Acts 9:35 All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.

There’s something pretty persuasive about healing miracles! This one, and certainly the raising of Dorcas that followed, brought many into the kingdom of God. Of course, healing was a big motivation for the crowds that followed Jesus, and that exploded when He fed large groups, essentially from nothing. However, Jesus Himself fled from those crowds, knowing that they were after a free meal ticket. As we touched on recently, Jesus knew human hearts, and shallow motivation was obvious to Him. It is very good to recognize God’s grace toward us and respond in gratitude, but we need to be committed to Him regardless of the “perks” we get or don’t get from that relationship. There have been people with a massive healing ministry in recent memory – Reinhard Bonnke comes to mind – but they are few and far between. As with any group evangelism, follow-up and mentoring are vital. We might think we would like to do that kind of evangelism, but the demands and stresses are huge. That doesn’t mean we aren’t to pray for healing, and to believe for results, but it does mean that we are to remember that the healing comes always and only from God, and avoid the temptation to take credit.

I’ll confess to having desired “signs following” (Mark 16:20) in my own ministry, but my major gifting is Teacher, and I’m rather an introvert. If people had been raised from the dead through my ministry, I would probably have been destroyed by what would have followed. As it is, my wife has a laundry list of physical issues, and I spent over 5 hours last night in the ER with a kidney stone. That doesn’t mean that I don’t believe God heals today, nor that I am ungrateful for the abundant blessings God has poured out on us. It does mean that my faith is to be based on Who and what God is, and not just on what He does for me. I do not want the believers in this church to turn away when things don’t go as they would like, and I must certainly not do so myself. As Job said, “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.” (Job 13:15)

Father, thank You for all You are doing, in, around, and through me. Thank You for getting me through yesterday, and that You will get me through today. I do pray that I would be in condition to deliver the message at tomorrow morning’s prayer meeting, but that is in Your hands. Help me not take Cathy’s leg pain lightly, because of my own pain. May we grow as Your children, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!