You Have Power!

You Have Power!

"THE SAME POWER THAT RAISED JESUS FROM THE DEAD LIVES IN YOU." Romans 8:11

You are a believer in CHRIST. You are born again, redeemed from sin, hell, and the grave because of your faith in the propitiatory life, death, and resurrection of JESUS in your behalf.

But you are facing a situation that defies remedy -- it may be a financial reversal that leaves you perplexed as to how you will meet the obligations you've incurred.

It may be a child who has diverged from the path of faith on which you have walked together with your family.

It may be an illness that is debilitating you and for which there is little medical hope.

Whatever the crisis in your life, JESUS is the answer. You may affirm with Job, who endured the loss of all things -- his family, his wife's respect, his wealth, his friends' support -- "Though HE slay me, yet will I trust HIM." Job 13:15

If your circumstances defy your own ability to remedy them, you may yet trust the CHRIST who loves you, for HE can and HE shall indeed, "make a way where there is no way."

Think of the Hebrew slaves who had been in bondage in Egypt for 400 years. Surely, they wearied of hope that they would ever breathe free air, yet in the fullness of time, the HOLY ONE sent a deliverer, Moses, to lead them from bondage to their own land.

Think of Sampson, the invincible man GOD sent to undo the Philistines who came against HIS people.

Think of Jonah, delivered from the belly of the great fish so that he could go on to perform the task the LORD required of him.

Do these great feats of faith seem too long ago and far away to encourage you in your difficulty?

Well, the great works of the ONE you serve are not merely those recorded in HIS HOLY BOOK. HE STILL DOES HIS WONDERS AMONG HIS PEOPLE TODAY.

JESUS, the GOD/MAN, affirmed that signs and wonders would follow those who believe in HIM, that HIS people would do even greater works than HE has done because HE has returned to the FATHER.

Do YOU believe this promise?

Here are two miraculous interventions of the all-powerful GOD we serve that were reiterated to me by the persons who either knew of them first hand or who received them personally.

WHEN I FIRST TRUSTED CHRIST AS MY PERSONAL LORD AND SAVIOR, I ATTENDED A LITTLE ITALIAN PENTECOSTAL CHURCH IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA. BECAUSE I WAS A TEACHER, I WAS ASKED TO TEACH VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL THE FIRST SUMMER I ATTENDED THERE.

ONE CUTE LITTLE BOY IN MY GROUP WAS FROM A GREEK ORTHADOX FAMILY. I HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN INVOLVED WITH A GREEK FAMILY, AND I KNEW THEY DID NOT SEND THEIR CHILDREN TO PENTECOSTAL VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL! I ASKED ABOUT HIM--WHAT THE HECK HE WAS DOING THERE!

THE TEACHERS WHO WERE FAMILIAR WITH HIS SITUATION TOLD ME THAT RECENTLY HIS GRANDMOTHER HAD BEEN GIVEN HOURS TO LIVE (SHE HAD VERY ADVANCED CANCER.) IN DESPERATION, HER FAMILY ORDERED AN AMBULANCE THAT TRANSPORTED HER TO A KATHRYN KUHLMAN SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH.

(KATHRYN KUHLMAN WAS A REMARKABLE EVANGELIST WHO HAD A WORLD-RENOWN HEALING MINISTRY THAT SPANNED THE 1940s TO THE EARLY 1970s. SHE CONDUCTED WEEKLY HEALING SERVICES AND THE STORIES THAT EMINATED FROM THOSE MEETINGS WERE OF AMAZING MIRACLES.)

THE LITTLE GREEK BOY'S GRANDMOTHER BECAME ONE OF THOSE MIRACLES. SHE WAS HEALED AT THE SERVICE SHE ATTENDED!

THE FAMILY COULDN'T BRING THEMSELVES TO ABANDON THEIR GREEK TRADITION, BUT THEY COULDN'T GIVE UP PENTECOST EITHER.


ANOTHER STORY I KNOW FIRST HAND:

I GREW UP NEXT DOOR TO A SWEET LITTLE OLD ITALIAN LADY WHO WAS MY GRANDMOTHER'S BEST FRIEND.

AFTER I GREW UP AND MOVED AWAY, I WOULD ALWAYS VISIT HER WHEN I WENT HOME.

DURING ONE VISIT, SHE AND I WERE SITTING AT HER DINING ROOM TABLE, DRINKING TEA.

SHE SURPRISED ME WITH A QUESTION I WASN'T PREPARED TO HEAR --OR ANSWER.
SHE SAID, WHAT RELIGION ARE YOU?"

I WAS AFRAID THIS LITTLE CATHOLIC LADY WOULD THROW ME OUT OF HER HOUSE WHEN I TOLD HER I WAS PENTECOSTAL.

BUT SHE DIDN'T.

SHE ENTHUSIASTICALLY SAID, "THAT'S GOOD!"

I SAID, "MRS. _______! YOU SURPRISE ME! I DIDN'T THINK YOU'D APPROVE!"


THEN SHE TOLD HER STORY...
"WHEN I WAS A YOUNG WOMAN, I HAD KIDNEY FAILURE...THERE WAS NOTHING THEY COULD DO FOR ME. I WAS DYING. THE PRIEST HAD GIVEN ME THE LAST RIGHTS OF THE CHURCH.

"THE NEXT MORNING, WHEN THE PRIEST AND THE DOCTOR CAME IN FOR THEIR DAILY VISIT, THEY THOUGHT I WAS SLEEPING.

THE PRIEST ASKED THE DOCTOR HOW MUCH LONGER HE THOUGHT I'D LIVE.
THE DOCTOR SAID I'D LIVE A DAY OR TWO.

"WHEN THEY LEFT, I CRIED OUT TO GOD, 'LORD JESUS, I CAN'T DIE! I HAVE TWO LITTLE BOYS TO RAISE!'

"A FEW MINUTES LATER, YOUR UNCLE FRANK CAME INTO MY ROOM.

(This was at the turn of the century when Pentecost was sweeping through the country, including the Italian immigrant community. My Grandfather's brother Frank and a few other relatives got saved but my family remained Catholic. Although they were strong believers in Christ, they did not subscribe to the miraculous.)

" HE KNEALT BESIDE MY BED AND HE PRAYED, 'JESUS! THIS WOMAN CAN'T DIE! SHE HAS TWO LITTLE BOYS TO RAISE! IN YOUR NAME, I COMMAND THAT SHE BE HEALED.'

"THE NEXT MORNING, WHEN THE DOCTOR AND THE PRIEST CAME TO SEE ME, I COOKED BREAKFAST FOR THEM."

THE SAME GOD WHO DID THOSE MIRACLES ALL THOSE YEARS AGO IS THE SAME GOD WHO WALKED THE DUSTY STREETS OF GALILEE AND WHO ABIDES THERE WITH YOU AT THE POINT OF YOUR NEED.

"JESUS IS THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY AND FOREVER."

YOU BE STRONG IN THE LORD AND IN THE POWER OF HIS MIGHT!

YOU HAVE JOY, FOR THE JOY OF THE LORD IS YOUR STRENGTH!

YOU HAVE POWER, FOR THE SAME POWER THAT RAISED JESUS FROM THE DEAD LIVES IN YOU!

YOU HAVE FAITH, FOR IF YOU HAVE FAITH AS THE GRAIN OF A MUSTARD SEED, YOU MAY ASK WHAT YOU WILL AND IT SHALL BE DONE FOR YOU!

YOU HAVE JESUS, AND HE WILL NEVER FAIL OR FORSAKE YOU!