Release the Power of Jesus: 1 by Bill Johnson

Author:Bill Johnson
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9780768496628
Publisher: Destiny Image, Inc.
Published: 2009-01-28T00:00:00+00:00

MIRACLES CHANGE THE WAY WE “SEE”

The renewing of the mind allows the Spirit of God to shape our perception, and our minds become an instrument of righteousness.

Our history with God should shape our perception. In Mark 8:13-21, Jesus warned the disciples about the leaven of Herod and of the Pharisees. Leaven is the subtle influence on the mind to shape how we perceive reality. As they looked around the boat for food, Jesus asked them, “Why do you reason because you have no bread?” He was addressing their reasoning that was unaffected by their history with Him. Experiences with God are both wonderful and costly. He then took them back to two experiences He had with them in the multiplying of food and asked them if they remembered what happened when they fed the multitudes.

I return to this story on a regular basis to look at the questions Jesus asks because I must change, and I sense there are many answers for me in this event. The issues He dealt with are core issues in following Christ—especially for one who longs to release His miraculous power and glory into the world.

“Why do you reason because you have no bread?” It is as if Jesus asked His disciples, “Why does your reasoning start with what you don’t have? Once I took you into the miracle of the multiplication of food, you lost the right to begin any pattern of thought with what you don’t have.”

Miracles erase options for the believer. This is what the renewed mind looks like. It no longer starts with lack. A miracle contains the spiritual nutrients that are to be released into our system to make us think like Christ. In this case they fortify us with grace to never start a train of thought with what we don’t have. But as we see with the twelve, it is possible to be unaffected by the experience of a miracle.

I am very encouraged by a tremendous shift in perspective within the Church. But I am still convicted by this story in Mark. Too many times I am faced with a problem, and I think, “I don’t have what it takes for that situation.” Immediately I start looking at my resources as though I were the answer to my dilemma.

So Jesus took them through a series of questions. “How is it that you don’t perceive? Is your heart still hard?” (paraphrase). When He takes us into the realm of miracles and we become exposed to the supernatural, it will alter the way we see reality—if our hearts are not hard. However, if our view of reality is not adjusted to accommodate ongoing miracles in our lives, then our heart is limiting the full effect of the nutrients being released in our system. Those nutrients are called “grace,” which is divine enablement.

Jesus asked His disciples how many times they had to experience the miracle of supernatural provision in order to see from divine perspective. Jesus was talking about the perception of their legal access to a Kingdom that never ends and does not have limited resources.

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