LESSONS FROM 70 YEARS OF MINISTRY: ‘WHAT I HAVE RECEIVED I PASSED ON TO YOU AS OF FIRST IMPORTANCE.’ (PART 4) AVAILABLE ON ITUNES, SPOTIFY, GOOGLE PODCASTS, YOUTUBE.
God wants to fill you with fire, because He changes men: He will give you authority to work miracles, signs and wonders. God is going to demonstrate His presence and work miracles together in co-operation with you. He will take what is in your hand and use it as the demonstration of His Power.
God wants to use you personally and I want to challenge you with this thought. When God seeks men today, He does not look for the ones we would look for.
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.” So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” (Exodus 3:1-4, NKJV)
In Exodus 3, the Angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in a flame of fire in the middle of the bush. Moses was not expecting to meet with God, and he did not see Him. He simply saw a bush on fire. If you were walking along the street, and you saw a tree on fire, you would go and look. But when Moses looked, it was not normal. The fire was in the tree, but the tree was not burnt! It was the evidence of the presence of God like burning fire.
People today say, ‘I cannot see God. Where is He?’ But whenever I preach the Gospel I say, ‘I will prove to you that God is here, because God will work miracles.’ Unusual things like this burning bush!
God spoke to Moses out of that fire: ‘I have seen the affliction of My people which are in Egypt, I’ve heard their cry. I know their sorrows.’ So many people do not understand who God is. He is not just a great being in Heaven. If unbelieving people try to draw pictures of God, often they liken Him to an old man with a beard. But God is not just in Heaven; He is everywhere.
Now, how did Moses know that he was talking with God? He saw a burning tree. When I preach the Gospel, you will not see a burning tree, but you will see the power of God! God said to Moses, ‘I have heard your prayers, I’ve heard your cry.’ But you say, ‘I don’t know how to pray’. God not only hears but sees the cries of your heart. God knows your pain; God knows your weakness. God hears the person who is crippled with arthritis; the murderer in prison; the drug addict. God does not condemn, He hears their cry. He wants to answer with a fiery demonstration.
A Better Way: ‘Beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation’ (Hebrews 6:9, NKJV)
God says to the sinner, ‘I have heard your cry; I have a better life for you. I’ve got a better way for you - if you will repent and be converted.’
So the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” (Exodus 4:2, NKJV)
God asked Moses: ‘What is in your hand?’ Oh, that’s just my wooden stick which I broke from a tree. I cut it and shaped it myself and I use it to defend the sheep from the wild animals.’ Then God said to Moses, ‘Throw your stick on the ground.’ Immediately that stick was changed into a poisonous snake, coming straight for him, and he ran away as fast as he could!
This snake was a reality not a picture. God understands the reality in your life. Moses was afraid and ran away from it. If there was a snake in front of me, I would run away too. But God said to Moses, ‘Don’t be afraid of the snake. Go and pick it up by its tail!’ If you know anything about snakes, that’s dangerous, because if you pick it up by its tail, it will swing round and bite you. If you’re going to get it, take its head. But God said to take its tail. Why? Because God is dealing with this thing, not Moses. So Moses picked up the snake by its tail and the moment he touched it, it was no longer a snake; it was a stick again! Now Moses began to understand.
“I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20, NKJV)
Don’t be afraid, you who want to work for God. He is with you! He is going to demonstrate His presence and work miracles together in co-operation with you. That is exactly what God said to Moses. This miracle happened so that the people might believe that God appeared to Moses. You and I cannot work miracles. Only God can, and the evidence of the power of God is seen in the miracle. Only God could change that rod into a snake and, when Moses was afraid of it, change it back into a rod!
Sons and Daughters of God: ‘See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!’ (1 John 3:1, NIV)
In the natural I have no sons. I have three beautiful daughters, wonderful grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren. But no sons. Yet God has worked a miracle and has given me hundreds of sons - young men whose lives have been changed by the power of God - all over the world: Russia, Siberia, Bulgaria, Ukraine. Everyone whose life is changed and will preach the Gospel with fire and with power - I am proud to call them my sons! All those whose lives are changed by the power of God - God is proud to call them His sons and daughters!
Believe the evidence of the miracles: “Though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” (John 10:38, NKJV)
God does not work miracles in my ministry just for the believers. He works miracles to demonstrate the evidence to the unbelievers. You know Him. The miracles are for those who do not yet know Him. To me this is the greatest miracle.
‘The Next Level’ used by kind permission www.vinesong.com