This may seem like a strange question, but many, many believers are taught that God does not work outside the natural order of things.  Usually, these denominations teach that God did work in miraculous ways in “Bible days,” but no longer does so.  If you have not been part of one these mainline denominations, this idea may seem strange to you because the natural reading of scripture would never leave you thinking that the God who worked miracles from Genesis to Revelation would suddenly stop intervening in the affairs of men in supernatural ways.  However, these churches still declare that belief in the supernatural gifts of the Spirit and the miraculous works of God is heresy.

The argument goes that miracles were performed, especially in the New Testament, to prove that Jesus was the Son of God, and once the record of all these miracles was written in scripture, the evidence was sufficient and, therefore, no more miracles were required nor necessary.   The roots of this view probably go back to the Renaissance when men began to celebrate the art and science produced by man.  During this period and later, men began to worship their abilities and began to believe that man and his intellect could cure all the ills of the world. The “scientific method” became the gospel for many and anything not subject to man and his reason was considered superstition.  Miracles, which were not subject to the new religion of science, fell out of favor, even among many theologians. 

Even Martin Luther espoused a view that true miracles ceased when the age of the apostles expired.  He taught that men heard from God only through the written Word and not apart from it.  He allowed for healing as a “possible” response to prayer, but thought it was rare.  Certainly, there were no gifts of healing operating. Some historians believe that much of his theology was a response to abuses of “miracles” and “revelation” by the Catholic Church from which he was separating himself.  There were undoubtedly such abuses but the question arises, “Should we discard the power and intervention of God because some abuse the idea?”

In his first letter to the Corinthian church, Paul discusses extensively their abuse of spiritual gifts…especially tongues and prophecy. However, he does not forbid the practice of these gifts, but rather teaches them how to use them correctly – in a way that builds up the church rather than the individual.  Rather than forbidding the exercise of these gifts, he commands everyone to eagerly desire spiritual gifts.

The view that God no longer intervenes in our lives through miracles also spawned the view that the supernatural gifts of the Spirit ceased as well when the apostles died. This view strips the church of her power against the forces of darkness. The argument goes that Jesus ministered in miraculous ways to prove he was the Son of God and the apostles ministered in miraculous ways to prove they were his true representative and that their writings in the New Testament were inspired.  Again…once there was sufficient written evidence, miracles and supernatural gifts were no longer needed for the gospel and faded away.

However, many non-apostles did mighty works through the power of the Spirit – Phillip (Acts 8:6-7) and Stephen (Acts 6:8), as examples. In addition, some, who were not apostles, such as Luke, James, Jude, and the writer of Hebrews,  wrote much of the New Testament.  Jesus declared, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (Jn. 14:12-13). He didn’t say his apostles would do what he had been doing, but anyone who believes.  He also did not assign a shelf-life to that promise but to whoever believes, whenever they believe. God also clearly gave supernatural gifts to the church – apart from the apostles.  He gave gifts of healing, gifts of miracles, tongues, prophecy, interpretation. discerning of spirits, etc. to ordinary believers to build up the church (See 1 Cor. 12-14).

One of the great deceptions by the enemy is the theology that God no longer intervenes in miraculous ways and these spiritual gifts no longer function.  One of the side effects of this theology is an unspoken belief that the supernatural altogether is superstition. Demons no longer afflict men and angels don’t show up to fight for God’s people.  That belief leaves God’s people powerless in the face of an unseen enemy that is still afflicting them, but goes undetected. Paul clearly says in Ephesians 6 our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against forces of evil in heavenly realms and he points us to divine weapons in 2 Corinthians 10. We cannot defend ourselves from spiritual attacks without spiritual power from spiritual weapons…gifts of the Spirit that are manifestations of God’s power and authority.

Over the years, I have spoken with several people who were involved in witchcraft because when they had gone to the church, the church had no solution for their struggles…no power.  They found power in witchcraft. They discovered it was destructive power, but there was power all the same.  Paul declared, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power” (1 Cor. 4:20). If there is no power expressed, then the kingdom is not expressed. You would be surprised how many people think Satan is more powerful than God, because this non-miraculous theology has stripped the church of the expression of God’s greatness and power over the enemy.

Several years ago, I counseled with a woman over a period of months who had been subjected to Satanic ritual abuse as a small girl.  During the abuse, she cried out to God to save her but nothing happened.  She had battled severe depression as an adult and, as an adult who still believed in Jesus, she was plagued by the belief that Satan was more powerful than God because she had not been rescued when she was five.  One day, in a period of desperation as she was slipping back into her depression, she was willing to “risk” deliverance.  In the name of Jesus, she was delivered from several tormenting spirits.  For the first time, she was able to believe Jesus was more powerful than Satan and it changed her life.  She knew what the Bible said, but needed to experience that truth before being set free. God’s people and the world still need miracles and the manifest power of the Spirit.

Interestingly, the very definition of a miracle is God intervening in the natural order of things to alter what would have happened without his touch.  Isn’t that why any of us pray?  Why would we ask God to make sure something would happen that would happen anyway without his intervention?  Even if we pray for God to bless the hands of the surgeon, we are asking him to prevent something that might happen in the natural without his intervention.  We are asking him to intervene to prevent a mistake.  By definition we are asking for a miracle. So if we can ask God for that, why not for greater miracles as well. Here’s the rub.  If we only pray for the ordinary, we will only see the ordinary and so confirm our belief thar God acts only in ordinary ways.  But how does that glorify him?  How does that demonstrate his power over the enemy? How does that give his church victory over the schemes and attacks of the devil? 

Every time people doubted the possibility of a miracle, Jesus scolded them as people of little faith.  What would he say to us now and those that no longer believe in the supernatural intervention of God on behalf of his people and this world? It seems to me, there has never been a time when we needed his miracles more than now. Susan and I just spent a weekend with a Free Indeed Ministry in McKinney, Texas.  There we saw healing, deliverance from demons, and lives transformed by the power of Jesus. Without a belief in that power for today those people would still be in the grip of fear, addictions, sexual sin, depression and witchcraft.  But Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.  He still wants to destroy the works of the devil through his church and miracles should still be the normal expectation in the body of Christ. 

The Word of God trumpets that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (1 Jn. 3:8). Whatever Jesus healed, cast out, or overcame were works that the enemy had constructed on the earth through the sin of man.  In the opening salvo of Christ’s war on the devil, he announced that he had come to preach good news to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, and to set captives free (Luke 4).  He then proceeded to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God, heal every kind of sickness and physical condition, cast our demons, raise the dead, and break the power of sin over countless lives.

However, since then, some Christian leaders a decided that the very things Jesus opposed on the earth did not come from Satan, but from God himself.   Somewhere along the line, theologians decided that since God is sovereign, everything that happens on this planet is his will and has been ordained by heaven.  That kind of theology makes God the author of rape, abortion, famine, war, cancer, birth defects, and crib death. That kind of theology makes God a heartless manipulator of people and circumstances.  But John definitively says that God is love. 

The truth is that there are countless things that happen on this planet that do not reflect the heart or the will of God for his people.  For instance, in his first letter to Timothy, Paul says, “This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim.2: 4) Paul clearly states that God’s desire is for every soul to be saved.  Scripture also clearly says that not all will be saved. In the matter of the world’s salvation, God’s desire will not be completely fulfilled.

Even, when the persistent acts and sins of men demand God’s righteous judgment, that is not what God rejoices to do.  In the book of Ezekiel, God says, “Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked?” declares the sovereign Lord.  “Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live” (Ezek. 18:23)?  He also says, “I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.” (Ezek.22: 30). Sometimes, disaster comes because man leaves God no choice.  Like parents exercising tough love toward a rebellious child, God sometimes brings discipline or judgment.  But it is not his pleasure to do so. 

The world is clearly full of tragedy.  In his sovereignty, God gave man free will and in doing so set limitations on himself in terms of how he would intercede in the affairs of men.  When mankind chooses violence over peace, adultery over faithfulness, abortion over parenthood, bitterness over forgiveness, deception over truth, and rebellion over obedience – bad things happen.  If I give you free will, the risk is that you can use that will to do evil and people are wounded in ways that were never in the heart of God for his people. When men act in such ways, they open themselves and their families up to the work of Satan who comes to kill, steal, and destroy.

However, we understand God and his heart for us, the clearest demonstration of his heart is found in Jesus. Jesus declared in John 14:9 that whoever has seen him (Jesus), has seen the Father.  Whatever Jesus did on the earth is an accurate reflection of the heart of God.  The heart of God, like the heart of God’s Son, is to heal, bless, set free, and eventually abolish death altogether. Nowhere do we ever see Jesus imparting illness, taking life, or releasing misery.

When we blame God for the tragedies, the pain, the sorrows of life, we misjudge his character and his heart for us and undermine faith. When we believe those things are from God, we simply resign ourselves to fate.  That misconception is a great tool of the enemy to alienate people from a God who loves them and to choke off our faith when we pray.  If we ever believe that God’s heart for his children is that they be raped, abused, murdered, ravaged by cancer, stuck in crippling poverty, or die tragically then how will we pray against those things?  How will be believe that God is sitting on the edge of his throne waiting to arise and set his children free from the hate-filled works of the devil?  And yet, that is where he is.

The good news is that disease, disabilities, shattered emotions, broken families and all the rest of Satan’s work is not the heart of God for his people. Isaiah clearly stated that Messiah would come to preach good news,  heal broken hearts, and set captives free (Isa. 61).  Jesus came to begin dismantling those works in individual lives and then in society as a whole.  The church has been commissioned to do what Jesus did and to continue to destroy those works with the love of God and the power of heaven. 

God longs for us to call on him in faith to push back the borders of darkness through us.  He longs to display his power to heal, mend, and set free through us, just as he did through Jesus. There will be times when we may not see our prayers answered and we will not understand the outcomes. We will have to be content to live with mysteries. But we can only face those mysteries well, when we stand on a foundation of being convinced of God’s goodness. Whenever we have it in our hearts to do the works that Jesus did, we can rest assured that heaven is ready to join us in the battle.  Be bold today.  Know that God is on your side when you push back in faith against the kingdom of darkness. You may ask the impossible, when you know who he is.

Have you every noticed how quickly trash accumulates around the house? My wife and I are always amazed at how much trash just the two of us can produce in a week’s time. Maybe we are just trashy folks, but the dumpsters in our neighborhood suggest we are not alone. Spiritual trash can accumulate as well, but since it is invisible, we are much less likely to notice. However, the enemy notices.

In the book of Revelation, Satan is identified as, “the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God, day and night” (Rev. 12:10). In his book, Operating in the Courts of Heaven, Robert Henderson makes his case that Satan relentlessly brings accusations against the people of God in the courts of heaven, seeking a legal right to afflict them. The scene in the first chapter of Job is representative of that activity.

In the Book of Job, God set limits on how seriously Satan could afflict Job. I think he does the same with us, depending on where we are in relationship to him. In Deuteronomy 28, God established the precedent that if His people were careful to keep all of his commands, then blessings would be the consequence of their obedience. if, however, they were not careful and rebelled against God, dire curses would be the consequence.

Paul echoed that same principle when he wrote, ^” Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.  Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life” (Gal. 6:7-8).

It seems that most often, a persistent refusal to confess and repent of sin in our lives will eventually cause God to begin to remove his hand of protection from us or a nation. Satan’s complaint to God about Job was that God had established a hedge of protection around him that Satan could not penetrate…until he got permission from God. When we look at the Old Testament, we see how God’s discipline (consequences of sin), played out. God would allow bad things to happen to Israel that manifested as partial judgments…three years of drought, failed crops, illness, minor defeats by the enemy, etc.. which were intended to call Israel back to God. If they persisted in their sin, the consequences grew, until finally disaster overwhelmed them.

It was as if the more their sin accumulated, the greater Satan’s legal rights increased to afflict God’s people. The remedy was always true repentance and seeking God once more. When Israel repented, renounced their ways, and turned back to obedience, God’s blessings returned. Godly sorrow, confession, and repentance revoked Satan’s legal right to afflict God’s people. It is the same today.

Satan is always looking for ways to accuse us so that he might gain some legal right to afflict or oppress us. The cure is genuine repentance followed by renewed obedience. Sometimes we fail to repent because Satan convinces us that what we are doing is hidden from God or is approved by God or that we somehow have gained an exemption from his discipline…when, in fact, he is just being patient and merciful toward us. The other hiccup in the process is when we are simply unaware of the sin in our lives.

It is amazing how we so often fail to identify pride , unbelief, bigotry, a judgmental spirit, or unforgiveness in our own lives. As Jesus said, we are quick to identify the splinter in someone else’s eye, but fail to see the plank in our own eye. We may also fail to identify sin because we compare ourselves to people around us and feel righteous, rather than comparing ourselves to God’s righteousness. Sometimes, a certain sin has been part of our lives for so long, it seems normal and, therefore, acceptable. David was wise when he prayed, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting (Ps. 139:23-24). Sometimes, we need someone else to make us aware of a sin that is actually making us vulnerable to the enemy.

The other hiccup in this process is that we may be experiencing the consequence of unrepented sin in our family line. Exodus 20:5-6 states, ” for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,  but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” Frequently, in scripture, you will find men who are seeking God for themselves or the nation, confessing and repenting for the sins of their fathers on behalf of their bloodlines. We may need to become more acquainted with family history to know how to pray about generational sins, or we may need to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal what may be giving Satan a right to afflict us from the sins of our fathers.

As followers of Jesus, we may feel that all of our sin and the sins of our fathers are automatically covered by the blood of Christ. When we are talking about salvation that is absolutely true. However, when talking about reaping and sowing in this life, we may face affliction or oppression, because we have not taken out the trash on a regular basis. After David’s sin with Bathsheba, Nathan the prophet confronted him. David repented and Nathan declared he was forgiven. In other words, he was reconciled to God after his sin, bur he was also told he would have to walk through some of the consequences of his actions in this life. His salvation was not the issue, but the principle of sowing and reaping still applied.

In John 1:9, John is writing to believers, but he says, “If we confess our sin, God is faithful and just to forgive our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” It is not as though the blood of Christ does not atone for our sin until we have confessed each and every one, but confession (with repentance) keeps the enemy from gaining access to us in the courts of heaven and keeps our relationship with the Father unhindered. That should be a regular practice in the prayer life of every believer.

Let me encourage you, to ask the Spirit and the people who know you best to inform you if they see any patterns of sin displayed in your life or if they know of any generational sin you need to submit to the cross. Taking the trash out on a regular basis keeps rot, stink, and critters from invading your home. That is true with spiritual trash as well. I am not advocating an obsession about our sin, but a standing invitation for the Holy Spirit or those we trust to make us aware, so the enemy can gain no legal right to come after us. Blessings in Him.

I’m sure we all have certain passages marked in our Bibles that the Holy Spirit has highlighted for us.  Sometimes I mark them, then forget them, but when I’m reading back through the Bible, I run across them again and remember why I  put brackets around the text. One of those is in Proverbs.

“Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy” (Prov. 28:13).

John said a similar thing in his first letter.  “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9).

One of the most frequent points of access Satan has in a believer’s life is unconfessed, unrepented sin.  One of the most persistent themes in scripture is God calling Israel to repent and come back to him so that he might bless them again.  A sample is found in Joel 2 after another extended period of rebellion by God’s chosen people.  These seasons of rebellion lasted for years.  They were filled with national idolatry, blatant sexual immorality, injustice for the poor, disrespect for the God of Israel, children offered in the fires of Molech, and indifference for the temple of God.

In the Book of Joel, we see a final warning of coming devastation if Israel does not acknowledge their sin and repent. He warns them of a natural disaster that is already on the way…swarms of locust that will dwarf the plague that fell on Egypt.  When this “army” comes, it will devastate every living plant in the nation.  Nothing will remain.  Trees will be stripped down to their bark.  All grains, grass, olive trees, vineyards, and vegetables will be devoured by these swarms.  There will be no grass or grain to feed the animals, no grain for bread, no grapes for wine, no olives for olive oil, no fruit from the trees.  There will be famine and all the suffering that accompanies that curse.  Yet in the midst of God’s warning and admonition to his people, He says…

“Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave behind a blessing— grain offerings and drink offerings for the Lord your God” (Joel 2:12-14)

In another place, Ezekiel records the words of God when he says, “Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live? (Ezek. 18:23).

Although God is clearly revealed as a forgiving and compassionate God, there still remains a strong propensity in the nature of man, even in believers, to conceal our sin and not confess. 

Sometimes, we are ignorant of our sin…we didn’t know it was wrong.  Many believers have not been discipled well or taught the whole counsel of God.  When they discover that they are sinning, they are genuinely surprised.  For instance, an amazing number of young single Christians in America come to church and share, without hesitation, the fact they are living together.  They are living out a cultural norm and are often shocked to find that God does not approve.  

The rest of us may not want to give up something in our lives…maybe alcohol we can’t control, power, control, manipulation, sexual sin we are keeping secret, anger that makes us feel powerful, etc.  We rationalize the sin or minimize it as something that is not “that bad.”  Sometimes we keep it secret because we fear the fallout, if others knew.  Adultery is often hidden for years or always.  Pornography is often a secret sin that can go on for decades. 

Satan convinces us that we can’t help it, therefore, God should not hold us accountable.  He convinces us that “everyone does it,” so we should get a pass on the issue.  He also convinces us that we participated, but someone else is actually to blame so God will overlook our failures. So…the sin goes unacknowledged, unconfessed and unrepented.   But God says, that person will not prosper in the things that truly matter…body, soul, spirit, and relationships.  Those will all suffer when sin is hidden, excused, minimized or denied.

David and Saul may be the greatest examples of this dynamic.  Saul was disobedient on several significant occasions, but, when confronted, always found a way to blame others, declare he had obeyed God when his obedience was only partial, or claim he couldn’t help it.   Eventually, he lost his kingdom, his life and the lives of his sons, and is remembered as a failed king. 

Then there was David.  He did things even Saul didn’t do…adultery, murder, and abusing his power to cover up the sin.  Yet in Psalm 51, we find David openly confessing his sin.  He doesn’t deny it, blame others for it, minimize it, or claim he couldn’t help himself.  He never tried to bargain with God or talk about all the good things he had done that should get him a “get-out-of- jail-free card for this one “incident.”

True, David hid the sin for a number of months out of shame and out of fear regarding the fallout if people knew the truth.  But the Spirit of God through,, the prophet Nathan, brought him to a place of confession and repentance. Trusting in the character of God, he began the Psalm, “Have mercy on me O God according to your unfailing love, according to your great compassion.”  The moment David showed godly sorrow and confessed his sin, it was forgiven.  There would be consequences in the natural realm for David’s sin, but his relationship with God was immediately restored and God promised to walk with him through the fires of the fallout.  Despite, his moral failure, David is still remembered as the greatest king of Israel and “a man after God’s own heart.”   Part of his greatness was in owning his failures, declaring that God’s standards were righteous, and trusting in the heart of a good, good Father.

When we fail to acknowledge our sin, confess, and repent, we reveal some things about our heart.  Either we don’t love God, because if we love him we obey him, or we believe he is unfair and unreasonable in his standards.  Perhaps, we hide or excuse our sin because we believe he is a harsh and angry God just waiting to punish and abuse us. Perhaps, we believe we are saved by our own righteousness rather than by grace and, therefore, have to deny our sin while we eagerly point to the sins of others, to maintain our standing.  But all of those reasons and that view of God are misplaced.  Satan will establish strongholds through our unbelief or our denial of our sin.  If we think we are hiding our sin from God because we have not acknowledged it, we are also deceived because God knows everything,

Yet God’s heart is always ready to forgive and receive when we return with godly sorrow taking full responsibility for our choices.  The story of the Prodigal Son is the embodiment of our Father’s heart (Luke 15). So…you may want to take an inventory of your life.  Is there a sin you have denied, excused, minimized or hidden that you have not owned or confessed?  If so, Satan has every right to afflict you and those you love. 

The key to prospering in the things that matter, is to lay our sins, our weaknesses and our failings at the foot of the cross, believing that God is a good, good Father just waiting for us to return and be restored.  Besides, your sin will not stay hidden forever.  Either God will reveal it to cleanse you or Satan will reveal it to destroy you. It is best to take it to the Father right away.