Sunday, 14th August, 2022
By Pastor Chris Oyakhilome
"God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?" (Hebrews 2:4 KJV)
Years ago, as a young teenager studying the message of Jesus Christ and what He came to do, I thought: if Jesus needed to prove His message with miracles, signs and wonders, and the apostles followed suit, then I would need to do even more because I was going to be preaching to a generation that didn’t know about those miracles. I would need to prove to them that Jesus Christ is alive; He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever. If I couldn’t prove it, how would I convince them?
God wants us to be able to prove the message of the Gospel. That’s why He calls us witnesses. The Bible says, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Who’s a witness? It’s someone who has proof, not just hearsay; he or she has firsthand evidence.
When you received the Holy Spirit, you received power—ability to bear witness of His truth, death and resurrection. With this power, you can do the same things Jesus did. It was this very power of the Holy Spirit that worked in Him to do the works of God.
Jesus effected changes, and now you can too, because you have His Name and His power is at work in you. His Spirit and life in us is proof that He was who He claimed to be: the son of God. Jesus Christ is alive, and we must prove it with miracles, signs and wonders. As you take the Gospel to your world today, go with the consciousness that you’ve been given power to produce proof that Jesus is alive. Praise God!
PRAYER/CONFESSION
"Dear Father, thank you for your limitless power available to us today through the Holy Spirit and the Word! I yield myself to be taught, inspired and filled with the Holy Spirit, and the Word, carrying your divine presence to affect my world, in Jesus’ Name. Amen."
FURTHER STUDY:
Acts 5:30-32; Acts 2:22; Romans 15:18-19; Hebrews 13:8
1 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:
Romans 15:14-33 & Psalms 99-101
2 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:
Philippians 2:19-30 & Isaiah 6