Acts 2:43
Luke is keen to point out that the excitement that broke out over the coming of Jesus in the gospels, continues through the disciples of Christ, His followers. The ministry of Jesus did not cease at Calvary, but it continues when He triumphantly arose from the dead and with great power commissioned His followers to go into all the world and preach the gospel until revival breaks out and multitudes are converted. As we go, we need to expect a breakthrough and revival. Every time we preach and declare His word, as His trusted followers and believers, we ought to expect something supernatural and miraculous to transpire.
Notice Luke’s description of events that took place right after Pentecost. He states, “Then they that gladly received His word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:41). The Early Church after Pentecost was unstoppable. They prayed, preached and God moved. As they prayed, the Spirit fell and the power broke out from the church and spilled out to the community. So great was the outpouring that Luke says that it was about three thousand souls that were not only brought under conviction, but who were actually converted and added to the church. Even those who were actually involved in the crucifixion of the Messiah, were now brought to repentance and contrition. (Acts 2:37).
Today, this is how I feel, after our twenty-one days of Prayer and Fasting. It cannot be church as usual! How we need for God to show up in our midst! Too often we pray and very little seems to happen and we settle for a church that is ordinary, anemic, dry and powerless. However, not so with the Early Church. When they moved out of the Upper Room they did so with much power and great effect. The effects were felt all around, inside the church and outside. They had the power and everybody all around them saw and felt the power. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, theirs was a ministry in the miraculous.
In 2023, we can settle for nothing less! We must pray until something happens. I do not believe we can stop now. I still declare and strongly believe that without exception, miracles, signs and wonders must accompany the ministry of the twenty-first century church also. So much of Jesus’ credibility was dependent on the miraculous. If the Church of God must become credible again, then like Jesus, evidences of the supernatural must indeed accompany our ministries. The Early Church leadership was never remiss in specifically praying for miracles (Acts 4:30). So must we!
May we pray for the miracles not as random, occasional events, but as regular occurrences in our daily lives and meetings, as the evidence of God’s anointing and to the glorifying of Jesus in our midst. As his chosen followers, we can settle for nothing less in 2023. He is still a signs-and-wonders-God!!
Leroy V. Greenaway
Presiding Bishop – Northeast Region
