson and then later in his own best-selling book Run, Baby, Run.