Everyday Miracles

This excerpt explores how the extraordinary events of the early church—miracles, signs, and Spirit-filled power—were never meant to be a one-time occurrence. They were examples of what can happen when believers walk in faith and obedience today. If you’re hungry for more of God’s power in your life, this excerpt invites you to expect everyday miracles as part of your normal Christian walk.

If ordinary believers began to rediscover the normal, Spirit-filled Christian life, we would see extraordinary things begin to happen in the church today. Miraculous breakthroughs would become commonplace, and millions of lost people would be swept into God’s Kingdom.

Don’t you wish you could go back in time for a few weeks to experience the move of God’s Spirit in the early church? I sure do. But you actually shouldn’t need to go back in time, for the Lord wants to do the same things in your life today.

I can’t help wondering what the church leaders were expecting to happen in the days immediately after the Day of Pentecost. As a result of the spectacular outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the supernatural manifestations, and Peter’s sermon, 3,000 people were saved and brought into the church. Since they only started with 120 people before the Spirit fell, that was a 2,500% increase! How’s that for church growth?

But it’s intriguing to consider whether the apostles in Jerusalem had any idea what would happen next. Did they assume Pentecost was a “one and done” spiritual event, or did they realize it was just the beginning of their normal, miracle-filled life?

Signs at Pentecost

The depiction of the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 is filled with references to supernatural manifestations of God’s Spirit. The chapter starts with a description of “a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind,” and then a flame of fire resting on each believer’s head (vs. 2-3). Then they all “began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (v. 4).

Yet this wasn’t just a private event, confined to the 120 believers gathered for prayer that day. It also touched the large crowd of people gathered from around the world to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. The miracles of “tongues” was not just a personal prayer language that day, for everyone in the crowd “heard them speak in his own language” (v. 6). Realizing that the fledgling group of believers was from Galilee, those in the crowd were “amazed and marveled” as they heard them speak “the wonderful works of God” in their own, various languages (vs. 6-12).

Perhaps surprisingly, Peter’s sermon also contained several prominent references to God’s supernatural work. Before even mentioning the cross and the resurrection, Peter called their attention to the prophecy of Joel about an outpouring of the Holy Spirit:

It shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy (vs. 16-18).

Peter’s references to the supernatural continued as he described Jesus’ earthly ministry:

Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know (v. 22).

Peter could have focused on Jesus’ wonderful teachings or listed all the ways Jesus fulfilled Old Testament prophecies. But instead, he reminded the crowd in Jerusalem about Jesus’ “miracles, wonders, and signs.” And toward the end of his message, Peter explained that the miraculous signs people had seen and heard that day were because the believers had “received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit” (v. 33).

So why does Acts 2 give so much attention to supernatural things like rushing winds, unknown tongues, prophecy, miracles, and other “signs”? One reason is that “Jews demand signs” (1 Corinthians 1:22 NIV). Rather than being swayed by philosophical arguments as the Greeks tended to be, they wanted to see something supernatural – evidence that God is truly a miracle-working God.

Peter had no doubt seen this same phenomenon during the ministry of Jesus: “A great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick” (John 6:2 NIV). Jesus even seemed to give people permission to evaluate His credibility on the basis of the supernatural “works” He accomplished:

If you see me doing the beautiful works of God upon the earth, then you should at least believe the evidence of the miracles, even if you don’t believe my words! Then you would come to experience me and be convinced that I am in the Father and the Father is in me (John 10:38 TPT).

As Acts 2 concludes, we see that miracles continued even beyond the Day of Pentecost: “Many wonders and signs were done through the apostles” (v. 43). And Acts 4:33 comments, “With great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.” Jesus had promised them power to be His witnesses, and that’s exactly what happened.

Are you hungry for more of God’s power in your life – power to be a more effective witness for Jesus and power for your own breakthroughs? He’s already promised that “power from on high” is available, so go ahead and ask Him!

…

Excerpt taken from SuperNatural: God’s Power for Your Breakthrough by David Cerullo

You’re not alone. Let us walk with you into a deeper relationship with God.