“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city." (Revelation 22:14 NIV)
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” (John 20:19 NIV)
A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” (John 20:26 NIV)
Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. (Luke 24:31 NIV)
Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared. (Judges 6:21 NIV)
As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea. (Acts 8:36-40 NIV)
When we moved back from Britain in 1996, I bought a used Volkswagen Fox for commuting and driving in the chemical plant where I worked. The car was made in Brazil.
One day after work, when I was about to get into the Fox in the parking lot, I found gasoline on the ground under the car. I looked underneath and there was a slowly-leaking section of hose in the gas line.
When I got home, I pulled the hose off and went to an auto parts store to get a new one. The original hose had, "Made in Brazil," on it, as did most of the other parts associated with the engine. My new hose was labelled, "Made in USA."
I made the repair and was rather pleased with myself because I almost never work on cars. I can do it, but I am just not interested.
Several months went by and I found it leaking again. Confident from my previous experience, I got down on the ground and looked for the problem. The same hose was leaking, and it was the only one like it under the car. I took the hose off and it said "Made in Brazil." Puzzled, I went to my basement and found the extra length of "Made in USA" hose on my workbench. Somehow, the old hose was on my car again.
I took the leaking hose back to the auto parts store and showed it to an employee. He was not very nice and said what I had was a radiator hose, which obviously would have been made to handle water and not gasoline. I told him I had purchased it there, and as I recall he walked away.
I was dumbfounded. I investigated and concluded that the old hose was somehow back on my car. I do not know when this happened precisely, but it was well after I had been reading the Bible because I got rid of the "Made in USA" remnant. I did not want it to become a "Bronze Snake" in my life.
I tried telling this story to someone who had shared his own experience of healing someone's kidney by laying on hands and praying. He said that his hand and the person's back got hot. I figured he would understand my story, but he did not. He actually almost ran away from me, and I decided to keep it to myself after that.
This all happened about twenty five years ago. Today, I see this kind of thing frequently. It is what I live for. I have an absolutely amazing life.
All glory to God.