There’s only one God

“And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole of creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mark 16:15

The power of the Holy Spirit is for the empowerment to share the gospel. The movement of the Holy Spirit is just as real and active as it was in the Bible. Our God still heals. He still casts out demons. He still gives tongues. He still gives dreams. He still moves. He is the same in Genesis 1:1, all throughout the Bible, as He is today. Let me tell you exactly how real He still is.

There was a week in Nepal where my team had the amazing opportunity to go to a village in the mountains to share the gospel. Every day we would trek in the morning and afternoon to various houses to share the gospel, pray, and encourage believers. One specific morning we trekked to the house of a man who was sick. A couple of days prior he had fallen while walking through the mountains. By the time he was found and brought back home, he was physcially failing. When we arrived at his house, most of his family was outside. They were thankful that we had come, but shared with us that they did not think their father would make it much longer. Upon hearing this my team walked into the house do the only thing we knew: pray. When walking in the house we saw a man, lying on the cold floor, a blanket and fire surrounding him, completely unaware of what was going on. He couldn’t sit up, he could barely open his eyes or talk. The local pastor came with us and was telling of more of this man’s story. We simply sat with this man, heard more of his story from the pastor, and began to speak about Jesus. We hadn’t even started praying yet, but the very PRESENCE of the Holy Spirit coming in this man’s house began to heal him. Over the course of an hour or so, he went from laying down, not talking, and in pain, to sitting up on his own, talking in full sentences, and completely alert. Just the presence of the Holy Spirit began to heal him. Before this he wasn’t able to sit up on his own, and hadn’t been talking much with his family. We began to tell him about Jesus. About how He came to earth, how he healed people yes, but even more so how He came and defeated death! He came so that this very man before my eyes could be saved. After talking and explaining this more, we asked him if he wanted to accept Jesus; he said yes. We walked him through acceptance, and then prayed over him physically as well. I left in awe of the Holy Spirit. Although he hadn’t been fully healed in that moment, I saw the very transformational power of the Holy Spirit that we read about in the Bible happen before my eyes, and I am forever changed. But the even better news? My God is so good that the story doesn’t end there. The next day our friend gets a call from the pastor, where he tells us that the man had been fully healed! We were overjoyed and wanted immediately to go and visit him. Once we were able to, we went back up the hills. When we got to the house we were all expecting him to be there sitting on his floor; but he wasn’t. He wasn’t there at all. Our translator started shouting “PRAISE GOD HE ISN’T HERE, HE IS HEALED!” We decided to wait some time in hopes of seeing him, but he didn’t come back. Feeling joyful but disappointed to not see him, we began to trek back. When we were leaving our local guide starts running and motioning us to follow him. I start running and see the very grace and mercy of God before me. Right in front of me was the man working in the field (walking!), taking care of his cattle. The man that the world had claimed death over. The man that was thought to have no more time, was standing and working before us. We didn’t do anything fancy. We didn’t have the perfect words. The Lord just came, and healed His son, as He longs to do. We serve a good God, who cares for all His children.

God still heals.

“Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things He does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases.” Psalm 103:2-3