As a New Testament buff, I find myself looking at the great characters I find there and almost trying to model their faith and deeds. The other day I was talking with a friend about how I often feel like I just don’t have the faith I should, when I told him “The Apostle Paul’s faith was so strong that people touched him with handkerchiefs and then touched others with them and healed them!” Now, that would be awesome, if it were only true! I was right about the actual act of taking things that had touched Paul and having other’s healed through them. But I was wrong in the critical area of who got the credit. Upon re-reading, I found that although Paul was surely no slouch in the faith, it wasn’t Paul who performed the miracles.
“God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.” Acts 19:11
It was GOD who did the extraordinary miracles, and it was the person touching Paul and then carrying the article to the sick person who had the incredible faith. Paul… He did what he always seemed to do–he set a great example of how a Christian was to live. No doubt that’s why God did things “through Paul” and why the faith of those watching him was able to grow so strong. So… is it you who are trying to do great things, or are you just trying to be faithful to God? If it’s the later, you also will have extraordinary miracles done THROUGH YOU!
In Christ,
PastorJimKilby @Kilbin8er Jim@JamesKilby.com
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