The Mighty Hand of God – Part 2

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good... (Psa 34:8-10)

Continued from Part 1

The second noteworthy incident happened a day later on Sunday, during our church service. Before the sermon, the youth pastor of our church announced that I was about to travel to India and that I would be traveling to Orissa during this trip, as I had mentioned to him during a brief meeting earlier. And later, as the meeting was ending, the senior pastor asked me to come upfront so that they could lay hands and pray for me and send me on my way. As I was going forward, the youth pastor again took the microphone, and with much surprise and delight, he told the congregation that though no one had asked for any money or donations, people had already begun to make a collection to help me with my trip. Then both the pastors prayed for me and the congregation prayed with them and blessed me. However, once the service got over, people began to come over to us, and several more gave us cash and checks. Some prayed with us, while others just wished us well or hugged and blessed us. There was such a sweet spirit of unity and grace to it all that even people who we had never talked to till then nor had known in any meaningful way came over and blessed us. There was no division of any kind, but only much love and acceptance, which was remarkable.

Intrigued by the outpouring of grace, I asked the church treasurer if he had seen anything like this before. He said things like this have happened before, but nothing to this effect or extent. Apart from all the love and genuine care, our brothers and sisters in Christ also collected thousands of dollars for us, for which we were very thankful. And the Lord spoke to me in my heart and said, “This is a tiny display of My grace.” The reason I mention this is because only the previous day, the Lord had promised through the prophetic word that, starting from that day, He was going to walk side by side with me and that I would see a change. It was a direct demonstration of the reality of His promise, which we witnessed that day, and it continued all through my travels and back. During the most difficult times, His Presence was especially thick, weighty, and tangible. He is faithful to keep His promise and is good beyond measure.

“And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.” (Act 13:3).

I feel compelled to mention one more thing that happened prior to my departure. There is another pastor who I have known for a long time, a faithful man of God who left everything behind to serve the Lord in North India about 25 years ago. We too talk to each other and pray together often. One of the things we were talking about and exhorting each other about was the imminent return of the Lord, the urgency of us being ready for it, and how important it was to teach the younger generation to die to themselves, (Luk 14:33), to their selfish nature to be able to work effectively for the Lord. In this regard, I had made a pithy remark to him just a few days before my departure. I had said, "Pastor, we need to teach the younger ones, those who seek to serve the Lord, to die.” It may sound too harsh or dramatic to some, but I meant what I said. It wasn’t about dying physically but about dying to our self-seeking nature and to the world, so that we may live for the Lord. Now the unexpressed question between us was, “How can I teach someone else to die if I haven’t learned it yet?” I believe what happened in India was the Lord teaching me to die to my self-life and to trust Him instead so that I can truly take up my cross and follow him. I believe that this is the part of the prophecy where the Lord talked about molding and correcting me. Yes, indeed, His grace enabled me to yield to him and be molded and corrected. Certainly, it was painful but necessary. Thank you, Lord, for what you did and continue to do.

It's been about two thousand years since the Lord Jesus Christ rose up from the dead. After showing Himself unequivocally to many during a period of forty days, He went back to the Father. We read in the Scriptures about the amazing things He did while he walked the earth, what He did through His disciples after He went back to the Father, and what He continues to do by His Spirit until now. Yet today, we are a generation that refuses to believe in who He truly is. Many bicker, fight, and snipe at those who truly believe, saying that He does not do any more of the very things He did back then, effectively making Him a powerless God like all the other false gods of this world. But Scripture says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” (Heb 13:8). A vast portion of the ‘church’ believes that there is neither the baptism of the Holy Spirit, as we read in the Book of Acts, nor miracles, signs, or wonders. Many belive that the gifts of the Spirit of God (1Cor 12) have ceased with the passing of the Apostles of the Lord, and therefore there is no more prophecy, healing, or deliverance in the church today. No amount of theological learning or seminary degrees can give a person the experiential knowledge of the Lord which is imparted by His Spirit. The experiential knowledge of the spiritual things of God, not just the material blessings. These things that I have mentioned, which happened even before I traveled to India, are only the primer to the things He did later. He is the same miracle working God, the Almighty, who makes a way when it looks like there is no way.

Instead of taking His word at its face value and believing it with a simple faith and walking it out, many gratuitously spiritualize and theologize it. Sure, it makes them appear more spiritual and wise, but in the process, they reduce His word into mere mental exercises, virtually rendering Him powerless before the world. On the flip side, having embraced the world, many neuter the supernatural by viewing everything through the optics of science and logic and embrace a form of Godliness that denies its power. Either way, we recreate the Creator, Almighty and eternal God, in our own image for our consumption. Into a fast-food variety, quick and exciting to the taste buds due to the artificial flavors, and acceptable to our delicate digestive processes, yet having no lasting spiritual nutritive value. We have thus created religious shells for ourselves and have named them ‘church’, where we gather to attempt to satisfy our spiritual craving for our Creator through soulish means.

Without the power of God working in our lives, as we read in the Bible, we have perfected the ways and methods to convince ourselves that we are indeed following Christ without having to endure the pain of truly following Him. In the process we have sadly ignored His words, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow Me.” (Mat 16:24). How far we truly are from the words of our Lord.

“Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.” (Mar 8:34-35).

This is the lesson that the Lord taught us, about dying to our self-seeking, self-preserving, self-promoting nature. This we are still continuing to learn so that we may take up our cross and follow Him each day, the way He expects us to. When we become willing to deny ourselves and to believe Him for who He truly is, we will begin to see His power manifest, just as it is written in His word. Dear brothers and sisters my intention is only to encourage you, not to offend you. So I pray that the Lord help us all to be to be girded with truth in our walk with Him. Until we meet again, shalom.

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It is a joy to share with you what the Lord is doing in and through our lives. Thank you for praying for us.

Please share ‘Resurrection Life’ with your friends and family and bring them along in our journey with the Lord. All glory to the One who rose from the dead, never to die again – our Lord Jesus Christ.