Vision - the key to miracle breakthrough

Over the last few posts we have looked at how to increase our faith for miracles and healing, and how God is thinking about us and is mindful of his covenant.

Today I want to look at the place of vision in your miracle. If you can't see your miracle on this inside of you, you won't see it on the outside either. When we stir our faith for something we have to begin with a God given vision.

“Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint”
(Proverbs 29:18)

Put it another way - 'where there is no vision, people are all over the place'. When we don't have a vision or a road map, we are in confusion, tossed this way and that way by every opinion or feeling.

But when God gives us a vision - when we see things how they should be, in a vision on the inside of us - then we can move forward in faith towards that vision. Vision enables us to be single minded, which in turn gets us the breakthrough we are looking for.

Even when we choose a car, it begins with a vision. We see a picture in a brochure or we see a car in the street. That produces increased desire which in turn leads us to getting the thing we have been meditating on.

Look at the steps Joshua took to get the breakthrough at Jericho.

1. He meditated on God's word.

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”
(Joshua 1:8)

Step one is to see what God says and meditate on that until that is bigger in your mind than the problem or sickness you are facing. It means spending some quality time in God's word and in God's presence.

2. He had the vision on the inside.
Jericho was a terrifying obstacle. Lesser men would have turned and run. But Joshua knew there could be no Promised Land blessing without going through Jericho.

It's said that Jericho's walls were so thick you could race chariots along the top of them. Joshua knew it would take a miracle to get the breakthrough.

The day for battle came. Joshua led the army towards Jericho. Look at the first word God said to Joshua.

“And the LORD said to Joshua: “See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valour.”
(Joshua 6:2)

First of all God says “See!” In other words, look at the vision on the inside Joshua. You can see victory on the inside. You know by faith what is going to happen here.

Then God says, “I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valour.”

Now that was not yet true. The battle still had to start. But God was saying, 'See it on the inside first. When you see it on the inside of you - when you know it in your spirit - then it's a foregone conclusion what the outcome will be.

Later we read the outcome. At the end of verse 20 it says,

“…and they took the city.”
(Joshua 6:20)

So the steps to your miracle are:

1. Hear from God's word and meditate on that.
2. See the vision of what it will look like to get your miracle or healing
3. Act on the vision and walk towards it as though it was already yours
4. Take what God has already given you.

These things sometimes take time. It's rare to see the answer to your prayer as you say the 'Amen' at the end of your first prayer. Be bold. Press through to victory using these steps.

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What is God thinking?

As Albert Einstein lay on his deathbed, he asked only for his glasses, his writing implements and his latest equations. He knew he was dying, yet he continued his work. In those final hours of his life, while fading in and out of consciousness, he was working on what he hoped would be his greatest work of all. It was a project of monumental complexity. It was a project that he hoped would unlock the mind of God.

“I am not interested in this phenomenon or that phenomenon,” Einstein had said earlier in his life. “I want to know God's thoughts - the rest are mere details.”

Wouldn't it be great to know what God is thinking right now? Actually, I can tell you exactly what God is thinking right now. He is thinking about two things and how they fit together. Firstly, he is thinking about you.

“The LORD has been mindful of us; He will bless us.”
Psalms 115:12

God is mindful of you - yes you! Is he thinking how bad you are or how you've let him down? No! He is mindful of you and he is thinking about how to bless you.

The second thing he is thinking about is his covenant. He is thinking about the covenant he made through Jesus because that is the mechanism of his blessing.

“…He will ever be mindful of His covenant.”
Psalms 111:5

Thousands of years ago, God looked at the condition of men and women, who were separated from him, and started his plan to bring you and me back into a loving relationship with himself. He found a man called Abram. He saw faith in his heart. He performed a miracle and brought Abram into a covenant so that everything God has was his and everything that Abram had was Gods. That's what the covenant was. What a great blessing!

“On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram…”
Genesis 15:18

Fast forward a few thousand years and God extended that blessing to you and me through Jesus. When Jesus died on the cross he was fully God and fully man. As the blood ran from his veins, the blood of God and the blood of man ran together in a new covenant.

“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, …that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus…”
Galatians 3:13-14

Now all that God had was ours and all we had was his! He took our sin and gave us his forgiveness. He took our sickness and gave us his healing. He took our poverty and gave us his provision. He took our fear and gave us his peace. Jesus taught that this would happen in the story of the lost son. When the older brother complained that the prodigal was being blessed even though he sinned and that he himself had received nothing, Jesus puts these words into the mouth of the father who represents God.

“And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.”
Luke 15:31

It's amazing! Everything he has is ours when we live in the covenant blessing relationship. It's so amazing many Christians live like the older brother - they live with the father, try and be faithful but never benefit from the blessing because they don't realise it is there's already!

And the reason God is thinking about blessing you through his covenant is that it is set forever as the channel for his blessing.

“For the mountains shall depart
And the hills be removed,
But My kindness shall not depart from you,
Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,”
Says the LORD, who has mercy on you.”
Isaiah 54:10

I don't know what blessing you need today or what sickness you need healing for, but God is already thinking about you and how to bless you. It's just one of the benefits of the covenant. Here is a list of a few more.

“Bless the LORD, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.”
Psalms 103:2-5

See how healing, protection and forgiveness are all tied together in the covenant that Jesus paid for, with his blood, on the cross.

What is God thinking? Right now he is thinking about you and how he can bless you.

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Fire in Belfast!

My good friend Peter Roberts was touched by the Lakeland Revival whilst watching it on TV at home. He has written a moving post on his blog. Have a look here:
http://1manandhisguitar.blogspot.com/2008/05/why-did-i-fall-down.html

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How to increase your faith for miracles and healing.

There was a day when the disciples of Jesus wanted more faith, perhaps wishing to see the miracles they saw Jesus do, happen in their own life.

“And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
Luke 17:5

Now you need to know first of all that, if you are born again, you have a measure of faith. Every believer is given a measure of faith by God.

“...God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.”
Romans 12:3

But the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith. So we begin with a measure of faith. But we can increase our faith. Jesus said that even with a small amount of faith we can see miracles.

“If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”
Luke 17:6

Faith is a seed and like all seeds it has the ability to grow. Everything God does in the earth begins with a word. Creation came about through the word of God.

“By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”
Hebrews 11:3

So every healing and every miracle begins with the word of God. So, if we want to increase our faith we must start with God’s word, because that is where faith comes from.

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Romans 10:17

As a Christian you believe that your sin is forgiven. You feel that you know it and that no one can take that from you. It’s God given. You believe it because you have heard it preached so often. Faith for forgiveness came because you heard the word. Faith comes by hearing.

So if you heard the word on healing as much as you have heard it on forgiveness your faith for healing would be just as strong. And you can begin by speaking out God’s word. When you hear yourself speaking the word, faith comes. That is why God says we should speak the solution not the problem.

“Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’”
Joel 3:10

Why should weak people say ‘I am strong’? Because God always contradicts our fallen condition. To the sinful he says ‘you are forgiven’. To the poor he says, ‘you are rich’. To the weak he says, ‘you are strong’. To the sick he says, ‘you are healed’

Using the healing words of scripture in your everyday life is explained in my book A Word about your Healing, available from our website.
www.rsvptrust.co.uk/resources.html

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Lakeland Revival – is it of God?

Well, it didn’t take long for the ‘Heresy Hunters’ to arrive on the scene did it? I have watched amazed and awed at what is happening in Lakeland Florida and Dudley UK. For years I’ve prayed for revival in the UK. I’ve studied just about every account of revival in the UK and in other places. So when I heard from my friend Anthony Delaney about his visit to the Lakeland Outpouring I was quite excited.

A hallmark of every revival is the critics, usually religious people with no spiritual power in their own lives. They crticise outpourings because they fear getting close to God themselves – though they will always say they want a visitation from God. But they secretly want it only on their own terms.

The Messianic revival in Israel was constantly under attack from the Heresy Hunters – the Scribes and Pharisees. They had no power themselves but hated the anointing on Jesus.

But even those in the flow of what happened began to question Jesus' anointing. There were all these weird healings and strange confrontations. It was a bit embarrassing. So John the Baptist sent some of his people to check out the revival outpouring in Jesus ministry.

“When the men had come to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, ‘Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?’” And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight. Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”
Luke 7:20-23

In the last sentence, Jesus exposes the real issue – offence. People, specially religious people, get offended when Divine spontaneity disrupts the ordered flow of religion.

Make no mistake, Jesus’ words were a rebuke and a warning to John and his followers. Don’t get offended if you want to stay in the blessing. God is God. He will always do things his own way.

But there is a more important thing we should be concerned about. It is dangerous to speak against God’s outpouring.

“Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.”
Matthew 12:31

I think it may be safer to err on the side of acceptance than to rush in and condemn a move of the Holy Spirit.

People have commented on Todd Bentley’s way of shouting ‘Bam!’ as he anoints people. But you know, Jesus did some strange stuff in his healing ministry. In John 9:6-7 Jesus spat on the ground, made some mud and pushed it into a blind man’s eyes and then told him to go and have a wash!

All revivals break convention – ‘Something new is happening!’ is how revivals are first noticed. Let’s not be offended by what God is doing in Lakeland and Dudley but let us pray the fire spreads.

Jesus showed what the real test should be – ‘by their fruits you will know them’ – so he told John’s disciples, “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them.”

That was the test Jesus put on a revival – healings, freedom, and good news being preached. And as I watch the Revival by satellite I see all levels of society are being touched – including the poor having the gospel preached to them.

I realised a long time ago that when God moves it can never be on our terms. We are made in his image but he does things differently.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.”
Isaiah 55:8

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Healing - Doing your part

"Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus travelled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed."
Luke 17:11-14

I've been looking at this familiar tale of the 10 lepers lately. We normally rush past this bit to the following verse where only the Samaritan leper comes back to thank Jesus for his healing. So, wrongly, we assume its about saying thank you to Jesus...

But let's look what really happens. Jesus meets ten men who 'stood at a distance'. Lepers were not allowed to mix with other people. They had to live separate lives. They were outcasts.

They shouted to Jesus and asked for mercy. Jesus' reply must have sounded the most outrageous thing they ever heard in their lives! “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”

I wonder what they thought? 'Is he mocking us?' You would need to know, as they did, what Leviticus 14 says about leprosy. There's a whole chapter detailing more than a week long ceremony to declare clean someone who has been healed of leprosy. They knew and understood - Jesus wasn't just saying, 'Let the priests have a look at you.'

He implied they were healed and should start the process of restoration and proving their healing. I wish we could have seen their faces. They stood there covered in leprosy and Jesus said, 'Go show yourselves to the priests.'

It was an outrageous statement and unbelievable. BUT... what did they do?

"And as they went, they were cleansed."

In other words, they acted on their faith and the words of Jesus. Covered in leprosy, they turned to go and tell the priest they were healed. At that point their healing had not manifested. But they acted in faith, believing they had received what Jesus had said. And as they went - as they acted in faith - they were cleansed.

When I pray for the sick in our meetings I always try and make time and tell people to try and do something they couldn't do before we prayed. Many are amazed that they can now do things they couldn't do before.

If you're praying for your own healing, are you acting as though you have already received it? That's what these lepers did. Acting on what Jesus said, they acted in faith and their healing manifested.

We need to pray. We need to believe that by the wounds of Jesus we are healed. But there also comes a time to take action.

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