Reflections after the Paranormale Beurs in Amstelveen

Reflections after the Paranormale Beurs (Psychic Fair) in Amstelveen
 December 14 & 15, 2014
           
This weekend I had the privilege together with four of my friends to serve between 50-60 guests at the Paranormale Beurs in Amstelveen. At least twenty people who came to our table or listened to one of my talks said they experienced healing in their bodies after we prayed for them. Here are some of the stories:
            Sunday a woman who attended the talk I gave said that her friend told her she had to come listen to me because I had extraordinary energy (power). She was the first person there, so we got to listen to her share her pain and difficulties she has been going through. We prayed for her and were really able to love on her. She experienced warmth going all through her body as we prayed for her. The other people present also experienced warmth go through their bodies and pain disappear as we prayed for them. I really enjoy giving this talk which I title: Demonstrations of the Supernatural Power of Love. The Bible says that God is love, so I enjoy demonstrating his power and love in this fashion.
            One man who had a stand opposite us came and received healing in his left shoulder after receiving prayer. Pain in people’s backs, shoulders, neck and more disappeared as we prayed for people. However, healing is not the only gift we wanted to give this weekend. We want to primarily share God’s love.
            As we sat there on Saturday, one woman came to us who was very upset when she realized we were Christians. She believes in the force of the universe but not in something you can give a personal name like God or Jesus. After she left our table, it was confirmed to me again how important it is to first let people experience the power or presence of God before necessarily telling them it is coming from Jesus. Once people have experienced a healing or heard an accurate word of knowledge about their life, they are much more open to hearing the message of Jesus. Also, what is difficult is that many people have very little knowledge about what the message of Jesus really is. This means that even after people have asked Jesus to come in their heart, they may have little to no knowledge what that means. This is why we always give away the book The Source of Living Water.[1]       
Another interesting point is how surprised people are that Jesus heals and speaks today. Many Christians I have met at the psychic fairs tell me that they have spiritual gifts but that their churches and Christian friends all tell them that it is satanic and God does not do any supernatural works anymore. This is unfortunate. The life of Jesus was all about healing the sick and moving in the supernatural because of his relationship with his Father. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. He still wants to heal people and speak to them today.  Our role as his followers is to teach people how to use spiritual gifts in their lives by connecting to God through Jesus. His Holy Spirit can do wonderful things when we give him that space. 
             Yesterday, I prayed for someone who was sick at their workplace and they told me that a friend of theirs also has healing powers (I assume probably through Reiki).  We as followers of Jesus have the Holy Spirit and should be able to use his gifts regularly. Why are we not using what is ours to use?
            This probably has to do with fear and a lack of knowledge regarding spiritual gifts. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 14:1, “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy.”
            Our first goal is always LOVE. Evangelism, healing, prophecy without love is a waste of time (1 Cor. 13:1-5). That is why my goal in every contact with people is to make God’s very real and tangible. Having established that as our primary goal, then stepping out by faith to pray for someone’s healing or to give them a word or scripture that strengthens, encourages, and comforts them makes using the gifts of the spirit safe (1 Cor. 14:3).
            One of my friends told me how she experienced our time at our table as relaxed and yet full of expectation. Two essential elements of doing what some call “Power Evangelism” is to have a high level of faith mixed with a high level of humility. Jesus was called both a lion and a lamb and so should we be people known for our courage and our humility. Hey, that sounds like a great title for another post I will put on my blog….Courageous Humility: Being like a Lion and a Lamb.

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