"You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has
promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on
high." (Luke 24:48-49, NIV2)
This promise was given to all believers, as confirmed in Acts 2:1-4, and this
same promise is given to anyone who welcome's God's Holy Spirit into their
lives. After all, we are His witnesses, as He has vividly shown His abundant
love towards each one of us.
Sadly, many have no clue about God's Holy Spirit. This fulfills what Jesus said:
"The Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him
nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you."
(John 14:17, NIV2)
Only through the Holy Spirit do we have power, "power from on high", and this
power is activated through faith. Now, what kind of power can we expect? "By the
power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God." (Rom
15:19a, NIV2)
By ourselves, we have no power at all. It is all provided solely by God's Holy
Spirit to anyone who welcomes Him into their lives. Living in the supernatural
with our focus on our Heavenly Father will create miracles from the impossible.
Let me illustrate this with what happened to my cousin. For a long time, she
rejected God. She didn't believe in Him and was amused by believers when they
told her about God. For years I prayed that she would be led to believe in God,
and for years, she remained aloof.
Then one day, she came face to face with death. She was walking her friend's dog
in a park nearby, and out of nowhere someone hit her hard on the face. She fell
and almost lost consciousness. When she fell she broke one rib and bruised
several others. She tried to cling to her purse, but her aggressor was ruthless,
and she had no choice but to let him take it away. She limped back to her
apartment, beaten up and confused.
As a result of her assault, she had a persistent headache that kept her awake at
nights, even though she took sleeping pills. This was my opportunity for her to
experience our Heavenly Father fully. With her permission, I prayed that this
incessant headache would disappear that same day.
The next day she told me that her headache was completely gone. This was her
first experience that our Father loved her.
I kept praying for her. The next week she told me her broken and bruised ribs
were hurting very badly.
There again we prayed, and God intervened. Her ribs began to heal at an
excellerated pace. Generally, it takes 6 months or more for rib injuries to
heal; but within 10 days, most of her pain was gone. In her own words she
confessed that Heaven must have intervened. She could finally breathe normally.
She was also having heart pallipations, and her doctor told her she had heart
anomalies. He was certain she would have to wear a pacemaker. She had to undergo
numerous tests. There again our Father came through: All tests concluded her
heart was fine. It was just anxiety from her attack.
As of now, she still has some hyperventilation, especially when it is dark, a
reminder of the assault; but even that, our Father will heal. She has started to
pray to our heavenly Father and has become quite fond of Him. After all, she has
seen with her own eyes His loving power, and she is assured that He is crazy
about her.
Healing is a tool used by God to lead people to accept Him fully: "Yet the news
about him (Jesus) spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him
and to be healed of their sicknesses." (Luke 5:15, NIV2)
We can preach all we want, but experiencing our Father fully has a bigger impact
on people than our words. All we have to do is follow His lead: "Very truly I
tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his
Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does." (John 5:19b,
NIV2)
What would we do if someone tells us, "I have terrible back pain!" Would we
commiserate with him? Or pray with confidence that our Father will come through?
It's our choice to be a witness or not.
Rob Chaffart
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
everyone to look towards Jesus as the source of all the solutions to our
problems. It contains a daily inspirational story, a Bible verse and encouraging
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The Nugget: Published three times a week, this newsletter features inspirational devotionals and mini-sermons dedicated to drawing mankind closer to each other and to Christ.