Joan Boney ... apostle, prophet
Matthew 14:1-2 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him.
We, who are risen from the dead of this world, also have mighty works happen in us. Aren't we different from what we once were? Don't people recognize we are different?
The power of God through the Holy Spirit now dwells in us and we speak differently than we once did and we do differently than we once did.
At unexpected times God rises up through us to speak to others.
I was playing golf once with two women, one a Church of Christ and the other a Methodist. The Methodist woman began talking about those who judge other people. The Holy Spirit rose up in me and said, "If you judge people are judging, aren't you judging?" The woman gasped! It was like sticking a pin in a balloon filled with hot air.
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Shortly after I was born again, I was flying to Albuquerque, N.M. (USA) on a buying trip for the business I owned at that time. As the plane began to land, I heard, "Be baptized."
My cousin met me at the plane. She is Church of Christ. I said to her, "Jeanne, if you can arrange it, I will be baptized this afternoon before I return to Dallas."
She replied, "But you've already been baptized."
I said, "Yes, but I wasn't born again then. Now I am born again."
She didn't know what I was talking about. She didn't understand the power of the Holy Spirit in us after we are born again. She thought we just made up our mind to be of God and we are of God by our own will, because we want to be of God.
As we drove along, I spoke to her of God and shared things of God with her.
At one point she said, "Well ... I know you are a Christian. I just don't know how you can be."
And so it is with many of us. We weren't trying to be saved when God revealed Himself to us.
Paul explains it as follows:
Romans 9:15-18 For HE saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew MY power in thee, and that MY name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Therefore hath HE mercy on whom HE will have mercy, and whom HE will HE hardeneth.
Several of my relatives gathered at the church building to see me baptized. The minister said to me, is there anything you'd like to say? I began sharing about being born again. My uncle began to cry as I shared this. One of my cousins was shaking her head up and down, "YES", as I spoke.
After the service, my uncle came to me and said, "I've never before heard anything like that which you spoke. Could you write it down and sent it to me?" I told him I guess I could. So when I got back to Dallas I wrote it out and sent it to him. (I think my uncle was born again at that time.)
As the minister lowered me into the water, the Holy Spirit said to me, "This is like being buried with Jesus."
As I came out of the water, the Holy Spirit said to me, "This is like being raised with Jesus."
For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew MY power in thee, and that MY name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Therefore hath HE mercy on whom HE will have mercy, and whom HE will HE hardeneth.
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Several of my relatives gathered at the church building to see me baptized. The minister said to me, is there anything you'd like to say? I began sharing about being born again. My uncle began to cry as I shared this. One of my cousins was shaking her head up and down, "YES", as I spoke.
After the service, my uncle came to me and said, "I've never before heard anything like that which you spoke. Could you write it down and sent it to me?" I told him I guess I could. So when I got back to Dallas I wrote it out and sent it to him. (I think my uncle was born again at that time.)
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As the minister lowered me into the water, the Holy Spirit said to me, "This is like being buried with Jesus."
As I came out of the water, the Holy Spirit said to me, "This is like being raised with Jesus."
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The old man we once were dies and is "buried" and we are raised with Christ that we might be new creatures, serving God.
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