Scripture Reading: John 14:12
‘Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.’
The Lord predicted that those who believed on Him would perform miracles like He did, and even greater works. We shall become an instrument through God and do works of the same kind as those which the Son Himself doeth. When the Lord returned to heaven, He was glorified, and the Holy Spirit was sent to earth. It was through the Holy Spirit’s power that the apostles performed miracles like He did, and even greater miracles. This is a glorious promise that has yet to be fully fulfilled in our generation.
An ordinary Filipino, Ace Aquino gave this testimony: ‘While waiting at the bus terminal and seated on a bench, an old woman came and sat beside me. She was a seller of Chicharon. She was minding her own business fixing her Chicharon. I started a conversation with her and buy one chicharon to bless her. I shared to her about Jesus, until she receives Jesus Christ. Suddenly I got a word of knowledge that she has back pain. I asked her, ‘Is your back in pain?’ She replied, ‘Yes, son’. After I prayed for her, I asked how it was. She was amazed because her back pain level has gone from 10 to 5. Then we prayed again. After the second prayer, she smiled a lot and was so happy because the pain got to zero. Then she said, ‘Please pray for my hand’. Her hand was painful because of work, stress and simply being too old. So we prayed again. At the first prayer, the pain level went from 10 to 5. She got amazed. In the second prayer her hand was totally healed in Jesus’ name. Then she picked up her Chicharon and walk away with so much joy and strength. Both of us were laughing because of what had happened.’
I believe the next wave of God’s mightiest move is living supernaturally, naturally. You impart the supernatural, signs and wonders, miracles to people in need of Jesus naturally. According to the American Dictionary of the English Language, the word “supernatural” refers to things that are “beyond or exceeding the powers or laws of nature; miraculous.” The dictionary.com defines naturally as ‘in a normal manner, as would be expected, needless to say.’ The supernatural realm is beyond what we see, and it is where we are all called to walk. The word of God is every clear; ‘the work that I do shall ye do also’. We are asked to declare, speak the promises of God; this is one of the declarations we should be making constantly. But many of us have the idea that only a chosen few are called to live supernaturally. The supernatural is only assigned to the Apostles, the Prophets, the Evangelists, the Pastors and the Teachers. There are 7 billion people in this world. The evangelization of the world simply is not possible with just the Apostles, Evangelists, Pastors, Teachers and Prophets. That is what Jesus meant by greater things; greater in number and scope. Jesus was limited physically in Jerusalem ministering to the Jews. In the books of Acts, 3000 got saved in one day and the reach was not just in Jerusalem, but uttermost parts of the earth and also the Gentiles are included in the evangelization program. Jesus has a plan. The plan for the last days is the ordinary members of the church are awakened to live the supernatural, naturally. We were designed by God to function in the supernatural realm. We are spirit beings. When our spirits are awakened to new life in Christ, the relationship we have with God makes it possible for us to be in continual communion, or fellowship, with Him and to hear His voice. Receiving the fullness of the Holy Spirit equips us to utilize His gifts in all areas of our lives, just as these Apostles, Evangelists, Pastors, Teachers and Prophets. The book of Acts describes what the disciples’ lives were like after Pentecost. It is filled with records of miracles, dreams, visitations with angels and other supernatural encounters. These accounts give us insight into what is available to us today in our walks with God. There are places at the community where the people lives, the bus stops, the jeepney stands, the wet market, the schools and offices, that God is calling us to go that will require us to step beyond what we know in the natural. We must be like the men and women of biblical days, who had to move in the supernatural realm to fulfill God’s assignments. Philip was translated to another place to accomplish God’s assignment for him. And Paul, the great evangelist, received direction for his travels through a night vision and was warned through prophecy. God delights and is urgent to employ everyday folks for His important work. A Pastor’s wife said this; ‘God is an equal opportunity employer’. Every child of His has equal opportunity for this task. God wants you to live this supernatural life naturally, wherever you go. Driving on the highway, waiting in an airport, eating in a restaurant, working in your garden, putting your kids to bed at night – anywhere and everywhere you go, you allow His life to shine through you. You are an everyday person, and you are to live this supernatural lifestyle.
I felt that God is trying to teach me this truth recently. Firstly He told me that the Spirit of God is upon me and then he awakens me to the supernatural.
Last Monday, Pastor Lily and I were resting in our room when at around 8.30pm, our female Rottweiler puppy, by the name of Beta, began yelling and yelping away so loudly that all the neighborhood dogs were alarmed into barking back incessantly. Pastor Lily opened the window to command the puppy to stop the noise but Beta just wouldn’t stop her painful yelling. Both of us sensed something was wrong and we quickly ran out to her cage. To our shock, we saw the metal hook of the water container receptacle was stuck in the mouth of Beta. Obviously, she was naughty and was trying to bite the hook of the receptacle down from the cage and somehow or another the hook got stuck inside her cheek and it couldn’t be disengaged. The commotion was so bad, that it confused both of us. We didn’t know what to do but to just call upon the name of Jesus.
I entered the cage and tried to insert my hand into Beta’s mouth to remove the hook at least 3 times but the hook was so deep-seated and stuck that at each of my slightest movement, Beta would be in pain and would be yelling continuously again. The best position was to hold her and calm her and not move at all. Pastor Lily was trying to call Pastor Carlos to get the vet to come to our house. Since the hook could not be disentangled from the mouth and at the slightest movement Beta would yell in pain, Pastor Lily thought the best way was to get the vet to put her down temporarily to sleep through anesthesia and then we would get a saw to saw off the hook. Pastor Carlos went to the vet but the vet was at Gaisano. So Pastor Lily called up Anelene to ask Ephraim to come with a saw or a giant cutter for locks to cut off the hook that was stuck to the cage and the mouth of Beta. But Pastor Ephraim wasn’t in.
Blood was dripping from the mouth of Beta and I was squatting for quite a while with Beta beside me at a stationary position. Everything seemed futile. Help was not forthcoming. Again and again I called on Jesus to help us. Then I told Pastor Lily that she had better be quick to get a giant cutter if not this pup would die.
Pastor Lily made a second phone call to Pastor Carlos to hurry him to quickly get the vet in to put the puppy down. But then I didn’t want the vet. I just needed a giant cutter and I asked Pastor Lily to pass her phone to me. While I was talking to Pastor Carlos on the phone about finding a giant cutter, Pastor Lily walked nearer to the cage to see and talk to Beta but to her surprise, she noticed that Beta droop her head to the side and as Pastor Lily looked closer, she noticed that the metal hook already been disengaged from her mouth. I did not notice that the hook fell off until Pastor Lily pointed it out to me. I didn’t believe it at first and I tried to move Beta and true enough the hook was separated from Beta’s mouth stained with blood. Beta stood up and quickly ran out of the cage to seek comfort from Pastor Lily. I was stunned because I have already tried so many times and moved the dog to so many angles and position for the hook to come out and putting my hand into her mouth to extract the hook but to no avail.
Both of us were amazed at that miraculous instant disengagement of the hook from the mouth of Beta. And both of us on the spot just thanked and praised Jesus for the miraculous divine intervention.
After the incident, we both tried to rationalize the loosening of the hook – was it that I slightly lifted Beta up while she was on the phone with Carlos or was it Pastor Lily’s distraction of Beta to tilt her head towards her that caused the loosening? We both couldn’t decipher the reason and before we proceeded to use our logic for the deliverance, we both concluded – “let’s not take the credit away from Jesus. It was Jesus! It was Jesus who stepped in because at the height of the commotion and helplessness, both of us have been calling upon Jesus and He stepped in for our beloved pet, even though it is just a dog. We came off from this crisis so amazed by the realnesss of Jesus and the compassion of Jesus that He cares for the welfare of his servants – even their animals.
Today, Beta is still alive and fine even though a few hours after the accident, her cheek and neck became swollen. We brought her to the vet the following morning, praying again that we won’t need to pay so much for a major surgery. The vet checked her condition, gave her antibiotic shots and asked us to observe her until Saturday, that if the swelling didn’t go down, then he had to operate on Beta. Today, the inflammation of the throat has gone down and Beta is back to her Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) temperament, jumping around and eating greedily. Praise the Lord. We have witnessed a supernatural deliverance from the Lord when we were hemmed into helplessness. It was an everyday life affair but a supernatural has happened naturally.
There was another incident which I felt God was teaching me on the supernatural natural life recently. Last Sunday, I shared that a group of Christians in Manila were flowing in this supernatural life naturally, And there was this amazing story about a young teenage girl by the name of Demielyn. Demielyn has been experiencing a lot of miracle money: Php 100, 500, etc – appearing out of unlikely places. At first, people close to her wondered if she steals them. Later they realized God has been supernaturally blessing her. Recently she found Php 1,000 inside the pages of the Bible she regularly reads from. The reason I shared this is because something happened to me just two Thursday ago that until today it cannot get it off my mind because I believe the Holy Spirit is trying to tell me about the supernatural. Pastor Lily needed me to go to SM Save More at Alta Tierra to buy pasayan for the cell group gathering that evening. When I was at the cashier counter, there was this cashier facing me with an assistant putting the pasayan in the plastic bag. I gave the cashier my credit card but the online transaction doesn’t seem to push through. I was a little bit irritated because it was taking so long. So I took out my 500 pesos and place it on the cashier counter. At that moment I saw this 1000 pesos that just mysteriously appear out of nowhere. I did not mind it and it wasn’t mine, so I thought. Please understand that there were three of us witnessing this incident. I told the cashier to just return my credit card and take my 500 pesos on the table. She responded that the online transaction is through. Of course I took back my 500 pesos, leaving the 1000 pesos there. After taking the plastic bag of pasayan I started to leave. But the cashier just took the 1000 pesos and handed to me and say, ‘Sir, your money.’ Trying to be a man of integrity, I said, it wasn’t mine. She was surprised because then who owns the 1000 pesos. There were only three of us. Definitely it doesn’t belong to the cashier as she wanted to give it back to me. The assistant, all the more would not put the 1000 pesos on the table. Later I even check my wallet and all my money is intact. The 1000 pesos appearing in the most unlikely places.
I personally believe that if we continue to enter in worship and believe the supernatural, we will witness precious stones on the floor of Evangel Tabernacle, maybe even money on the floor. I won’t be surprised if we see precious stones drops from heaven, manna, gemstones, even money appear suddenly before us. Why not? I believe God is leading this church into a special realm of the supernatural. You may not see an angel, but don’t be surprised if you suddenly begin to see an angel appear before you. Why not? In the supernatural anything can happen. If Jesus can take out a gold coin from a fish to meet a need, he can do anything if only we believe. What can we learn about the supernatural?
1. Ride the wave of the Holy Spirit
I said earlier that I believe the next wave of God’s mightiest move is living supernaturally, naturally. You impart the supernatural, signs and wonders, miracles to people in need of Jesus naturally. There is a freshness and newness in our worship recently. Develop intimacy with God by enjoying and immersing in the worship of God. Honestly I won’t be surprised, if we see supernatural things starts to take place even in our worship. Just draw closer to God and be lost in the presence of the Holy Spirit in your worship. I believe this freshness and newness that our church has been experiencing lately is God preparing us for a wave of the Holy Spirit that is taking place in this church. And we must learn to ride the wave of the Holy Spirit. And God will guide our lives as we ride the waves of the Holy Spirit. I love to watch surfers riding the wave of the sea. We have to be like the surfer setting our sail on the surfboard and capturing His wind and waves and we will become carriers of God’s anointing. We will be propelled into action by the supernatural flow of the Spirit and we are able to go places and do things we never thought we could go and do. The flow of the Holy Spirit will give you insight into someone’s need and enables you to understand that person’s heartaches. In surfing you cannot let the wind and wave simply drive you in one direction. In fact, many times, the best way to reach your destination is not to head straight for it. You need to hoist your surfboard into the headwind and catch it. But then you must reposition it, over and over, essentially sailing into it. To get to your appointed destination, you must learn to angle and reangle yourself back and forth, and this will help you continue to progress in a forward motion. This is the life with God. I believe God is trying to teach me something and I believe maybe for some of you, God is trying to teach you something. You angle this way and then you angel that way. You sail with His wind carrying you, learning to shift your position when necessary to stay the course. Listen carefully; you cede control to the wind and wave. With the supernatural life, just as it is in surfing, you can’t tell if the wind is going to keep blowing in the same direction. It just blows and you respond accordingly. You can’t ask it questions such as ‘Where are you coming from? Or ‘Why are you blowing this way?’ You just have to take a reading of the current situation and figure out how best to set sail.
2. The supernatural life has a relationship
The supernatural life has a relationship. This relationship is built in years of fellowship, meditating and devouring the Word of God. Recently a pastor has a brother-in-law who has stage 4 cancer. But though a Christian, he has stopped going to church, and has no personal relationship with God for more than 15 years. Now when he has stage 4 cancer, the pastor finds it very hard to impart faith in him. He is only thinking of what will happen to his family when he loses his job, his finance level. Everything that comes out of his mouth is fear, unbelief and negativity. The pastor had to impart his faith into his heart. He is so afraid to lose his job when he needs a three month off. The pastor said, ‘just approach your boss’. Then he came back and shout, ‘Hallelujah, my boss approved my 3 months leave and she was so sympathetic and understanding.’ The pastor told him he needs to use his notes application on his iphone and read the bible and write down what God tells him and speak and declare those things that the Word of God tells him. Then finally, he said, ‘Every morning, I take a 45 minutes exercise walk at the park and when I reached home I prayed and read the bible. Because the cancer has affected his lung, every hour in the evening he would wake up because of the coughing. But now he only coughed two times in the whole night. You need to have a relationship with God. Then living supernaturally naturally becomes possible. I want to congratulate people that have a relationship with God daily. Your supernatural natural living has come.
Because it is a relationship, it is very personal. Pastor Lily and my encounter with our dog Beta, the 1000 pesos at SM save more. And because it is personal you don’t have to be a spiritual superstar. Pastor Bhing, a Filipino lady pastor in Luzon was preparing food for some visiting pastors. Among her food were some hard boiled eggs. While preparing, she accidentally placed two cold raw eggs among the hard boiled ones and served them. Some minutes after serving the food to these pastors, she was panic-stricken. It dawned on her that she had served the raw eggs as well! However, when she searched, the uncooked eggs were nowhere to be found. And when she counted, there were two more egg shells than the prepared hard boiled eggs. There was not a trace of any egg yolk or liquid stuff on the shells or anywhere in the house. Apparently, the two raw eggs were supernaturally cooked by God and consumed by her guests!
3. Living supernaturally naturally outside the church
Living naturally supernatural does not mean it is only for inside the four walls of this church. That wouldn’t be natural. It is living it our daily and normal life. We must represent Jesus everywhere we go and like Jesus, we must live naturally supernaturally through the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus goes to someone’s house, gets invited to a stranger’s house, go to the well to get some water, look for food on a tree, etc Living in the supernatural isn’t only about fulfilling God’s assignments. It’s also about opening the door to the kingdom of God for others that Jesus said is within us–the place we will find righteousness, peace and joy.
Mitch shared this story, ‘I remembered I was inside the airport going to Iloilo. I saw this woman who was crying. She went to the statue of Mama Mary. I asked her what’s wrong. She kept on crying and said that she was going back home to Davao because her father was in the ICU due to heart attack. His father was in a coma and not moving anymore. In other words he was in a vegetable state. I remembered the way she talked was so funny because she was speaking half Ilonggo and half Visaya to me. I find her accent humorous. Then I asked her, “Can I pray for you?” She answered crying, “Of course you may! My Dad is in a coma!!!” Inside I was laughing because she was so funny while telling her story. But I could see in her eyes the desperation. So we prayed. Then she cried and cried. After we prayed I told her to ask her family if there was any improvement on her father.
Then, I was surprised that when she read the text out loud, She was almost shouting, “He is moving! They said his hands and eyes are moving!” Then she said, “I am going back home, with the Lord in my bag!
4. An impartation of the supernatural anointing
You need to have a visitation and personal encounters with God as a vital part of your spiritual walk. You can receive an impartation in this church because of the newness and freshness that is happening in this church and I believe God is doing a new thing. Receive the impartation of the supernatural anointing and move in the anointing. A pastor said this, ‘five minutes of anointed prayer through you will do more than 5 hours of counseling as you have done in the past.’ I am not saying counseling is worthless. I am saying that anybody that God anoints is more powerful, more efficient and more effective than the same thing without His anointing.
5. Compassion and kindness
It is lately that I learn something powerful. If you have compassion and kindness on the person you are imparting the supernatural, usually it is very effective. When I lay hand on Beta that night, I have compassion and empathy for that dog. So as you learn to tell when the wind of the Spirit is propelling you to do something, be sure to look to see if your heart is full of compassion and kindness. Compassion is the one of the hallmarks of the Spirit of Jesus in you. When He is using you to reach out in some way, you are allowing His compassion and kindness to pour out of you. Your part is to stay close to Him and be willing to spread His love around. I believe the Spirit of God is saying something in the wave of the supernatural. He is saying ‘I will have a revival of kindnesses.’ Compassion and kindness is needed more desperately than religiosity, than the charismatic hype.
Also you made it possible to practice the gifts out in the real world through evangelism, community penetration, and just plain out blessing and loving people as you feel compassion for them. I notice that for Jesus, before the demonstration of the signs and wonders, miracles and supernatural, he has such a deep love, compassion for these people he is in touch with. Ask God for such a deep compassion for them.
6. Character
I was conversing with a brother and he gave an illuminating understanding of the anointing. He said that there are two types of anointing; the Spirit of God on you and the Spirit of God in you. Man who operates on the Spirit of God on you can releases the supernatural but I don’t think it will be long lasting and character flaws will start to manifest; e.g. King Saul and Samson, although Samson repented. But people that operate on the Spirit of God in you will see increasing supernatural power upon their lives. I talked about the covenant that was cut last week. The heart has been circumcised and it produces character. I have said that I felt the phrase ringing in my mind lately; the Spirit of the LORD is upon you.’ But I don’t want the Spirit of the Lord to be just upon me; I too want the Spirit of the LORD to be in me; circumcising my heart and producing character.
It takes character to live a consistently supernatural life. The supernatural Holy Spirit will help you become a sanctified life; someone who has been washed clean so many times that you reflect God’s character. This person feels very secure in God’s kingdom identity that you will not jump to mimic what others do; nor will you seek a platform (like the pulpit) from which to perform supernatural works. You will find that God will use you often, the more as you learn to move in His anointing power. Walking in the supernatural life, you will be clothed with love, purity, holiness, tenderheartedness, mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, endurance and more. Compassion and Kindness are characters necessary to see the effectiveness of the supernatural. These all will come from deep within you where the Holy Spirit resides.
In conclusion, the supernatural lifestyles is upon God’s people today. If we as a church refuses to ride the wave of the supernatural, then God will choose another church, hungRY, believing and willing to operate in the supernatural. Eyes has not seen nor ears has heard the great things that God has in store for those who are ready to ride this great wave.
