Breakfast at Tiffany’s: You already have everything you need

Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness.  2 Peter 1:2-4

Have you ever been invited to a church meeting that promised a spiritually charged atmosphere full of signs and wonders, healings, secret revelation and personalized prophecies? Did you leave disappointed because you saw everyone else around you being “blessed” while you received nothing? Did you feel like God was leaving you out? I have experienced this scenario many times in my life, and it sometimes left me hurt, bitter and confused. I wrongly believed there must be something wrong with me if God had not “touched” me the way I thought He was touching others. However, many of the lives who seemed to be receiving so much from God publicly never showed any real change privately. I knew then that there must be something radically wrong with this picture.

Do I believe that God still performs signs and wonders in our generation? Most definitely! However, I think many of us have been misled to believe that God wants us to prove our devotion to Him by following after signs and wonders and seeking special secret revelations not available to everyone else. On the contrary, Jesus said that if we believe, the signs would follow us (Mark 16:17-20). That means that we aren't supposed to be chasing the signs and wonders. Those will come, however, when we simply chase after Christ with all our hearts. 

In fact, Jesus had some surprising things to say about those who demand signs and wonders: “But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas (His death and resurrection)” (Matt 12:39, parenthesis mine). He even warned that signs and wonders in themselves would not be the final proof of His working, and that many false prophets would rise up and deceive even the elect by performing them (Matt 24:24).

Don't be discouraged if you haven't experienced the hype surrounding some of these huge evangelical movements you see popping up everywhere. In fact, you may even be thankful you haven't. There is nothing from God available to other people that isn't completely available to you, too. God is no respecter of persons. (Rom 2:11; Acts 10:34). All you need to do is crack open that divinely inspired ancient text collecting dust on your shelf and devour it for the absolute living truth that it is. Then you won't have to wait for the next revival to experience the miraculous power of the Living God. You'll see Him at work in your life every single day–the supernatural power of a changed heart.