"THE LORD WORKING WITH THEM"

DAY 11,

Read John 5:16-23

Key Verses: “So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen” (Mark 16:20).

“God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his will”(Heb.2:4).

For those who are willing to obey the Master’s command to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel,” the mighty hand of God will be readily released upon them and they will experience the miraculous while serving the Master. As Christians, we must at all times, seek to live the life of obedience to the Lord so that we shall live in unity with Him.

The disciples took the Great Commission very serious, no wonder they recorded success in their ministry. The secret of the success of the Apostles was that, “The Lord was working with them” all the way. This simple phrase or expression is proof of the mighty hand of God upon the Apostles and points to what the mighty hand of God could do. Note that the Lord was not just with the disciples, He was “working with them.” The Lord may be with us, but not working with us. The Lord may be with us and we are busy doing our own thing.

Extra-ordinary miracles happen when we work in unity with the Holy Spirit, and when our hands become the extension of God’s hands. In Acts 19:11 we read: “Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul.” The miracles God did through Paul in Ephesus were so spectacular that many charlatans arose in the city who tried to emulate the miracles which he did. Foremost among the charlatans and exorcists were the sons of Sceva who tried but could not emulate Paul.

Jesus walked in unity with his Father and with the Holy Spirit. Jesus stated that it was the Father that did the works through him. “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves” (John 14:10, 11).

For effectiveness in ministry we must be obedient to the Lord, and secondly, we must allow the Holy Spirit to work through us.

PRAYER: O Lord, please may the power of Your mighty hand work through me to confirm the words I speak and the works that I do.