DUNAMIS!

I was reading in 2 Timothy 3 today and decided to do some digging and dissecting, and I am amazed at all I found in just the first 5 verses! Check this out:


2 Timothy 3:1-5 (New American Standard Bible)
1 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,
4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.


That's a pretty long and ugly list. But the verse that caught my attention was verse 5: "holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power." Now I have heard this "power" described in a lot of ways and I am sure many of them have truth in them, but I decided to dig a little. The word "power" here is "dunamis", which means 'miraculous power, might and strength. Not just a human form of power, or human might, or human strength. . .MIRACULOUS! Something that is undeniably WAY bigger than our own abilities as human beings. It carries the "awe-factor". It is super-natural!

The word denotes miracles! Miracle working power!! When was the last time you saw a bona-fide miracle? Something that could not be explained by any human reasoning other than Divine intervention? For me I would have to say a few weeks ago when I witnessed a woman raised from the dead. Not by human effort, but through prayer. I have gotten to see this only twice in my lifetime, but I will tell you, THAT is miraculous power! Dunamis!! Awe-factor to the extreme!

 Jesus' life and ministry was marked with signs and wonders and miracles. Did you know that He Himself said that WE, that's you and me, would do GREATER works!!

John 14:12 (New American Standard Bible)
"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and GREATER works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.

Did you notice He said 'truly' twice? He put great emphasis on this, because He wants us to hear and understand fully what He is saying here. Most assuredly, no doubt about it, you can take it to the bank Jack! So now, I have to do some inventory in my own life. . . are these things active and working in my life? Is the ministry of Jesus something that I flow in on a daily basis? I mean, I am a believer. . . and if I am a believer I should be active in the 'greater works', right?
Let's go back to the text in 2 Timothy 3. Verses 1 - 5 are capped off with the statement "AVOID such men as these". Now I can easily understand avoiding all of the characteristics listed throughout verses 1 through 4. That makes sense to my reasoning as a Christ Follower. But at the very end of that list, in verse 5 are 'those who possess a form, or appearance of godliness' - they look right, talk right, act right, show up for church every Sunday and even Wednesday, give to the poor, visit the sick, always busy with Kingdom work. . . . - BUT deny the power, the dunamis, the miracle working power of God!

Will anyone join me saying a big huge "OUCH" right here?  Why are we not walking it out? Why are we not seeing the miraculous works of God touching others through our lives and our hands every day?

I think the answer is simple, and it is something that God has been showing me the past few weeks. We don't need to study more before we can obey what Jesus commanded us in Mark 16:18b:  "they SHALL lay hands on the sick, and they SHALL recover."  We don't need more degrees or classes or meetings to obey His clear command. What He needs us to be is "conduits" of His power! All we have to do is place ourselves in the position for Him to work through us! Do you know Him as Lord? Do you have two hands? Do you have a mouth? Find someone who needs a miracle, put your hands on them and speak to that mountain! God will do the rest! He will back up His Word with signs following!

And right here I am going to make it even easier for you. You do NOT have to have all the right words and know a bunch of scriptures by heart and pray long exhaustive prayers. Most times that is just pride, and it usually detracts from God and puts the focus on your own knowledge.  Although it is important to know the scriptures that promise healing, for our own faith, so that we know we can step out and lay hands on people in obedience to His Word and expect Him to act.  Look through the Gospels, what did Jesus do when He healed the sick, cast out demons and raised the dead? He did exactly what He instructed us to do! He spoke to that "mountain" and commanded it to be removed. Sometimes He did not even speak a word! He placed His hands on the person and it was done! SIMPLE! We have made it so hard, I know I have! We think we must articulate perfectly what we are praying for, quote 5 scriptures, turn around 3 times and touch your nose. Sound silly? That's because it is! Jesus said, "Get up!" "Be healed!" "Arise and walk!" "Come out of him!" "COME FORTH!"

You may argue that we are not God. No, halleluia, we are not! But we are filled with the Holy Spirit! And Jesus left us the perfect example to follow in every area of our walk! Thank You Lord! And I really think that the more we say when we pray for a person, the more likely we are to think we actually had something to do with the miracle other than being the conduit. And we also can fall into the danger of making a "formula" out of something because it worked once.

I have really been getting shaken awake the past few weeks with these truths, and I am purposing in my heart, and asking Him to help me, to be a conduit for His miraculous power! I am actually beginning to pray that God would bring people into my path in my everyday life, that need a miracle! Join me? I think if we will simply walk out what He instructed us to, we would begin to see growth and increase in the Kingdom of God to a degree that we haven't seen in our lifetime! Jesus got people's attention with healings and miracles! And He is still doing it today! Our only decision needs to be whether we want to be a part of it or not!

I'm in!!