Living Boldly for Christ: Daily Reflections on Faith, Prayer & Spiritual Life by David Hathaway
Formal Christianity has totally moved away from the miraculous, and the moment that you do, you’ve lost the purpose of our Christian faith and its power. If there were no miracles in the life of Jesus – the virgin birth, the resurrection and the miracles of His ministry – then He is no different from any other so-called god or prophet.
In this story, Jesus was asleep, a storm arose, so the disciples woke Him, ‘We’re all going to die, it’s the end of the world…’ But Jesus just got up, He bound the storm, the winds stopped, the boat was safe, nobody died – and when those strong fishermen saw the demonstration of the power that this Man had over the elements, they said, ‘What kind of Man do we have in the boat?’
Matthew 8:23 says, ‘Jesus entered into a ship... and behold there arose a great storm in the sea, so much that the ship was covered with the waves, but Jesus was asleep. His disciples woke Him, saying, ‘Lord, save us, we’re going to die!’ And He said, ‘Why are you so afraid, O you of little faith!’ Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea and there was a great calm. The men marvelled, and said, ‘What kind of Man is this?’’
So many people do not understand who God is. He is not just a great Being in Heaven. If unbelieving people try to draw pictures of God, often they liken Him to an old man with a beard. But God is not an old man, nor does He look like you, He can only be recognised by His actions! And God is not just in Heaven, He is everywhere
When God deals with you, He does something unique. So often we want what other people have. In my relationship with God, I have never wanted what somebody else has. I want what is in His Word, what God has for me personally! Don’t copy other people. If you want the power of God, that power is not going to come from somebody else. Yes, others can lay their hands on you, but the power is going to come from God. Not from me, nor from someone else. You must get it direct from God and His Word.
God had to reduce Gideon’s army to only 300. Why? Because God can only use willing, obedient, committed people who will make His glory the first priority. God needs the right men and women in order to do what He wants, to bring glory to His Name, to bring deliverance to nations, to build His church – He’s looking everywhere, to find those through whom He can direct all His power, and energy into saving sinners.
God has always had a clear plan and strategy in everything He does. From creation to salvation, nothing has happened in heaven or earth without the foreknowledge of God. An important part of the strategy which God has for today is that He wants to show that His power is not just in heaven, but also demonstrated very powerfully on earth.
Isaiah 53:5 says Jesus was wounded for our sin, bruised for our iniquity and with His stripes we are healed. Matthew 8:16-17 says Jesus healed all that were sick to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah. So healing is to fulfil Bible prophecy! I talk about Bible prophecy, I write about it in Prophetic Vision magazine, but part of Bible prophecy is healing the sick
God said to me, ‘David, you’ve got a mountain in your life that you’ve got to move, and that mountain is to get that cancer out from your lung. I didn’t go to a healing evangelist, I went to the Word of God and God completely healed me – no operation, no treatment – I only had God and the Bible, and that’s all I needed to confound the doctors. They were shocked, they didn’t believe God. But I do, I believe in a God of power, of miracles.
I love to see God heal people that the doctors cannot help! To me, the real miracles of healing are when doctors have tried to heal and failed, then God takes over and by a miracle does what the most expert of doctors cannot do. I have seen many people healed of broken bones and the effects of accidents, especially young people, and many other young ones born blind, deaf, crippled, where medical science can do nothing.
I believe that with God, prevention is better than cure and we should not abuse our bodies, which can cause sickness. Often when people come to me for healing I can recognise, without being a doctor, that their problem is due to a wrong lifestyle. If you smoke, you are likely to get lung cancer; if you put on very excessive weight, you run the risk of diabetes and heart problems. These are facts. Yes, God can heal you, but I recommend that a healthy diet can mean prevention rather than cure.
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