Spiritual Gifts ~ what the bible says about Miracles

It is possible to have false signs and wonders, healings and miracles by false spirits, to lead people astray, away from God. It is also possible to have enough hype and charisma to convince someone that they have been healed. What happens when they get home though, is that all the excitement is gone and the pain is back.

  One of my favorite interviews I read was one where they interviewed Kathryn Kuhlman about healings that happened when she was preaching Jesus to the people. The most amazing thing to me is that she didn’t even know a person had gotten healed while she was talking about Jesus and His forgiveness, but the person came up to her and said, “I’ve been healed!”

  Kathryn Kuhlman said to the person, can you prove you were ever sick to begin with? Will you go to a doctor you don’t know and prove you’ve been healed? Because, she said, if this is Jesus it will stand the test. The person did do all that, and was proven to be healed. and many other people were healed later as she kept preaching the message of Jesus, forgiveness, and God’s power in the Holy Spirit. There were many documented cases of miraculous healings.

  Jesus still heals people, He is alive and I believe we will begin to see more and more miracles, if we preach the Word, as the Spirit gives us words to speak. If it is the Holy Spirit Of God, Jesus will be glorified, not the person preaching. Lord as You stretch forth Your hand to heal, and confirm the Word with signs following, may we all remember we are just your vessels.

The gospels are full of examples of Jesus healing people, Luke wrote:
And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:  But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.     John 20:30-31

Jesus also heals people through His followers Hands when they are walking in His Spirit. Here are some examples from the bible:

1) Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.  Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.  Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.  Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.  And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.  And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.  But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.  For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;  To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;  To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:  But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.      1 Cor 12:1-11

2) And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.  He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.  And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;  They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.    Mark 16:15-18

3) And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.    Acts 19:11-12

4) But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning him to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up.  And he gave her his hand, and lifted her up, and when he had called the saints and widows, presented her alive. Acts 9:40-41

5) And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed.  But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren.  Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands.            Acts 14:1-3

I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,  With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;  Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;  One Lord, one faith, one baptism,  One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.  But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.  Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.   Ephesians 4:1-8

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:     Eph 4:11-13

There are many examples of miraculous healings in the bible, I listed these that you may know that Jesus still does miracles. I have witnessed several miracles in my walk with Jesus, He is still able and willing. There are many other countries where the pure gospel of Christ Jesus is being preached that are experiencing a lot of signs, wonders, and miracles of healing, I have seen miracles here as well. There is a hunger for the miraculous here in the states as well, but I do not fully know why there are so few.

It could be people are seeking signs:

Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.  But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:    Matt 12:38-39

perhaps we are too offended in Him:

And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house. And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.    Matt 13:57-58

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.    John 13:20

It could be our words aren’t His Words and therefore not worth confirming:
So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.  And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.     Mark 16:19-20

It could also be that when we send a missionary to another country and he goes in the power of Jesus, he does so for nothing in return. He is paid by the church that sent him, not the people he is trying to reach. I have been homebound because of a knee problem for a few weeks now and I have spent some time watching what we call  “televangelists”. I was really into one program where the man was teaching some awesome things about Jesus’ power to heal and listened for about 15 minutes. Then the camera panned away to a message, “if you want to enjoy the rest of this teaching by pastor ___  you can get the whole sermon on dvd for only $79, you can make 3 payments of only blah blah blah”.

Can you imagine if Jesus was in the middle of the sermon on the mount and suddenly a disciple stood up and said, “hey folks we have to go to Capernium now, but for only 79 denarius you can get the rest of the sermon on the mount by mail, if you don’t have 79 denarius we accept donkeys or sheep!”

One night I was unable to sleep and at about 3am I watched another fellow on the same channel that gave a really awesome teaching on another topic in the bible, at the end of his program he said that if anyone wanted a copy of his teaching he would gladly send it to them for $4 to cover the cost of the tape, and that if you couldn’t afford it he would send it for free. Can you see a difference there?

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.     1 Cor 2:12

“freely given”