This episode series reminds us of a very simple yet powerful truth: when you follow Jesus’ instructions, you experience the miraculous and enjoy the answer to your prayers! It is the Lord who leads us to our promised land and causes us to triumph, but He doesn’t always do it in a way we expect or think. Thus, it is imperative that no matter how unorthodox the Lord’s instructions may seem to us as humans, we need to follow them! Dr. Siohvaughn Funches tells you that Jesus will always get you to where you need to be…after all, He is the way!
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Whatever He Tells You To Do, Do It! (Part 5)
Power Of Following Christ
We’re going to be finishing up our series titled, Whatever He Tells You To Do, Do It! Before we dive into that, we’re going to recap a little bit. As always, we’re going to take a moment and acknowledge the one who’s worthy of all of our praise. I thank you, Heavenly Father for this opportunity, again, to get at the feet of your son, Jesus. I pray that you will give to each and every one of us, the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of our understanding will be enlightened. That we may know what is the hope of His calling. What are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe according to the working of His mighty power?
I thank you, Lord Jesus, that you’re going to expound on the scriptures to us about the things concerning yourself. I thank you, Holy Spirit, that you’re opening our eyes to see wonderous, glorious things in the word. I thank you, God, that your word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. I thank you that in your light, we see light. I thank you, God, for causing us to comprehend the scriptures and leading and guiding us into all truth and teaching us all things by your spirit. I thank you, God, that as we do this one thing that’s needful, God, you’ve gone before us. You’ve made crooked places straight, rough places smooth. For you are the God of breakthrough and you’re breaking through God. You’ve given the deliverance, healing, rest, refreshing and the justice that’s needed, God. I thank you that you’ve met every need God and far exceeded the answer to every one of our prayers, in Jesus’ name.
We’re going to be finishing up our series, but let me recap a bit because there are always people who join us in the middle or even towards the end of these particular individual journeys and series. We want to give them that benefit as well as refresh us. These things are done weekly. After the holiday, we were on hiatus a bit. It’s good to have a refresher. In this particular podcast series, God has been reminding us of the power in following Christ in our daily lives. This is not following Christ in what we label or deemed to be the big things. This is following Christ in all things.
In doing so, we have to keep in mind, I would say at the forefront of our mind that God’s ways are not our ways, but we don’t want to stop there. We want to acknowledge the fact that God’s ways are higher than our ways. They are better than our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. They’re higher than ours. We want to keep both of those truths in mind when following God because sometimes the instruction that God gives us, albeit it’s the way, the instruction is unorthodox or it’s to us, illogical.
It’s not something that we would say is reasonable, but I always like to minister this truth to myself, “Siohvaughn, you don’t need it to make sense. You need it to make a miracle. If it’s a miracle that you need, it’s going to defy all logic, reasoning and fact.” Jesus has caused people to even have limbs grow back where they once weren’t there. People who have died and I mean for days have been resurrected from the dead. That defies science, logic and reasoning, but if it’s a miracle you need, who cares if it never makes sense?
You just need the miracle. You want the breakthrough. I tell God all the time, “I’m not picky or proud.” This was in the Old Testament in 2 Kings Chapter 5, God had used Elisha to tell a man that was pretty noble and of high status and rankings in the natural in order to be healed of the leprosy, which is a disease that’s referred to as uncleanliness. It signifies sin in the Bible, but he was unclean. They have the breakout all over their skin. It’s very bad and painful. Sores are everywhere. It’s highly contagious.
This guy was told by the prophet, Elisha, who represented Jesus, who was a shadow of Jesus Christ, to go into the River Jordan and dip, not once, not twice, not three times but seven times. I’m sure the river Jordan was filthy. He has a disease that has deemed him unclean. That’s called unclean. He’s told, “You want to be healed, go dip in the dirty river multiple times.” It defies logic. It doesn’t make sense, but he followed the instructions of Elisha, who represented Jesus, in this particular passage of scripture and he was indeed healed. Not only was he healed, his skin was restored, the Bible says, “Like that of a newborn baby.”
The Way To Miracles: Follow Jesus’ Instructions
Those who have babies, those who have touched babies and for those who are praying to God to have children, I come in agreement with you that God will open up your wound. God will cause you and your spouse to bring forth that fruit. I pray that child and those children even be dedicated to God, their entire life, even greater than the prophet, Samuel, in Jesus name. Everybody comes on in agreement with them. These people want to be fruitful and multiply. It is the will of God.
This guy was full of pride. He was like, “This doesn’t make sense. Not only that, Elisha won’t even come out and talk to me. He sent some servant to tell me to do dip in a filthy river. Does he know who I am?” I’m paraphrasing the Bible. You can read his thoughts, “You don’t know me.” He’s all arrogant and lofty. He’s ridiculous. Jesus himself came lowly and riding on a donkey but this guy with no power to heal itself. He gets the instructions from the guys representing God, the profit of that day. He’s like, “It’s beneath me.”
Thank God, He had a servant, who talked to him off that ledge because pride was just encouraging him to jump and miss God. It’s ridiculous. Don’t worry you’re not going to miss God in Jesus name. God didn’t let this guy miss him. God is so gracious and merciful that he had someone come, speak a word of wisdom to him and remind him to humble his self. You understand, Elisha doesn’t need you. You need Elisha, humble yourself. If that’s the way, far be it from you to let something as crazy and foolishness, arrogance, loftiness or prayer, talk you out of the miracle you need. That’s crazy.
You got to say it twice. No pride. That’s not going to happen. It never needs to make sense. It doesn’t matter the way God says to take. That’s the way we’ll be taken because that’s the way to the breakthrough. The guy did dip in the river seven times and he was in fact made well. His flesh was restored like I was saying as a newborn baby. If you’ve ever cuddled a newborn baby, their skin is perfect. I don’t know if there’s a better prayer to make for skin than to tell God, “Restore my flesh like that of newborn babies,” because their skin is soft and is blemish-free. It’s amazingly great.
No skin or beauty product on the market can do that fresh out the womb skin. His skin was restored like that. He didn’t even have normal things that had come along maybe of that day. You don’t have to accept that as normal. Pray that God renews your youth. I do, but he didn’t even have wrinkles. He has none of that. He had no blemishes and no marks for many pimples, nothing like that of a newborn baby. We saw there that God over answers our prayer. Pray big so God can far exceed that and be glorified in your life. That’s God’s way of showing off. That’s God’s way of showing you and the body of Christ.
He’s God. He’s sat on the throne with Him. All things are possible as well as people who are not saved yet that God is real. They can see that. They know that through your testimony because some of them won’t be found dead even in a church. You are that open a pistol that they’re going to read because they’re not cracking open that Bible. Let God do the miracle in your life for your sake and even those that we want to come into the kingdom. God chooses not to lose one. He doesn’t want anyone in hell.
Hell was not made for people. Let’s get an agreement with God and win souls likewise women and men of God. We’re going to look at John. I’m going to be reading from the New King James version. I believe everything is from the New King James version. If not, I’ll try to remember to tell you. I want you to see again how powerful it is in doing something as simplistic as following God’s instruction. No matter how crazy the instruction and how illogical to you it may seem, God is all wisdom and all knowing. He knows what He’s doing. If He’s saying that’s the way, it’s the way. You can trust God. He’s truth and He can’t lie.
At Chapter 9:1, it says, “Now, as Jesus passed by, He saw a man, who was blind from birth. His disciples asked Him saying, ‘Rabbi, who sinned? This man or his parents that he was born blind.’” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parent’s sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent me while it is day. The night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When He said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with saliva. He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.
He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam,” which is translated sent. He went and washed and came back seeing. Therefore, the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, “Is this not he who sat in bed?” Some others said, “He is like him.” He said, “I am he.” Therefore, they said to him, “How were your eyes open?” He answered and said, “A man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said it to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash. I went and I washed and I received sight.’”
This guy is unlike the guy that was in 2 Kings. This guy was a blind beggar. Circumstances were already humbling him. That’s not to say that everyone who is in a financial position of poverty is humble. God has taught me and shown me quite to the contrary. Some very proud people have no money at all, like none. They’re proud that they’re starving and they’re too proud to open their mouth and even ask for help. It’s not just rich people who are arrogant. That’s a lie from the pit of hell.
I’ve ran into people, who have pennies, not even on the dollar and they’ve been some of the most prideful people I’ve ever encountered in my life. I know a lot of people with a lot of money. I’m telling you some people without it have blew my mind at the magnitude of pride they walk in. I want to clear that up. Let me say that in defense of people who have money. You meet some people with money, those people are giving portions of their income. They don’t owe anybody anything. You would never know about it because they don’t do it for praise or glory. They do it unto the glory of God. Trust me when I tell you it doesn’t always work like that. Rich people have gotten a bad reputation for things like that but God has opened my eyes to see the complete truth. Yes, some rich people are arrogant. However, some poor people are arrogant, too.
Thank God for deliverance in all tax brackets because it’s necessary especially when it comes to the spirit of pride. This particular guy, who was a blind beggar, he didn’t act like the guy from 2 Kings, this whole commander of the armies. Jesus gave him his instructions right. He went and he did it. It wasn’t deep, how in the world something as miraculous as someone born blind, you never seen, sir? You don’t even know what it’s like to have vision. This has never been a part of your testimony yet in an instant, same blind guy on the side of the road is the same guy now with 20/20 vision.
No process, no procedure, no surgery, no medicine, no therapy. I’m not knocking any of that. If God leads you in that, by all means, go for it. Whatever He tells you to do, you should do it. This guy doesn’t give God a hard time. When you think about the instructions, Jesus gave him, they were what we would call unorthodox. Let’s be the honest, the guy’s blind. He can’t see and Jesus tells him, “Trust me. You’re blind. What I’m going to do is make clay like mud. I’m going to put it over your already blind eyes.” Let’s slow down and take a minute and just think about this. He’s already blind. After you put clay over his eyes and for those who like math, I was somebody who liked math. He’s blind to the second power at this point. He’s like doubly blind at this point.
Nevertheless, because his instructions came from Jesus who cannot lie, who is all wisdom, indeed when he did what God told him to do and let God work in his life, what needed to be done. This man, who could never see in his entire life came out with 20/20 vision like it was nothing, no surgery, no money spent, no years of waiting and no unnecessary process. Do you want in on that or is it just me? The day he asked for his miracle, he received it because the day he got his instructions, he followed them.
It didn’t make sense. A man born blind that wants to see doesn’t need anything to make sense. He needs it to make a miracle. The way to miracles is to follow the instructions. Whatever Jesus tells you to do, do it. Even if you think what He’s telling me to do is making it worse because let’s be honest, this man already couldn’t see, now you just made mud and put it over his eyes. Something tells me, “God, if he was going to be able to see, he won’t be able to see through the mud.” That ought to blind him. It seems like that.
Jesus is the truth and Jesus is so trustworthy. He knows everything. We got to remember that not only from His perspective, but Jesus is the one who sees the whole truth. We do see truth. We see in part here in the earth. Jesus sees at all times the whole picture. We got to remember that things are being done in the earth, but there’s also a spirit world. Yes, it may be even our life that we’re praying about. Let’s say, “There’s somebody praying for their marriage.” It gets so caught up in I and my but that’s not the way God sees it.
All of this is like one big tapestry, one big painting and it all goes together. Yes, there’s a left side of this particular painting and there’s red on it. There’s blue somewhere else. There’s a right side of the painting, but it’s all one masterpiece to God. We are individual but also, we’re collective. This miracle here and as you can see, it’s in the book of John and the gospel of John is about signs. This is not just something naturally speaking that happened to this man. It did. This miracle naturally took place. He could not see physically.
He then could see physically, but this is also a sign. It’s pointing to something. Jesus is the sent one, which is why when he relied on that clay, natural things, natural means, it didn’t work. It made it worse. When he went to the pool of Siloam, which is translated, Sent One representing Jesus. He could see as if he’d seen his whole life in an instant. Sometimes we try to rely and go to natural things, to manmade things and to people. When the truth is, if God doesn’t build the house, the laborers labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman watch in vain. “Without Me,” Jesus said, “You can do nothing.” Sometimes we’re reminded of that after we first get the clay over our eyes or we go after that natural thing, “If I could just make more money, if I can just be married, then I’d be happy.” We go off to all these natural things and God allows us to sometimes. You come up feeling empty and then He takes you over to the Sent One. You realized, “In Him, I am sufficient.”
I’m telling you there’s more to life than what we need and what we want. God sees the whole picture. Sometimes these unorthodox ways are not just for us even though it affects us, it impacts us. God has other children as well. He has people He wants to be saved as well. There’s a lot going on more than just us. As important as we are individually to God because you are. He died for you like He died for me. Let’s take a look at another miracle and this is in Matthew 12. We’re going to start at Matthew 12:9-13. It says, “Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue and behold, there was a man who had a withered hand.” They asked Him saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath that they might accuse Him?”
He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep? If it falls into a pit on the Sabbath will not lay hold of it and lift it out. How much more value than is a man than a sheep. Therefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” He then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched out his hand and it was restored as whole as the other. Let’s put a pin in this. The man had a withered hand, a drawn up hand.
Jesus tells him, “Stretch out your drawn up hand. It is withered.” How? Logic says asked Jesus how and that’s the only delaying the miracle. Reasoning says that doesn’t make sense. I’m not doing it unless it makes sense and that destroys the miracle. Humility is the way to receive. This guy didn’t care if it didn’t make sense as long as it made the miracle. These people were hearing about Jesus. That’s why it’s important reading this because I know that God is doing this through me. I can say that and other anointed teachings, Bible-based teachings. Teachings that are teaching in light of what Jesus Christ has done in light of the New Covenant.
It’s not trying to put you back under law when you’re not even Jewish. I know when you do that, you’re hearing. Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. Many times, in the Bible that it says before people got a miracle that those people heard about Jesus. Many times, in the Bible, talks about Jesus preaching and then healing, in that order. People were hearing the gospel and then receiving their miracle. I’m certain this man heard about Jesus. I’m certain he heard about how other people got healed, the lady who touched the hem of Jesus’ garment.
Eventually, when Peter was being used by God and preaching the gospel, I believe it was Peter, not Paul, who’s shadow heals people. When you start to hear stuff like that, no wonder why people are racing up to this man’s shadow. Not even him, just the shadow because I heard it, that’s what gets it done. It doesn’t make sense like, “Shadows heal people. Since when?” Since never, but with God, all things are possible. I’m saying reasoning, logic, don’t let it cause you to delay your miracle or miss out on something great. It’s a good question. How can he stretch out his hand if his hands wither? I submit to you this powerful answer. With God, all things are possible.
Sure enough, this guy followed the Lord’s instruction. He stretched out his hand and it was restored as whole as the other with no physical therapy, no pain pills, no unnecessary process and no delay. It’s the powerful and miraculous love of God, his willing heart and his very able hand at work. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be picky or proud. I don’t need it to make sense. I need it to make a miracle. Although the Bible is filled with them, this will be our last one for this particular series as we conclude it.
It comes out of Luke 17. It’s the part about the ten lepers. It starts around Verse 11 or 12. It says, “Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samarian Galilee then He entered a certain village. There He met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. They lifted up their voices and said, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.’” When He saw them, He said to them, “Go show yourselves to the priest.” It was that as they went, as they did what He said, they were cleansed. One of them when He saw that he was healed returned and with a loud voice glorified God. He fell down on his face at His feet giving Him thanks. He was a Samaritan. Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Where there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”
Faith In God
I pray the faith of God in us will make us well and whole in every area of our life. We will have the faith and the one who can never fail, who can’t even fail, who can’t even lie, who loves us enough to do the most. What is it to do the lesser? It’s nothing because the lesser is included in the greater. Jesus is the greatest gift God could give. As important as it is what you’re believing God for, it’s not as big as God given up His only son to die in your place while we were yet still sinners. While we were at our worst, he gave us His best. “You don’t need perfect faith,” Jesus said it.
You got the faith the size of a mustard seed. You can speak to this mountain and move it. There was a guy in the Bible who said, “Lord, I believe.” It’s like a mixture there. He still received his miracle. Just like the people who Jesus said, “Your faith has made you well or Great is your faith.” It’s the same thing. He came to Jesus and believed. He has some measure of faith. God has given to each one of us a measure of faith. If you need more faith, we know faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of Christ.
Christ, that sacrificial part of Jesus. That all your sins are forgiven part of Jesus. You are the righteousness of God and Christ Jesus that under this New Covenant and the old ones passed away and become obsolete. That part, the true Lamb of God, who’s taken away all your sins, where God says, “Your sins and your lawless deeds.” I don’t even remember anymore. The Christ, that part that gives you absolute privilege, right access and authority, all legal claim and right to all the blessings and promises of God. That’s why the Bible says, “All of the promises of God, yes and in Him, Amen.” The Him is Jesus.
That part, we can believe that God is that good people. These lepers did and all of them were cleanse. I noticed that He instructed them to go to the priest and they went. Now God show me the time that they went is what’s notable for us. They went when the leprosy was still there. Nothing in this situation seemed to change. They went anyway. They kept walking anyway as they went. It doesn’t even say, “As soon as they went.” At some point in their going, it changed, but they had to do what He said. They might’ve had the persevere for a while. They probably were walking and looking at their arms and hands and looking down at their body saying nothing has changed.
Looking at each other saying, “Yours are like is getting worse. I don’t remember you having all of them solos before we pray.” The devil will not try to make you see like that, see the thing getting worse. I’m telling you God is so faithful and He’s so good. They did it and although it seemed like nothing changed, they followed the Lord Jesus instructions. Indeed, all of them were cleansed. I know people have looked at this particular story. They’ve said, “It’s good to be grateful. See how that leper came back.” Jesus spoke highly of him and corrected the other saying, “Only the Samaritan came back.” The other ones were probably Jewish. I don’t know if they felt a sense of entitlement and God hadn’t been in covenant with that nation.
The blessing of God was on that nation through Abraham and their other Jewish descendants. I’m not sure if they felt like a sense of entitlement and maybe the Samaritans, who hadn’t had a covenant with God, the Gentiles felt grateful. That could happen. I do believe that’s true. I believe that discernment I have is from God Himself. What got pointed out to me was and this is not to encourage anyone to be ungrateful. God said, “In all things give thanks.” Not for all things, some things are bad, but He said, “In all things give thanks,” because God is good. He is the God who promised those who are born again, who have given their life to Christ. He’s going to work everything together for your good anyway. It doesn’t have to be good. He’ll work together the good for your good, but He’ll work together the evil for your good. You can’t lose what the God I choose.
That’s what I like to tell the people. Interestingly enough, God showed me, although those other nine lepers, weren’t thankful. Come on, let’s be honest. God knows the end and the beginning. Jesus is the first and the last. Everything that was made was made by Him including the end. He knows the end in the beginning. After all He is the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega, the first and the last. I’m pretty certain Jesus knew that they weren’t going to come back and thank Him, but He healed them anyway. He’s that good.
The nine ones that seemed ungrateful, unthankful, no glory to God, got that miracle and they don’t know Him no more. They got the same miracle that the guy did that came back giving glory to God. He came back to Jesus. He didn’t use Jesus as a means to an end. He didn’t see Jesus for the good in his hands. He saw beyond his hand into his heart. I got to stick with and give glory to somebody, who not did what they did, but the spirit they did it out of. The spirit he did it out of was love. Leprosy after all represented sin.
He’s God who could judge me, but He’s not. Instead, He’s delivering me from my sin and every consequence thereof. When you know that about God, you cling to Him instead of running from Him. This former leper clung to Jesus, because he was cleansed. That’s an expression also of the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the grace of our Heavenly Father. It’s amazing. We see here and all these examples through these series, from the beginning of your Bible to the end of it, there are so many examples of the journeys that people are on being unorthodox or not necessarily the way we would have said to take.
We never thought that path would lead to the destination God promised, but indeed it did. Look at the life of Joseph for example. God is good. He knows what He’s doing. He loves us. We can trust Him. We can take Him at His word. We can believe Him and follow His directions even if it never makes sense to us. As long as it makes the miracle we need, people, let’s get it going and follow God. Beloved, you have every reason to trust the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who knows the way, because after all He is the way. You cannot lose with the God I choose. Jesus is our Good Shepherd. He will lead us perfectly and He will get you to where you need to be on time. God’s never late.
For some of you reading, the Lord is saying, “Be still and know that I am God.” For others, He may be saying, “Only believe and you will see the glory of God.” The instructions will inevitably vary, but this is the imperative right, truth that remains the same for all of us. Whatever He tells you to do our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ beloved, just do it. He loves you very much. I love you. God bless you all. Thank you all. Many people have contacted me about ways to volunteer and that’s pretty limited right now, given the circumstances of our nation. Monetary donations are always a blessing especially at this time because other ones are so limited. They could be a health hazard at this point. I thank you all very for asking for ways to help.
The gospel, the good news is free, but getting it out to the public certainly is not. I appreciate you all. It’s a huge help. I encourage you to do so. I know for sure you’re sowing on good ground. If you’re not signed up for the blog, please do so. You got to do that. If not, you can go to the website, DrFunches.com/donations. You can go to the donations page and check it out there. I love you all. Again, I thank you all very much for wanting to sow into the Kingdom of God and be a blessing and make sure others are hearing the good news.
Please also tell your family and friends, post it on your social media sites and platforms and just spread and share this good news so that’s sewing directly into the Kingdom of God. Do that encourage people to read, subscribe and sign up for the blog. That certainly is a harvest. It’ll last eternity. It’s an eternal harvest. Nothing like sewing directly into the Kingdom of God. Until next time, God bless you and keep you and may the blood of His son, Jesus cover you. I pray that God has given an impartation in you and myself, that whatever He tells us to do, we do it, in Jesus name.
www.awowwoman.com 
absolutely well shared. loved it.
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