Ask God to forgive you for the things that you have done wrong and for not doing the things that you should have. 1 John 1:9 says, If we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away. In the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6, Jesus said we should pray, Forgive the sins we have done, just as we have forgiven those who did wrong to us (verse 12).
In Matthew 6:26-27 Jesus said, Look at the birds in the air. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns. But your heavenly Father feeds the birds. And you know that you are worth much more than the birds. You cannot add any time to your life by worrying about it.
We spend a lot of our time and energy worrying about things - food, clothing, money, school, friends, family, etc. Jesus told us that worrying doesn't add anything to your life. In fact, worrying takes away things like our peace and joy. Jesus said that God looks after the birds and we are way more important than them. He will definitely look after us. So, be like a bird. According to www.crosswalk.com a miracle is when 'when God interrupts and intervenes in your human situation.' The Bible is full of miracles, from the creation of the world, to Jesus' resurrection. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is a book of miracles—of God's intervention in humankind. We often think that miracles have to be huge in scale like Moses parting the sea or Jesus feeding 5000 people. If we look hard enough we will see miracles all around us. In my life I have seen God miraculously provide a new job when the old one was made redundant, a pregnancy after an infertility diagnosis, the provision of money that we didn't have to pay bills, supernatural help to pass exams, strength to endure difficult situations when I didn't think I could go on, and countless other miracles. These were all God intervening in my human situation. We all experience miracles in our lives, even if we don't recognise them. The gift of miracles is when God intervenes supernaturally through someone else.
Many people believe that the Spiritual gifts only applied to the apostles. I find this hard to believe because there were Old Testament characters who apparently had the gift of miracles before the apostles existed. Moses miraculously parted the sea so that the Israelites could escape Egypt, Joshua marched the Israelites around the walls of Jericho until they miraculously fell down, God miraculously provided a widow with oil through the prophet Elisha, and there are many more examples. Faith is necessary to do miracles. In Matthew 13:58 says, And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith. Jesus was in his home town, but because of their lack of faith, even he couldn't do many miracles there. The gift of miracles does not seem evident in the western church, generally speaking. I have heard a different story from the persecuted church in Asia. The lack of miracles may be largely due to a lack of faith, rather than the withdrawal of the gift. Once again, it's important to point out that this is just my personal view based on my understanding of the Bible. Matthew 5:14-16 says, You are like light for the whole world. A city built on top of a hill cannot be hidden, and no one would light a lamp and put it under a clay pot. A lamp is placed on a lampstand, where it can give light to everyone in the house. Make your light shine, so that others will see the good that you do and will praise your Father in heaven.
Jesus was referring to spiritual light here, which is the truth of the Gospel. The Gospel message is that God is love. Christians are like the moon, we reflect the light of the sun (Jesus). Ephesians 5:8-10 says, In the past you were full of darkness, but now you are full of light in the Lord. So live like children who belong to the light. Light brings every kind of goodness, right living, and truth. Try to learn what pleases the Lord. We shine the light by doing good, loving God, loving others and obeying the Bible. We shine the light by not being ashamed of being a Christian, but by sharing the Gospel. That doesn't mean that you start Bible bashing people. Light is seen, not heard. Your actions speak louder than your words. The gift of healing is when someone prays for a person who is sick and they are healed. This was evident during the early church - here are a couple of examples:
Acts 3:1-9 Peter and John healed a lame man. Acts 9:32-35 Peter healed a paralysed man. Acts 28:7-10 Paul healed many sick people at Malta. Some people believe that the gift of healing is no longer available but I have not found any evidence in the Bible to support this idea. I know of people who have experienced miraculous healing. I also know plenty of people who have not been healed yet. Sickness is part of living in a fallen world. Ultimately, perfect healing will come when we see Jesus face to face when he comes again. Spiritual healing, the forgiveness of sin, is way more important than physical healing. Whether or not you believe you have the gift of healing, the Bible tells us to pray for the sick. James 5: 14-15 says, If you are sick, ask the church leaders to come and pray for you. Ask them to put olive oil on you in the name of the Lord. If you have faith when you pray for sick people, they will get well. The Lord will heal them, and if they have sinned, he will forgive them. There is nothing magical about olive oil. In Bible times they used to anoint people with olive oil as they it was believed to have medicinal properties. Prayer is the important element here, along with faith. The purpose of the spiritual gifts is to bless people and glorify God. We should focus on that, not on spiritual gifts. |
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