The Electric Touch

And other discoveries that changed our world and the way we think.              

By Peter Barfoot

Contents:

Introduction

Chapter 1:   When Two Worlds Touch                                                    

Chapter 2:   Double Breakthrough!                                                       

Chapter 3:   The Miracle of Flight                                                      

Chapter 4:   The Electric Touch                                                             

 Chapter 5:   Words that Travel the World                                            

 Chapter 6:   Window to Another World                                       c    

Chapter 7:   The Principle of Buoyancy

Chapter 8:   Beyond the Fear Frontier                                                    

 Chapter 9:   How it all Works                                                                     

Chapter 10: Seeing things in Perspective 

Chapter 11: The Endless Cycle              

Chapter 12: Wait, there’s more!

Last Words

INTRODUCTION

But for the age-old quest by mankind for new discoveries, the human race would not have progressed beyond the primitive. In every age, those dissatisfied with things as they were set about improving or replacing them. The cries of “It can’t be done!” stimulated rather than discouraged them; and so, in time, the first wheel turned, the first boat floated, and the first airplane flew.

Instead of settling for the status quo, the bold and the imaginative probed new possibilities, and led a reluctant, and often doubting, world into undreamed of discoveries.

Of all peoples, Christians ought to be pioneers, inventors and discoverers, for by nature, believers are adventurers. The faith that caused Abraham to obey God’s call and venture out, “not knowing where he was going”, beats in the heart of every believer.

The premise of this book is that the natural laws discovered by man have spiritual counterparts, and that, had the Bible been more widely understood, there would have been many more beneficial discoveries.

My purpose is to link natural and spiritual laws, so that readers might examine “the invisible things of the Creator” revealed in Creation, uncover their principles, and explore their possibilities – all for the benefit of humanity.

This book was written to make its readers aware of the fact that those who believe in God can live in and enjoy two very wonderful worlds. They can rejoice in God’s revelation of Himself in Creation, and at the same time enjoy things hid from those whose knowledge is limited to the senses of taste, touch, sight, sound and smell.

By exploring the Bible, believers can discover the laws governing God’s Kingdom and apply them to the world around them. The spiritual laws of heaven have a practical, earthly application. This will raise skepticism in the minds of some and possibilities in the minds of others. It was when the explorer Humboldt read of “the paths of the seas” in the Book of Psalms that he sought and found them. The Humboldt Current is a testimony not only to him but also to the Bible, which declared, matter-of-factly, that such “paths” existed (Psalm 8:8).   

Jesus Christ lived in two dimensions, natural and the spiritual, and was at ease in both. When his Father spoke to him from heaven, some who were present heard thunder; others thought an angel had spoken. They did not have “ears to hear” what God was saying.

At times, Jesus had to interpret spiritual truths in natural terms, so that he could communicate more effectively to his disciples. His statement, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go, that I may wake him out of sleep”, is an example. So that they might understand it was necessary for Jesus to state plainly that Lazarus was dead (John 11:11-14).

Of the many discoveries and inventions made over the past few hundred years, quite a few were made by Christians with a view to spreading the message of the Gospel. The first book ever printed was the Bible. The first telegraphed message – sent in Morse code – was an exclamation from Numbers 23:23: “What hath God wrought!” The first message over the transatlantic cable from England to the USA was Luke 2:14: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

Those who made some of the greatest advances knew that God had inspired them and were quick to acknowledge Him. Other Bible-based discoveries include Michael Faraday’s discovery of electro-magnetism, which came from his understanding of the cyclical nature of Christian giving and receiving.

Some people like to quote God’s statement that His ways are “far above” ours, without understanding that He was referring to the ways of the wicked (Isaiah 55:7, 8). In actual fact, those who explored God’s ways, and in so doing made some of the world’s most important discoveries, were anything but wicked – as we will see.

Peter Barfoot

Chapter 1

When Two Worlds Touch

In Romans 1:20, the Apostle Paul makes this amazing statement: “For the invisible things of God from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and deity.”

The Revised Standard Version of the Bible puts it more clearly. “Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made.”

Paul’s statement is more than amazing – it is mind-boggling! What great possibilities it opens for us! Can you grasp the concept? The world around us is a physical display of the power and the nature of God. His attributes are on display for all to see. The spiritual is clearly seen in the physical, the invisible God in the visible Creation.

This does not mean that God may be observed through the scientist’s microscope, of course. What it does mean is that mountains inspire us to marvel at God’s majesty, and those tiny veins in a leaf make us aware of His intricate ways. But it means more – much more!

It means that God’s nature and power are clearly revealed in the laws that govern Creation — laws of physics. These laws have their spiritual equivalents in the laws of God’s Kingdom.

When these two laws meet the super enters the natural, and the supernatural becomes the norm. This is not so much the intrusion of the supernatural into the natural as it is a working together of the laws of two worlds – one spiritual and the other physical. We call this “supernatural”. Miracles take place when and where the two worlds, or dimensions, work together.

Faith is the factor that brings the natural into contact with the super, the visible with the invisible, the earthy with the heavenly, mere mortals with the Almighty. But the contact can bring complications.

Suppose a person is dying from cancer, and the doctor has stated that the condition is inoperable; but after prayer the cancer disappears. The doctor, while of course pleased, is mystified. His patient attributes the recovery to God, and rejoices in an apparent miracle of healing. The doctor, reasoning from a medical rather than a biblical standpoint, concludes that an “unknown factor” has caused a remission.

Both are correct. Prayer to God has resulted in His supernatural power entering the person’s body. The “unknown factor” was the faith that put the patient in touch with a dimension where the power of God is the norm – a place where everything is possible.  

These two dimensions have their own laws. But what is amazing is that the two sets of laws are compatible. New inventions work only when they conform to set laws of physics, and it’s much the same with miracles. How often miracles happen depends on how much those who seek them conform to the laws of God’s Kingdom.

God is a God of order, not disorder. He is not the author of confusion. Spiritual laws govern His Kingdom. These laws have their natural counterparts in the laws of physics that govern our planet. We conform to laws of physics simply because life cannot be lived outside of them. We know that if we were to step off the edge of a cliff we will die. The law of gravity will pull us down. It will not kill us, but our foolishness in defying it – and the sudden stop at the bottom – almost certainly will.

We understand these laws but do not understand that there are equivalent spiritual laws. And because we recognize one set of laws and ignore the other, the natural is not in harmony with the spiritual.

A man will say that he does not believe in miracles – until he finds himself in a situation where only a miracle can save him. His willingness to conform to God’s spiritual laws through repentance and faith may then determine whether or not he will recover. If he conforms too late his newfound faith may not be strong enough in God to overcome his longtime physical condition. Even the faith of others may be too late to bridge the gap. Unless the sovereign grace of God intervenes, he will die.

It is by conforming to the laws of God’s kingdom that we experience miracles. These laws, states the Apostle Paul, are openly displayed in God’s Creation. In learning these spiritual laws we understand that the laws of the Kingdom are as inexorable and as inflexible as the laws of physics.

The prophetess Deborah’s exultant victory song in Judges 5:20 declares that the universal and inflexible order of creation – “the stars in their courses” (orbits) – “fought” against the invading enemy. Deborah was not attributing the enemy’s downfall to favourable star signs, but to the inevitable triumph of order over disorder and chaos.

Almighty God works through order, but Satan works through disorder and chaos. The more disorder the more chaos. God’s order is seen in stable government and the rule of law. Those who resist proper authority resist that order, and in so doing resist God. (Romans 13:1-2)

Take terrorism, for example. The aim of terrorists is to cause the political and social chaos that results in anxiety, fear and insecurity. They seek to bring about a state of panic, instability, and chaos. Chaos is a terrorist’s dream and a nation’s nightmare

However, these attacks on lawful society ultimately fail. This is because God has built universal order into His Creation. Among other things this order is displayed in the stars – “Not one fails”. (Isaiah 40:26) Were the universe to become chaotic, the institution of government – and everything else with it – would collapse. But this cannot happen, because the order in Creation is universal. Terrorists seeking the overthrow of order are fighting against God – a hopeless cause! Communism, the most threatening tyranny of the Twentieth Century, lasted a mere seventy years – a human lifetime.

When terrible events take place Christians pray and turn to the Bible for guidance. What did God say to His people in the past? What is He saying to us today? We take courage from the assurance God gives and reaffirm our faith in His sovereignty over this earth. In so doing, we dispel confusion and re-establish personal, spiritual order in our lives. The peace that Jesus gives is permanent, and since this world didn’t give it to us, it can’t take it away.

Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not the kind of peace the world gives. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27)

The universal order of “the stars in their orbits” (Judges 5:20) remains the most reliable ally of all who live in harmony with it. The Creator’s inflexible and unchanging laws triumph over personal, social, political and cosmic chaos all the time.

A lifetime ago, the map of Europe was black under Nazi rule and the blue waters of the Pacific blood-red through Japanese militarism. Who would have thought that fascism would so soon be rolled back (albeit at immense cost)?

 What might the years ahead bring? Only God knows. But with His help and our courage, the fight against the latest enemies of freedom will certainly be won – perhaps sooner than we might think. Apart from God’s justice nothing is inevitable. Rest assured that chaos has no effect on God’s order of things. God’s creation is on the side of law and justice. When God’s order triumphs over the present chaos we’ll sing the song of Deborah. If you already believe in God’s sovereignty over this earth you’ve probably been singing it for some time.

When Jesus spoke of his approaching death, he used a natural law to explain its necessity. “Truly, truly, I say to you, except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and dies, it abides alone. But if it dies, it brings forth much fruit.” (John 12:24) Jesus went on to explain that if a person’s life is to be productive, it must first be sown as a seed.

In the chapters ahead we will examine some of the natural laws that govern our world, and see how they portray the higher laws of the Kingdom of God. If men and women down through history found fame by discovering and applying laws of physics, God’s people should be renowned for their supernatural discoveries.

In the Bible, many of those who experienced miracles made the greatest discoveries of all time. In one brief moment, they experienced the power that comes when the super enters the natural. We too can discover that when the two worlds touch, anything can happen!

Are you ready for some amazing discoveries?

Chapter 2

The Miracle of Flight

It is appropriate that the father of Wilbur and Orville Wright was a minister of the Gospel, since the dream of man has always been to take to the skies.

In any case, the Wright brothers were the first to experience the reality of powered flight when on December 17, 1903, their lumbering, four-cylindered, 12 h.p. flying machine lifted off a sandy beach near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and took to the sky. The distance covered was little more than 250 metres, and the flight time was 59 seconds!

That first flight is all the more amazing when we remember that it was made by two brothers whose mechanical experience up until that time had been gained from building bicycles! But they proved to the unbelieving world of their day that a heavier than air machine could fly. How far and how fast would be left to later flyers.

The Wright brothers demonstrated that man was no longer earthbound; that by conforming to certain laws of physics, he could get off the ground!

Why is it that so many people can’t do the same, spiritually? They want to rise above their problems and leave below them the bondages that restrict their freedom – they want to be free! Even King David cried, “O, that I had the wings of a dove that I might fly…” David wanted to fly away from the problems he was having with people.

Trouble is, there’s a lot more involved in your “getting up there” than simply struggling against the things that hold you down. For you to “take off” you need a higher law that can lift you – the spiritual equivalent to the Law of Aerodynamics, which enables airplanes to overcome the Law of Gravity.

There are laws in Creation that operate in the physical dimension. These natural laws reveal the laws of the spiritual dimension. God gave us the changing seasons, along with laws of sowing and reaping. God did this for our benefit. (Acts 14:17)

Sowing and reaping has its spiritual equivalent. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sows, that also shall he reap. For he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in season we shall reap, if we faint not.” (Galatians 6:7-9)

The law is seen also in the Apostle Paul’s warning that God will “render to every man according to his deeds.” (Romans 2:6) Paul is warning of the certainty of God’s judgement on immorality. This law of returns works also in the field of giving. “He who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully.” (2 Corinthians 9:6)

As well as seasonal laws, God gave physical laws. Down through history brilliant scientists, such as Isaac Newton, discovered many of the laws we all know. Newton’s First Law of Physics states: “For every action there is an opposite and equal reaction.” The force you use against an immovable object, such as a wall, exerts equal force against you.

God is consistent. He does not change from day to day. “I am the LORD”, he declares in Malachi 3:6, “I do not change.”  We may be changeable, but God isn’t. He has set in place laws of giving and receiving, laws that work. “Give and it shall be given” works because it is a law of giving. You can’t say, “I tried giving, but it didn’t work.” Giving is one of God’s laws, so it has to work!

Now the negative application of the same Law is: “Do not judge, or you will be judged.” If you are a critical person, you will be criticized to the same degree that you have criticized. So if you don’t want others to judge you, or criticize you, don’t judge or criticize them. This is a law that God has built into life.

A law of physics cannot be changed. But although it cannot be changed, it can be overcome by a higher law. The law of gravity (which Newton famously discovered) is a lower law. God has given us the Law of Gravity to keep our feet on the ground – literally. Without the Law of Gravity, the spin of Earth would throw us into space.

But although earthbound, we desire to fly; and the further, faster and higher, the better. Two laws operate. The Law of Gravity keeps us on the ground. But since flying machines were invented, the Law of Gravity has been overcome by those who take to the air. How? Simply because they have conformed to a higher law, the Law of Aerodynamics. This natural principle points to a spiritual truth.

Have you a desire to “take off” spiritually? We love the joy that comes from knowing that we can say, “God, I feel good because I don’t condemn myself.” We don’t want to sin. We certainly don’t want to live under a cloud of condemnation. We want to be free to love God and to rise above temptations. But despite that, a horrible, lower law, operates in our lives.

“But I am a Christian!” you might object. Maybe so, but who doesn’t experience the conflict that comes from an occasional temptation? Condemnation comes when we fail to live the Christian life. We pray, “God, forgive me, I didn’t want to do that.” But we did it. A lower law worked, old thoughts and desires revived, and we did it.

“How can you forgive me, God?” you prayed afterward. Sin may be pleasant, but it results in a cloud of condemnation. What’s the answer? The answer is that God forgives us when we turn to Him. He forgives us for Christ’s sake. You are “a new creation in Christ; old things are passed away; behold, all things are new.” (2 Corinthians. 5:17)

The Apostle Paul desired to live a holy life, and few people desire to live a sinful one. The problems of most people relate to an inability to live up to what they believe.

But by what higher law can you escape the lower law?

Paul writes of such a law: “For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1)

Paul has discovered a higher law. The answer is not to try to fight the old thoughts and desires, for when we do they get stronger and stronger, and finally overcome us. Then we really feel as though we’ve let God and ourselves down. But in “the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” we can rise above that futile and degrading struggle.

Most people try to “die” to sin, when in fact they are already dead to it through Christ’s death. “I am crucified with Christ”, Paul writes, “nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20) The answer is not to fight the law of sin and death that works in the flesh but to rise above it.

When you apply the spiritual Law of Life in Christ, you “take off” into full flight! But to do so you have to see yourself as well designed, spiritually, as an airplane is aerodynamically. The reason why many fail to rise above sin is that they have not aligned themselves with this Law of Life. Spiritual laws are as inflexible as natural laws, and this makes them every bit as reliable. You can rise above the old life. If you haven’t got off the ground, so to speak, it’s probably because you’ve not done some vital things.

When an aircraft takes off, opposing forces are at work. One is Lift versus Weight. Lift takes place when the oncoming air rises over the plane’s wings. Aircraft take off into the wind to increase Lift. Weight is the heaviness of the airplane, its passengers, and its freight.

But while the pilot has to consider Lift versus Weight, he must also consider Thrust versus Drag. Thrust is the power of the engines. Drag is the friction of the aircraft moving through the air. Modern aircraft are designed to move through the air rather than against it.

At take-off, the aircraft must rise against Weight and forward against Drag. The pilot’s skill lies in balancing the power and the trim. He is operating both vertically and horizontally; and if he does that correctly, he’ll get the aircraft off the ground.

Once, while I was flying in a small Cessna, the pilot explained to me the basic principles of flight. He said that each landing is a controlled stall. To safely land a airplane – even a jet airplane – the pilot must diminish the Thrust and then lower the flaps, so that vertically, the plane is going down, and horizontally it is slowing down. Thrust and Lift are reduced, allowing Drag and Weight to take over. The Law of Aerodynamics gives way to the Law of Gravity.

What is the Lift and Weight, and the Thrust and Drag, in your life?

The Lift is forgiveness, and the Weight is condemnation. The certainty of forgiveness assures you of all the Lift you need to rise, spiritually. Forgiveness overcomes the Condemnation that would otherwise weigh you down. (1 John 1:9)

Thrust is the power of the Holy Spirit in your life. Drag is poorly designed spirituality. A poorly designed airplane’s lack of aerodynamic design would make it to push, hopelessly, against a wall of air. Despite the powerful thrust of its engines, it would not get off the ground!

Likewise, power alone – even God’s power in our lives – is not enough! You need to redesign your life, spiritually. You need to eliminate the Drag of complacency, apathy and indifference. You need to design a lifestyle of personal devotion, constant prayer, and continual fellowship.

Once you’ve done that, you are now roaring down the runway, so to speak. You know that you have the necessary Lift because you are certain of God’s forgiveness, and so are not burdened with the Weight of condemnation. You have plenty of Thrust. Yet you find yourself struggling against something. What can be wrong?

A load controller’s job is to balance the airplane. A passenger jet is balanced by feeding into a computer all available information: the fuel required; the distance the plane has to travel; and the estimated head or tail winds likely to be encountered. The load controller also balances the quantity of fuel against the weight of the passengers and freight.

All freight on board must also be taken into account. Acid must not be stored next to food. A thousand different items must be considered. Freight, baggage, seating, passenger seating – all these must be carefully checked.

The nose of one passenger jet was sluggish during take-off, and the pilot wondered why. The nose of a jet rises before the plane leaves the runway. There was no real danger, and he got the nose up. But an unexpected, weight-load, forward of the airplane’s wings, was a puzzle.

The pilot had adjusted the trim, which shouldn’t have been necessary, since the load controller had calculated the weight, and the pilot had adjusted the trim accordingly.

It was later found that a coin collectors’ convention had been held in the city, and a large group of coin collectors had been seated forward of the wings. Each carried his prized coin collection in his hand luggage. The hand luggage had not been weighed, and the briefcases were overweight. The coin collectors had added an unexpected amount of weight.

The airplane, trim adjusted, had roared down the runway, its pilot wondering why the plane’s nose was sluggish. Meanwhile, seated not far behind him, was a group of coin collectors, whose thoughts were not on trim or weight-load but on their precious coins!

Are you clinging so tightly to secret weights that your spiritual life has become sluggish? Those around you cannot possibly calculate the weight you are carrying, because you haven’t divulged your personal problems.   

Get to know God’s laws! They will enable you to live gloriously and victoriously. It’s as right for you to want to rise to new heights, spiritually, as it was for the Wright brothers to want to take to the sky, naturally. The wonder was that they got off the ground!

The miracle is that you can rise above condemnation – including self-condemnation. Now that you know how, the question is how high you wish to fly, and for Christians, the sky is definitely not the limit!

Chapter 3

Double Breakthrough!

It has been said that Nature alone can heal, but she must have perfect cleanliness in order to do it. It took until the 19th Century, however, for man to find how perfect cleanliness could be obtained. When that discovery came, it helped to bring healing to the whole world.

But it took a double breakthrough to do it.

Louis Pasteur was the son of a humble tanner. Born in France in 1822, young Louis spent much of his time studying microbes through a microscope.

The young scientist proved that bacteria, although invisible to the naked eye, are responsible for the change that takes place in milk, and other foodstuffs, especially when the foodstuffs are exposed to heat.

“Life begins only with life,” concluded Pasteur. He reasoned that the billions of microscopic germs that fill the air change many of the things they touch.

Pasteur’s discovery was a major breakthrough in medicine. It led to the prevention and control of terrible diseases, such as anthrax and rabies. His name is today a household word around the world, through the Pasteurization of milk products. Louis Pasteur’s discovery of bacterium made him world-famous.

More than that, it paved the way for a discovery of even greater importance: the prevention and control of harmful germs during surgical operations.

Inspired by Pasteur’s work, Joseph Lister, of Essex, England, was the man who made that greater discovery. Reasoning that if microbes could adversely affect foodstuffs, then they might also infect open wounds, Lister began to disinfect wounds with carbolic acid. Noticing that the acid damaged skin tissue, he diluted it to a harmless, though still effective, solution.

Later, he used a carbolic acid spray to disinfect not only wounds, but also the hands, clothing and instruments of surgeons and their assistants.

The death rate from operations dropped dramatically!

Lister (later Lord Lister) is rightly credited with having caused a surgical revolution. Today we take for granted the sterilized masks, caps and gowns of surgeons. Using unsterilized instruments is unthinkable!

What an historic breakthrough Lister’s discovery brought! But it was a breakthrough that followed Pasteur’s breakthrough. One great breakthrough had led to another.

For medical science, and for the whole world, the works of two brilliant men had combined to bring about a double breakthrough! Some of the greatest discoveries ever made have followed breakthroughs.

Men and women who dared to think differently went out and changed the world forever, often by a single, simple act. They never gave up in disgust when confronted by obstacles that stood in their way, but broke through from another direction – sometimes spectacularly!

St. Luke, himself a physician, gives an account of four men who dared to do something different, and who broke through to a tremendous truth! It was a truth that was to change the life of their sick friend, and the lives of countless others who, since then, have benefited from their dramatic breakthrough!

Seeking to find a way to bring their bed-ridden friend to Jesus, the four found themselves unable to get through a crowd of Pharisees and lawyers who filled the house in which He was teaching.

“And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst in front of Jesus.” (Luke 5:19)

When they could not find a way, they made a way! Their act is fairly typical of those who make new discoveries. When confronted by obstacles, they don’t give up, but use new approaches to reach their original goals.

In this particular case the obstacle was the dense mass of religious legalists who had gathered to split theological straws with Jesus over his teachings.

“The power of the Lord was present to heal.” But they were not being healed; they were just preventing anyone else from being healed.

There will always be barriers to new discoveries: pride, superstition, tradition and bigotry—even previous successes! In the past, barriers such as these have hindered people from reaching their goals. But where there is no way, faith makes a way!

Tearing the tiles off the roof of a house to get someone to Jesus had never been done before. But the need was great, the men were determined, and the tiling was not strong enough to stop them. The four men broke through into the presence of the Lord. They broke through into the healing presence, and lowered their sick friend into the midst.

The story now takes on a new twist.

And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to them, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”

“Forgiven”? But the four had not brought their friend for forgiveness: they’d had a miracle in mind! Like so many others who have “broken through,” they had approached the problem in a novel way, but hadn’t dreamed what they were about to discover.

“And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, ‘Who is this that speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?’

“But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, ‘What do you reason in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say, ‘Your sins be forgiven you’; or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’?”

The breakthrough by the four men on behalf of their sick friend was about to pale by comparison with the revelation that would result from it: the sick man was about to discover that as far as Jesus is concerned, there is no difference between forgiveness and healing, in that the faith that saves and the faith that heals have the same origin!

This would not so much a revelation of Christ’s divinity, as it was a demonstration of his authority. The man on the stretcher had been brought for healing, but Jesus first forgave him. In so doing, he surfaced the latent religiosity of the Pharisees. Jesus knew they would challenge his flat statement of forgiveness. He knew they would try to deny its validity by saying to the sick man, “He says that you are forgiven, but he can’t prove it!”

So Jesus simply said, “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, (he said to the sick man) ‘Arise, and take up your couch, and go into your house.’

“And immediately he rose up in front of them, and took up that on which he had lain, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. And they were all filled with fear, saying, ‘We have seen strange things today.’ “

For “strange things” read “riddles” or “paradoxes”. Or, in today’s language, “mind boggling events”! God had never before given any man such authority on earth! The miracle of healing had demonstrated Christ’s unprecedented authority to forgive sins.

What had begun as a compassionate act had ended in an amazing event! But in between, there had been a breakthrough!

That physical breakthrough – the tearing away of the tiles – opened the way for a spiritual breakthrough: the forgiveness and healing of a man whose friends had exhibited their faith dramatically.

There is no difference between healing and forgiveness when faith is active!

“And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” (James 5:15)

“…Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree…by whose stripes you were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)

Lister’s medical discovery brought healing to the whole world. But Pasteur “broke through” first, and it was his discovery that made Lister’s possible! Lister killed the invisible but deadly microbes found by Pasteur. The sick, which could not even see them, regained health and strength as a result. The proof that they had been eliminated was in the very fact that those who were sick were fully recovered.

Their recovery was the visible sign that the deadly, invisible germs had been dealt with. Just as the healing of the man who had been let down through the roof was a visible sign that his sins were forgiven.

It is one thing to know that we are sinners, and that sin has infected the whole of humanity, and another thing entirely to know that when sin is eliminated from our lives we can recover from its ill effects.

The Law of Moses (widely known as the Ten Commandments, but much more comprehensive) revealed the existence of sin, yet could not destroy it. But Jesus Christ was revealed to “destroy the works of the devil” and sin is his worst – and most destructive — work.

The shed blood of Jesus Christ has the power to eliminate sin wherever it exists. That cleansing blood washes our sins away. The visible effects of that invisible cleansing are remarkable! Joy takes the place of sorrow. Confidence takes the place of condemnation. Peace takes the place of turmoil. The sick are made well, for when sin is eliminated sickness cannot remain. It’s a matter of cause and effect, of root and branch. Maybe it’s why so many new believers are healed when they are forgiven.

Not all sickness is the result of a particular sin, of course, but all sickness is a result of Adam’s sin of disobedience. In the sacrifice of Jesus, God dealt with both the cause and the effect.

“Who his own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree…by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24) “Bless the LORD, I say to myself, and forget not all His benefits; He forgives all your iniquities, He heals all your diseases.” (Psalm 103:3)

Pasteur proved that germs existed, and that they could have a detrimental effect on humanity. Lister found a way to destroy those germs, and as a result gained the title, “Lord Lister.”

The Law of Moses proved that sin existed, and that it had a devastating power on humanity. But Jesus gave his lifeblood to deliver us from the power of sin, and as a result gained the title “Lord of Lords”!

In God’s sight, every person who believes in Jesus is “disinfected” spiritually! Through the work of Jesus on the Cross, the sins of the whole world were forgiven. Every evil deed was paid for in full, with his precious blood.
But not all have accepted Jesus as their Saviour. Those who have not are still unclean because of their sins.

What a tragedy!

It’s as though the world recognized the work of Pasteur, but rejected the work of Lister! But it’s worse – far worse, because Pasteur and Lister’s works – great though they were – were for this life only. But the work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is of benefit for both this life and the life that is to come! Forgiveness and healing go hand in hand.

How do you receive forgiveness? Simply by believing God’s promise that tells you, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead you shall be saved.” (Romans 10:9, 10)

You can be healed the same way by confessing with your mouth what you believe in your heart; that “by his wounds you were healed.” Healing from God is a physical demonstration of a spiritual truth. Little did those four men of faith realize that they had broken through more than a roof – they had broken through into the presence of Christ! In his presence the two greatest needs of humanity, forgiveness and healing, are fully provided for, because of his suffering and death.

It was an amazing discovery, a breakthrough that has helped to bring a double blessing of healing and forgiveness to the whole world. Those four men tore their way through to a wonderful truth, and you can benefit from their breakthrough. Accept healing in exactly the same way you accepted forgiveness—by taking God’s word for it!

The power of the Lord is present to heal you! Your sins are forgiven. You are healed, in the name of Jesus Christ!

The healing you are now receiving is a visible display of the invisible miracle of God’s wonderful forgiveness!

Chapter 4

The Electric Touch

Benjamin Franklin was, without doubt, one of the greatest men who ever lived. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1706, the largely self-educated but brilliant printer, inventor, diplomat and statesman is famous for many things – not least his discovery that lightning was electricity, and that it could be conducted.

In 1752, Franklin flew a silk kite with a wire attached into the face of a thunderstorm. To the thread that held the kite aloft, he attached a metal key. Lightning flashed in the dark sky overhead, and Franklin noticed that the strands of the thread bristled. He then touched the key with his finger, and instantly received a mild shock! A spark of static electricity had entered! Benjamin Franklin had proven his theory. Lightning, the power of the heavens, could be conducted! He knew, because he had touched a key, and it had been an electric touch!

You can be saved in a split second as the revelation that Jesus Christ is the Son of God comes to you in a flash! A miracle of healing can come in the same way. It can come so quickly, so startlingly, that you are healed on the spot. God can meet your need in a miraculous moment.

But first, you need a conductor, something along which the current of God’s power can travel. In the spiritual dimension, that conductor is faith. Not just faith in the general sense, but specific faith; faith that knows exactly what is needed and then ‘touches’ God for it.

Many centuries before Benjamin Franklin received his electric shock, an unnamed woman who knew exactly what she needed proved that faith is a conductor by being healed in a flash from Jesus Christ. The woman had hemorrhaged for 12 years, and had tried many physicians, until “she had spent all she had, but was in no way better, but rather grew worse.”

But when she heard of Jesus, she pressed through the crowd that thronged Him, with but one thing in mind. “For she said within herself, ‘If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.’ “

To push through the crowd, she had to push through her own fears, for it was illegal for her to even be there in the first place. Her condition, which Matthew describes as a “disease,” prohibited her from all physical contact with other people. (Leviticus 15:25)

But faith closed the gap between her condition and the Lord’s ability to cure it. That faith caused her to push through to a miracle! “For she said within herself, If I may but touch the hem of his garment, I shall be whole.”  “Whole” means 100% – anything less can hardly be termed “whole”. Her unspoken words were preparing her to plug into Christ’s mighty healing power!

A conductor must make contact with a power source before a current can flow. Benjamin Franklin had a long line attached to a kite. But this woman had faith words “within herself” that specified exactly when and how she would be healed!

The result was startling! In the exact moment that she touched the hem of his garment the healing power flashed from Jesus – through her live faith into her diseased body. That “flash” of Christ’s power instantly healed her!

But only when she touched! When her trembling fingers were but a hair’s breadth from his garment, she was still hemorrhaging. But on contact with the power source, she was healed on the spot!

“And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was whole of that plague.” (Mark 5:29) She “felt in her body.” What did she feel? She felt the result of power flowing in!

Jesus also felt something. “Who touched me?” he asked his disciples. (Luke 8:45)

“Peter and those who were with him said, ‘Master, the crowd throng you and press you, and you ask, ‘Who touched me’?”

“Jesus said, ‘Someone has touched me: for I perceive that power has gone out of me’.” In the same moment Jesus perceived that power had gone out, the woman knew that power had come in — she felt within herself that she was healed! What had happened? The healing power of God had been conducted from Jesus to the woman through her faith! Faith is a conductor! Others had touched Jesus, but not with their faith!

This woman discovered that we can determine exactly how and when we can be healed. She said within herself, “If I may…I shall”. And because she did, she was!

Long before Benjamin Franklin proved that lightning could be conducted, this woman discovered the original, spiritual principle. The hem of the Lord’s garment was the key to her miracle. Since then, through the laying on of hands, millions have been healed by the same method.

While I was praying for the sick in Borneo, years ago, a quiet little tribal lady stood in front of me and pointed to her ear. The interpreters were busy elsewhere, and I thought she was signifying that she was deaf in one ear.

After prayer, however, she looked up at me with some puzzlement, then grabbed my left hand index finger and thrust it hard up into the hollow under her ear. I prayed again, and her face lit up, so I pointed her in the direction of the microphone, where those who had been healed were testifying, and began to pray for the next person.

Shortly after, I heard a voice so loud that it rose above the noise made by the other team members and the 500 or so persons present. I was amazed to discover that it belonged to the “quiet little lady,” who was shouting out loud her testimony!

I was later told that she had been operated on, unsuccessfully, for the removal of a lump in her body, which had later reappeared under her ear. She was excited because the lump had disappeared when she had thrust my finger into it!

Hundreds were healed in that campaign – the deaf, the dumb, the crippled, and those with severe arthritis. But I especially remember that one little lady whose faith that God’s power would flow through my finger was so strong she grabbed that finger and “plugged” it into the hollow under her ear.

Her faith bypassed my lack of understanding of the true nature of her condition. But then, she didn’t need my faith! Her faith was the conductor that God used to bring an instant miracle of healing into her body!

All the electricity Benjamin Franklin needed was in the thunderstorm, but Franklin had to make contact with it through a kite for it to be conducted. The power in the heavens then “earthed” through him when he touched the key!

All the healing the woman with the hemorrhage needed was in Jesus, but she had to make contact with her faith, before it could be conducted into her body. Heaven touched her when she touched Jesus!

Faith is a conductor!

You can be sitting in a meeting where the presence of God is remarkable, and still not get healed. But if you are given the opportunity to go forward for “the laying on of hands,” then you will most likely be healed. Why? The laying on of the minister’s hands is the point of contact that enables your faith in God to flow. It’s the touch of faith – yours and that of the minister released in the same moment.

I have ministered in meetings where people have been healed in their seats without “the laying on of hands” – usually when the people release their faith in the same moment. At times it has been in response to an outstanding healing that has just taken place through “the laying on of hands”.

There are certain physical objects that attract lightning. Similarly, it seems that some individuals express their faith in ways that attract the healing power of God.

If a woman of faith in the Bible could draw the healing power from Jesus, the wonder is that it took so long for Benjamin Franklin to do the same! She discovered the principle long before he did! The history books tell us that Franklin’s key had an electric touch. But the bible tells us that one woman’s “electric touch” was her key to a miracle!

Benjamin Franklin little knew what the outcome of his kite flying experiment would be. Today, whole nations are electrified. But never has power flowed to greater effect than it did almost 2,000 years ago, when that one determined woman pressed through the crowd to Jesus for an “electric touch.”

Her story still electrifies those who read it—and the healing power of Jesus Christ still shocks the world!

Chapter 5

Words That Travel the World

The year was 1901, and outside the small timber shack that squatted on the coastal cliffs of St. John’s, Newfoundland, boisterous winds tossed a distant kite around a grey sky. The long wire that held the kite aloft was attached to the top of a tall mast, from where it descended to the shack.

Inside the shack, three young men – two Englishmen and an Italian – strained their ears to hear the faint, scratchy sounds coming from a primitive receiver. The Italian leaned forward, listening intently. He knew that at that same hour, far away across the cold Atlantic Ocean, in Poldhu, Cornwall, a pre-arranged wireless signal was being transmitted.

But were these faint sounds he was hearing from the receiver that same signal?

“Dot, dot, dot”… a pause…then again…dot. dot, dot.”

Jubilantly the Italian threw his hands into the air. Yes! It was the three “dots” that form the letter “S” in Morse code – the agreed signal!

Those three short “dots” had travelled more than 3,000 km through the ether before being “caught” by the long aerial attached to the kite. Invisible but powerful radio waves, transmitted from the Old World to the New World, had flashed across the Atlantic Ocean!

The two Englishmen were thrilled at the thought of what had just been accomplished. Their companion, whom they called William, but whose real name was Guglielmo, was delighted. The “S” that now sounded repeatedly in his ears was but one letter in a whole alphabet of sounds that would soon be flashed over vast distances. Words could travel the world – Guglielmo Marconi had proved it!

For most people, the journey from Capernaum on the shore of the Sea of Galilee to the hill town of Cana, more than 25 km distant, would have been a difficult one. But for one worried father, a nobleman seeking help for his sick son, it would have been uphill all the way.

“Come down”, he implored Jesus, on arrival, “for my son is at the point of death!” (John 4:47) Jesus was skeptical, knowing how skeptical Galileans were.

“Except you see signs and wonders,” he replied, “you will not believe.” The Lord had already remarked to his disciples that a prophet was not without honor, save in his own country, and Galilee was his own country.

But the nobleman’s next words were those of a desperate father, rather than those of an unbelieving countryman. “Sir,” he pleaded, “come down before my son dies!” Jesus answered, “Go your way; your son lives.”

“And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken to him, and he went his way. And as he was on his way down, his servants met him, and told him, ‘Your son lives!’ Then he enquired of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said to him, ‘Yesterday, at the seventh hour, the fever left him.’ So the father knew that was the same time Jesus had said to him, ‘Your son lives’; and he believed, and his whole household.”

This second miracle of Jesus in Galilee tells us that the words spoken by Jesus sped many miles to bring instant healing to the nobleman’s son. It also tells us that the nobleman, taking Jesus at his word, started out for home straight away, expecting a miracle. When his servants met him with the good news, their words confirmed the word he had believed.

The servants had carried their message for many hours, but the Lord’s words had flashed down the mountains to Capernaum to bring a miracle in a moment. And in the very same moment that the word arrived the fever departed.

Why is it that those who send signals around the globe find it hard to believe that Jesus sent healing words about twenty miles? Jesus needed no wireless transmitter: he simply spoke and his words were carried in the spirit to Capernaum. The spiritual dimension carries faith words. The apostle Paul spoke of being with the Corinthians in “spirit” when they judged an evildoer.

The aged apostle John, in exile on the Isle of Patmos, was “in the Spirit” on the Lord’s Day, and spoke with Jesus and with angels about events that would become part of world history. (Revelation 1:10)

Few stop to think that the homes in which we live, the rooms in which we quietly relax, are filled with invisible radio and TV signals. Only when we turn on a receiver, and tune it to a frequency (known to most people as a station or channel) do we hear or see what is being transmitted.

And remember, for every station or channel we turn to are others that go unheard and unseen. Not to mention police, fire brigade, ambulance, aircraft and mobile phone transmissions.

As a young soldier in a Signals regiment I learned how to calibrate a wireless receiver so that radio transmissions could be received. I also worked with “line of sight” equipment of the kind that soon replaced telephone lines. My troop erected 102-foot tall radio masts that extracted signals from the ionosphere, the succession of ionized layers that make up the outer regions of the earth’s atmosphere.

So it is easy for me to describe the “frequency” God “transmits” on as a spiritual one. But our own human spirit must be “tuned” – calibrated — to receive what the Spirit of God is saying.

When Jesus exclaimed, “Father, glorify your name!” a voice from heaven said, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” (John 12:28, 29) Jesus understood the words, but some who stood by thought they’d heard thunder. Others said, “An angel spoke to him.”

Observe the three levels of receptivity in this incident: Jesus himself was totally receptive, because his spirit was “tuned in” to God, so to speak. Some who were present received something but attributed it to the voice of an angel – right source, wrong voice. Others, even less spiritually sensitive, thought they’d heard thunder! (“A storm must be on the way.”)

The air around us is literally filled with signals! But they can only be “picked up” by the right kind of receiver! Are you on God’s spiritual “wavelength”? Do you hear from Him daily? Or are you unaware of the words of insight and comfort that are everywhere around you in the Spirit of God? It’s probable that the majority of prophetic messages – and prophecy is itself a great form of encouragement – go unheard.

Are you talking to God on His “frequency” (so to speak) in your God-given call-sign: the name of Jesus? Do you know that your words, spoken on earth, are being received in Heaven? Or do you feel that your “signal strength” – the way you pray – is too weak?

The Bible records that Jesus was all night “in the prayer of God” (Luke 6:12, literal NT Greek). Do you pray “in the spirit” often, thanking God for his goodness? Or do your prayers lack spirit and your words “fall to the ground”? Do your “words of faith” really work? Or are they just “vain repetition” – little more than a mantra?

The apostle Paul said, “We, having the same spirit of faith…also believe, and therefore speak.” (1 Corinthians 4:13) Spiritual words travel in the Spirit of God, who is omnipresent — everywhere at once. “God sent His word, and healed them…” (Psalm 107:20) That’s exactly how Jesus healed the nobleman’s son.

God “sends forth his commandment upon earth; his word runs very swiftly.” (Psalm 147:15) So did the words of Jesus: they flashed from Cana to Capernaum in a moment of time!

Marconi believed that words (in the form of Morse code) could travel the world. He started with just one letter. Marconi was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics, and today is known as “the father of radio telegraphy.” His name lives on in wireless and telecommunications history.

But the name of Jesus Christ will be heard through all eternity! His words of “spirit and life” – spoken almost 2,000 years ago – continue to circle the globe.

Multiplied millions have heard his voice speak to them from heaven. Words of peace, comfort and encouragement have flashed from his presence into the hearts of sick and sorry humans. These words have “travelled” as swiftly as they did when Jesus spoke and the nobleman’s son was healed.

Those who have heard His voice can never forget it, for “no man ever spoke like this man”! Turn off your chattering radio and shrieking television, and turn off you handheld device, and soon you’ll hear it clearly.

Chapter 6

Windows to other Worlds

The world’s first optical telescope was something less than spectacular. In the year 1690, the son of Zacharias Janssen, a Dutch spectacle maker, playfully held two lenses in line, looked through them, and shouted with excitement when the weather vane on a nearby church looked much larger.

Attracted by the noise, the boy’s father repeated the experiment, holding the concave lens close to his eye and the convex lens a short distance away. Quickly grasping the importance of his son’s discovery, the spectacle maker attached the lenses to a board, and so invented the forerunner to today’s optical telescope.

Although at the time the Dutch were pre-eminent in the field of optics, they were still thousands of years behind the Egyptians, who had ground the first glass lens. The Englishman Francis Bacon had also done much valuable work on magnification.

Hearing of the Dutchman Janssen’s discovery, the great Italian Galileo soon built a much better telescope, through which he observed that the planet Jupiter had four moons, that millions of stars made up the Milky Way, and that there were mountains on the Moon.

Kepler, Gregory, Newton and Herschel, in turn, improved on the design of those early telescopes. Each contributed much to our understanding of the heavens. These great men had in common a desire to see beyond what humans had so far seen. To them, the telescope was an opening to the stars.

Little did young Janssen, the spectacle maker’s son, know what would result from his playful discovery that day in 1690, when he placed one lens in line with another, magnified his small world, and unwittingly opened a window to another world!

How is it that some people can “see in the Spirit” and others cannot? Those who can are admired by those who wish they could: for the ability to see beyond what the natural eye can see is perceived as a hallmark of spirituality.

Elisha earnestly desired the “spirit of Elijah” – the prophet’s anointing. Elijah told him that he would inherit his mantle only if he saw his dramatic departure; which probably meant that if Elisha could not see into the spiritual world he was not ready for the mantle of power.

We know from the Bible that Elisha did receive his master’s mantle, and that it wasn’t long before his ability to see into the spiritual world became apparent. When the Syrians were upset by Elisha’s prophetic ability to see their secrets, they surrounded the city where the prophet and his servant were staying. The prophet’s servant was alarmed. Seeing the great army of horses and chariots, he cried, “Alas, my master – what shall we do?”

Elisha, however, was unperturbed. “Do not be afraid,” he said, “for there are more with us than them.” Where are they? the servant must have questioned in his mind. He could see with his own eyes that he and his master were in trouble – and that, of course, was his problem.

Seeing things with your own eyes is like looking into the heavens without a telescope. Sure, you can see the Milky Way, but just what is it? You could use a single lens, but that wouldn’t help much, because, as young Janssen discovered, it’s the second lens that makes a world of difference.

And it was the spiritual counterpart of that second lens that Elisha possessed. The prophet’s “first lens” – his own eyes – saw what his servant saw: the army that surrounded the city. But his “second lens” – his God given ability to see into the spiritual world – enabled him to see what was actually happening.

“And Elisha prayed, and said, ‘LORD, I ask you to open his eyes so he may see.’ And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha.” (2 Kings 6: 17)

The prophet’s servant saw the situation with his natural eyes until God gave him “eyes to see” – a spiritual view of the situation. What must Galileo have felt, when he saw the mountains on the Moon, the myriads of stars in the Milky Way, and Jupiter’s four moons? It must have been as though a window had just opened – a window to other worlds!

The Bible has quite a lot to say about “seers” and “seeing in the Spirit.” Jesus spoke to the multitudes in ‘picture book’ parables, most of which they could not understand. “They seeing, see not,” Jesus said of those who lacked spiritual insight. (Matthew 13: 13)

Two disciples of Jesus walked with him for hours after His resurrection, but failed to recognize him. Why? Their vision was restricted. Seeing has a lot to do with perception, in that we see what we expect to see – and don’t see what we don’t expect to see. Later, when Jesus broke bread with them, “their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.” (Luke 24:16,31)

Suddenly Jesus was gone, leaving them to wonder why they had not recognized the man they had known intimately for the past three and a half years!

The ability to see into the spiritual world was once the sole prerogative of prophets. The first prophets were actually called “seers.” (1 Samuel 9:9) “Open my eyes,” prayed the psalmist, “that I may behold wondrous things out of Your law.” (Psalm 119:18)

While it’s true that God’s Word does open our understanding, we shouldn’t think that it has made obsolete the ability to “see in the Spirit.” Years after the psalmist wrote those words, Ezekiel, Daniel and Jeremiah “saw” things that their countrymen couldn’t see.

Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians was that “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened…” (Ephesians 1:17,18)

Yet the same apostle had discerned the spirit of a sorcerer (Acts 13:10) and a spirit of divination in a fortuneteller. (Acts 16:18) Paul also wrote of the gift of “discerning of spirits” as being a separate and distinct gift from the spiritual gifts of wisdom and knowledge. (1 Corinthians 12:10)

How can we develop “eyes to see”?

Firstly, by avoiding the tendency, common to most people, to see people, situations and circumstances as they outwardly appear. God sees “not as man sees; for man looks upon the outward appearance, but the LORD looks upon the heart.” (1 Sam. 16:7) God judges righteously because He sees behind the scenes. The Bible encourages us to do the same, seeing each other as new creations, rather than judging “after the flesh” – by outward appearances, or “before the time.” (2 Corinthians 5:16-17; 1 Corinthians 4:5)

Isaiah prophesied of Jesus that he would not judge “after the sight of his own eyes.” (Isaiah 11:3)

There’s a lot of truth in the old saying: “There’s more to this than meets the eye.” There is more in most things than our natural eyes can see. But through the “eyes” that God opens, we can see through the natural into the supernatural; we can see what the Lord sees.

Secondly, “first impressions” aren’t always accurate—unless they come from the Holy Spirit (in which case they are always accurate). So learn to distinguish between the impressions God gives you and your own by renewing your mind in the Word of God and by asking the Spirit of God to show you the condition, situation or circumstance as it really is. “First impressions” from God last!

I suggest that you move toward the specific gift of discerning of spirits by first gaining a Biblical insight into life, as the Spirit of wisdom and revelation opens the “eyes” of your understanding. You’ll then have a sound basis on which to operate the gift, should the Holy Spirit give it to you. (1 Corinthians 12: 11)

Follow the spiritual example of the prophets and apostles of old, who had “eyes to see” both naturally and spiritually. They saw through two pairs of eyes. Their natural eyes showed them what was going on in the visible world, and their spiritual eyes showed them what was going on, simultaneously, in the invisible world.

Elisha’s servant saw what was going on in the visible world, but so did everyone else. Elisha saw what was going on in both worlds – the visible and the invisible. What was going on in the invisible, spiritual world was far more encouraging!

Scientists of old found that one lens was not enough: to see the glories of the heavens they had to add another. Thus, telescopes were invented. To see the greater glories of God’s heaven, your natural eyes will not be enough: you must also develop spiritual eyes. When you do, the spiritual world will appear.

Young Janssen, the optician’s son, discovered the telescope by chance. Now giant telescopes scan the galaxies, and more and more of the secrets of the universe are disclosed.

But the greatest discoveries by far await those believers who are willing to have their eyes opened by the Spirit of God, and through spiritual insight see into another world.

Chapter 7

The Principle of Buoyancy

God’s ways are wonderful! “Teach me your ways” is a prayer for greater knowledge. Back in the beginning, a “way” was a path people took to reach a place. As civilization developed, pathways became roadways, then highways, and today we have freeways. Underground we have subways and overhead we have airways. These are all ways.

Words have figurative, as well as literal, meanings. A way can refer to a certain direction in life, or a means by which a thing can be done. It can also refer to the behavior of a person, as in: “He was acting in a strange way.”

In the Bible, the word “way” is often used for the path people were taking and the choices they were making. “There is a way which seems right to a man, but it ends in death.” (Proverbs 14:12) This verse refers to a possible course of action being considered. When God warned: “Don’t go that way – it leads to disaster,” He was referring to an apparently harmless purpose that would end badly.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD.” (Isaiah 55:8) The wicked thinks that his way is the right way; but the LORD says that he must forsake it, for it is the wrong way. Heaven’s viewpoint is better than his.

“He made known his ways unto Moses, His acts unto the children of Israel.” (Psalm 103:7) Moses came to know God’s ways, which the children of Israel never understood. The obedient are instructed; the rebellious remain ignorant. “Therefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, ‘They do always err in their heart; and they have not known my ways’.” (Hebrews 3:10)

Jesus said, “I am the way…” (John 14:6) “No man comes unto the Father, but by me.” Those who followed Jesus were known as people who followed “that Way” – long before they were known as Christians (Acts 11:26).

The Apostle Paul sent his spiritual son, Timothy, to Corinth to remind the Christians there of Paul’s “ways” in Christ – the way he did things. The Christians at Corinth were going about many things the wrong way. They had many teachers but they had no spiritual “fathers.” If they were to retain God’s blessing and Paul’s approval on what they did, they would have to learn how to do things the right way (1 Corinthians 4:14-17).

There are certain things in life so marvelous that we behold them with astonishment. People who are not clever with their hands marvel at the handiwork of those who are. How is a house built? How does technology work? How do astronauts work when weightless in Space? Most amazing of all are the wonders of nature – God’s handiwork. How does a bird fly? How does a kangaroo hop? How does a spider weave its web? It’s why the Nature Channel is so popular.

God is a Father by nature. Life on an island has its problems, as anyone who has lived on one can tell you. It also has its delights – one of which is closeness to nature missed by many mainlanders.

We lived on a small bay island for three years, and look back on our “beachcomber” years as very special. Things changed day by day: the difference in the color of the sea caused by clouds; the variation in the ebb and flow of the tides; the seasonal change in the build-up of sand along the beaches.

Nature is simply God’s laws that reveal the nature of the Creator in His creation. “For the invisible things of God from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made…” (Romans 1:20) “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” (Genesis 8:22) “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

I owned a small boat on the island, and came to understand just how much we humans depend on laws of nature – something I hadn’t previously thought much about. But when I tried to push my boat down to the water at low tide – an impossible task, for not only was it heavy, but stuck fast by suction – I began to see what I was up against.

A few hours later, I would watch, fascinated, as the incoming tide floated the boat on just a few inches of water. A firm push with one finger then did what had previously been beyond me. I saw that it was easy to work with nature, but very hard to work against it.

Isn’t that the story of our lives? God’s moral laws, like His natural laws, are inflexible. We can’t go against them without realizing the utter hopelessness of our situation. Freeing ourselves from the bondage of sin is totally beyond us.

Thank God for His forgiveness! It flowed into this world like a great king tide when Jesus died on the cross for our sins! We were “stuck fast” in the old life, and no amount of pushing and pulling could free us. The simple fact is we cannot be saved by self-effort – it’s against everything that Jesus taught. We must be lifted by God’s incoming grace.

Are you trying to please God by doing good deeds? Or have you accepted His free gift of salvation? Stop working against God’s spiritual principles, and ask God to forgive you. Jesus died for you. He took your guilt, and reconciled you to God.

Of course, if you’d rather stay stuck in sin, there’s nothing more God can do, which is sad beyond description, when a simple prayer in the name of Jesus Christ is all that’s required to free you forever. God wants to be your spiritual Father, and because Father God manages this Creation of His, you’ll be in good hands.

Wise men and women throughout history have gained insight into many of life’s mysteries. The wisest, however, were ignorant about some things, and were wise enough to admit it.

Agur was one of them. He was wise enough to want neither poverty nor riches –just enough for his needs. He was also wise enough to know what was wrong with the thinking of his people.

Yet even Agur’s wisdom stopped short of four things, one of which was the way of a ship in the midst of the sea. “It’s too wonderful for me!” he admitted; “I don’t know the ways of ships in the sea.”

Since Agur’s time mankind has fathomed many deep mysteries, and gained knowledge far beyond that wise man’s dreams. Much of God’s creation has been copied by inventors and scientists. Spiritually, though, we have only just begun to understand what God is saying to us through what he has made. We have appropriated many of nature’s principles for our natural betterment, but very few of them for our spiritual benefit.

The greatest discoveries in the future will be spiritual; principles that have been appropriated for our physical betterment will be appropriated for our spiritual development. These days these things are less amazing, for we know the “ways” of them, and they are now more intriguing than amazing. The most wonderful “ways” are how God works in those who believe. (See my book “God’s Wonderful Ways” for the other three things that amazed Agur.)

 Agur’s enquiring mind was not limited to bird life. “Wonderful” though the eagle was in the air, of equal wonder to him was “the way a ship in the sea”. His people had a strong aversion to the sea. The Psalmist had spoken of God’s “wonders in the deep” – referring to the dangers that face “those who go down to the sea in ships” (Psalm 107:23). “They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths … they reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man …” Those who have experienced a storm at sea will relate to this graphic description of the twin terrors of wind and wave.

Isaiah likened the wicked to the troubled sea “when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, says my God, to the wicked.” (Isaiah 57:20, 21)

Both the prophet Daniel and his New Testament prophetic counterpart, John, had visions of “beasts” that came up from the sea. (Daniel 7:3; Rev 13:1) The “beasts” were the world kingdoms that would arise from the restless and unstable “waters” of Gentile humanity. James likened a doubter to “a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.” (James 1:6) “Let not that [unstable] man think that he shall receive anything from the Lord.”

But if the sea was a thing of dread, it was also (like so many of the things we fear) a thing of fascination. How was a small ship able to endure such terrible pounding and tossing? How was it able to sink from sight in a deep trough, and appear again, almost triumphantly, riding the crest of a wave? How could it disappear into the distance and reappear weeks or months later, after having safely traversed the Great Sea (the Mediterranean)? 

Above all – and this was what had amazed Agur about the eagle in the air – was how a ship’s passage through the sea left no trace? “It’s too wonderful for me!” Agur admitted, “I have no idea how it does that.”

The same admission is sometimes made by those whose “business” is in the “great waters” of this ungodly world of ours. How is it possible for Christians to survive the worldly winds of falsehood (Ephesians 4:14) and doubt? (James 1:6) How can one rise high in honesty and decency, when falsehood and corruption in life threaten to swamp their witness for Jesus Christ, or – as it has done to so many – swallow them forever from sight?

How do some overcome? What is the secret of their success? That’s what those who fear the risk of failing God in this world want to know. If only there was a plan they could scan or a formula they could follow. But like the “way of a ship in the midst of the sea” the overcoming life seems very much a mystery.

God’s “ways” – how He does things – are inscrutable. “Your way is in the sea, your path is in the great waters, and your footsteps are not known.” (Psalm 77:19) This is a figurative way of saying that nobody can trace how God does things in life. Even the “footsteps” of those He has anointed – the way God guides them – are often misunderstood (Psalm 89:51). As a spiritual son of the apostle Paul, Titus walked in his father’s footsteps, doing what Paul would have done in the same circumstance. (2 Corinthians 12:18)

But although there is no plan we can work to, no formula we can follow – there are principles, and the Principle of Displacement is one that applies not only to ships at sea but also to Christians in the world. When understood, it enables those who adhere to it to survive the worst storms in life, instead of being swamped by them. It is a principle that works not just for some believers, but for all believers.

“Whosoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God” and “Whosoever is born of God overcomes the world.” (I John 5:1, 4) Every believer is born to overcome! “Who is he that overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (I John 5:5) Our faith gives us the victory over the world; through faith, the believer is a world-beater!

We should understand that in the New Testament, the word translated “world” means “world order” – not nature but the man-made system of things. We can enjoy God’s beautiful creation while overcoming the world system!

The inspired writers of the New Testament emphasize that we cannot love the world and also love the Father.

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the things of the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” (1 John 2:15, 16)

“…Do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” (James 4:4)

Jesus told his disciples they were “in the world” but that they were not “of the world.” He was saying that their origin was no longer the world they had been born into, but the realm from which they had been “born again”! (John 3:7; 17:11, 16) The “world” that Jesus spoke of is the sum of the collective opinions, ideas, traditions and superstitions that unsaved people accept. It forms the unconscious attitude of the unspiritual majority.

Some statistics: the Greek word “kosmos” (translated “world”) occurs 79 times in the Gospel of John. To understand just how concerned Jesus was about the world’s influence on his disciples, we need only count the number of times the word is used in the chapters leading up to his arrest. In John 14,”world” occurs 6 times; in John 15, 6 times; in John 16, 8 times; and in John 17, 19 times!

The Lord’s concern intensified as his death drew near. His final prayer, in chapter 17, was filled with references to “the world” – 19 references in 26 verses! John 18 has only 4 references – an indication that the great burden Jesus had carried lifted from him when he “prayed through” the temptation to live into his Father’s will for him to die.

In contrast to the frequent use of “world” the phrase “prince of this world” – the Devil – is used only twice! Ask yourself how many Christians you know who are more concerned about the world than they are about the Devil? Of course, the Devil uses the world to try to snare Christians, just as he used its attractions to tempt Jesus. But Christians who would never dream of serving Satan quite readily serve the system. That’s why God makes it clear that we can’t love the world and Him as well. The choice is clear, and we must “choose this day” whom we will serve (Joshua 24:15).

Just as the sea, with all its challenges and dangers, was feared by men of old (and is never taken lightly by seamen today), so the world system was disliked by the first Christians. The command was for them to go into the entire world with the Good News. The danger was that the world’s system would seduce them. Yet in less than 20 years, they became known as “these who have turned the world upside down.” (Acts 17:6)

Displacement is the quantity of water displaced by a mass, such as a ship. In simple terms, the hull of a ship at sea level displaces an amount of water equal to it – just as the level of water in a swimming pool is raised by the number of people there are in the pool.

Fill a bath tub to capacity and then lower yourself into it. The amount of water that overflows onto the bathroom floor will equal the mass of your body, immersed in the bath. The mess will be equal to the mass!

The Archimedes Principle states, “Any object wholly or partially submerged in a fluid at rest is acted upon by an upward or buoyant force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object.” Well, yes. Archimedes was a Greek mathematician, so we would expect him to be a bit technical.

Most boats and ships have displacement hulls, which are designed to move through the water – not just over the surface of it. Ancient ships were modeled on various kinds of fish (which may be why so many of them sank).

A later and far better model was the immersed area of a duck (it was destined for a yacht designer’s dinner table). Surely an object that floats higher and so displaces less volume of water must be an improvement, the designer mused. A ship’s hull is equal to the water it displaces (moves aside), so the vessel is one with the water in which it floats. If the ship is watertight, and if (in the case of a yacht) its keel keeps it upright, or (in the event of a roll) returns it to an upright position, the vessel is unlikely to sink.

A ship sinks when water somehow gets inside its hull. A ship in the water is a wonder, but water in a ship brings disaster! The same thing applies to Christians: a Christian in the world is a wonder, but the world in a Christian brings disaster!

Most Christians who “go under” do so because they allow the world inside them! Despite their seemingly “unsinkable” Bible knowledge, they end up “swamped” by waves of worldly ideas and attitudes. They were meant to move through the world, rescuing souls, but instead found themselves sinking into it. They were meant to overcome it, but ended up being overcome by it. They either did not know or did not observe the Principle of Displacement.

The “way of a ship in the midst of the sea” is a way of beauty, which is why sailors refer to a ship as “she” rather than “it.” The graceful lines of a ship and the way it moves with such ease through water, made ancient Agur marvel. It’s too wonderful for me, he thought. Similarly, the grace and the ease with which Christians move through the world of business, education, sport, communication, technology, is meant to be marvelous to those who observe them.

Storms of discrimination may toss them to and fro, but they never lose direction. Waves of opposition may break over them, but they emerge intact. Strong, worldly currents pull on them, but they stay on their biblical bearing. They may vanish from sight in sorrow for a time, but they soon rise again, not fighting against the world system but steadily displacing it.

Jesus moved through the world with an ease that amazed his disciples and angered his critics. He ate with sinners and yet was without sin himself. A prostitute washed his feet with her tears, and dried them with her hair – a repentant but sensual act. No lustful desire was awakened in him, because none slept in him.

Holy in thought, word and deed, Jesus “displaced” the ungodliness with holiness. He maintained his set course until it brought him to the Cross. At the close of his earthly ministry he prayed that we would live the same kind of life as he had, and rest from the storms of this life until the Resurrection.

“And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to you. Holy Father, keep through your own name those whom you have given me, that they may be one, as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name: those that you gave me I have kept, and none of them is lost…” (John 17:11, 12) 

The letters of the international distress signal S.O.S. stand for “Save Our Souls.” The signal had their origin in a time when sailing ships set out into the great oceans of the world. The heroic feats of lifesavers who braved howling storms to save the passengers and crews of sinking ships are legendary. A caring church seeks to “rescue the perishing” wherever they are at risk today – at the expense of its own comfort and well-being.    

“The way of a ship in the midst of the sea” is a marvel! But equally marvelous is the victory of a Christian over the world! The Apostle Paul’s stormy voyage to Malta is a stirring example of how the faith of one can save the lives of many. (Acts 27) Paul was shipwrecked three times, and once spent “a night and a day in the deep.” (2 Corinthians 11:24) His body was in the water but he would not let the water into his body.

A buoyant faith in God’s purpose for his life made the apostle unsinkable. Since you are an overcomer, you are as unsinkable as Paul was. A displacement-style hull might not skim across the surface, but it gets you where you want to go, eventually.

Bon voyage!

Chapter 8

Beyond the Fear Frontier

“In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” But before the great Italian mariner ever set out across “the ocean blue” he first had to overcome appalling opposition from just about everybody; opposition without rhyme or reason.

His greatest difficulty was not the voyage itself (though that was tough enough) but the attitudes of those whose help he needed to get started. The citizens of his home city of Genoa could not. The nearby nation of Portugal would not. Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain were preoccupied with their wars against the Moors. King Henry VII of England rejected his request, as also did the French. The commissions established to “look into” his proposal to sail westward to India derided his dreams of riches for Italy and souls for the Church. Old World thinkers refused to consider the existence of New World possibilities.

Apathy was not his only enemy. There were those who disliked his talk of a New World. For one thing, since nobody was ever known to have crossed the great ocean, those who supposedly lived there could not have descended from Adam. Heresy! There was talk of burning Columbus at the stake, but finally the rulers of Spain grudgingly granted him permission to sail.

With three tiny ships, filled with fearful crews Columbus hoisted sail and set forth from Spain for the New World. There were those who said that he and his men would sail over the edge of the world. Others spoke darkly of worse disasters. Out there in the Great Unknown, they warned, were horrors unimaginable.

Despite constant threats of mutiny and the eerie silence and clutching weed of the Sargasso Sea; and despite the knowledge that the winds were blowing only westward (thus seemingly denying them any hope of return), Columbus sailed ever onward…until at last on the morning of Friday, 12 October 1492, Christopher Columbus stepped ashore in the New World.

Thinking that he had reached India, he named the land the West Indies. Columbus returned to Spain, but made two more voyages to the New World, during one of which his feet stood on the soil of mainland America. The master mariner had done more than sail across an unknown ocean to a New World: he had defied the fear, scorn and superstition of his fellow countrymen; he had ignored the warnings of lesser men to “be careful”!

In so doing, Christopher Columbus had crossed The Fear Frontier!

All who would venture out to the New World of the supernatural power of God face similar opposition. Such opposition usually comes from those who refuse to believe that there is “something more” than what they know or what they have experienced. Invisible boundaries of the mind prevent them from venturing out.

Your mindset matters! Speaking of the troublesome Carthaginians, the Roman poet Virgil said, “They can because they think they can.” Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, either way, you are right.” If you have mental barriers such as unbelief or prejudice, you will not be able to go beyond them.  

Some Christians think that Jesus had only one role: that of the Lamb of God. They fail to see his role as the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit. On the Cross he paid for the world’s sin with his own blood, but fifty days later he poured out the Spirit upon all who believed. Many Christians stop at John 3:16, thinking that’s all there is — but there’s more at Acts 2:4.

The authentic New Age began 2000 years ago with the coming of the Holy Spirit, but religious people who cannot see beyond the Cross call the Corinthian church – one that came behind in no spiritual gift – a “catastrophe”! But thank God for the Corinthians! Without their mistakes we would not be enriched by the Apostle Paul’s teaching on church unity, marriage problems, the meaning of communion, the correct use of spiritual gifts, and the nature of the Resurrection (not to mention the greatest love poem ever written).

New Age people instinctively know that spirituality cannot be contained in stone churches; but after bypassing the traditional Church they find they have exchanged its pealing church bells for tinkling wind chimes, and religious beads for magic crystals.

Christians who cannot see beyond Acts 2:4 should move on to the house of Cornelius (Acts 10:44), where all present were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues outside the cultural context of Pentecost. Indeed, as proved by the Ephesus experience more than 20 years later, the spiritual nature of the New Age was evident in the spiritual gifts of tongues and prophecy that accompanied the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

The Christian Church needs to rediscover its spiritual roots. It needs to reclaim spirituality as its birthright. Think of the marvelous things that would delight the Church if some leaders would relax their rigidity and be flexible enough to encourage God’s people to search out the “deep things” of God – things revealed to us by the Holy Spirit.

Invisible, inaudible and inconceivable, they cannot be discovered by the senses of taste, touch, sight, sound and smell. For neither the pungent incense of religious orthodoxy nor the exotic incense of New Age heterodoxy can evoke the spirituality that comes with the gift of God’s Spirit.

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those who love Him; but God has revealed them to us by His Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.”(1 Corinthians 2:9,10)

The Spirit of God will direct us to embark on faith ventures, as he did the Church’s first apostolic mission. (Acts 13:2,3) The last thing we need is for the spiritual zeal blazing in believers to be quenched by the caution of those who have never had a vision of a world beyond their own experience.

The royal motto of Queen Isabella was “Ne Plus Ultra” – meaning “Nothing Beyond.” After the return of Columbus she had to drop the “Ne.” There’s a Plus Ultra for every person who comes to the Cross, and it’s the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.

“Be careful,” some warn those who seek to be baptized in the Holy Spirit; but Jesus plainly stated that those who believe in him would do the same works that He did – “and greater than these, because I go to the Father.” (John 14:12) What happened after Jesus ascended to his Father? He sent the Holy Spirit to work even “greater miracles” through his followers! (Acts 2:33)

But some still say, “Miracles are not for today!” Why? Well, mostly because they believe theories such as the limiting Dispensational Frontier. Put simply, this theory states that all miracles ceased at the time of the end of the book of Acts. Signs and wonders were for the Jews, its advocates argue, claiming that when the Jews rejected the gospel, God withdrew the supernatural gifts of the Spirit. It follows, they say, that any spiritual gift manifested in our day and age cannot be from God.

Since (they argue) the last chapter of Acts records the rejection of the gospel by the Jews of Rome, the age of miracles then came to an end. But they are faced with the undeniable fact that countless Christians have been healed in their bodies, that hundreds of millions have spoken in unknown tongues, and that the power of the Holy Spirit still works miracles in the world. That quite apart from the plain teaching of Scripture, which assures us that Jesus Christ is the same “yesterday, and today, and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8) While they limit the Lord’s work to dispensations, he continues to dispense His Spirit, regardless.

“Be careful!” is the fearful person’s constant catch cry. Some talk too much about the power of Satan, and too little about the power of God – as though it were some kind of contest on a level playing field! They state that God has blessed us “with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” but warn that there can be little or no physical blessings on earth. “If it be Thy will” is prefixed to their prayers for physical healing.

It’s an argument of fear, an argument not unlike the one that Christopher Columbus fought for years. The ignorance, fear and superstition it promoted almost prevented him from discovering the New World. We quite properly preserve the historical beliefs treasured by all Christians, such as Justification by Faith and Sanctification of the Spirit. We defend these and other precious truths, which are to a believer what the Old World was to Columbus. He certainly did not wish to forsake that world – far from it: he wanted to enrich it with new discoveries.

A bigger world waited while his countrymen talked fear until it became a frightening frontier! But Columbus dared to believe that the world did not end beyond the horizon, and he sailed out and proved it.

Throughout Church history, men and women of faith have dared to believe that the power of God did not end in the days of the apostles, and have ventured out and proved it! Most denominations that are called Historical experienced the supernatural power of God in their beginnings – including those that are “near death” spiritually. Do you know that the early Methodists in the USA danced “in the Spirit”? Do you know that the Great Awakening that shook the USA was charismatic in its expression? Do you know that Keswick was founded by Pentecostals? Christians experienced the power of God during the Welsh Revival of the early 1900s in a way that would dismay unemotional evangelicals of today.

In the first chapter of Acts, Luke writes of the things that Jesus “began to do and to teach, until the day in which he was taken up.” (Acts 1:1,2) Some suppose that the Lord finished what he “began to do” by the time the Book of Acts ended. Certainly, the emphasis on the Gentiles increased as the Jews rejected the Gospel. But the power of the Gospel was in no way diminished when it was preached to the Gentiles, for it was – and still is – “the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16)

The New Testament Book of Acts is action-packed, and although the words end in Acts 28 the works continue! In the history of the Church evidence abounds as to the miraculous works of God around the world. The Lord who was taken up into Heaven sent down the Holy Spirit soon after, and the miracles that Jesus had done in his body on earth then continued through his Church body on earth. (Ephesians 1:22, 23)

The natural and the spiritual worlds are compatible. The “super saint” lifestyle – the finely-tuned Ferrari ready for the racetrack – is a false concept. We don’t need to be “super saints” in the supermarket; simply saints with a Super Saviour who can move through us by the Spirit at will, in miraculous moments. Put that in your shopping trolley! Here are some tips you’ll find helpful:

Be yourself in the Lord. Remember the scene in the movie “Superman” of Clark Kent wanting to discard his suit in a telephone booth? Only to find that the old-style booths that had provided a measure of privacy no longer existed? The same quandary faces those who think that some form of quick change – from natural to spiritual – is necessary before they can move in miracles. 

Does how you dress make a difference? As to which kind of dress is the more holy – white suit or T-shirt and shorts: neither matters to the Holy Spirit. Which is appropriate for the time and place? Would a tele-evangelist wear his trademark white suit while doing beach evangelism? I don’t think so. 

Effects sans FX. Does the Lord really need a thousand-voice choir to prepare the setting for something supernatural? In Borneo, His Spirit moved after 40-minute-long church announcements. In the Philippines, the Lord saved and healed despite the playing of out-of-date choruses on out-of-tune guitars. (The dirge-like “Come, Holy Spirit, we neeed Thee…” is a painful memory.) 

As for Hollywood-style lightning flashes and thunderbolts that surely ought to follow commands issued in the Name of Jesus – the total absence of FX out in the field — bewildering to the beginner — doesn’t prevent multiplied miracles. Amazing! 

Your mindset matters. Speaking of the troublesome Carthaginians, the Roman poet Virgil said, “They can because they think they can.” Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, either way, you are right.” Don’t set mental barriers. Unbelief is one barrier you can’t go beyond. Prejudice is another. 

But a less obvious – though equally restrictive – barrier is: “I must fast 40 days, if I am to see the miracle-power of God in my life.” Give up on the 39th day and you won’t see it. Why? Because you set a boundary you failed to reach! And you’ll then have to deal with the strong sense of disappointment that will come from falling short of your own expectations; and (in your mind) God’s. Another 40 days? I don’t think so. Better to reset the boundary more realistically. 

The “unworthy” obstacle. Conscience is moral consciousness. A Christian may have a bad conscience, and a non-Christians may have a good conscience. Because, to a great degree, your conscience is simply your consciousness of what’s right and what’s wrong. You can be right about what’s wrong; but you can also be wrong about what’s right. (Romans 14:14, 22, 23) The mind of Christ in you, formed by God’s Word, and your love for others, is the best guide. What’s the Kingdom of God all about? 

What’s on your mind? It’s important that you develop a New Creation consciousness, as distinct from your past Old Creation mentality. You need to be faith-conscious rather than sin-conscious. Fear is one of the biggest obstacles you will face when ministering – not fear of Satan or fear of man but fear of God. Fear that you are unworthy to minister because of your personal sins and shortcomings. This is why the scripture says “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear: because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love.” 

The antidote to other fears is faith; but the antidote to the fear of unacceptability to God is love – God’s love. Our love is a response to His love. “We love Him because He first loved us.” When you fully accept this fact, your personal sins and shortcomings, although undesirable, will not hinder or prevent you from ministering – with marvellous results! (But claim 1 John 1:7 every day until you win and defeat that sin.)

Some claim that in this present “dispensation” the Church is “powerless” because “God withdrew spiritual gifts when the last of the Twelve Apostles died. If so, that would have left the Church as a powerless body of believers with much less to believe in. All our needs would be “up there” in “heavenly places”! Thank God that Jesus is “up there” at the right hand of the Father in heaven; but also thank God that Jesus sent the Holy Spirit “down here” on earth, so that we can do the works that he did!

We can boldly confess the Word of God as we go out into our world with a gospel that is as full of signs and wonders as ever it was!

I urge you to “go beyond” the restrictive attitudes of those who say, “It can’t be done!” Or, “It’s not for today!” Or, “Be careful!” Anyone can doubt — it takes a believer to venture into the Bible and discover the spiritual landscape of the New Creation – a New World indeed!

Go beyond the fear frontier, because, when you do, you’ll find that when you refuse to believe in it, it will cease to exist!

Chapter 9

How It Works

If you are in business, you will know that a “constant” is the service you provide or the product you produce. It is “constant” in the sense that it can be controlled. Quality control in a factory ensures that the product being manufactured remains as good at the end of its run as it was at the beginning. Proper supervision of staff, and good conditions for them to work in, ensures that the service you provide for your customers remains constant.

You will also have discovered that there are certain things known as “variables,” which – unlike the “constant” – cannot easily be controlled. These are strikes, absenteeism, machinery breakdowns and the like. The secret in running a successful business is in maintaining the “constant” while eliminating – or at least limiting – the “variables.” You will know how difficult that is.

The “constant” in the Christian life is the Will of God. Put simply, the Will of God is what we find in the Word of God; when we know His Word, we know His Will. According to His Word, God is “constant” in His provision for us. Malachi 3:6 declares: “For I am the LORD, I do not change.”

It’s equally important for us to know that our Saviour never changes. “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)

In relation to healing, for example, God is constant; always the same. But not all are healed. So what are the variables? Well, they are all to do with us. God never varies; but we certainly do! So it’s incorrect for someone to say, “I don’t know if it’s God’s will to heal me!” That’s the same as saying, “I don’t know if the Bible states that He will heal me.”

But God’s Word is clear: “I am the LORD who heals you.” (Exodus 15:26) “Who heals all your diseases.”  (Psalm 103:3) “The prayer of faith shall save the sick.” (James 5:15) “They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” (Mark 16:18)

If you haven’t known God’s will because you haven’t known His Word, then lack of knowledge has been your problem. Ignorance is a variable that must be eliminated if you are to be healed.

No matter how changeable things are, remember that God is constant! His nature never changes; his attributes never alter; His character never varies. At the Burning Bush he revealed himself to Moses as, “I AM THAT I AM.” (Genesis 3:14) This mysterious name, paraphrased, means, “The God Who will always be who He was and who He is.” We sometimes say, ” – and that’s that!” Fatalists say, “Whatever will be, will be.” Pilate said, enigmatically, “What I have written I have written.” God says, “I AM THAT I AM.”

“Tell Israel that I AM sent you,” he instructed Moses. Jesus infuriated the Jews of his day when he said, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” (John 8:58) They took up stones to kill him, saying, “He makes himself equal with God. Some think that Jesus used poor grammar, in that he seemed to have got his tenses mixed; but Jesus couldn’t say, “I WAS” because the WAS would have limited him. He “was, and is, and is to come.” As the Word of prophetic promise his “goings forth” had been “from old, from everlasting.”

It’s vital that we understand not only that God never changes, and that our Lord Jesus Christ is “the same, yesterday, and today, and forever.” Your very salvation depends upon the Lord being constant throughout time. The “uttermost” in the context of Hebrews 7:25, means, “as long as it takes.”

What would be the point of astronauts journeying to the moon if they were unsure that it would be in the right place when they arrived! But that just cannot happen, for God’s natural laws ensure that all the heavenly bodies are “on time” in their orbits. The Bible assures us that God is every bit as reliable as the heavenly bodies! (Isaiah 40:26)

Because God healed people in the past, he must forever be “the LORD who heals you.” (Exodus 15:26) “Well then,” you may ask, “why are some not healed?”

The answer is found in the “variables” of life. Our varying attitudes, lifestyles and practices (to mention but a few variables) put us at odds with God’s will for our lives, which is constant. When we cannot answer why God did not heal, “Let God be true” is our response.

As we bring our variables into line with God’s ever-constant Will (his Word), we discover that things that “just wouldn’t work” begin to work quite well. Soon, they work very smoothly. In the past we “got blessed” from time to time when we “stumbled onto” something that worked. Now we find that we are blessed continually.

The great American evangelist Charles G. Finney once wrote that the Church could have revival whenever it met God’s conditions. Finney understood the constant nature of God. He did not charge God with being fickle or capricious – blessing some and ignoring others; healing one and refusing another; saving this one and damning that one.

Finney understood that God works within the laws He has given to us – laws that we fail to keep. Nobody would dream of defying the Law of Gravity by jumping from an airplane without a parachute; yet many think that God’s laws can be broken without consequences. We can enjoy many natural and spiritual blessings by bringing our lives into line with God’s laws.

Satan will say that God will give you a stone when you ask him for bread, a serpent when you ask him for a fish, a scorpion when you ask him for an egg. (Luke 11:11-12) But consistency is one of God’s great virtues. Satan (who has no virtue whatever) is inconsistent – condemning those who are foolish enough to do what he suggests.

Until you read this book you may have thought that “things just happen” in life and that if you are “lucky” enough to be in the right place at the right time you can be saved and healed. But now you know better! You know that God works according to spiritual laws that work when you conform to them – just as He does through natural laws. Once, you may have thought that God was elusive – hard to “get hold of” when you needed His help; but now you know differently.

You know that his nature never changes (although his methods sometimes do), so you can live your life on a far better basis. Wonderful and exciting discoveries await you – one of the most wonderful of all being the ever constant nature of God!

Chapter 10

Seeing things in Perspective

The Creator designed the human eye to see things in perspective. Without this ability we would see things in only two dimensions: height and width but no depth. Our view of life would be naïve and childlike.

Our perspective is our point of view. It’s how we see things from where we are. From an ant’s perspective, a child is huge, but from an adult’s perspective, a child is small. Perspective is an optical illusion, it’s how the human eye sees things, rather than the way things really are.

It’s natural for the eye to put everything into perspective. In painting or drawing, however, the hand must acquire what is natural to the eye. Without perspective, art is naïve: a house drawn by a child seems to float in the air atop two parallel lines, because the driveway is not drawn in perspective.

Just as a child drawing a scene has to be taught to put things in perspective, so we who serve the Lord need to be taught to add depth to our spiritual vision. Life is not a few pictures on a wall but many pictures along a corridor of Time.

Perspective also has what is called a Vanishing Point – a point where everything comes together. In a perspective drawing, the Vanishing Point is where the lines in the scene – railway lines, telegraph poles, rows of trees or roads – reach a Horizon Line. For Christians the Vanishing Point on the Horizon Line marks their future departure from time.

We need to develop a sense of perspective for our life-vision to have the vital, third dimension, which is depth. (Height and width are flat dimensions.) If we have no spiritual perspective, we will have no idea of where we want to be. Nor will we know where we are, because perspective determines that as well.

Abraham had perspective. He saw the city of God in John’s book of Revelation from a tent in the time of Genesis (Hebrews 11:8-10). Jesus said, “Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad.” (John 8:56) In Abraham’s vision the Vanishing Point was Messiah’s ultimate triumph! His perspective determined his outlook on life.

“By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country…” (Hebrews 11:9) Isaac, his son, and Jacob, his grandson, lived with him, living with his son and grandson would have enhanced Abraham’s sense of time and perspective.

We need to put life into perspective. This means not only establishing a Vanishing Point on a Horizon Line but also seeing whatever we do in relation to them. What’s your Horizon Line and Vanishing Point? The first, to me, is the end of this present era, and the second is “the first resurrection”.

The rich young ruler lacked “one thing”: the faith to live the way Jesus and the disciples did His life was a mural on a wall. It was a beautiful mural because he was a good man. He did all that the Law required of him. Jesus loved him but left him because he lacked a perspective that only faith can bring (Mark 10:21).

The man who had been born blind knew “one thing”– “Once I was blind, but now I see.” His miracle was not a healing but a creative act, one that was unprecedented. The Pharisees tried to keep him in their flat, two-dimensional world, but his discovery of another dimension opened his eyes to new possibilities (John 9:35-38).

The Apostle Paul’s perspective was “the upward call of God in Christ” and the Vanishing Point on his Horizon Line was the “out resurrection from the dead” that we know as the Rapture (Philippians 3:13). It was a Vanishing Point that enabled him to put persecution into perspective.

What’s your Vanishing Point? Your ultimate point of departure defines your present position. It helps you to put your life in perspective. Your vision should not be a mural on a wall but a mural in a corridor! At the end of that corridor is your Vanishing Point from Time into Eternity!

Putting your vision into perspective also helps you to put life into proportion. The eye sees distant objects as small, and close objects as large. Without perspective, every object and every person would be equal in size. Distinctions would be impossible. It would be impossible for you to get your vision in proportion.

If you were unable to see things in perspective you will be unable to make the necessary distinctions between those things that belong to the present and those that belong to the future. You would give equal time to minor and major things. Life isn’t like that. Certain things, people, and events have priority over others.

Praise God for giving our eyes the ability to see things in perspective! Praise God that this gives us a proper sense of proportion. We have the spiritual perspective to develop a long-term vision for our lives.

God is the Eternal, and as such is before, through and beyond Time. Eternity has no starting-point, Horizon Line or Vanishing Point, and so is incomprehensible to our minds (which is possibly why the Apostle Paul could not reveal what he had seen in “the third heaven” or Paradise; and why he ends his dissertation on the Resurrection with the statement that God will then be “all and in all” (2 Corinthians 15:28).

Without the Lord Jesus, who is “the image of the invisible God”, we would have no spiritual perception of the Creator. So to give us a perspective on His divine plan God set a scriptural starting-point in the expression: “From the beginning (or foundation) of the world.”

Future events were foreknown by God from before the beginning of Time. In our limited lifetime we can grasp things only by seeing them from the divine perspective (Romans 8:28-30). We have no idea of what’s up ahead, but He does. “Known unto God are all his works, from the beginning of the world.” (Acts 15:18)

Time is a road along which things unforeseen to us take place. God “created us in Christ” for good works (deeds), knowing that we would “walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). Peter did a “good work” at the temple’s Beautiful gate while on his way to worship (Acts 3). He had passed that way and very likely that man many times, but on this particular day Peter stepped out of the ordinary and into the extraordinary. Out of the natural and into the supernatural. Out of time and into eternity (in the sense he did a work that to him was unforeseen, but which God had foreknown.

God foreknew in eternity the works we would do during our lifetime. We need to walk every day in a trusting way, aware that our lifetime is limited and there is nothing we can do we can do to ‘make things happen’. Yet we can be ready, spiritually, to grasp opportunities that appear along the way; and a crowded way is more likely to present opportunities than an uncrowded one.   

After preaching in a house in a town in Western NSW and leading five persons to the Lord, I felt led to pray for the sick. As I stepped forward I was aware of moving into a different ‘zone’ – a vertical one. It was as though I had stepped into and under a heavenly spotlight. Every person I prayed for was healed on the spot! In a sense I had stepped out of the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Jesus lived to do the will of his Father. What to us would take a lifetime of ministry was to our Lord a little over three years of intense physical and spiritual activity. He lived under the heavenly ‘spotlight’ all the time. Jesus saw the ways he walked and the time he had from God’s perspective. He knew that what he would do in Time had been predetermined in eternity, that he only had to “walk” in predetermined “works” that were based on God’s foreknowledge of his willingness to do his Father’s will.

We too have works to do for Jesus, and when doing them are conscious of stepping out of a good work in the charitable sense into one in the spiritual sense, one prepared for us from the beginning of Time.

The Christian’s life is not meant to be one of anxiety driven religious works, but rather one of Holy Spirit-directed spiritual activity. We can enjoy these miraculous, spiritual moments, and in between enjoy normal, everyday lives.

And to best do this, we need to put life into perspective.

Chapter 11

The Endless Cycle

This planet has built in entropy, a condition which causes everything to run down — some things quickly, other things eventually. It’s a law that cannot be reversed. There’s no such thing as Perpetual Motion. In old age we slow down because our Creator did not build in batteries. Some things run down and other things wind down.

Even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day. In those two brief moments, it appears to be working, but a second later you can see that its movement has stopped. Even an atomic clock cannot tell the correct time forever. In time, the momentum of every moving object slows, and comes to a standstill. 

Churches can be like that. When God first moves in power, they readily acknowledge their complete dependence on the Holy Spirit. But as revival continues, they begin to think of themselves as producers rather than consumers; that they can generate faith rather than needing to receive it. They major on the power of prayer rather than on the all-powerful God who answers prayer. 

A church’s activities cannot provide momentum; without the power of the Holy Spirit, it will slow, and eventually stop. Batteries aren’t included in a revival, because a battery is an independent source of power. Nothing can replace the power of the Holy Spirit! 

The desire for an independent power source was the cause of Lucifer’s downfall. Ever wondered why Jesus did most miracles differently? For one man, a new eyeball, made of mud; for another: sight restored through the Lord’s touch. Jesus did nothing that was predictable. Not one formula that could be copied. Jesus himself waited until his Father showed him what He was doing, and simply worked with Him. The servant is not above his master, so get used to waiting on God, in prayer, in meditation, in the study of the Bible. 

You can attend a bible college, listen to great preaching, watch charismatic evangelists, view miracles on video clips online or on handheld devices, and read the latest e-mail newsletters, but you will still need to go to God for the power you need. Batteries aren’t included, but then, who needs batteries when, through Jesus Christ, we can plug into the Source of all power: the Living God!

“As the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it might give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth. It shall not return to Me void (empty, fruitless), but it shall accomplish what I please; and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10, 11)

In both rainfall and snowfall God’s natural laws work to bring about His purposes. He provides us with seed for sowing, which in season gives us bread for eating.

Likewise, God’s spoken word from Heaven does His will on earth in what it accomplishes in the softened soil of responsive human hearts, salvation being the first fruit. God takes pleasure in what His word accomplishes. “Bread for the eater”, spiritually speaking, is “daily bread” for the Christian who lives by “every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” There’s also “seed for the sower” — words to plant in the lives of others.

With personal needs met, the emphasis moves to reproduction. Who receives good news and doesn’t want to spread it? The satisfied eater sows the seed of God’s word in the soil of human hearts (Mark 4:3, 14).

God’s word doesn’t begin in heaven and end on earth – it is cyclical, beginning in heaven, working on earth, and returning to Him in the form of praise and worship. Rain and snow do not return to their source in the same form – they evaporate, only to descend again as rain and snow, producing on earth, and then evaporating again. But although their form changes, the cycle itself never ceases. Likewise, the receiver of the gospel of salvation becomes a giver, bringing salvation to others and praise to God, and then becomes a receiver again (Ecclesiastes 1:4-7).

As sowing and reaping is cyclical, so too is giving and receiving. Encouraging the church at Corinth to be generous in giving, the apostle Paul wrote, “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully shall reap bountifully.” (2 Corinthians 9:6)

The outcome of the Corinthian church’s generosity was “thanksgiving to God”. Those who received glorified God for the obedience of those who had given, and prayed for them (1 Corinthians 9:11-14). Life is meant to be a wonderful and endless cycle of receiving, giving, praising, receiving, giving, praising… Have you been asking God to meet your needs? Then get into His endless cycle of giving and receiving!

Chapter 12

Spiritual Paradoxes

Scientific theories about the Universe are forcing Christians to grapple with the post-modern paradox of a personal God in ever-expanding Time and Space.  The paradox is this: If Space is mind-stretching and endless, how can the Creator of Time and Space be also real and personal? The Bible informs us that God is an eternal Spirit, but it also reveals that He is both personal and approachable. Is it possible for such opposites to be reconciled? 

A paradox is an apparent contradiction. Some paradoxes appear unsolvable — is this one of them?

On the surface, New Age philosophy seems more compatible with Science than is Christianity. Science makes its mistakes, concedes them, adapts, and moves on. Orthodox Christianity appears to flow backwards into ancient dogmatic absolutes—creeds set in concrete. Christians hold to these absolutes in a post-modern society that has no interest in them — or so it seems. 

Some Christians say, “We need to get back to the Bible.” Others say, “We need to make it relevant to the needs of people today.” Does the whole issue really come down to a choice between hard fundamentalism and soft relativism? 

Is the God of the Bible a static, remote and impersonal deity? No! He works in and through, and beyond Time and Space. Rather than shrinking as it expands, He is greater than the sum of it. Yet He is so caring that not one sparrow falls without Him knowing it – nor one hair from the head of any human. 

Quoting a pagan Greek poet, the apostle Paul spoke of God as the One “in whom we live and move and have our being.” Much earlier in time, the Syrians mistakenly believed that Israel’s God was an obscure group of mountain deities. (1 Kings 20) They soon found out to their detriment that He was the God of both the hills and the valleys! This is a way of saying that He is the God of everything.

In Old Testament times, the God of all Creation accommodated Himself to His chosen people’s limited understanding by describing His attributes in human terms — for example, His “right arm of power.” He responded to their prayers by intervening in their circumstances. Finally, and most sublimely, He visited them, in the person of Jesus Christ. 

Jesus said, “He who has seen me has seen the Father.” God was “up close and personal” to our world in Jesus. Not just to the Jews, but to all of humanity – to the whole world. 

The contrast between John’s Gospel and the Gospel of Matthew is startling! In John’s Gospel, God reveals that He is as relevant to Greek ideas and philosophy as to Jewish form and ceremony. God had made know His names and His attributes to Israel through His actions —they knew Who He was by what He did. In John’s Gospel He reveals Himself as “the Word made flesh” — an abstract Greek concept that suddenly took on human form! 

Some of histories most renowned scientists included Francis Bacon (Scientific method), Galileo Galieli (Physics, astronomy), Johann Kepler (Astronomy), Robert Boyle (Chemistry/gas dynamics), John Ray (Natural history), Isaac Newton (arguably the greatest scientist of all time, in his ‘mechanical’ concept of the universe rather than Einstein’s later time-bending concept), William Herschel (Astronomy), John Dalton (Atomic theory), Carolus Linneaus (Biology/taxonomy), Michael Faraday (Electromagnetics), Joseph Henry (Electric motor), James Joule (Thermodynamics), Louis Pasteur (Bacteriology/biochemistry/immunization), Lord Kelvin (Energetics), Joseph Lister (Antiseptic surgery), and James Clerk Maxwell (Electrodynamics).

Great scientists do not deny the reality of God — they affirm it. How absurd then for anyone to imagine that a growing knowledge of an expanding universe could possibly shrink God into insignificance! For no matter how much the universe expands or at what rate of speed our knowledge increases, the Creator of this and every other universe is greater than all that He has created. 

 A paradox is a statement that doesn’t appear to make sense but when understood, makes a lot of sense. In fact, a paradox says something that couldn’t be said as well in any other way. Jesus made some paradoxical statements. He did so to draw the attention of His listeners, who then had to think about what He had said. The Apostle Paul did so for similar reasons. 

The Christian life is a paradox to many people, but not to those who really live it. Consider the following paradoxes: they’ll help you to understand what being a Christian is all about. 

WE FIND BY LOSING “He that finds his life shall lose it, and he that loses his life for my sake shall find it.” (Matthew 10:39) 

WE RECEIVE BY GIVING “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back.” (Luke 6:38) 

WE ARE EXALTED BY BEING HUMBLE “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:12) 

WE BECOME GREAT BY BECOMING SMALL “Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:4) 

OUR WEAKNESS IS OUR STRENGTH “And he said unto me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9, 10)

WE RULE BY SERVING “You know that those who are supposed to rule over the nations lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.” (Mark 10:42-45) 

WE LIVE BY DYING “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20) 

“What shall we then say to these things?” If the Christian life is a paradox, then the actions of individual Christians should make non-Christians wonder. The very fact that Christians do the very opposite to what non-Christians would do in similar situations should challenge the latter’s whole approach to life.

Post-modern paradoxes are no threat to Christians. We believe that God is “a rewarder of those who seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6). He interacts with people who believe that He responds to their prayers. Our God is not only gloriously indescribable but is also touchingly personal.

Wait — there’s more!

Are the greatest discoveries behind us? These days, those of medical science and technology are mostly team discoveries. But what of the individual, the inspired man or woman of vision and faith who breaks through a wall of doubt or skepticism in order to prove that what was once inconceivable is now achievable? Will we see unprecedented miracles of healing? If so, what are they likely to be?

These questions pose one problem in particular. God cannot lie. (Numbers 23:19) Nor does He change. (Malachi 3:6) He cannot deny Himself. He is who He is. (2 Timothy 2:13) But are you aware that God’s miracles always take place within the laws that He framed when He created the world?

Can God make two plus two equal five? Not without destroying the mathematical logic that upholds the universe. Can God draw a shorter than straight line between two known points? Not according to the laws of Newtonian physics. God works within principles of natural science that reveal His nature and deity. (Romans 1:20) For Him to do otherwise would be for Him to change.

Yet in response to faith and prayer God does make changes within the natural order of creation, to meet the needs of His people. He increased the supply of a widow’s oil to the limit of her capacity to receive it. (2 Kings 4) He maintained another widow’s daily supply of grain for two years, after she had literally “scraped the bottom of the barrel”. (1 Kings 17)  On two occasions He even slowed planetary motion. (Joshua 10:13; Isaiah 38:8) 

Yet God did these miracles within the framework of His creation. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, turned water into wine by changing the chemical composition of one liquid to that of another. Jesus did not change solids into liquids or liquids into solids – bread into wine or wine into bread. 

In multiplying the loaves and the fishes Jesus created more from the same substance. (John 6:5-13)  It was as though he needed something to work with. Miraculous changes in composition, increases in quantity, and adjustments in time took place within the laws of Creation. When God alters the order within creation in response to the prayers of His people, we call the changes miracles, and indeed, they are. We tend to think of miracles as unnatural, but they are supernatural, which is not the same thing. 

The distinction is important. I have seen God open blind eyes, heal cripples, straighten frozen shoulders, backs, and limbs – even revive a man who had been dead for fifteen minutes. I believe in miracles! My faith in God’s ability and willingness to grant miracles is not the issue. Miracles are not as mysterious as you might think. God uses the everyday things to do them: the last jar of olive oil, or the last grain in a barrel. Jesus used a boy’s lunch, and water that was on hand for washing. It is always our capacity that determines the supply. 

Through God’s mega-promises we are made “partakers of the divine nature” – the sons of God have the nature of the Son of God. (2 Peter 1:4; Hebrews 2:11) We are not only authorized to do the works that Jesus did, in his name, but are also empowered to do them, by the Spirit of God. God’s nature is natural to the New Creation, which means that miracles, which are natural to God, should also be natural to us.

This being so, we should no longer regard miracles as unnatural, because they are not; they are supernatural. In responding to our needs God does not do that which is unnatural. Increases in quantity, changes in composition and adjustments to time are not unnatural; they are supernatural; they are adjustments made to the natural world by its Creator. The supernatural takes place when the super enters the natural.

Miracles, then, ought to be as familiar to us as they were to Jesus. Must we wait until medical scientists re-grow lost limbs from DNA or tissue culture? Medical science has all but appropriated the meaning of the word miracle. Faith in a miracle-working God should put us well ahead of medical science. When the super enters the natural, supernatural things happen — things that we call miracles. The scoffing of atheists at the biblical account of Eve’s creation from Adam’s rib was silenced by the introduction of bone marrow transplants. Thank God for medical science, but it should always be playing catch-up to the miracles that God does through His people.      

God cannot deny Himself: He is who He is. As His newborn offspring we should see ourselves as belonging to the realm of the miraculous, for it is the natural habitat of the sons and daughters of God. 

Jesus was never amazed by miracles. He glorified his Father for doing them, and rejoiced at the beneficial effects they had on those who received them.  To silence a storm on Galilee, Jesus transferred His inner peace to the outer tumult. His words muzzled the savage storm. The disciples were filled with awe and wonder, but Jesus quietly asked them where their faith was. What was awesome to them was natural to him.

Like our Lord, we should share the peace of God in our hearts with those around us. We should also share His power. What to many is supernatural is to us quite natural. The miracles of Jesus perplexed people, but the Son of God, knowing the nature of his Father, saw them as natural expressions of a Father’s love for His children. Miracles will always be a supernatural wonder to those who do not know the Lord and a natural joy to those who do! 

If you believe that miracles require God to act in opposition to the laws he created, you will view them as unnatural and mystical intrusions. But if instead you see them as divine adjustments that are not in conflict with His laws, you may expect to see one miracle after another. Miracles, after all, are merely God’s response to the faith in your heart that enables you to ask, believing, and in that moment, receive what you ask for. (Mark 11:24)

We are likely to see unprecedented miracles through spiritual dynamics as the approach of the kingdom of God becomes more and more apparent. Your children will discover some startling inventions, as God reveals the laws of His kingdom to them. Miracles will increase exponentially, as the supernatural makes the super more and more natural to Christians all around the globe.

The time may be short, but it’s sure to be exciting!

Last Words

There was a time in my life when I submitted to Jesus Christ, and two worlds touched. His world touched mine, and changed it forever.

I discovered the miracle of flight: that I could rise above guilt and condemnation. What a wonderful blessing it was to rise above them!

My personal breakthrough came when a man of faith helped me to get through into the Lord’s presence, which is simply wonderful!

Countless times I have felt the Lord’s power flow through my hands into others, as they believed and received an “electric touch” of His healing God in their bodies.

I know the amazing power of the Lord’s words: that they travel in a spiritual dimension, and that they don’t just bring life but are life!

The Holy Spirit has not only opened my understanding, but has also enabled me to see into the spiritual dimension by discerning the nature of problems.

God has given me spiritual buoyancy, which enables me to ‘stay afloat’ when tossed around and all but swamped by opposition. His Word has kept me on course when I would have otherwise lost my bearings.

With the Holy Spirit’s help, I have gone far beyond the fear frontier. I no longer listen to those who say it can’t be done. God can do anything!

I have within me a certainty that when my will is constantly in line with God’s will, the variables in my life will be eliminated, and He will work even greater wonders in and through me.

I am in an endless cycle of giving and receiving, of spiritual, perpetual motion.

If we are paradoxical to some, it is because they cannot discern those who are spiritual. Only spiritual people can understand spiritual people.

How about you? Maybe you haven’t yet surrendered your life to Jesus Christ. If not, a simple prayer will get you started.

“Dear God, I confess that I am a sinner. I believe that Jesus, Your Son, died on the Cross for me. I now acknowledge Jesus as my Lord. Please forgive my sins, and make me clean, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

May the grace of God in Jesus Christ be your first discovery! 

–Peter Barfoot