OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE
Sunday, January 5th, 2013
SIGNS & WONDERS II
Memorise:
Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.
John 4:48
Read:
Mark 2:1-12
1 And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house.
2 And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them.
3 And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.
4 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.
5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
6 But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,
7 Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?
8 And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?
9 Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?
10 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)
11 I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.
12 And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.
Message
When our Lord walked the earth, the people wanted Him to prove that He was the Messiah through a sign. Beyond His heart penetrating sermons, they wanted to see a sign from Him by which they would believe He came from God.
“Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.”
John 4:48
Jesus in the above passage made it clear that people would not believe except they see signs and wonders. For several years, my mother-in-law did not want to hear anything about the gospel. We tried our best to convert her to no avail. Meanwhile, my wife had gone through three caesarean sections before we got born-again. When we gave our lives to Christ, we read Luke 1:37 which says,
“For with God nothing shall be impossible.”
My wife got pregnant again and had a big baby without a caesarean section. When my mother-in-law saw this, she said “because of what the Lord has done, I surrender to the gospel.” I decree concerning you that, because of the signs and wonders the Lord shall perform in your life, all the members of your family shall be converted to the gospel in Jesus’ Name.
In Mark 2:1-12, we have the story of a bedridden man healed at the command of Jesus. Witnesses of this miracle wondered at the marvellous display of God’s power. After I had my child which the doctors said could only be delivered through a caesarean section on a Friday night. The next day being a Saturday, I had a preaching engagement with doctors at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) in Nigeria. I was so full of joy over the wonder of the Friday night that I could not sleep. At that meeting, I shared my testimony that my wife, who in the past had undergone three caesarean sections, and who the doctors had said couldn’t deliver any more children, was delivered of a big baby naturally by the intervention of God. All of them opened their mouths for about two minutes. The miracle that would make people open their mouths shall happen to you this season in Jesus’ Name. When they finally recovered from the shock of my testimony, a scientist amongst them said: “nothing is proved and acceptable in science except it can be repeated to get the same result.” Four years later, my wife gave birth to another baby boy, much bigger than the previous one. I decree in the Name that is above every other name, that God will do something new in your life as you read this devotional today, in Jesus’ Name.
Action Point:
Exercise your faith in God through Jesus Christ on a particular situation that seems impossible – believing that God will do it and He will perform it.
Follow us on twitter: @tafc_ministries
