The Lord Jesus is always wanting to show forth His grace and love in order to draw us to Himself. God is willing to do things, to manifest His Word, and let us know a measure of the mind of our God in this day and hour. 1 John 4:8b-9 says: “God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live with Him.” Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10b). He has an overflowing cup for you, a fullness of life. He will meet you in your absolute helplessness. All things are possible if you will only believe (Mark 9:23). God has a real plan. It is very simple: just come to Jesus. You will find Him just the same as He was in days of old (Hebrews 13:8).

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John give numerous accounts of how Jesus healed people of their infirmities and illnesses, including blindness, deafness, leprosy, seizures, and paralysis. He even raised the dead to life! Notice the word “all” in Matthew 8:16b: “He cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick.”

Yet after His Resurrection and before His Ascension, there is no record of his healing anymore. During this forty days He spent much time teaching and preparing His disciples further to carry on the ministry He had begun. So immediately after Pentecost, we find the first believers continuing the ministry of Jesus in healing the sick, raising the dead, and casting out evil spirits. Jesus' healing ministry has been going on now for nearly two thousand years, and will continue on until He Himself returns to this earth. He indicated that miracles were a sign that the Kingdom of God was at hand, saying, “And proclaim as you go, saying, 'The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons” (Matthew 10:7-8a).

The record of Elijah and his disciple, Elisha, speaks to us today. Elisha asked that he might have a “double portion” of the Holy Spirit that rested upon Elijah. As Elijah was caught up into heaven, his mantle—symbolic of his anointing—fell upon Elisha (2 Kings 2:9-14). Sure enough, the Scripture records that Elisha did twice as many miracles as Elijah! This is symbolic of what happened to believers after Jesus' ascension, although Jesus did not bequeath just a “double portion” of His Spirit—He set no limit. He simply said, “Greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father! (John 14:12). Jesus then repeated this bold pledge for emphasis: “If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it” (John 14:14).

John, who later wrote: “And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him” (1 John 5:14-15). There is nothing that will bring you such confidence as a life that is well pleasing to God. When Daniel's life pleased God, he could ask to be protected in the lion's den. But you cannot ask with confidence until there is perfect union between you and God, as there was always a perfect union between God and Jesus. The foundation is confidence in and loyalty to God.

Jesus, by His suffering and crucifixion, once and for all won our salvation, forgiveness, healing and eternal life. 1 Peter 2:24 says, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.” (The King James Version says, “By whose stripes ye were healed.”) In this, Jesus fulfilled the prophetic words of Isaiah 53:4-5: “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed.” The work is done if you only believe it. He took our flesh so that He could take upon Himself the full burden of all our sin. There on the cross of Calvary, the results of sin were also dealt with. It is through His death there is deliverance for us today!

Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” What He did before , He continues to do today. God is pouring out His Holy Spirit in our day and age. As we continue to look to our Lord Jesus and stay in loving fellowship with Him, the signs will follow. Hebrews 12:2 encourages us to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

The divine plan is so much greater than all human thought. When we are willing to yield to His sovereign will, when we have no reserve, how wonderful God is. He is always willing to open the door until our whole lives are filled with the fragrance of heaven. Jesus is the substance and fullness of the divine nature (Colossians 2:9), and He dwells in our hearts. When we have Him, we have more than we can speak or think about. God's Son can set the world ablaze and bring heaven right into the place where we live. God is waiting for people who dare to believe, and when you believe, “nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20).

Rev. Michael Cochran

Come to Me

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