Inheritance (Part 1)

An inheritance is something sons and daughters receive when a parent dies. Throughout the New Testament, this language of inheritance is used to describe what has been made available to believers in Jesus because of His death and resurrection. Sometimes it has been taught that this inheritance is something believers get in eternity when we die, but that is only partially true. What is different about this inheritance is that, because Jesus already began to usher in the Kingdom of God and continues to do so through those who belong to Him, much of the inheritance is available to us before we die. It is available now!

Paul starts his letter to the Ephesians trying to explain this to them. He writes, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). In other words, as believers our inheritance in Christ is already in the heavenly realms collecting interest. It is already ours because of Christ.

Some of this inheritance is already being poured out to us. Paul lists some of the pieces of the inheritance that are ours now: “adoption to sonship,” “redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace,” “the mystery of his will ….which he purposed in Christ,” being “included in Christ” (Ephesians 1:5,7,9,13).

All of these things are part of the inheritance, but maybe the best part of the inheritance that we get to experience now is this: “you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession”(Ephesians 1:13-14). The Holy Spirit is a foretaste, a deposit, of the full inheritance that is awaiting us in eternity.

Paul isn’t done listing all the pieces of our inheritance that we get to experience now. So much of the letter to the Ephesians is Paul helping the Christians there understand all that is rightfully theirs as sons and daughters of the King of kings and Lord of lords. If we don’t understand how our inheritance works and its significance in our life right now, we’ll never step into all that is available to us in Christ. We’ve been given so much more than salvation. That certainly would have been enough! But our gracious Father has given us so much more!

And we’ve been given so much more so that we could give it away. Jesus told His disciples, “Freely you have received; freely give”(Matthew 10:8). If we don’t know all that we’ve been given in Christ, we’ll never be able to give it away to the world!

Pacifier

Throughout the centuries, there have been different tactics employed by the enemy to pacify the Church. Usually it is some form of trying to get Christians to want to “fit in” to the religious subculture or the current dominant culture. In Paul’s day, there were those who wanted the Gentile believers to fit in by getting circumcised. He writes, “Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ”(Galatians 6:12).

In this case, to “fit in” meant compliance with the Jewish religious subculture. Paul calls them out for what they are doing. They are trying to avoid being persecuted, mocked, insulted and left out. And this same thing has existed in every generation of the Church.

Today there is a similar pressure to “impress people by means of the flesh.” There are many in the American Church who so badly want to fit in with the rest of culture. They try so hard to prove they are “normal” and not some fanatical Christian. They compromise holiness and soften the gospel until it is barely unrecognizable. All of this is an attempt to “avoid being persecuted” even though persecution in America just means mockery, insults and social condemnation (not beatings, imprisonment and death like in other countries around the world).

There is a lie that is all too easy to believe. It is the lie that we can make the gospel more respectable. It is the lie that we can make the Christian life easier to accept. But if the last century of American church history has shown us anything it is that, if this tactic does “win people to Christ,” it too often creates Christians who look like, act like, think like and live like the rest of the world. Instead of being the called out ones we’ve become the blended in ones.

Too scared to pray for people in public, too scared to share the gospel, too scared to stand firm on morality, too scared of what others think about us, too scared to believe in the miraculous power of God, too scared to allow the Holy Spirit to move in a way that might seem “weird,” too scared to take risks, the American church has been thoroughly pacified.

We need a new generation of Christians who aren’t full of fear, who aren’t trying to impress unbelievers with how “normal” they are, who aren’t afraid of being persecuted for the cross of Christ.

Sowing & Reaping

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. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. ¹Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
Galatians 6:7-10

If we read this wrong it can sound like it is opposed to grace and forgiveness. This is because we read this outside of the context of an agrarian society. Everyone listening to these words in the first century understood farming and just how long it took plants to grow. The time between sowing and reaping was many months.

So we need to not have a “slot machine” mindset when reading this truth about sowing and reaping. It’s not true that you immediately get back what you give out. That’s slot machine mentality. Farming is a gradual, continual process. Paul is saying what you pour yourself into is what you’ll become.

In our culture we might better understand investment language. If you spend your life using your retirement to gamble in Vegas, don’t be surprised when you get to the end of your life broke. If you make good investments, you’ll reap a good reward. And your own pleasure and comfort is not a good investment.

If we live life to please ourselves, we’ll find our lives broken at every turn. If we live life to please the Holy Spirit, over time, “if we do not give up,” we’ll step back and discover a life that is more full than we could ever have imagined.

So were does grace, mercy and forgiveness come in?

Think about farming. Forgiveness is all those moments between planting and harvesting where weeds are recognized and pulled up. Mercy is when a farmer puts a wire fence around the veggies so that the plants are protected from the opportunistic animals. Grace is the sunshine in the morning and the rain in season. Grace is the dark rich soil loaded with nutrients. Farming isn’t about planting the perfect seed and then doing nothing until harvest. Farming is an ongoing process of cultivation, just like discipleship and sanctification.

But make no mistake, what we originally plant makes all the difference in the world. If we find we’ve planted something of the flesh in one part of our life, we can always turn the soil over and plant something new. It’s never too late to plant seeds of the Spirit no matter how late in the season it is. No matter how much damage has been caused by the locusts we’ve allowed in our lives, Jesus can restore the land. The Lord says:

Be glad, people of Zion,
    rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given you the autumn rains
    because he is faithful.
He sends you abundant showers,
    both autumn and spring rains, as before.
The threshing floors will be filled with grain;
    the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
I will repay you (make up) for the years the locusts have eaten…
Joel 2:23-25

By the Spirit

Paul spends all of Galatians 5 talking about the difference between trying to be justified by the Law and being justified by faith in Jesus. He tries to get them to realize that “in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love”(Galatians 5:6).

But if they aren’t following the Law, how to they avoid a life full of sin?

Paul’s answer is the Holy Spirit dwelling within them. “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law”(Galatians 5:16-18). He concludes with, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit”(Galatians 5:25).

And Paul tries to paint a picture of the difference between walking/living by the Spirit (keeping in step with the Spirit) and living by the flesh. He believes the difference between what the flesh does and what the Spirit does in our life is so drastically different that they cannot be confused.

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:19-21

Paul just spent the chapter condemning works-righteousness. Is Paul really saying that if you do these things you won’t go to heaven? I think many people have that view who think the Kingdom of God is only something that we will experience in eternity. But Jesus brought the Kingdom of God into our here and now. And He commissioned the Church to continue His mission of bringing the Kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven.”

So what is Paul warning us about when it says that “those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God?”

Paul is not saying if you do these things you are disqualified from heaven. Instead, he is reminding us that by being justified by faith in Jesus and through living by the Spirit we begin to experience our Kingdom inheritance right now. However, if we continue to live by the flesh, we will not experience that inheritance.

Another way of saying it is that by keeping in step with the Spirit we inherit the stuff of the Kingdom of God, the fruit of the Spirit, “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness and self-control”(Galatians 5:22-23). But when we live by the flesh, instead of inheriting the Kingdom of God, we inherit the kingdom of darkness and all the pain, suffering, and torment that accompany it.

Paul was inviting them to make a choice as to what their inheritance would be in this life and which kingdom their life would reflect to the world. This wasn’t about choosing eternal life in heaven; this was about choosing eternal life right now. Their true identity is a people who have been rescued from the kingdom of darkness and who now are empowered to live as people of the Kingdom of God.

The way Paul wrote it to the Colossians was like this:
“…giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins”(Colossians 1:12-14).

Freedom

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).

Notice that we were set free by Christ, we were saved and redeemed, for the purpose of walking in freedom. But also noticed that just because Christ has set us free, it doesn’t mean we automatically walk in freedom. There are things we can walk into that trap and enslave us even in our Christian life.

One thing that keeps us from walking out the freedom that was purchased for us on the cross is what Paul calls, “trying to be justified by the law”(Galatians 5:4). When we try to employ religious practices to earn our righteousness from God, whether they are practices from Judaism, Christianity or false religions, Paul says we, “have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace” (Galatians 5:4).

Paul mentions another thing that can keep us from walking in the freedom offered to us by Christ. He writes, “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love”(Galatians 5:13). Like ditches on both sides of the road, we should be careful not to fall into religious performance, a version of Pharisaical legalism, nor sinful indulgence, a version of licentiousness and antinomianism. Both are forms of enslavement.

These mindsets and behaviors give away our freedom. They open the door for demoni spirits to enter our lives, set up strongholds, and torment us.

But can Christians have demons?

First, we have to get rid of the idea that being demonized means being “possessed” like the man who lived in the tombs of the Gerasenes from Mark 5:1-20. The word “possession” is not even in the New Testament. The Greek word for when a person is influenced, occupied or tormented by a demon, properly translated, is demonized. And it is clear that demonization happens on a spectrum of severity from harassment to attachment to strongholds to oppression and possession. Demons gain varying levels of influence in various parts of a person’s life.

Christians cannot be possessed because they have been bought at a price and are now owned by Jesus (1 Corinthians 6:20). But they can demonized! They can be heavily oppressed by the demonic. They can have various levels of demonic strongholds and attachments in their life. It is said, “A demon can’t have a Christian but a Christian can have many demons.” I know this because I have firsthand experience casting demons out of many Christians.

In fact, the ministry of deliverance (casting out demons) is specifically for those who have the Holy Spirit which can “re-occupy” the part of them that was once occupied by a demon. Jesus himself warned that the Spirit is needed to fill “the house” or the condition of the person will be worse when that demon who was cast out comes back with friends:

When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.
Matthew 12:43-45

The freedom that was purchased for us on the cross must be walked out; it must be lived. Just as the Hebrew people had to do more than sacrifice an unblemished lamb on that first Passover night but had to apply the blood to their doorpost, we must apply the blood of Jesus to our lives (Exodus 12:7, 13). We can’t earn our freedom. Jesus won our freedom for us. But we must obediently walk in the freedom that He’s given us so that we don’t fall into the enemy’s snares, traps and enslavements. Paul says it this way, “walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16).

Elemental Spiritual Forces

Paul is trying to explain to the Galatians why they no longer need to be enslaved to the Law. He uses the analogy of a young child who needs guardians to watch him until he is old enough. He writes, “as long as he is a minor, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything” (Galatians 4:1 NET).

Then Paul delivers the good news: “So also we, when we were minors, were enslaved under the basic forces of the world. But when the appropriate time had come, God sent out his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we may be adopted as sons with full rights” (Galatians 4:3-5 NET).

That phrase “basic forces” of the world is sometimes translated “basic principles” or “elemental spiritual forces” of the world. In the Greek it is simply the word stoicheion (pronounced stoy-kee-on). The reason the English translators have a hard time with his word is because is has layers of meaning, especially in the polytheistic culture of the Roman world.

Stoicheion means: a single letter of the alphabet, an element, a first principle. So it can be used to reference an elementary principle of faith (like the Law) or an elemental building block of nature (like wind, fire, water, earth, stars, etc). We might use this word today to describe the elements on the periodic table or the Bill of Rights. And one can see how, in a polytheistic culture where things like earth, wind, fire, trees, stars, lunar and solar seasons all had spirits associated with them that were worshiped, this word stoicheion would have layers of meaning.

This is why Paul said to the Galatians: “Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces (stoicheion)? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!” (Galatians 4:8-10)

To the Jewish Christians, Paul was saying, “Now that you’ve been adopted into the family of God through faith in Jesus Christ, and now that you’ve been given the Holy Spirit, for you to think that the observance of Jewish holy days will make you righteous is tantamount to astrology and the pagan worship of seasons.”

He was trying to help them see that the stoicheion of Judaism was similar to the stoicheion of the pagan Roman world. Both religious practices lead to slavery. Trying to be justified by the Law is enslavement to the demonic religious spirit just as trying to be justified by pagan religious practice is enslavement to demonic spirits behind the pantheon of gods. (“…the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God.”- 1 Corinthians 10:20)

Rather than return to elemental principles of the world, which amount to worshiping the elemental demonic spiritual forces, Paul reminds them of who they really are in Christ. He writes, “Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir” (Galatians 4:6-7).

Unity, not Uniformity

“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:28-29).

This is one of the most powerful passages about unity in the whole Bible. Paul was saying that, when we belong to Christ, ethnicity can’t separate us, socio-economic status can’t separate us, and even the battle of the sexes can’t separate us. We become one in Christ as heirs of the Kingdom of God according to the promise that comes only through Jesus. What a powerful truth!

Yet, a truth this powerful and potent will always try to be skewed and manipulated by the enemy. Some have tried to use this passage to affirm their damaging beliefs about gender fluidity, non-binary gender identities, and homosexuality. “After all,” they argue, “this passage says ‘nor is there male and female.'”

The problem with this line of thinking is that it is trying to use this passage to support uniformity. But God’s message to us here was not about uniformity but about unity. Unity is when oneness comes from things that are different. Uniformity is when oneness comes from things that are the same. The brilliance of the gospel is that, in Christ, oneness can come out of two things that are very different from each other.

Paul’s point here is not that Jews and Gentiles are basically the same, so therefore they can be one in Christ. His point was exactly the opposite. His point about the radical nature of the gospel is that it can bring together Jews and Gentiles who couldn’t be more different from each other.

This also applies to those who were slaves and those who were free. Who would dare argue that their condition was “basically the same.” Absolutely not! Their socio-economic situation was radically different from each other. Yet, the One who doesn’t show favoritism (Romans 2:11) is the One who can even bring together slave and free. The oneness and bond of being in Christ is greater than the separation of their socio-economic reality.

Now we can see clearly how this applies to “male and female.” The point here is definitely not that men and women are basically the same; it’s the opposite. The point here is that though men and women are dramatically different in a variety of ways, Christ can even bridge that gap. Christ can bring oneness where there was only separation and animosity. Jesus can bring unity to two factions that are entirely unique and different from each other.

No, Jesus is not promoting non-normative and non-binary gender fluidity. And He’s also not promoting the uniformity of two people of the same sex trying to be joined together romantically. Christ offers something much more powerful and more radical than uniformity. In Christ, unity is possible, which is the bringing together of two things very different from each other. This is the power of the gospel!

A Gospel of Prepositions

The gospel is all about prepositions not just propositions. Notice how Paul says it in Galatians 3:26-27, “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

Not only is Christ in us through the Holy Spirit, but we are in Christ through faith. As followers of Jesus we were baptized into Christ and invited to be baptized in or with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5). This is the command not only to receive the Spirit (John 20:22) but also to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).

So not only does He reside on the inside making us Temples of the Holy Spirit, but we are also clothed with Christ on the outside. We no longer wear the blemished rags of our past sin but wear white robes of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10) and celebratory garments of praise (Isaiah 61:3).

So are we in Christ or is He in us? Yes! Is the Holy Spirit in us or are we in the Spirit? Yes! Jesus said, “Remain in me, as I also remain in you” (John 15:4). And in Jesus’s prayer for all future disciples, He takes it a step further and reveals how believers have now been brought into the divine Godhead:
“Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity” (John 17:21-23).

Paul expands on this idea in his letter to the Christians in Ephesus:
“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus…”(Ephesians 2:4-6). We were dead in sin but are now alive with Christ. So the way God sees us is seated with Christ even as Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. Not only is Christ in us, and we are in Him; not only are we clothed with Christ, but we are also seated with Him in the heavenly realms. So we don’t just look forward to moving from earth to heaven, but we live, right now, from heaven to earth.

Blessings and Curses

Paul reminds the Galatians that Jesus became a curse for us so that blessing might flow to us. He wrote, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.'[Deuteronomy 21:23] He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit”(Galatians 3:13).

I used to not understand that blessings and curses are real things. I would read the Old Testament passages that seemed to indicate that the blessing of a patriarch would help shape the future of the child who received it (Genesis 27). I would read about how a prophet was hired to put a curse on Israel (Numbers 22). Yet, I just thought words simply encouraged or discouraged. I didn’t think they had any real effect in this world. But I was wrong!

Scripture tries to warn us again and again that our words impact things in the spirit realm and in the natural world. Proverbs 18:21 says, “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

James 3:8-10 says, “…no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.”

So how do blessings and curses work?

Some curses are intentional but most are unintentional. An intentional curse is an evil appeal for harm to come to someone, especially in voodoo, witchcraft/Wicca and occult practices, and it is usually spoken aloud. An unintentional curse usually comes in the form of harsh and condemning words spoken about a person or words of hopelessness and despair spoken over a person’s life (usually from someone in authority over them like a parent, coach, doctor or teacher).

An unintentional curse could be a father, in a moment of anger, saying to his child, “You’ll never amount to anything!” Those words sink in and are believed. Later that child struggles to be successful and wonders why. Or it could be a doctor saying, “You’ll never have children,” or “You’ll never recover.” These words kill hope and help to bring about what they proclaimed.

The key to these harsh or hopeless words becoming curses is how they are received. If these words are accepted by the person, and there is an agreement made in their hearts, these words then give the demonic world access to the person’s life to bring about that word of cursing. They become self-fulfilling prophecies because the enemy takes advantage of them as access points.

Harsh and hopeless words are like an email sent with an attachment that has malware or a virus. The email may contain harsh words, but the real damage comes when there is an agreement with those words in the person receiving them. It’s like clicking on the attachment that allows a virus on your computer. But if the attachment is never opened, no matter how many emails are sent, the person will not be harmed. This is why we must be vigilant about the words that come against us. We must reject any word the enemy may try to use against us.

The best news of all is that Jesus became a curse for us! He took all of that cursing upon Himself so that we don’t have to deal with it. In the place of cursing, Jesus offers us blessing. He offers us His words over our lives that bring His blessing. And just as curses can have real effect in our lives if we agree with them, blessings can have even more effect if we agree with them.

So not only do we need to speak words of blessing over the people around us, allowing the Holy Spirit to ignite those powerful words in that person’s life, but we also need to stand in agreement with the words that Jesus says about us. Standing in agreement with the words of Christ over our life will help us immediately detect and reject any unintentional words of cursing that may come our way.

If you feel that you’ve agreed with too many harsh or hopeless words that have come your way, make the declaration below to break those curses off of your life in Jesus’s name. Just be sure to say it out loud when you take your stand!

“In the name of Jesus, I break every curse of words against me. I take every word captive that’s been spoken over me, that I spoke over myself. I break the power of those curses from hell. I cancel every assignment of darkness. I cast them to the ground. I call a blessing to follow me in their place. I take back every curse that I’ve spoken against another. I cast those words down to the ground and I return a blessing on those with whom I have cursed. Jesus took my cursing so I could live in blessing!”
From Rodney Hogue’s teaching in Empowered

Believing

” You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?”(Galatians 3:1)

The word “bewitched” here means “to cast an evil spell” on someone, to use words to put someone under a spell causing them to no longer think clearly. There had been false teachers who infiltrated the church in Galatia and began to teach them that in order to be a true follower of Christ they had to follow certain parts of the Law, including circumcision. The apostle Paul sets about to dismantle this false teaching.

He asks them, “Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?”(Galatians 3:2-3)

Isn’t this what we do so often? We start our Christian life knowing “it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast”(Ephesians 2:8-9). But no sooner do we take our first steps by faith does the temptation come to earn God’s love and prove our worth through religious activity.

Paul asks another question of the Galatians, “So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?”(Galatians 3:5)

This is interesting on so many levels. It is clear from this that the church in Galatia was experiencing the Holy Spirit do miracles through them. By this time in the early church, miracles had gone beyond the first apostles (Acts 5:12), beyond the first deacons (Acts 8:6-7), and even beyond Paul’s ministry (Acts 14:9-10). Miracles were now happening through men and women believers who had no title or position whatsoever. This is evidence of the fulfillment of Mark 16:17-18:

And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues…they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

So there are two qualifications for a miracle to happen through you: 1) Do you have the Holy Spirit by faith in Jesus Christ? and 2) Do you believe? In other words, are you a believing believer or a believer who is filled with unbelief? Strict adherence to the Law is not one of the qualifications. Having some elevated title or position in the church is not one of the qualifications. God is simply looking for surrendered sons and daughters who actually believe Him.

This is still God’s desire for the church today. God wants to give us His Spirit and work miracles among us because we are a church full of people who live by faith. He’s looking for a group of people who actually believe. And if we totally surrender ourselves to Him in faith, we will discover that these signs will accompany us: In Jesus’s name we will drive out demons, speak in new tongues, place our hands on sick people to pray for them and watch as they get well.