This Same Jesus

One of the secrets of the Apostolic Jerusalem Church is knowing that Jesus never changes. He’s not kind one day and harsh the next. He’s not ready to heal one minute and reluctant the next. 

He is the same as He was in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. There, we see a Jesus who is easily entreated. We see Him healing and delivering people at every turn. The people who came to Him on the dusty roads of Galilee didn’t have to struggle and convince Him to help them. They simply asked and He answered.  It was easy for them to receive from Jesus. Jesus never said NO to the people who came to Him in faith. He always supplied their need. 

Religious tradition has taught us that at some point during the past 2,000 years, Jesus changed. That instead of healing people, He started telling them no when they asked for healing. He supposedly decided their sickness was teaching them something. Religious tradition has says the days of  Jesus’  miracles have passed away but that’s just not true. 

In the book of Acts, we see Jesus preparing to leave the earth to go sit at the Father’s right hand. He is speaking to the disciples,  saying:

You shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven

 (Acts  1:8-11).

 Don’t Reason It Away!

Consider for a moment what the angel said. I know you’ve probably heard it many times before, but I want you to let it sink in as a revelation in your heart. He said, “This same Jesus…” is going to come back. This same Jesus! 

Let me ask you something. If Jesus was one way when He was on the earth, and He is going to be the same way when He comes back,  what do you think He’s going to be like during the time in between? He’s going to be the same!

This same Jesus!  He’s the same right now as He was when He walked the earth. He has the same heart of compassion. He’s just as easily moved now as He was then. He’s just as quick to heal now as He ever was. He truly is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 

That’s such a simple revelation. We ought to just receive it like little children and believe it. But most of us don’t. We start reasoning it away in our minds. We think,  Well, my disease is so serious and I’ve had it for such a long time, it just couldn’t be that easy for me to be healed. 

Thoughts like that are lies of the devil! Jesus healed a number of people who had been sick for a long time. It wasn’t hard for Him. Nothing was hard for Him. We need to quit reasoning so much and just believe!

You may say, “how can Jesus minister to me the way He did to those who walked with Him 2,000 years ago? He isn’t here anymore. He’s in heaven.”

Yes, He is in heaven, but He is still ministering here on the earth through His Word, and through the Holy Spirit who is working through the  Church.  That’s why He could say to the disciples just before His ascension, “…lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20).

Through the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles, Jesus’ ministry didn’t change. After  He ascended to heaven.  He just continued to do through the Church what He had done personally during His earthly ministry. Through believers, He continued to heal, deliver and cast out devils by the power of the Holy Ghost.

Thank God that the Holy Ghost’s power is still in our midst today. Thank God the same anointing that was on  Jesus is on the Church today.  This same Jesus is still available to minister to us and through us today!