Great Big Life: Living a ‘super’-natural life

Living a ‘super’-natural life

I believe that all Christians are called to live ‘super’-natural lives. By that, I mean normal everyday lives that have the touch of God and the power of His spirit upon them.

In this article I want to dare to look at the subject of the ‘gifts of the Spirit’ and their operation in the church from a different perspective to the usual, and in doing so I believe I will release into your life a new expectancy for ‘God things’ to happen in your day-to-day life.

Miracles in blue jeans

We are living in a day when God desires to pour out again, from heaven, supernatural things upon our cities: healings from terminal illnesses, even raising people from the dead. I also passionately believe that God will do this awesome stuff through us in a unique way that our generation can understand.

When we read the Bible we see God doing impossible things in many different ways, ways that were custom-designed by Him to minister to the generation at hand. God doesn’t change but the ways in which He ministers do. When we try to box Him into ways and methods we often lose Him in the process because God lives outside our restrictions. When you read the gospels you see Jesus minister to one man in one way – for example by laying hands upon his eyes – then, for another man, He spits on the ground and makes mud and puts it on the man’s eyes. Whilst He was unlimited in the way He released heaven, He was always relevant and effective for the person that He was ministering to.

In the same way, we need to grasp the fact that God ministers in different ways to different generations according to what they are able to understand. In Old Testament times He ministered in ways that were different to those He used in the New and, through the ministry of the disciples, He ministered differently again.

God does not always do things the same way. We don’t always need to build altars and call down fire in order to see God move. We don’t always need to have an old-time tent crusade to see God move; we don’t even need a choir, like they had in the good old days. All we really need is a hunger again to see God touch normal people’s lives in our generation, through the church that we are today.

Relevance is a major key

God is a relevant God: He understands the language and ways of every generation and society.

When we read about how Jesus came to Earth and walked among us, we see how He was relevant to His time. He did not stick out like an Old Testament prophet. He was accepted by the normal people of His generation and ministered to them in a way that was relevant to where they were at.

Their daily lives – our daily lives

Here is a picture that I believe God gave to His church concerning the kind of lives that we should live today:

“Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God.” Acts 3:1-8

This snapshot of the disciples (followers of Jesus) is taken shortly after Jesus had died and risen from the dead, had appeared to over 500 people, and had personally empowered, commissioned and sent the church into the world to make a difference. I see myself and the churches we lead as a part of that same church that was commissioned and sent, not as a different one that developed later.

A couple of things to note from this account:

They were on their way somewhere: they were ‘doing daily life’, going off to the temple to meet and pray with the team
They stumbled over someone outside the church who was in need. They stopped and spent time meeting that need through the power of God
They did not focus on what they did not have but what they knew they were in possession of
A natural day turned into a supernatural day without a tent, a choir, or an altar with slain beasts sacrificed upon it.

We need to grasp this message because it is relevant to how God wants us to minister today. They were walking around in normal clothes doing normal things and bumped into a need and met it in Jesus’ name: they were not in a meeting. I call this ministering style ‘miracles in blue jeans’. They did not have to dress up, change the way they spoke, create a mystical atmosphere with high-pitched singing. They just walked through life ready for God to use them. I want to be like that.

Fresh thinking on the gifts of the Spirit

I am sure every Pastor has heard this question asked at some time: “Where are the gifts of the Spirit in the Church today?”

This is an interesting question and one that I feel we can answer in a realistic way. It is rooted in a perspective that says that the demonstration of the gifts of the Spirit is seen, or belongs to, when we come together once a week for a corporate meeting. It implies that the gifts are to be demonstrated through the one or two people who lead the church or meeting from the platform.

I want to challenge that and respond by saying: yes, we should see God’s spirit move in our meetings in different ways but that is not the full picture as regards the operation of the gifts of the Spirit.

A correct answer to the question of where the gifts of the Spirit today should be, is ‘where they always belonged’, that is, in the daily lives of each and every believer and follower of Jesus. When you study the gifts of the Spirit you see that they are designed for daily life not just a weekly meeting.

The Holy Ghost toolbox

I believe that God gives every believer this box of tools for life – the gifts of the Spirit – and they are there for us to use daily. When you read about Jesus walking the Earth in the power of the Spirit, you see Him regularly reach into a spiritual toolbox and pull out a tool (gift) to minister to a person’s life or a situation.

My grasp on this is that after He rose from the dead He gave that toolbox to the church so that she could be effective as He was. By ‘church’ I do not mean a couple of people who are leading it or a couple of guest speakers visiting it or a couple of people dressed up in certain outfits, but rather the whole body of church, every person.

“There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.” (1 Corinthians 12: 4-11)

LIFE TOOLS Let’s look at some examples of where the gifts (tools) of the Spirit can be effective in everyday life for everyday people:

Word of wisdom

Your boss at work has a choice to make that will make or ruin the company. You reach into your toolbox and hear from God the way your boss needs to go and why. You tell your boss and he’s amazed at your wisdom and applies it – God saves the day!

Word of knowledge

A friend of yours is about to marry someone and they don’t know everything they should about them. God reveals to you something hidden that no-one could know. Your friend checks it out. It’s true and the marriage is delayed while the matter is worked on – God saves the day!

Faith

You’re heading up your church department and need to make a major change. It seems crazy, too big, more than you have ever done. You’re scared. You pray about it and suddenly a divine conviction floods your soul that ‘you are well able’ – God saves the day!

Gifts of healings

You visit a friend at their home and their kid is sick. The parent is worried. You pray for them. The child gets better. The person is amazed and gives their life to God – God saves the day!

Working of miracles

You’re at work and an industrial accident happens and someone is trapped and it looks impossible for the person. You get to praying and suddenly a way is made to set them free and they stand up uninjured – God saves the day!

Prophecy

You are about to buy a bigger house and, as you pray, you feel it’s best not to go ahead because the housing market is going to experience a change for the worse. You stay put and it happens exactly as you thought – God saves the day!

Discerning of spirits

You’re working with the kids in the church and a man comes and asks to be on your team. He has an up-to-date police check but there is a warning bell inside of you. You go with it and later discover that he was not fit to work with kids; in fact, he was dangerous – God saves the day!

Tongues and interpretation of tongues

In different situations involving you and others where you don’t know what to say or what to pray, you use your heavenly language to pray the prayer that’s needed and even hear God’s response back to you.

We don’t want to be a church that only uses the gifts of heaven on a Sunday or through a couple of key people. We want to see every person in the church equipped to walk a ‘super’-natural life wherever their day takes them – not in some weird, spooky way but in a way where a supernatural God flows through a normal life.

Letting God out of the Church

If we will dare to release and develop this reality in our lives, it will mean that, more than ever, we will see God touch the lives of people each and every day outside of the four walls of church as we know it. We will let Jesus loose again in our streets as we let Him live and minister through our everyday lives.

Go for it! Live big! Learn how to use the tools in the toolbox that heaven has given to you. Be ‘super’-naturally you!