Yesterday I was reading an account about 16 folks being raised from the dead in the Brazil these past few weeks. Before you decide to read or not read, please read. HERE is a link to the article. Think about it, Lazarus times 16!
I am sure you are thinking one of the following thoughts:
- This is a hoax or a lie.
- They probably were just unconscious and woke up.
- How can we scientifically confirm what happened?
- There has got o be a logical reason for this.
- I guess God can do it - He can do whatever he wants to.
- Why does He always do stuff like this in other countries?
- I could believe 1, but not 16.
- OK, that is really cool. I suppose it won't happen again in my lifetime.
I guess I have to ask the question, do you believe God can do this? Do you think that you could be the person that he uses? If the answer to either of these questions is no, what is it that you in fact have faith in?
If we look at the Bible, the entire theme of it is being raised form the dead - I mean, isn't that the hope of the resurrection being raised from the dead? The truth is that it is a reasonably common biblical occurrence as well. Elijah did it. (1 Kings 17) Elisha did it. (2 Kings 4). Jesus did it a couple of times. (Matt 9:18, Luke 7, and John 11). Peter did it. (Acts 9) Paul did it. (Acts 20) oh yeah, and when Jesus died, a whole ton of folks came out of the tombs and walked about the town.
Matthew 27:51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split 52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.
How many proof texts do we need? My point is simple today - we either have faith, or we do not. Certainly there is plenty of work to do, and this could be a useful gift, don't you think?
Matthew 10:7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.
I realize the real problem here is the lack of dead people; after all some has to die in order for someone to be raised from the dead. Amen?
Do you have limitations on God?
Do you have limitations on God?
6 comments:
great question - I do believe that it happens, but I belong to the "must happen in another country" camp
Your blog/link sparked a heated little debate our household. I believe it can happen (Gosh, I'd love to see it happen in front of me, in Canada), but my husband initially said not a chance. He's an pre-Christian so his faith isn't high.
As we debated and I was completely convinced, his faith quotient rose and he was skeptical but not 100% sure it didn't happen.
There are other raising the dead testimonies that I could pull from (Heidi Baker, to start) and also since my husband has been experiencing more supernatural activity around the house/me; he's not completely closed off.
We don't see that stuff in North America because we're not open to it and we don't have the same need. Our medical system is pretty fantastic and we put faith in doctors, so we don't need God as much, therefore he doesn't manifest as much. BUT it's changing, I'm certain we'll hear more testimony from our part of the globe in the months/years to come.
Hoax or not, this is exciting.. and a faith builder. I believe God can, and in many situations does and wants to do this. Yes, that'd be a really awesome gift.
Lack of dead people... hmmm.. were you looking for volunteers? LOL... (I know you weren't - just a thought that made me laugh. Now that'd be testing God a bit! haha...)
Thanks for posting.
@Charlie - well hang with me - it's going to happen here. IN fact one of the accounts i read was about a little boy in Oregon that had been hit by a car. The cops came and found no pulse, so they were waiting for the ambulance when a woman that cane to see what happened ran over and prayed for the little, guy. He sat right up.
@Andrea - thanks for reading along. I appreciate your faith.
@2SW - always looking for volunteers for the demonstrations in class. ;)
David,
Thanks for the opportunity, but I think I'd sit that one out... LOL.
Blessings-
Yes He can.
I would think we should be able to see more of this happening in this country but there might be some restrictions.
The biggest one is lack of true unwavering faith. Certain denominations that do not believe the miracles still exist and do not embrace them. It was the person's determined time to pass away. Only a limited number of people that possess that spiritual gift are available.
Trully God does work in miraculous ways which we shall never know in His reasoning.
I would suspect possibly in 2012 we may be witness to his miraculous powers from the heavens. Of course the scientific community will pass it off as a natural occurence.
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