The task given to the early church--and to us, as followers of Jesus today--is to produce the proof of the power of God to a lost and dying world. This is why we must give careful consideration to the highly successful methods the early Church used to accomplish this task.
The ministries of the apostles and members of the early church were miraculous and proof-producing. When we talk about miracles, we must understand that we are not just talking about observable physical miracles of healing and deliverance. We are talking about the greatest miracle of all--that of salvation.
The reason for the success of the first church is very simple: It was the Lord “working with them.” When the Lord is your co-worker, there is no room for failure. He will confirm His Word with supernatural miracles. The apostles would not have been successful had they not produced confirming evidence of the power of Jesus Christ and His resurrection.
Jesus commissioned His followers--and us--saying:
And he said unto them, Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature, He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned, And these signs shall follow them that believe, In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents: and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them: they shall lay hands on the sick. and they shall recover. And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. (Mark 16:15-18,20)
The disciples had signs and wonders following them because the Lord was working with them. Some view ministry as “them working with the Lord.” That is the way many believers try to minister. They make their plans and ask God to bless them. They have a set order of service, with no room for the spontaneity of the Holy Spirit to move. But the method that proved successful for the first church was “the Lord working with them.”
There is a breakthrough you can experience in the spirit world that will completely revolutionize your ministry, just as crossing Jordan and conquering Canaan did for Israel. It is in recognizing and accepting this simple, yet profound truth: The Lord wants to work with you to demonstrate His proof-producing power to the world.
PRAYER:
My FATHER, My God, this year let my life reflect the blessing of the Lord, I shall not be static, I decree PROGRESS, FAVOR, HONOR, AND INFLUENCE are my portion. My life is SALTED, My speech is SALTED, My Home and Business are SALTED in the name of Jesus.
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