THE ANOINTING TEST, NO. 5

Nicodemus said to Jesus: "No man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him" (John 3:2). I believe that one of the greatest things that could ever be said about us is that there is unmistakable evidence about our lives that God is with us. Men, our wives and families should be those who most feel and notice God's presence with us. It is not enough that they know we regularly read the Bible and pray, although that is important. They should be aware of God's presence in us and around us.

There are those who do all these necessary things and yet still have little evidence that God is with them. The reason for this is that the fail to make application of what they read and pray for in their personal lives. I am sure that there was no shortage of prayer and reading of the Scriptures in Nicodemus' life, as well as the lives of his fellow elders, yet they all recognized that there was a big difference between them and Jesus.

Jesus said in John 3:3: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." The new birth is in itself a miracle and the kingdom of heaven is a miraculous kingdom. Many in the church have been born into the church along with all its programs which are often devoid of the miraculous. Men, it is imperative that we understand that when we have been miraculously born again that we have not been born into a natural kingdom but a supernatural kingdom. This kingdom is evidenced in supernatural ways.

Some Christians may try to draw a distinction between the supernatural gifts of the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit as if one group was miraculous and the other was not. The fruit of the Spirit as shown in Galatians 5:22,23 is not the fruit of the natural man, but the supernatural fruit of the Spirit. It is love in the midst of the unlovely. It is joy in the midst of unhappiness. It is peace in the midst of the storm, etc. This is very miraculous.

As born again believers, we must have all the doors of our lives wide open to live, breath, and reveal the miraculous kingdom into which we have been born. If the gifts of the Spirit are a real part of this kingdom (1 Corinthians 12:1-11), and without a doubt they are, then we deprive ourselves, our families, our churches, and the world if we close the doors on this aspect of the kingdom. Jesus Christ never closed the doors on the miraculous. Neither should we.

Be encouraged.

Colin Campbell