Need a Miracle

1 Corinthians 1:22-24 “Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

 

Pastor Kyle began a new Sunday sermon series on “miracles” by stating that miracles cannot be predicted because God does not work on human terms. There are many people that believe God doesn’t work miracles today, as He did in Biblical times. There are others that think God’s miracles only happen in developing nations today. But, the truth is that the way God worked in the Bible times is the way God works today and the sinner’s salvation by grace through faith in our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ is the greatest miracle. Pray that God does some miracles in and through His church, the members of the body of Christ, in the name of Jesus.

 

Matthew 16:1-4 The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away.

 

Pastor Kyle gave us three keys to keep our attitude towards God’s miracles in the right light. Here are a few things to keep us from coming at it from the wrong side. (1) Make sure that God’s power and glory are the focus … not ours! Being in the flesh, this side of eternity, we are tempted to want to share in the glory. But, our own glory and fame are never to be a motive. To Creator Father God be the credit and glory alone. The children of God are to deflect and redirect the honor and praise as we reflect His light and pour out the Spirit in love. (2) Make sure that our primary motive is to see God move … not to be entertained. Miracles, by nature, are entertaining by their “wow factor” of the supernatural, but this is not “the Jesus magic show”. (3) Make sure that we are praying for God’s will, not our will to be done. We never want to twist God’s arm to get Him to do a miracle for us. There is to be no dealing or manipulating God saying, “if you do this for me, then I’ll do something for you.” Thy will, not my will be done. 

Acts 8:18-23 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”

 

Here are a few things to know about how miracles happen. (1) Miracles usually start because there is a problem. The vast majority of miracles come as an answer to total desperation and answered prayer. Don’t ask for a miracle if you don’t want a problem. Instead, pray and ask for provision and protection. (2) Miracles authenticate the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Miracles prove God for who He is, and are designed to spread the good news. Life is routinely natural and normal, but God is working small miracles every day which we a distracted and too busy to see. Look for them. (3) Miracles almost always involve difficult steps of obedience on our part. We may petition in prayer, but need to obey. Christians have already experienced the gift of salvation, where in our sin we were dead as a doornail spiritually and destined to eternal damnation. Trust and obey the Lord, your blessed Redeemer. The God of the Universe has almighty power.

 

Everybody wants a miracle, but we must never ignore the context by which they come.  

In Christ, Brian