Acts Book II (Part 1)

Miracles are Instant, Healing Takes Time

by Nita LaFond Johnson

 

LUKE 10:19

Behold! I have given you authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions, and [physical and mental strength and ability] over all the power that the enemy [possesses]; and nothing shall in any way harm you.

The old is coming to a close and we are about to embark upon a new day. The enemy wants to come and crush you under foot before God prevails. Yet, God is not going to let him because it is in this our day that He is saying, “Let My people go! Free them from the bondage of sickness, sexual addictions, the love of money, the love of sin and the world that they may serve the living God! My people are to walk in high places and holy before the Son of God” It is the Spirit of holiness that will arise in you. The Spirit of the overcomer will overtake you so that your heart will be filled with faith, desire, and passion. It has been too long that the enemy has trodden the Church underfoot and God is saying, “Behold! I am going to do a new thing.”

If you have never known what it feels like to have the enemy under your foot, to have your mind, your heart and soul filled with faith, a faith so great that you know you can conquer all things in Christ, this may be difficult for you to fathom. My friend, it is not a faint glimmer, but a fire, that God wants to put within you. Your past does not matter; all that matters is Christ. This is where the Church has missed her mark. We keep focusing on things that are entirely immaterial. We think that if we can convince the Church that it can live in worldly wealth and rub elbows with the Joneses then the Church will be happy; but that will not make the Church happy. The only things that are going to make the Church happy are found in Christ. It is a new thing; it will not look the same as ever before, and those who dip in this river that is soon coming from the throne will come out looking as they never have before.

The world wants to stomp you down by constantly telling you that you are not worthy and that you do not have a right, and you are not of value, but that is not the final word. The final word is truth, and the truth is that you belong to God. The world says you are peculiar; well, if it says you are peculiar then there is hope that you are going in the right direction. If the world loves you too much, I am telling you the truth, you are going in the wrong direction.

Truth is what will transform you in this hour, but you must comply with it. God will give you victory over your soul and the things that you had thought would always have victory over you if you will only comply with His truth. God is going to give you victory over your mind. He is going to re-wire your brain so that your thinking is normal according to Kingdom standards. You might protest, “But my thinking is already normal!” Well, maybe that is true for yourself, but not for God. He is going to re-wire your brain so you start thinking normal according to God‘s point of view. He will help you fill your mind with the Spirit of truth, because when you are filled with the Spirit of truth, Satan cannot rule you. When you are down, you are up; and when you are up, you are up because truth rules. You never lose hope; hope rules and dominates you. Hope compels and propels you, keeping you lifted above the storm because your brain is filled with truth and your soul with the Spirit of Truth.

The day is near that God will begin to break the shackles of Pharaoh off the Church. These shackles are keeping the Church bound; the Church does not see the Lord clearly. He wants us to see Him for what He really is, not the way that the principalities and powers of the earth want you to think He is. You have to truly know who He is in order to know what you are to be; this is essential for the Church to understand.  How do you know what the Bride is supposed to be when you do not know what the Groom looks like? It is a new day, a new way, and in this day you must be free from Pharaoh and the slavery of the things of the world. It is the only way you can rule and reign in this life. I am feeling a power surging up within my being, the force of God moving through the soul, compelling feats of grandeur, faith and victory the like of which you cannot even conceive without His Spirit. There is a darkness that hovers between you and the Light and you think this is normal life. My dear brothers and sisters, it is not the “normal” that God wants for His people!

I can remember one time I was up in the pulpit and I had a tremendous experience in God. As I was reading the Bible, I began to experience what I was reading. And then, He dropped something into the middle of this experience: I found myself standing in front of this huge eternal mountain – it was a mountain of Truth. This mountain spanned eternity. It was complete truth with no deception in it; it was truth because it was God. As I was viewing this mountain, I noticed that right at its base stood the nations of the world. Billions of people were standing at the foot of the mountain and the whole of them had the appearance of a little ant colony standing before this great eternal mountain of truth. These little ants were warring against Truth. I stood there watching and wondered how those little ants could really believe they could have victory over that mountain. It seemed the stupidest thing I had seen in my life, but they kept warring against it as if they really thought they were going to win! I stood in awe.

In like manner, the peoples of the earth war against Truth. The principalities and powers of the air war against Truth as well. All around there is darkness warring against Truth. Wherever God wants to shed light of Truth, there is darkness warring against it. Falsehood and deception wars against truth, but all of this opposition put together was like those tiny ants in front of a great eternal mountain of Truth. Truth cannot be moved, affected or changed; nothing can touch it. The mountain simply stands there and watches the ants; it does not even bother to try to fight back because it has already won. That is Truth. And why is this significant for you, the Church? Because, the Church has stopped believing and that darkness now stands between you and the real Truth; it clouds your mind and understanding; it inhibits your heart from being able to comprehend the Glory.

I came to the Lord back in 1979, during the Great Charismatic Renewal where holiness was never taught from the pulpit. All you ever heard was people preaching that you are the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ. But after I got saved I immediately became so hungry for holiness and to know God”s holiness that it became an insatiable desire. It was like a living fire inside of me, determining everything I did. I did not know what name to put to it; I just knew that when I heard the watered down Gospel – that you can live for the world and still have all things in God – this did not resonate with me and something inside of me ached for what I wasn’t hearing. Even as a baby Christian, I knew there was something more and I wanted to experience it.

Would you do anything to experience the depths of Christ? Have you ever wanted to experience what it was like for the priests of the old Covenant to go behind the veil to behold the Glory? Would you give anything to see the glory of God for yourself? To behold, with your own eyes, the glory of God is the most wonderful and superb experience in human existence. To be arrested by the glory and to have something happen in your heart that causes you to want God more than you want to breathe is unimaginable. I am not speaking here of religion, although there is nothing wrong with religion as long as it is the right one, but what would you give to behold God face to face? To stand before Hs glory and have your heart gripped with the fire of God would forever change your life. Have you ever experienced that?

I have shared this experience many times from the pulpit because in thirty years it is still one of the most profound experiences I have ever had. In the first few months of my salvation, every time I opened the Bible I would see words that spoke, “God is holy”. Words that spoke of His glory and words that talked about sin, and it seemed that sin was the antithesis of holiness. I did not fully understand what that holiness meant as I was very young in the Lord. One day I was walking around my living room and as I walked I was singing a simple, yet profound song, “Holy is the Lord.” Slowly, His holiness began to fill the room. The magnitude of His holiness increased exponentially until I was unable to sing because His presence was so powerful. I wanted to sing, but I was incapable of it. So I thought I would worship from my heart instead of my mouth and I continued singing the song from my heart. I was walking around like this until suddenly the Lord Jesus Christ came in. At first, a cloud appeared between us as He stood before me. In an instant, I was on my face, not remembering how or when I got there. All I knew was that He came so fully adorned in His holiness that the terror of the Lord swept through me and down I went. I lay in front of Him shaking, you might say, like a fish out of water – so hard, in fact, that you could hear me shake. I wanted Him to talk to me as much as I wanted to talk to Him. But here He was in the effulgence of His holiness and there I was in terror. I realized that my being is so full of sin and He is so holy. It was not as though I was in touch with any particular sin such as lying or cheating. I just suddenly became so aware that I was brought forth in iniquity and that He is holy; so holy that I was terrified.

I needed to speak with Him, but I felt that if I opened my mouth I would die. So through my heart I said to Him, “Lord, I want to talk to you, but I fear that if I say even one word to You, I will surely die! I want You to speak to me, but I fear if You say one word to me, I will die!” It was the holiness of God meeting the sinfulness of man.

In that hour, the Gospel message ministered across the body was along the lines of, “those who are saved receive the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ and lose sin consciousness.” I would like to tell you, my friends, anyone who teaches that has never been before the presence of our holy God. When you stand before Him, everything changes. All the watered down doctrines of the Church fall away. I was trembling before the holiness of God because I am a created being. I thank God that His blood covered me or I would not be alive today. I was prostrate before the One who holds the universe together because I could feel that kind of power emanating from Him. He caused me to understand that He was able to create all things and hold all things together by the word of His power because He is holy. He helped me understand that He held me together because He was holy. If He was not holy, nothing could survive. He was so glorious, I wanted to stay there forever but at the same time I wanted Him to leave because I was terrified. He told me that He had come to teach me the fear of God.

Twenty five years ago or so I would share this from the pulpit and pastors who are good men and who love the Church would get up and tell the congregation that everything I said was untrue, because they did not understand the holiness of God. I never got upset because I knew they did not understand His holiness and that learning the fear of God is the beginning of the revelation of God. Until you have the fear of God, in that measure you cannot have the greater revelation of God.  He wants to give His Church the revelation of Himself today. He wants us to quit with the charismatic stuff and begin to experience God, to find Him and know Him. His desire is for us to be one with Him and walk in the power, glory and majesty of God. He wants to show off His Bride and all of her beauty, clothed with His glory. This begins with the fear of God. It is the fear of God that makes you afraid to do what the world does; it is the fear of God that makes you afraid to do what so much of the Church does.

When you walk in the fear of God, you cannot do things that the Bible says not to do very lightly. When you have the fear of God, you must be purified and cleansed. Something inside of you compels it, forces you to press through all of the human obstacles to be pure before God – you do not want to offend Him. If He says: “Thou shall not lie,” then you do not want to lie! When He says: “Love you neighbor as yourself,” you want to love your neighbor as yourself. When He says: “Do not covet,” you do not covet. When you have the fear of God, love fills your heart; love for Him, His ways and kingdom. Nothing is too great a sacrifice to change and be transformed into the glory of God. This is an hour for the glory of God to come forth in His Church. We must be transformed and transfixed by His glory. We can no longer walk the old way and we must return to the highway of holiness until we magnify Him in our being with hearts filled with faith.

Why do you think we lack in faith? It is because there is too much of the world in our hearts and not enough of the glory of God. When the glory of God begins to fill your heart, faith begins to grow. God wants to clothe you in His glory and show you off to the world as His Bride. A Bride without spot or wrinkle and filled with faith, glory, and the beauty of heaven and majesty walking in overcoming power. We must become as He is. The Bible tells us this and God Himself spoke it, but there must come a moment when His words actually come to pass.

The Bible says, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels…” Do you have His treasure in you? If you do, something inside of you aches to be free in God. You do not ache for more money or the latest recipes; you do not ache for the latest computer or the newest model of car. Listen to my heart; listen to His heart—you are aching for God, to know and be free in Him and to be made into the image of the Son because you know that is what pleases your Father. You ache for Him to reveal the glory of the Son through you to a lost and dying world because that is what having Him inside your heart does. If you do not long for this or are not living by that passion, there is something wrong in your walk.

What will you do when the glory approaches New Orleans? If the aching is not there for the passion and the glory, what will you do when it comes to this city? If you are aching for it when the river is released upon this city, you will be first to enter the river. When He is standing by the bank of the river and sees you wanting to jump in, He will say, “I’ll let you, but you cannot take the things you are now carrying with you.” You say, “That’s okay, Lord, take it!” You will start to jump in again and He will stop you, “I want you to come into the river, but you have to let go of that, as well.” You will reply, “Yes, Lord, anything, this river looks so refreshing and wonderful and I’m feeling so dry and parched that I do not want to stand on the side of the river anymore.” You will start to jump in again because you want to dip in the glory and He will say, “I want you to jump into the river with all my heart, but you have to let go of this, also.” “Okay, Lord,” you say: “You can have it; I do not want to hold onto these sins anymore. I want to come into the river.”  He will reply, “And I want you to so badly, but there’s one more thing and it will be the hardest for you to let go of: self." This is a mystery, but the minute you say "yes", you will understand.

To enter into the river, you must let go of self; it is the greatest exchange. When you let go of self and He will push you into the water—it feels so wonderful to your flesh and soul. It is so cleansing to your spirit that you just want to dip, swim, shout, and rejoice in the river as you flip flop in every direction because you want the full benefit of the river. Suddenly, you look around and see in every direction the Glory and you realize that you are being transformed and your heart is being lifted by His Glory and you behold His face. What you thought you could never have is suddenly yours; no one can teach you how to overcome like the teacher Himself.

What will it take to turn New Orleans around from the angry, fearful city that it is, steeped in its love for sin? It will take Jesus through a Church that will let him have control; it is going to take a Church that will bring down the boundaries. We are going to have to quit making excuses for why we cannot love each other and begin to forgive and move on to seek the Glory of the Son alone. The agendas will be lost in the river. You cannot win victories with your agenda, but you can win them when you are filled with the power and majesty of God. You can move mountains no human being can move when your heart is filled with the glory and majesty of God.

When we came here a year ago, I was amazed that every place we went was filled with such fear; you could see it in the eyes of the people. I could not understand why there was so much fear in the city. How do you overcome all the problems that have come up in this city when they are so deeply rooted in fear? It takes love and faith—the only two things that can win. What dilutes your faith? A love for the world. When you let that go, your faith will begin to grow and soar and you will see victories you have never seen before. This is the hour and the day; this is it. God is getting ready to pour out a deluge upon this city. He is going to have a people marshalled under the Glory that is going to reach out to their brothers and sisters and all the boundaries will be absorbed by His Glory. Love and faith will pave the way; we are going to walk shoulder to shoulder in the only thing that can transform this city: faith. When God is finished transforming the city, the world is going to look and ask what happened to New Orleans—it will be so beautiful in their eyes that they are going to want it, too. I tell you the truth; I have seen it with my own eyes.

God is going to bring forth men and women, young and old to transform cities all around the world. It will not be like it has ever been before. I can remember in our Gathering up in Washington D.C. a few years ago, I had my dear sister Nikki next to me. She is Chinese and translates for me when I minister for Chinese audiences. We were at the front, about to share something from the Lord, when I suddenly found myself going right through time and space. I was in the streets of Jerusalem during the outpouring of the book of Acts—I am telling you the truth before God. I was walking in the streets of Jerusalem and could see the disciples flowing in incredible healings and miracles. The Lord allowed me to feel the very atmosphere of the city which was filled with such faith that these men believed God could do anything and He did everything they believed! I saw incredible miracles taking places. The Bible tells us that the very shadow of Peter would fall upon people and they would be healed! I saw it and felt the electricity of the life of God everywhere in the city. The disciples of God were growing by leaps and bounds spiritually; there was no limit in God. Watching all this, I was astounded. So one moment we were going to speak to the gathering, and the next moment I was no longer there, but in Jerusalem during the time of the book of Acts. I do not know how God does something like that; I only know that if He wants to do it, He can. So I was in Jerusalem one moment and then, just as suddenly, I was back in the Gathering.

I looked at Nikki and said, “Wow, that was God!” She just looked at me and said “I know but what was it?” She knew I had just had a Divine experience and wanted to know what had taken place. I looked at the whole Gathering and told them that I had just experienced the book of Acts. I told them what I am telling you. God told me that He let me experience it because we are about to enter into Acts – Book Two. What I saw was not just the people of Jerusalem coming to watch one man or woman flowing in God”s power. God’s power was everywhere and the people God was using were the everyday people. Faith was in the air, not just the heart.

We are about to enter Acts – Book Two. In Acts – Book One, they healed the sick, raised the dead, healed the maimed and proclaimed the Gospel. Three-thousand people got saved on the day of Pentecost; they shared the Gospel again and five-thousand people got saved. It was an incredible and glorious revival. Acts – Book Two is what is coming here and He wants to use the whole Church in New Orleans.

I saw the picture of a man who had been completely maimed in the war in Iraq. We are going to see the maimed healed – I promise you we are, as I have seen it. I have seen people who do not have arms suddenly have their arms grow; people without legs suddenly have legs. Acts – Book Two, “Behold, I do a new thing!” Quit believing the lie and believe God is going to do a new thing because He is, and He wants you to be a part of it. It is not the old, it is the new!

In His Amazing Love,

Nita