When We Listen – April 24, 2023

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1 Thessalonians 1:1-3 (HCSB)
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy:
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Grace to you and peace.
We always thank God for all of you, remembering you constantly in our prayers. We recall, in the presence of our God and Father, your work of faith, labor of love, and endurance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ,

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Paul wrote this letter not very long after he had been hustled off to Berea to escape the mob violence fomented by the Jewish leadership in the city of Thessalonica. (Act 17:5-10). In fact, the Jewish leaders had tracked him down in Berea after only a short time and stirred up opposition there, causing the brothers to send Paul down to Athens. He left instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as they could (Acts 17:13-15). They finally caught up to Paul in Corinth (Acts 18:5), and when they arrived with a good report on the steadfastness of the Thessalonians despite the persecution that some of them were facing (1 Thessalonian3:6) Paul wrote this letter to encourage them until he himself could return.

Paul encouraged the Thessalonians, all of them new believers, that they were in his prayers. As Paul prayed for them, he lifted up before God a remembrance of the faith of these powerful and faithful new believers that had resulted in their work for the kingdom, continually sharing their faith with those around them, and thus growing God’s kingdom. He also clearly saw that their labor for the kingdom was spurred by the powerful agape love that God has placed in each of their hearts through the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Paul also held them up for their endurance, their perseverance in the midst of challenges and even persecution. He knew that the only source for that kind of staying power is the hope that believers have in their hearts, not just the hope of Heaven someday, but the hope of the presence and power of Jesus working in and through them every day in the meantime. And the fact that they demonstrably possessed that sure hope helped Paul to know that his work there had not been in vain.

Pray with Me

Father, sometimes it is easy for us to fall into the trap of thinking that our faith is simply a matter of believing the right things. But Paul understood that faith in Jesus could not be static. It must be dynamic and productive, because You have an agenda you are still pursuing: the salvation of all mankind and the transformation of the world (Romans 8:19-21). The faithfulness of the Thessalonians was not shown primarily by correct beliefs, but by the actions that those beliefs caused them to do, and by the hope that they held in their hearts as they did them, hope that moved them forward and that made them “persecution-proof”. Lord, help me to be as powerfully moved by my faith in Jesus as they were, help me to be as true to Your mission, and as productive for Your kingdom. Amen.

When We Listen – March 15, 2023

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1 John 5:1-5 (HCSB)
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Messiah has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves the one born of Him. This is how we know that we love God’s children when we love God and obey His commands. For this is what love for God is: to keep His commands. Now His commands are not a burden, because whatever has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith. And who is the one who conquers the world  but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

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John’s argument in this short paragraph runs in a circle, but it is logically coherent. Salvation and overcoming the world are one piece, and both rest on believing that Jesus is the Messiah, the eternal Son of God.

The middle step, the essential step between believing in Jesus and the ability to overcome the world, is obedience to God’s commands. In fact, as John clearly points out, there can be no love for God in the human heart if that heart is rebelling against His commands and is being disobedient. And without obedient love for God, there can be no love for one’s brothers and sisters in Christ.

In a sense, John shows a flow in the Christian life that looks like this: A person believes that Jesus is the Messiah, the eternal Son of God made flesh. Through that belief, that person is born again, and becomes a legitimate child of God. That new relationship with God transforms the heart and give that person the power and the will to obey God’s commands. Through that obedience, a person is able to overcome the world and live victoriously. At the same time, the transformation of the heart that comes through relationship with God results in genuine, self-sacrificing agape love toward one’s brothers and sisters in Christ.

None of these steps can be left out for salvation and all its various manifestations to be real. No one can be born again without acknowledging Jesus as the Messiah and God’s eternal Son. No one can be in relationship with God without obeying all His commands. And no one can effectively love their brothers and sisters in Christ without being in relationship with God.

Pray with Me

Father, even though at first glance John’s argument seems repetitive and circular, it makes a lot of sense. He is simply showing how belief in Jesus, salvation, obedience, and love for You and for others is all one piece, with each part interlocked with every other part. For salvation to be real, each part must be present and fully operational, or everything falls apart. Help me, Lord, to live out this amazing truth today in every dimension of my life. Amen.

When We Listen – August 22, 2022

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James 2:25-26 (HCSB)
And in the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by a different route? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

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James continues to provide proof of his thesis that faith, if not accompanied by action, is worthless, dead. And his final exhibit from the history of God’s people is Rahab.

His initial premise, that a prostitute could ever be considered righteous by God might shock some modern sensibilities. But in the process of aligning herself with God and His people, she turned away from the gods she had worshiped in Jericho, as well as her former way of life, and turn to God instead.

Rahab was initially motivated by fear, understanding clearly that God had already given His people the land. She, along with the rest of the citizens of Jericho, had heard about the death and destruction that God had visited on Egypt to free His people, about the parting of the Red Sea, and about how the people of Sihon and Og were completely destroyed east of the Jordan (Joshua 2:8-11).

But, as James points out, that fear alone was not enough to save her. Had she betrayed the spies, or had she simply cowered in fear along with the rest of the people in Jericho, she would have been destroyed along with them. But instead, she aligned herself entirely with God and His people, even as she stayed in Jericho. She helped God’s people, and then trusted that following their instructions would result in her deliverance, and the deliverance of her family as well.

Rahab’s fear led to belief. And that belief led to the obedient trust that is faith. And, as a result, she found that God honored the promise that had been made to her. As the city was completely destroyed, she and her close family alone were saved (Joshua 6:24-25).

And her story didn’t end there. After she was delivered, she married a man named Salmon of the tribe of Judah. Together they had a son, an honorable man of high regard named Boaz, who married Ruth the Moabitess (Ruth 4:13-17, Matthew 1:5-6). Thus, Rahab became the great, great grandmother of King David and an ancestor of Jesus, the Messiah!

James’ conclusion to this portion of his letter is a restatement that just as a body without the spirit is dead, so faith that is unaccompanied by works of faithful obedience is dead, completely worthless, and unable to save anyone.

Pray with Me

Father, Rahab is one of those people who tend to become more of a footnote in a lot of Christians’ minds; a Bible story that seems a little peculiar and hard to get comfortable with. But she was never a footnote to You. Through Your grace she was not only saved from destruction, but she also became a vital link in the lineages of Jesus the Savior, as well as a model of what faithful obedience looks like, cited not just by James, but by the author of Hebrews as well (Hebrews 11: 31). Lord, help me to have a faith as strong as Rahab, not just fear or mere belief, but powerful, obedient action, today and every day. Amen.

When We Listen – August 12, 2022

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James 2:18-24 (HCSB)
But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith from my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. The demons also believe—and they shudder.
Foolish man! Are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless? Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was perfected. So the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness, and he was called God’s friend. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.

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James had just written that faith without action or “works” is dead. But he knew that some would push back on that assertion, alleging the faith is merely strong belief, and good works, or obedience, are completely different things. So, he addresses those arguments here.

James uses what, to some, would be considered a peculiar illustration: the fact that even demons have a sort of faith. They “believe” in the one true God. They believe that He exists, that He is all powerful and all holy, and they believe that He can destroy them with a single word, so much so that they live their lives in fear of Him. But that “faith”, those beliefs, even though they are correct, can’t save them, because their deeds are evil.

James’ next illustration is more orthodox: Abraham’s sacrifice of his son Isaac. Abraham had been commanded to offer his son, the son of the promise, as a burnt offering. According to the writer of Hebrews, Abraham had found the command confusing, but went ahead and complied, reasoning that God was “able even to raise someone from the dead” (Hebrews 11:19).

As James points out, Abraham could have believed that with all his heart, but that “faith” was useless until he actually obeyed God’s command, laid his son on the altar, and raised the knife to slay him. It was not his belief that caused him to be considered righteous by God, but his actions, his obedience.

James draws the conclusion that, even though belief can exist without action, it is not until action is taken based on a command or a promise from God that belief actually becomes faith that can bring salvation and righteousness.

Pray with Me

Father, this makes sense. In a way, it is very much like someone who believes that You can save them through faith in Jesus, but who never repents, never surrenders. Their belief in the possibility maybe strong, but without taking actual steps of obedience and trust, that belief can’t save them. Thus, the difference between belief and true faith, as the writer of Hebrews depicts repeatedly, is that faith is belief in action. When I take that step of obedience, or that step of trust based on your promise to me, I can say that I truly have faith that can save me, faith that can make me genuinely righteous before you. Thank you, Lord, for this light. Amen.

Today’s Scripture – December 3, 2018

John 17:6-8 (NIV)
“I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.”

This core group of followers, only eleven men at this time, were given to Jesus for the specific task of propagating God’s kingdom around the world. Jesus had many other followers, both men and women, but these eleven were specifically selected by the Father (Luke 6:12-16) to be His inner circle, and to be His apostles, those who would be sent out from Him (the root meaning of “apostle”) to spread the good news of the kingdom.

They were a diverse lot. Some were professional men, like Matthew the tax collector. Some were laborers or business owners. And one was even a zealot. The thing they had in common, the thing that united them, was that they had all left everything behind to follow Jesus (Luke 18:28).

Into the hearts and minds of these men Jesus had poured the knowledge of the kingdom of God, what it is and how it works. And upon His departure, these eleven would be filled with the Holy Spirit and tasked with making disciples of all nations. They would have to teach all that Jesus had taught them to all those who received Him by faith, starting with those who had already chosen to follow Him, who had received some of His teachings, and who would make up the bulk of the 120 that gathered at Pentecost (Acts 1:15).

Even though these eleven men had only been able to assimilate a small portion of all that Jesus had taught them, He knew that they had believed as much as they could understand at the moment, and that they would believe the rest as the Holy Spirit continue to teach them.

Father, it is helpful to realize that these apostles, who we so look up to, didn’t start out as spiritual superstars. Instead, they were simply men who were completely devoted to Jesus, and who relied on the Holy Spirit to help them learn all they would need to know and to empower them to do all that they were called on to do. And all that, from the devotion to the empowerment and insight that the Holy Spirit gives, is available to us just as it was to them. Help us, Lord, to give ourselves entirely to You, to be used by You to grow Your kingdom, so that we can glorify You just as they did. Amen.

If you are enjoying my blog, I invite you to check out my book, When We Listen, A Devotional Commentary on the Gospel of Mark. Just follow this url: http://eagerpress.webstarts.com/ Thanks, and God bless you all!

Today’s Scripture – October 16, 2018

John 12:37-43 (NIV)
Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere: “He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn–and I would heal them.” Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.
Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.

There were two groups of people that John identified in the crowds that were listening to Jesus. The first group was composed of the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders, who rejected Jesus in spite of the amazing miracles that He was continuing to do. John noted that their rejection of Jesus as Messiah and Lord was a direct fulfillment of a prophecy in Isaiah 53:1. Isaiah foresaw that, even though the news of the coming of the kingdom of God should have been a cause of great rejoicing, the hearts of many of God’s people would be so hardened and their necks so stiff, that they would not receive it.

The second prophecy is from Isaiah 6:10, and shows why they were rejecting the Messiah. The Pharisees in particular, and many of the other Jewish leaders in general, had developed a religion in which they believed it was possible to scale the heights to God’s throne by their own efforts. So, they rejected the idea that they needed an intermediary between them and God, or that they would need a better sacrifice than those they continually brought to the temple.

Because they were so secure in their own efforts to achieve godliness, and because they rejected God’s plan, He gave them over to their delusions. He closed their eyes so that they could not see and deadened their hearts so that they could not understand, although in their self-deceived state they believed themselves to be the most clear-eyed, wise people of the day.

The other group consisted of those whose hearts were drawn to follow Jesus. But far too many of them would not publicly proclaim their belief in Him because the Pharisees had sworn to oust from the synagogue any who believed Jesus to be the Messiah (John 9:22). The tragedy is that these were just as lost as those who outright rejected Jesus, because they chose to fear man rather than God, and they craved the praise that came from people rather than the praise that comes only from God to those who are obedient.

 

Father, we can easily fall into those same two traps today. It is absolutely possible (and clearly evident in some places) for us to build ourselves a “do it yourself” faith in which we strive to reach You in our own effort, to climb over the wall of the sheep pen instead of entering the one and only gate that You have provided (John 10:1-2, 7-8). And it is possible for even those of us who trust in Jesus to pull back and be silent instead of obedient because we fear the disapproval of those who would shame us for our belief. Protect us, Lord, from either of those grievous errors. Instead, help us to put our full faith in Jesus for salvation, and to fully obey Jesus and share the good news of the kingdom with everyone, whether that is approved of by those in authority or not. Amen.

If you are enjoying my blog, I invite you to check out my new book, When We Listen, A Devotional Commentary on the Gospel of Mark. Just follow this url: http://eagerpress.webstarts.com/ Thanks, and God bless you all!

Today’s Scripture – July 27, 2018

John 8:25-30 (NIV)
“Who are you?” they asked.
“Just what I have been claiming all along,” Jesus replied. “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”
They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am [the one I claim to be] and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him.

Jesus had done such amazing things, and was now saying so many amazing things, that the religious leaders wanted Him to say directly who He believed Himself to be. At least that way they would be able to evaluate His claims.

But Jesus wasn’t into playing their games. He had already told them on more than one occasion who He was: the Son of God (John 2:16, 3:16-18, 5:17, 19-23, 43), one who had come from heaven (John 3:13, 6:38), the one who could deliver from condemnation (John 5:24), the one who has life in Himself (John 5:26), the one with God-given authority to judge (John 5:27, 30), the Bread of life (John 6:35, 48, 51, 57), the giver of living water (John 4:13-14, 7:37-38), and the Light of the world (John 8:12). He had answered their question clearly, accurately, and repeatedly over the previous two years, and was not going to repeat it. If they hadn’t paid attention, if they hadn’t heard what he had clearly said, the fault was not in Him, but in them.

The leaders of the people refused to believe in Jesus (although more and more of the people were believing). But Jesus pointed to an event that was approaching quickly: His crucifixion and, by association, His resurrection. When He died on the cross, even His death would point to His true identity for all who had eyes to see (Matthew 27:54, Mark 15:39, Luke 23:47).

But that wasn’t all. God was not going to leave Him helpless in death’s grasp. He would raise Him back to life on the third day as an undeniable testimony that all that He had said about himself was true; that His words were, in fact, God’s words. On that day, each man would have to make a choice as to whether or not to believe Jesus and be saved, or deny who He really was and be lost. Their choice, and the consequences that would accrue because of it, would be on their own heads.

Events and conversations that followed this challenge proved that, tragically, few if any of the leaders chose to believe in Jesus at that time. But of the people standing nearby and listening, Jesus’ words convinced many, who put their faith in Him.

Father, it is tragic how many are so bound up in their own belief system that they will not see Your truth when it is standing right in front of them. Jesus was not only telling the truth, He was the truth. He was not only telling them about the God that they claimed to serve, He was that God in the flesh. But they were unwilling to accept that truth, and instead chose to cling to their own version of the truth, which was being proved more and more incomplete and incorrect with every teaching that Jesus brought forth. Lord, help me to always keep an open heart as You use Your word to polish, adjust, and even supplant the truths that I hold to with Your truth. Amen.

Today’s Scripture – March 1, 2017

Matthew 20:17-19 (NIV) Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law.  They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified.  On the third day he will be raised to life!”

Jesus knew that when He was arrested, it would completely freak out His disciples.  And when He was crucified, killed, and buried, it would drive them into hiding and into despair.  So several times on the journey south He tried to explain to them clearly what would happen so that that knowledge would blunt the force of the trauma a bit.  And then, after He rose, He would remind them of what He had predicted, and they would see how precisely it had all been fulfilled, and their faith in Him would be strengthened.

Jesus foretold three distinct phases of what would happen:

• He would be betrayed, ostensibly by one of His own followers, handed over to the chief priest and teachers of the law, who would then condemn Him to death.
• The chief priests and teachers of the law would hand Him over to the gentiles, the Romans, who would mock Him, flog Him, and crucify Him.
• On the third day He would be raised to life.

We who look back on these events after nearly 2,100 years can easily see how they were all fulfilled.  But to the disciples peering forward into the dark of the future, it was nearly impossible to see how they could ever happen.

• Who among them could possibly betray Jesus to the Jewish leaders? And even if one of them did, what charge could Jesus possibly be convicted of that would be worthy of death?  At that time, very few things rose to that level, and they knew that Jesus wasn’t guilty of any of them.  Despite the conflicts Jesus had with these leaders, the disciples still respected them, and couldn’t imagine them ever giving a false conviction.
• If Jesus was convicted, why would the Jewish leaders hand Him over to hated Romans? And what charge could they possibly level against Him that would cause the justice-minded Romans to sentence Him to death by crucifixion?
• And, of course, the most improbable: If Jesus really was crucified and killed, how could He rise again on the third day? Who would raise Him up?

It was these logical challenges that kept Jesus’ words form finding a place in their minds.  Despite His absolute clarity, it was only after His resurrection that they would see the truth of His words.

Father, it is so hard, even today, for us to see forward; it is much easier for us to look back and see the truth of what You foretold.  Help us to simply take You at Your word, knowing that, even if we can’t connect all of the dots in our own minds, You are always 100% accurate in everything You tell us.  Amen.

Today’s Scripture – January 7, 2017

Matthew 13:53-58 (NIV) When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there.  Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed.  “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked.  “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?  Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?  Aren’t all his sisters with us?  Where then did this man get all these things?”  And they took offense at him.
But Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor.”  And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

Jesus was not only accepted by the majority of the people who heard and saw Him, He was actually acclaimed by them.  But the people of His hometown had an entirely different response to Him.  They were offended by what He taught, and by His ability to do miracles.

The source of their offense was two-fold.  First, some of them had known Jesus since He was a little kid.  They had watched Him grow up, had seen Him fall down and skin His knees, and had heard Him falter over words when He first tried to read the Torah.  They knew Him as simply one of the neighborhood kids – nothing special.  And the idea that this “kid” could possibly have grown up to be a miracle worker, a prophet, or even, a some were saying, the Messiah Himself, was offensive to them.

The second reason for their offense was what Jesus was teaching.  He clearly stated at the Nazareth synagogue that the Messianic scriptures were being fulfilled in Him (Luke 4:16-21), resulting in the people trying to throw Him off a cliff outside of town, convinced that He was guilty of blasphemy.  Jesus wasn’t shy about who He was and what He had come to do, and that would have been VERY off-putting to the people who had known Him for nearly 30 years without seeing a single miracle happen around Him during that time.

Matthew states that Jesus didn’t do many miracles in Nazareth during that visit due to their lack of faith.  Mark puts it differently:  He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.  And he was amazed at their lack of faith. (Mark 6:5-6a NIV)  These two passages are supplementary, not contradictory.  Jesus did heal some who were sick (causing additional offense – verse 54b), but He did not do any great miracles.  The people’s lack of faith did not take away His power or His ability to do miracles, but He was unwilling to reward their lack of faith with the kinds of demonstrations of mighty kingdom power that He wanted to do.  He would not do something “splashy” to prove to these people that He really was who He claimed to be.  If they healings that He had done and the teachings that He was giving them were not received as proof enough, then He would just move on and try again later.

Jesus never pushed Himself on people.  He clearly taught the truth about God’s kingdom, He demonstrated its reality with the signs and miracles that He did, then He left it to the people to decide.

Father, we need to take a lesson from Jesus in this area, from both sides of the equation.  We need to be so closely connected to You that we can clearly speak Your words and teach clearly and unapologetically about Your kingdom, just like Jesus.  We need to allow You to work through us all that You want to do to demonstrate the reality of Your kingdom, just like Jesus.  And then we need to let the people decide, without trying to argue them in (which never really works anyway!).  Instead, if they ignore the words and the signs, and reject the message of Your kingdom, we can (and should) simply back off and try another time to reach them with the gospel.  Thank You for this lesson.  Amen.

Today’s Scripture – November 21, 2014

Mark 11:20-26 (NIV): In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”
“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.

Even though the disciples had no idea of the real meaning of Jesus cursing the fig tree, they could clearly see the results. In less than 24 hours, the tree had completely withered – dried up from the roots.

Then, as now, people frequently delivered curses on everything from obnoxious neighbors, to misbehaving children, to stubborn donkeys. But those were figurative in the minds of most people. They never really expected the curse to DO anything! But Jesus had cursed this tree, and now, the next morning, the tree was absolutely dead.

Jesus pointed out that the secret was not in magic, or some mysterious power, but simply faith in God.       Many people try to define faith as a belief that originates in themselves. They take Jesus’ words, “whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours,” as meaning that if they can make themselves believe strongly enough that they have something, that God will be forced to give it to them. But that interpretation completely ignores Jesus’ first words: “Have faith in God!”

The truth is that Jesus never did anything on His own (cf. John 5:19). He was constantly listening to God’s voice, and continually obeying everything that the Father told Him to do. If Jesus healed someone, it was because God told Him to do it. When He spoke to the people, it was the very words of God that He spoke. And when Jesus cursed the fig tree, it was the Father’s idea to do it.

The faith part for Jesus came into play when He obeyed what the Father told Him to do. If the Father told Him to heal a blind man by spitting on the ground, making mud out of the spit and dirt, and then putting that mud on the blind man’s eyes (John 9:6-7), He could have thought, “That’s a really weird way of doing things. I’ve never done it that way before. What if I do this and it doesn’t work?” And nothing would have happened, because He didn’t have faith enough to just do what the Father had told Him to do, exactly the way He was told to do it.

But Jesus NEVER responded that way. Whatever the Father told Him to do, no matter how improbable it seemed, no matter how strange the methodology that He chose, He always instantly obeyed to the letter.       His faith was perfect, because He never second guessed, never wondered if God could actually do what He promised.       He obeyed completely, believing that what God had told Him to do was a done deal. And miracles happened!

Of course there are a couple of things that will stop the process cold, because they put a separation between a person and God: unforgiven sin in us, and unforgiveness of people’s sins against us. And these two are closely interrelated. Jesus cautioned His disciples to never let a sin against us go unforgiven, because it will prevent our own sins from being forgiven (cf. Matthew 6:14-15, 5:23-24). That will cut us off from hearing God’s voice clearly. Which means that we won’t be able to hear what He wants us to do. Which means that we won’t be able to exercise dynamic faith in His ability to do what He has told us He wants to do. Which means no miracle.

Father, it is good to be reminded that the real secret to miracles is that they originate in Your own heart. And our faith even originates in You too! When you give us command, even a command to do something miraculous, we can rest assured that You are right there enabling it, if we will only respond in faith, and obey. Amen.