Spiritual Gifts: Miracles

[david omweno ongori]

 

1 Corinthians 12:7-10

"To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy…"

 

The Bible is full of stories of great miracles (some English Bibles use the word "wonders," which means the same thing).  These start with Yahushua  creating the world out of nothing in Genesis 1.  The Bible ends with Our Most High replacing the present earth and heavens with a New Heavens and a New Earth, another amazing wonder.  Today, the Spirit still operates miracles as believers pray.  Christians in every country have seen amazing demonstrations of  Our Most High's power in their land.

 

When we teach about spiritual gifts, we are talking about a specific manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the faithful church or  the Body. or ministry,  We are not talking about the isolated signs and wonders that occur in the world (as in Luke 21:11 & 25).  We are talking about the 5^th gift in Paul's list of 9 spiritual gifts from the passage above.  In this context, the Bible speaks of manifestations of the Spirit that are given to the church, not just demonstrations of Yahushua's power or even "ministries" that men may have.  Spiritual gifts can be given through any member in the church, not just the pastor – in fact, a healthy church will have all the members functioning in various spiritual gifts.  Members do not "own" a certain gift (including miracles) – instead, the Spirit may use an individual in one gift today and a different gift later; and he may use one member in operating a miracle today, and a different member for a miracle next week.  Like "gifts of healing," this spiritual gift is in the plural because it can occur in many different ways.

 

Defining this Spiritual Gift

The spiritual gift of MIRACLES refers to an event that nobody can explain by natural causes or scientific means.  The 4^th gift, healing, also pertains to events (curing a physical ailment) that defy the explanations of modern medicine.  This gift includes other events, not just healings, where Our Most High intervenes directly in our physical world. In our ministries we have such miracles in our midst.  These miraculous events integrate completely into the life of the Body (faithful church or ministry.  They always should fit with the revealed teachings.  Our Most High does not need to show off his power or prove Himself to unbelievers.  His purpose in operating miracles is greater than that.  Yahushua wants to teach the entire church or ministry  valuable lessons through each of these signs.