Mark 16:17-18 says, "And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover." When I first read this verse, I didn't understand how I could be a believer in Jesus Christ
, and yet not see these things in my life. So what could I be missing? As I read more of the bible and learned more about who I was in Christ, who the Holy Spirit is, and what God's purpose for me is, I began to walk out the things written about in the scriptures. At the same time, God was ripping my old life apart and reforming me into the disciple He desired me to be. I struggled with addiction, selfishness, and other worldly characteristics. God had to remove these things from my life before He could help me grow. It took years of pain and suffering before God turned my life around. I didn't accept Christ and then all of sudden have a perfect life. I struggled with addiction as a Christian. The messages people preached about, "Just accept Jesus, and your life will be better." didn't resonate with me because I already WAS a Christian. Through my struggles I realized that the church today has become so seeker-friendly that they have watered down the message to the point where it's not even biblical. So I set out to provide a biblical example of how to live a REAL Christian life in today's world. I'm not perfect, but I am real. I refuse to speak watered down messages about prosperity and peace. The real Christian life is about persecution and being an outcast in society. People are going to hell, and I'm not going to sit around and let them. It is the duty of every Christian to share the good news of Jesus Christ to those around you. If people don't want to kill you, then you aren't outspoken enough about your faith. If you aren't healing people and casting out demons, then you aren't walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. You don't need to know everything in the bible or take some evangelism class to share the gospel and be an example for Christ. You just need the power of the Holy Spirit. When you heal someone on the street, nobody is going to say, "I don't believe that," because they JUST SAW IT! It is the POWER of Jesus that will draw people to him. The disciples in Acts lead thousands of people to the Lord every day because they spoke the words of Jesus, and then backed them up by demonstrating the power of the Holy Spirit by healing people and casting out demons. If you ready to live the real Christian life, then I invite you to join me on this journey. Follow me on Facebook, read my messages, and go live it!
