What does it Mean to be a Supernatural People

January 7, 2014

John 17:14-16 (NKJV) ¹⁴  I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁵  I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. ¹⁶  They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

As we begin 2022, the Lord has impressed me that we are to begin to live as supernatural people in the midst of the natural world.  God has invested tremendous potential in his people. This potential is supernatural by nature.  As I looked at Israel’s experience, I realized that everything they did and everything that happened to them was supernatural.  When they walked according to God’s ways, they prospered and had victory.  When they did not, they saw poverty, failure and defeat.  Israel’s purpose was to live as a supernatural people in the very center of the physical world.

As I looked for something in the New Testament to confirm that the church was also to be a supernatural people in the natural world, I came upon today’s verses.  In Jesus final prayer for his disciples, he declares to the Father that those who follow him are “not of this world just as I am not of this world.”  That can mean many things, but it most certainly points to the fact that he considered us supernatural people.  Then he requests that the Lord not take us out of the world but protect us from the evil one while we live in it.  Jesus declared us to be a supernatural people and prayed we would stay in the midst of the natural world. 

I know that most of us who have known the Lord for any length of time believe in the supernatural.  However, I have observed in my own life and in the lives of many Spirit filled, bible-believing people around me that the “edge” of the supernatural just is not the same as it was.  We still believe that God wants to move in our midst, but we do not really expect him to do so.  We still believe we have access to supernatural power, but we seem to be increasingly leaning on natural things.  I believe God wants us to change that in 2022. 

The world has enough people researching and developing natural solutions to the problems of man.  As I have observed this process for the last 68 years, I have concluded that most of the problems we face are a product of the solutions the world has tried to apply.  We do not need the church to look to worldly methods to minister God’s solutions.

The world we live in needs something else.  They need to see a supernatural people with access to supernatural solutions that provide effective answers for the needs of people.  In the Old Testament, Israel was the only people who had a covenant relationship with the God of creation.  In the New Testament, the church is that supernatural people.  Those around us need to see us function in the supernatural so they can come to the one who has the only answers that work.

What does it mean to be a supernatural people?  I like to look at definitions.  I believe we often think we know what a word means when we really do not.  Here is the definition of supernatural

• Of, pertaining to, or being above or beyond what is natural; unexplainable by natural law
• Pertaining to, characteristic of, or attributed to God or a deity.
• Of a superlative degree

Supernatural people are a people who live a life that is touched by what is above and beyond natural things.  Supernatural people have access to things that cannot be explained by the laws of nature.  In other words, when we come to the end of natural capabilities, there is another dimension of ability the “kicks in” to take us beyond what is possible. 

This may manifest in some spectacular ways.  In Israel’s journey, the parting of the Red Sea was a very spectacular manifestation of the supernatural.  We could site many other examples in their experience of the spectacular supernatural as well.  In our lives, this could be supernatural healing, provision or protection.  God still does spectacular things for his people. 

However, the supernatural can manifest in ways that do not seem spectacular until we view them later on.  The children of Israel’s shoes and clothes did not wear out for 40 years.  As it was happening, this did not seem very spectacular.  They simply put on their shoes.  After 40 years, they looked down and realized they still had the same shoes on.  Then they understood that they had experienced something supernatural.  In our lives, we can look back and see how God has sustained us, protected us and provided for us.  At the time these things did not look like they were above or beyond normal, but in retrospect we can see the mighty hand of God at work.

Once Israel possessed the Promised Land, they lived much of the time like everyone else.  Nevertheless, the supernatural power of God was always there to make their natural lives something more than that of the people around them.  This is what we as the church need to understand.  Most of the time we will not see spectacular things happening around us, but we should believe for the supernatural touch of God on everything we do.

This definition also tells us that supernatural things are things that are according to the characteristics of God.  If we are to be supernatural people, our lives must reflect God’s characteristics.  Things like holiness, righteousness, integrity and love must be functioning in our lives on a daily basis if we are to be called a supernatural people. 

Supernatural things are things that can be attributed to God.  We understand this idea when God does some spectacular thing.  When there is a major healing, for instance, there is no question that God is the only one who could do such a thing.  It is attributed to God.  However, I believe supernatural people live lives that can be attributed to God.  I want God to look at me and be able to say enthusiastically, “That’s my boy!”  I do not want him to have to admit with regret, “Yes, that’s one of mine.”  Jesus said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.”  I want to be able to say, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen Jesus.”

Finally, a supernatural life is one lived to a superlative degree.  Jesus said something like this in John chapter 10.

John 10:10 (NKJV) ¹⁰  The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

The term “abundant life” means life that is higher in quality and greater in quantity than regular or natural life.  Jesus intends that we be blessed abundantly.  He intends that we have supernatural provision, supernatural peace and supernatural health.  He wants our lives to be touched by the supernatural in every way they possibly can be. 

God has called us to this kind of life for two reasons.  First, so that he can bless us.  He is our Father, and he wants the best life possible for each and every one of his children.  Second, he wants us to show the world that the supernatural God has not left mankind alone.  He is still there, and he still has the only real solutions to the problems and pressures of life.  His solutions are not temporary, and they are not limited to the resources of the world.  His solutions are permanent and able to meet any problem or need the world can bring at his people.

We need to walk as supernatural people in the natural world this year.  We know this to be true.  We desire it.  This year we need to commit to make it a reality.

For Audio Messages Visit: https://anchor.fm/bill-kiefer or search Practical Wisdom from the Word of God or Bill Kiefer on Spotify or where you listen to podcasts.

Supernatural People in a Natural World

John 17:14-16 (NKJV) ¹⁴  I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁵  I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. ¹⁶  They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

We have been talking about the journey Israel took from bondage in Egypt to destiny in Canaan.  We found that everything they experienced in their deliverance and on their journey was supernatural.  When they finally arrived in the Promised Land, it required supernatural power for them to conquer the people who lived there.  However, we also found that the need for the supernatural in Israel’s life did not end once they had occupied Canaan.  God’s purpose for them was that they live in Canaan as a supernatural people.

God placed them at the crossroads of the east to west trade routes of their day.  In a way, he put them in the center of the world.  The people knew that they believed in one God.  God wanted them to live as supernatural people in the midst of the natural world.  I believe that if they had been able to be consistent in their faith in the supernatural, they would have shown the nature of the God they served to those around them.

Of course, they were not able to stay consistent.  They continually yielded to their flesh.  At the time of the birth of Jesus, the Pharisees had become the dominant religious force in the country.  They did not understand the supernatural.  They were committed to keeping the law, but in a very natural way.  The manifestation of the supernatural in the life and ministry of Jesus was something they could neither understand nor accept.

I believe that the will of God has not changed.  He still desires a supernatural people that can live supernatural lives in the midst of the natural world.  This does not mean just the spectacular supernatural.  We should expect the spectacular things like healings and various kinds of miracles, but we need to believe for a supernatural touch on all that we do.  Supernatural and spectacular are not interchangeable terms.

As the Lord was speaking to me about being a supernatural people living in the natural world, I asked myself if there was a scripture from the New Testament that would back up this idea.  I believe the lord led me to today’s passage. 

There are a number of things I want to point out from these verses.  First, in verse 14 he makes a statement that is really quite significant.  He tells the Father that he has given us his Word and because we have received it, the world hates us.  You might say he was just talking about the disciples in the upper room.  However, verse 20 tells us that he is not praying for them alone but for all who would believe because of them.  That would include you and me. 

Certainly, there is an aspect that applied especially to the disciples with him.  I believe that there is a principle stated here that applies to all believers.  James 4:4 tells us that friendship with the world is enmity with God.  We cannot be a friend of both.  Any believer in Jesus Christ that tries to live with one foot in the world and one foot in the church will fail.  We must choose.

There is a reason this is not possible.  Jesus tells us that we are not of this world just as he was not of this world.  What does that mean?  I believe it means many things including the idea that we are to be supernatural people.  We are to live with the touch and the sense of the supernatural in everything we do.  We are not of this world.  This world is not the source of our lives any longer.  We have been born again and our life flows from the supernatural world where the Father lives.

In the next verse, Jesus says that he is not praying that the Father would take us out of the world.  Early in my experience with Pentecostal people, it seemed that this was what we thought was necessary.  We were supposed to be “other worldly” in our behavior.  It seemed that we should not partake of anything the world had to offer.  In effect we were to separate from the world physically in every way we possibly could. 

I believe the bible teaches that the church should be spiritually distinct.  I believe we must separate from any activities that are sinful or will lead us to compromise our Christian character or witness.  However, Jesus prayed specifically that God would not take us out of the world.  We are supposed to be living separated lives spiritually and morally right in the midst of the natural world. 

What good is the supernatural life of God if we hide it in the church?  What good are supernatural people if they will not be supernatural in front of those who do not yet know the Lord?  I believe Jesus’ prayer is clear.  Just as Israel was to live in Canaan as a supernatural people that would finally produce a supernatural savior, we are to live as supernatural people in our natural world to show them the supernatural savior.

If you are born again and especially if you are spirit filled, you agree with what I am saying.  You will say, “Yes.  We need to be supernatural people.  We need to believe for a manifestation of the supernatural.”  I know that this is what we believe but what do we expect?  I see many Christians who talk about the supernatural but when trouble or pressure comes, they tend to lean on the natural.  I do that myself too often.  That is why I believe God is calling us back to a dependency and awareness of the power of the supernatural in our everyday living.

Many of us have learned how to live the Christian life in the natural.  I know in ministry, there is much that can be done without the touch of the supernatural.  I know how to preach and teach.  I know that I can move people even without the supernatural.  I can teach people useful things with the natural ability I have to present the Word.  I can touch emotions and inspire with that same ability. 

Too many ministries have found this to be true.  Some have stood for years for a manifestation of God and have not seen what they thought they would see.  I could say that about myself.  When natural methods work, it is easier to forget the supernatural.  Whole denominations have decided that things like healing and miracles have passed away because they stopped seeing them.  It was easier to forget the supernatural than keep believing for it and being disappointed. 

We need to stop this trend this year.  We are a supernatural people.  Salvation is supernatural.  It is a supernatural thing to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  We have a supernatural relationship with a supernatural God.  We may use natural tools to preach the gospel.  We may use natural things to live life.  Nevertheless, we must never forget that the supernatural is our true identity. 

There is nothing in the bible that says signs, wonders and miracles are no longer valid in our day.  Mark 16 is still true. 

Mark 16:17-18 (NKJV) ¹⁷  And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; ¹⁸  they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

We live in the natural world.  We have been sent to the natural world.  We must do many natural things.  We do not live from one spectacular miracle to another.  However, I believe we can live every day drawing on the supernatural power of God.  That is our assignment for 2022.  We are not of this world, but we are supposed to be very much in it.  We are to be “supernatural people living in the natural world.” 

For Audio Messages Visit: https://anchor.fm/bill-kiefer or search Practical Wisdom from the Word of God or Bill Kiefer on Spotify or where you listen to podcasts.

What Does it Mean to be the Apple of God’s Eye

Deuteronomy 32:9-10 (NKJV) ⁹  For the LORD’S portion is His people; Jacob is the place of His inheritance. ¹⁰  “He found him in a desert land And in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye.

Last time we began looking at the true nature of the potential we have as born-again believers.  Last time, as we looked at Israel, we saw that everything they experienced and everything they did required the touch of the supernatural.  There was no aspect of their journey that did not require supernatural intervention.  From the judgments in Egypt to the walls of Jericho, Israel lived in the supernatural power of God.  They had supernatural provision, supernaturally maintained clothing and supernatural victory over their enemies.  Most important they had a supernatural covenant that gave them a supernatural relationship with the Lord and supernatural laws that maintained it.  I think you get the idea that both their potential and ours flows from the supernatural.

The point of their journey was for them to come to Canaan and occupy the land as a supernatural people.  Their need for the supernatural power of God did not end with the conquest of the Promised Land.  They were to live in that power.  When they did, they had victory and prosperity.  When they did not they were conquered by their enemies. 

In today’s scripture, we read that Israel was to be the “apple of God’s eye.”  I have heard this term quoted from Zechariah where the Lord warns those who would come against the people of God that they are touching the apple of his eye.  The implication is that God will protect his chosen people.  I do not dispute that thought, although I do not think Israel is God’s only chosen people.  Paul tells us that the church is spiritual Israel and therefore must also be the apple of God’s eye.

Although this term is used to point to the special nature of Israel’s relationship to God, the first time it appears in the bible is here in the book of Deuteronomy.  It is not in the context of God’s being pleased with Israel or protecting her.  It is spoken as a condemnation to Israel.  The book of Deuteronomy is Moses’ last address to them.  In it, he foresees their eventual rebellion and mourns it with his words.  Here he is pointing out their failure to walk as the “apple of God’s eye.”

I believe this term indicates the fact that Israel was supposed to live as a special people in the world.  They were supposed to occupy Canaan as a demonstration of the love and power of the supernatural God.  Their eventual destiny was to produce the Messiah.  They could have occupied Canaan for all the years between Joshua and the birth of Jesus as a people demonstrating the existence of the supernatural God.  Instead, they walked in constant rebellion. 

They had glimpses of the supernatural, but more often than not, they were the most carnal of people.  They allowed their flesh to dominate them until all trace of God’s supernatural power left them.  When Jesus as finally born, they were living under the dominion of the Roman Empire.  They had deteriorated to the point that the Pharisees were the most spiritual among them.  They were rigid and uncaring about anything but the letter of the Law.  When the God of the Law walked among them in the form of the suffering savior, they did not even recognize him.  They were a religious people, but not a supernatural people.

We often confuse the supernatural with the spectacular.  Indeed, the supernatural can be spectacular.  The parting of the Red Seas certainly was.  Jesus walking on water got the attention of the disciples.  Many of us have seen spectacular healings or other kinds of miracles.  However, not everything supernatural is necessarily spectacular.  When Israel was in the wilderness, she was fed everyday with bread that appeared on the ground out of nowhere.  That was very spectacular and very supernatural.  When they entered the Promised Land, one of the first things that happened was that the Manna ceased appearing. 

God said that in Canaan they would live in houses they did not build, partake of vineyards that they did not cultivate and eat food from fields they did not plant.  That was just as supernatural but not quite as spectacular.  They would have to maintain the houses.  They would have to pick the grapes and the grain from the fields.  They would no longer go out every morning and find bread; they would have to bake it.  However, they would bake their bread with grain provided by the supernatural God.

Eventually the houses they did not build would decay and they would have to build new houses.  When the harvest from the first year was gone, they would have to plant seed or they would not have a harvest the next year.  They had to live like everyone else but if they maintained their relationship with God, their harvests would be supernatural.  They could have rain when others did not.  The yield of their crops would be greater because of the presence of the supernatural in all they did.

The same was true in warfare.  Israel defeated enemies greater than they were and often we read that they did not even fight the battles.  God would cause confusion to come upon the enemy and they would destroy themselves.  However, Israel still had an army.  They did natural things with a supernatural touch.  That is what it meant to be the apple of God’s eye.

The location of Israel in Canaan was not by chance.  Canaan was a crossroad of trade for the whole world.  Whatever went from east to west and vice versa found its way through Canaan.  God placed Israel in a place where they would be seen by the rest of the world.  They were to be a supernatural people living their natural lives touched by the supernatural in the middle of the natural world. 

I believe that is exactly what God wants to develop in our lives.  The church was never meant to be a natural institution.  It was always supposed to be supernatural people living natural lives with continual supernatural influence.  Through the history of the church, it has often forgotten that.  Denominations would rise in supernatural power only to dissolve into natural religious organizations with no supernatural touch at all.  Paul described the condition this way.

2 Timothy 3:5 (NKJV) ⁵  having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

If you read the previous verses, you will see that Paul is also speaking of times very much like our own.  I believe the church has forgotten that we are to be a supernatural people.  I think God is calling us back to that position in the world.  Sometimes we will see spectacular things.  Sometimes the supernatural will manifest as the inner strength to resist sin and walk in integrity. 

We need to believe to see healings but we also need to believe for supernatural child rearing and supernatural marriage.  We need to expect mighty financial miracles that no one will be able to dispute came from the hand of God.  We also need to expect God to bless the work of our hands so that we are more productive than those in the world.  God wants us to be a supernatural people but he wants us to live as supernatural people in the world.  He wants us to prove with our lives that a supernatural God exists and that he cares for all who come to him.

That is what it means to be the “apple of God’s eye.”  That is what I pray we will learn to be once again as we live supernatural lives in 2022.

For Audio Messages Visit: https://anchor.fm/bill-kiefer or search Practical Wisdom from the Word of God or Bill Kiefer on Spotify or where you listen to podcasts.

A Supernatural People with Supernatural Potential

Deuteronomy 5:33 (NKJV) ³³  You shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.

As we head into 2022, I have been meditating on the tremendous potential God has placed in each one of us via the New Birth.  When I was born again, I did not change doctrine, religion or affiliation.  Something real happened to me that gave me a vital connection to God himself.  We would say to our children when leading them to salvation, “Do you want Jesus in your Heart?”  This is exactly what happened to everyone of us who accepted Jesus as the Lord and Savior of our lives.  That is the source of the great potential we have been speaking about and what I believe God wants us to be in position to release in 2022.

The last three years have been an incredible journey for all of us.  I can say that in my lifetime, I have never seen anything like what we have faced and continue to face since 2020.  There have been good times and not so good times during these years, but I have always felt that we were going somewhere.  Even though there are circumstances that might cause me to doubt, I still believe we are going to a place in God that will prove to be very significant.  All we have seen, from pandemic to economic and political disruption is not a surprise to God. 

Ephesians 1:10 tells us that God is working towards something called the fullness of times when all things will be brought together under Christ.  He is on schedule, and we simply need to be ready to hear what he is doing and flow with that.  In Mark 4 Jesus says Satan always comes immediately to steal the Word.  That is because he knows if the Word of the Lord takes root in our hearts, there is nothing he can do to keep it from bearing fruit.  We need to do our best to focus on what Jesus is saying about the times we live in and not let Satan bring fear and doubt in to steal the Word.  The Lord loves and cares for us.  God is moving in his plan and in the end, we will see the fruit of God’s working even in these trying circumstances

Today’s scripture is pointing to the end of the journey Israel took from bondage in Egypt to freedom and destiny in Canaan.  I believe this is a type of the journey of the Christian from bondage to destiny.  I also believe it has been characteristic of the journey the church is on right now to the next move of the Holy Spirit.  One word describes all that Israel went through and all that they did during the period that took them from Egypt to Canaan.  That word is “supernatural.”  This began with their deliverance from Pharaoh.  They had no natural ability to get away from this god king.  They had no army, no resources and no freedom.  They were powerless.  They could not leave Egypt and they could not escape the Egyptians.  When I look in the natural at what we face today, I think we are in the same place in many ways.

The deliverance that came to them was in every way supernatural.  God brought them a supernatural deliverer in Moses.  God provided supernatural power as he rained judgments down on Egypt.  There was nothing Israel could do in their natural strength to cause them. God gave Israel supernatural favor when the Israelite women asked the Egyptian women to give them gold, silver and clothing.  The Egyptian women had no reason to comply and the Israelite women had no power to make them.  Nevertheless, they did comply, and Israel went out of bondage blessed.

When Israel came to the shores of the Red Sea, they had no natural way to cross it.  The Egyptian army appeared behind them by the will of God.  The Lord led Israel into a place where they had no natural power to escape death.  God provided a supernatural solution to their dilemma by parting the Red Sea so they walked across on dry ground.  He then supernaturally destroyed the Egyptian army so they could no longer be a threat to Israel. 

As Israel progressed through the wilderness, they did not take the natural route to Canaan.  There were established trade routes that Israel could have easily followed.  If they had, they would have arrived in Canaan weeks or months after they left Egypt not years.  However, God did not intend for them to take a natural journey.  They followed a supernatural pillar of fire and pillar of cloud as they went.  Along the way, many necessary things were accomplished in their lives.

There was no natural way to carry the food so many people needed for the journey.  God provided it in a supernatural way as bread appeared every morning on the ground before them.  Water is always a concern in desert areas, especially for so many people.  God supernaturally provided water from a rock.  Their clothes were supernaturally preserved.  They had supernatural encounters with God at Sinai.  Almost everything that happened to them was impossible in the natural.  They required supernatural intervention all along the way.

When it finally came time for them to enter Canaan, God gave them the commandment we read in today’s scripture.  They were not just to go into the Promised Land; they were supposed to possess it.  I want to point out that they could not do that in the natural either.  Moses sent 12 spies into the land.  We know that 10 came back with what the Lord called an evil report.  It was evil because it contained no faith.  It was not inaccurate. 

The Promised Land was filled with giants.  There were walled cities and powerful nations occupying Canaan.  In the natural, Israel could not possess the land.  They still required supernatural intervention.  Canaan was the point of their deliverance.  They were not set free from captivity to wander in the wilderness.  They were destined to live in Canaan so that the Messiah could be born there.  However, they did not experience a supernatural deliverance, a supernatural journey and supernatural provision so they could live in Canaan as a natural people.  Gods’ will was for them to be a supernatural people in Canaan as well.

Israel’s history is full of times when they obeyed God and times when they rebelled against God.  When they obeyed, they had supernatural prosperity and victory over their enemies.  When they disobeyed and tried to rely on the natural, they always failed.  They would experience military defeat, plagues and conquest.  Israel was brought to Canaan to be a supernatural people.

I believe we need to understand that God has provided us with a supernatural salvation.  That is the source of our potential.  It is a supernatural potential that must be applied in supernatural ways.  He gave us the Holy Spirit to be our supernatural helper.  He gives us promises of supernatural healing, deliverance and prosperity.  He has called us to a supernatural commission.  We cannot win the world with natural ability.  We need the power of the Holy Spirit in our everyday living. 

I believe that the Lord has led me on a supernatural journey to the edge of a Promised Land.  That land is a place where we are to live as a supernatural people.  We need to draw on the power of the supernatural in everything we do so that we can show the world that there is a supernatural God who cares about them.  This year we are going to learn how to do that in a more consistent way.  This will also cause us to release the tremendous potential God has placed in us.  I am looking forward to the journey.  How about you?

For Audio Messages Visit: https://anchor.fm/bill-kiefer or search Practical Wisdom from the Word of God or Bill Kiefer on Spotify or where you listen to podcasts.