Miracles
Some people don’t believe in miracles. Period. They believe in science. They believe in tangible things which can be studied. They commit miracles to the class of fairy tales. Donkeys talking. People walking on water. Raising the dead. Creating worlds with words. Everything must be explained by science, or it didn’t really happen. Of course, many of those people also believe in evolution which is impossibly observable and thus unscientific.
Some people definitely believe in miracles. Nothing is impossible for God. They talk to God about everything, believing that He is who He claims to be and will come through for them and others. Parting seas in the past. No problem. Believing God today for whatever. No problem. Their faith is rooted in the Bible and is active in life today.
Then there are those who believe in miracles at a distance. The Old Testament miracles are easy for them to believe. That was way back then. The New Testament wonders are easy to accept as true. Those are still far in the past. Where they have problems with miracles is in today’s world, but the God of yesterday is the God of today. Now let me give these people some slack. When you look in the Bible, miracles were only common in five periods: (1) Creation, (2) the Exodus, (3) Elijah and Elisha’s ministries, (4) Jesus’ life, and (5) the time of the early church (Book of Acts). Miracles are not commonplace in the rest of the Bible.
Now let me say that the point isn’t really whether to believe in miracles or not, but do we believe in the Lord? If we believe what the Bible declares about God, then we must believe that God is a miracle-worker today whether we see Him do a physical miracle or not.
Is your faith small? I must admit that my prayer oftentimes is like the father who asked Jesus to heal his son, confessing, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9 NLT). I will continue to inform my faith today with the faith and truth of the past. I will firmly plant my feet on the foundation laid by previous God-followers. “Together, we are His house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus Himself” (Ephesians 2 NLT).
Does God still perform miracles? (click here)
This week, you’ll read…
LEVITICUS 22-27: The Year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25) is a wonderful picture of Christ’s redeeming us from slavery to sin, death, and hell. To read more about this, check out the link below.
What is the Year of Jubilee? (click here)
NUMBERS 22-36: This week, you’ll read about one of those miracles—a prophet for hire named Balaam who is miraculously reprimanded by his faithful donkey.
PSALMS 40-45: Another great miracle is anyone being saved from sin and sure destruction. David gives us a great picture of rescue in Psalm 40 which has many parallels with salvation. “I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me, And heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth—Praise to our God” (Psalm 40 in The New King James Version).
ACTS 22-28: Other than Jesus, the Apostle Paul is possibly the most beloved character in the Bible. Under God’s inspiration, he’s given us so much, and over half of the Book of Acts is devoted to Paul’s life and ministry. In your last 11 days of reading in March, you’ll witness Paul go to Jerusalem which begins his slow incarcerated journey to Rome. “That night the Master appeared to Paul: ‘It’s going to be all right. Everything is going to turn out for the best. You’ve been a good witness for me here in Jerusalem. Now you’re going to be my witness in Rome!’” (Acts 23 in The Message Bible).
Many miracles occurred in the Book of Acts, and you’ll read about a couple this week in Acts 28. See the link below to read an article about all of the miracles in Acts.