Miracles - I have been amazed over the past couple of years at the amount of air time by our national radio station - CBC - spent on spiritual topics. I recently heard a CBC radio interview with a doctor talking about his being an atheist. He was asked by the interviewer what it would take for him to believe in God and give up his atheism. He responded that if he saw a miracle of God, then he would believe. Then he described a situation which would be a miracle of God - an amputated leg growing back to a fully functioning leg.
It seemed a little extreme but it reminded me about the teaching I’ve heard over the years about miracles and that today, Christians seem to view miracles to be for their comfort.
We somehow have come to believe God for the miracle of cures from various diseases, reduced pain, financial gifts, and so on — all for our comfort, MY comfort. I think we have come to these ideas from teachings that go by us - especially by television preachers. “Send this or that and you will get your miracle”.
I thoroughly believe in miracles and I believe in God, who is so able to do miracles. And, I believe God heals us when we call on Him - He is the Healer. In fact, He invites us to come to Him with our needs.
But, imagine if we prayed for miracles, only so that the unbelieving would believe. We talk about signs and wonders - but I’m not sure what we are thinking they will be. I’m looking forward to the time when miracles happen for no other reason but to catch the attention of the lost. I believe for that.
Just yesterday in another interview in another setting, I heard again an occasion where God showed His power in a supernatural way - not for people’s comfort but to draw the attention of the unbelieving person. A dear lady was telling of a time in Romania when she was with a group of young people praying - and an unbelieving neighbour called for the fire department when she saw fire coming out of the top of the building where they were praying. Two other times I have heard of that same thing happening, once in Ontario and another time in Nova Scotia. I’m sure there are other accounts of such happenings – God doing such a supernatural thing, not for our comfort but to show His power and His glory.
The Bible, of course, is filled with accounts of miracles of God - sometimes they were for the comfort of His people as with the children of Israel but on those occasions, the people did not even pray for such a thing; God just provided in a supernatural way.
Re-read some of the miracles that Jesus performed - the feeding of the five thousand or the turning of the water into wine. Yes, the provision from the miracle did provide for the comfort of the people, but the supernatural action of God in all of these cases was to show His power, His glory, to do something that in no way could be accomplished by men.
I long to see His miracles.
For His Glory – not for my comfort!!
Submitted by Naida
It seemed a little extreme but it reminded me about the teaching I’ve heard over the years about miracles and that today, Christians seem to view miracles to be for their comfort.
We somehow have come to believe God for the miracle of cures from various diseases, reduced pain, financial gifts, and so on — all for our comfort, MY comfort. I think we have come to these ideas from teachings that go by us - especially by television preachers. “Send this or that and you will get your miracle”.
I thoroughly believe in miracles and I believe in God, who is so able to do miracles. And, I believe God heals us when we call on Him - He is the Healer. In fact, He invites us to come to Him with our needs.
But, imagine if we prayed for miracles, only so that the unbelieving would believe. We talk about signs and wonders - but I’m not sure what we are thinking they will be. I’m looking forward to the time when miracles happen for no other reason but to catch the attention of the lost. I believe for that.
Just yesterday in another interview in another setting, I heard again an occasion where God showed His power in a supernatural way - not for people’s comfort but to draw the attention of the unbelieving person. A dear lady was telling of a time in Romania when she was with a group of young people praying - and an unbelieving neighbour called for the fire department when she saw fire coming out of the top of the building where they were praying. Two other times I have heard of that same thing happening, once in Ontario and another time in Nova Scotia. I’m sure there are other accounts of such happenings – God doing such a supernatural thing, not for our comfort but to show His power and His glory.
The Bible, of course, is filled with accounts of miracles of God - sometimes they were for the comfort of His people as with the children of Israel but on those occasions, the people did not even pray for such a thing; God just provided in a supernatural way.
Re-read some of the miracles that Jesus performed - the feeding of the five thousand or the turning of the water into wine. Yes, the provision from the miracle did provide for the comfort of the people, but the supernatural action of God in all of these cases was to show His power, His glory, to do something that in no way could be accomplished by men.
I long to see His miracles.
For His Glory – not for my comfort!!
Submitted by Naida
posted by Randall | 5:49 a.m.
4 Comments:
I don't get to do this often... enough comment on Naida's blog I mean. This is a great theme and I hope that all our readers will comment on it. We, my family that is, have experienced several miracles, but the one that comes quickly to mind is a miracle of Divine transportation. Back in the winter of 1965/66, my Dad and I were working in the State of Maine on a construction project, we were electrician's and every weekend we would come home to New Brunswick, rain or shine sleet or snow. My beautiful young wife travelled with me...we were only married two years at the time. One Friday night we headed for home in a thick blinding snowstorm...not a wise move it turned out. We had just bought a new to us car in St. Stephen and it was excellent in snow, thank God. However this was no ordinary snowstorm. In fact it was a blizzard. The visibility was nil at best and when we came to a certasin spot on the highway where there was a turn in the road, a sort of long sweeping curve, I drove across it from where it started to turn to the right and then it swept to the left but I drove across it and found out later that it was physically impossible to do so as there was a great deep gully or ditch there. God transported the car over that gully because the car should have sunk into the snow which at that point was several feet deep. God bless your blogging Naida...what a great theme!
Sometimes when I am stuck or not quite sure of something I go to the dictionary for the real meaning .....mir.a.cle :a happening that is contrary to the known laws of nature :this may be so but its not good enough,but it is most likely the reason we don't see [ miracles ] we don't even know what to look for.....I have always been led to believe that only God can perform [ miracles ] I have also always been led to believe....to get the true meaning of a word,go to the dictionary,now I find even this has changed or do I just need a better defintion of the word " MIRACLE " to get a better defintion ......change books...from the dictionary to the BIBLE....now we can see what to look for to find a miracle...GOD
Coffee
Naida
Very good word.
As I was reading your blog,I got to thinking about a time in my own life when I was looking for a miracle that was going to save my family.My bother was dying,and in my mind I saw this Christmas Miracle[it was in Dec.]he would be healed and my family would see and be saved.
There were two things wrong with my thinking.First I never had the faith to tell my family that I was looking for this miracle.Did not want them to blame God if he did not get better,"DOUBT"
Next and most important was that "God had His plan for my brother."
To take him home with Him.
I could never readly understand
why,until my mom was dying and asked about my brother and did I think he was in heaven.
It was then that God gave me my anwser,both for me and my mom.
You see two years before he was very sick and I prayed with him and he accepted Jesus and the next day he was well!!Healed!!
But when he came home even though
he made some changes to his life for the better he never readly give himself to the Lord.
And that night as I talked to mom
the Lord let me understand then why
He took my brother.Because He knew that "he was ready".Like the time before I prayed with him and he said he know that he only needed Jesus.He was saved!
We don't know the future but God does and He knew how my brother's life would have gone if he was heal
again.He is in heaven now but were would he be if he had lived??
My mom accepted the Lord that night and went home knowing that my brother and dad would be in heaven when she got there.
The salvation of my family was a
miracle that I got to witness as I prayed with each one of them on their death bed.
Miracles come in different ways just look for them.
C.M.
Hi Naida. Back several years ago now, my moms sister Ruthie, was sick with cancer. Years before, her doctor kept an eye on a tumor the size of a pea and did nothing about it. Years later, it grew to the size of a lemon. I didnt understand it at the time. Why didnt the doctor remove the lump at that time years before? It spread to her liver, lungs, lymph nodes, etc. Within months she passed away. During her final stages, I truly believed that she was going to be healed. On her last trip to the hospital I had posters on my parents living room window saying that I believed that she was going to have her miracle and be healed. I never had faith like that before that. I knew that she would be healed. I was confident that Jesus would heal her. A week or so later, she passed away. Pastor Starratt was the pastor of our church at that time and I had met with him. He saw how sad I was about her passing. He explained to me not to be doubtful about her healing. He told me that she IS healed. He explained how she was well and cancer free and living in the presence of Jesus. I had never looked at it from that point of view before. Jesus healed her in HIS way....not MY way. She had been so sick and I knew she was ready. Jesus' timing is the perfect timing. Thanks Naida for reminding me that Jesus knows whats best for us. I will see her again someday.
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