GOD OF MIRACLES
GOD OF MIRACLES
The God Most High is a God of miracles and we can believe His word. We need to not live focused merely on the limitations of this natural realm but rather live with greater focus on the limitless supernatural realm. We need to have faith for and expect miracles to be a part of our lives.
There are many miracles in the Bible… Blind eyes healed and sight restored, deaf ears healed and hearing restored, crippled legs healed and the ability to walk restored, food appears when, moments before, there wasn’t any, water appears when, moments before, there wasn’t any, diseases cured, etc…I encourage you to read the Bible and may the miraculous testimonies of those men and women embolden your faith to believe for miracles in your own life!
Miracles are not limited to physical healings or to the provision of supply in a situation of lack. Miracles can happen in any type of situation where we need God to intervene!
When God intervenes the supernatural bursts into the natural…
In the following examples from the Bible that I have chosen to share with you, we will read of innocent people that had terrible wrongs done to them. But, God took care of each one of these people because they each trusted God and had faith in Him.
In the first two examples we see that the men are challenged as to whether or not they are going to remain in keeping with what they know to be right and to direct their prayers and honor only to Daddy God, the One True God, or are they going to bow their knee to a mere man or to a man-made idol.
Example 1: In the book of Daniel in chapter 6, we read about a conspiracy against this man named Daniel. A group of men conspired against him in hopes that he would fall victim to their devious plot and be sentenced to death by being thrown to the lions. Which was the common punishment for high crimes in the time of the reign of the Medes and Persians—the time that Daniel lived in. But God intervened and turned their plan upside down.
In the beginning, the plan went forward as the conspirators had hoped and charges were brought against Daniel. He was found guilty of breaking a religious statute, made up by his conspirators and then signed into effect by the king. That statute stated “whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man (other than the king) for thirty days” would be thrown into the lion’s den.
It wasn’t long before Daniel was seen praying to the God Most High and it was reported to the king.
So, in verse 16 of Daniel chapter 6 we read: “Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions…17) and a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords.”
The next morning when the king went to the lion’s den and inquired concerning the fate of Daniel. He heard Daniel’s voice call out to him from within the lion’s den: “My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me.” The king then ordered that Daniel be released and we read in verse 23: “Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God” (Daniel 6:22-23) I have added the emphasis because faith in God is what saved Daniel!!!
In the end, the conspirators were the ones thrown to the lions and killed as punishment for their deceit which had been brought to light. And the king declared, that Daniel’s God is the true God that “delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions” (See Daniel 6:27).
Example 2: Again, in the book of Daniel, but this time in chapter 3, we read about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who refused to bow and worship a man-made idol and were punished for it, except God intervened.
Daniel 3:20 says that “he (the king) commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.”
Then as the king gazes intently at the fire into which the three young men had just been thrown, we read, continuing in Daniel chapter 3 verse 24: “Then Nebuchadnezzar, the king was [astonished], and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?” They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. 25) He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. 26) Then Nebuchadnezzar come near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire. 27) And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s councellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.” In verse 28 we read that God “delivered his servants that trusted in him.” Again, I added the emphasis that trust in God opens the doors for miracles to come into troublesome situations.
This king too, like the last one we read about, proclaimed that the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is unlike any other god. The king declared: “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego… 29) there is no other God that can deliver after this sort” (Daniel 3:28, 29).
Example 3: Now in this last example, found in the book Genesis, we read about a man named Joseph who had several very troublesome situations happen to him, one after another, over a period of about ten years or so. BUT! In spite of those difficult situations over such a lengthy period of time, Joseph never stopped trusting in God. Also, Joseph’s attitude and character were continually excellent even though he didn’t understand why God was allowing bad things to happen to him. In the midst of these situations God was doing something supernaturally extraordinary. This story allows us to see that sometimes unpleasant circumstances come upon us but we can trust that God will make something amazingly wonderful out of what was so unpleasant before.
There were two primary events in Joseph’s life that positioned him for the greatness that God had planned for him. Although neither of these events seemed, from a natural realm perspective, to be leading to anything great at the time. But in the supernatural, something awesome was taking place.
The first unpleasant event that took place was that Joseph’s own brothers decided to sell him to a company of Midianite merchants passing through the area where the brothers were tending their sheep (see Genesis 37:28). The merchants were on their way to Egypt. Upon arriving in Egypt the Midianites sold Joseph as a slave to “Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, and captain of the guard” (Genesis 37: 36).
Joseph served as a slave for Potiphar for a time but then, one day, Joseph was falsely accused of misconduct and “Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison” (Genesis 39: 20). I don’t know how long Joseph was in prison for but it was over two years.
Finally the day comes when Joseph is released from prison. Joseph’s release happened because God enabled Joseph to prophetically interpret some troubling dreams for pharaoh. Joseph’s God given ability to interpret dreams pleased Pharaoh. In Genesis 41:38-41 it says: “And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is? 39) And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath [showed] thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art: 40) Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou. 41) And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt” (Genesis 41:38-41).
Joseph’s attitude was right. He had an attitude of humility and therefore pride, or self-entitled rights didn’t get in the way of God taking the different threads of those situations and making a beautiful tapestry of something amazing. When we have an attitude of pride and a sense of self-entitlement it makes us unable to be woven into God’s plan of greatness. I’ve heard it said that to be proud is to be stiff necked. Well, a stiff neck isn’t flexible. Only that which is flexible can be woven into something beautiful. So, because of Joseph’s humble attitude God was able to take him from the lowliest place and move Joseph into a position of great honor—the highest place in Egypt being second to only Pharaoh himself.
Now to take a look at the beautiful tapestry that God made. God used all that had happened to Joseph to save Joseph’s family from starving to death when a great famine came to the land.
We fast forward to chapter 45 in the Bible, and we find that about seven years after Joseph is appointed ruler of the land under Pharaoh that Joseph sees his brothers again. Because of the famine in the land the brothers go to Egypt to buy food. Joseph reveals his identity to them and they are overcome with remorse at what they had done to him. But instead of returning the wrong done to him, which he certainly had the power to do at that point, he forgave them instead. Verses 5 and 8 say: “Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life…8) So, now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.” I emphasized the “but God” because He knows what is happening in the future and will prepare a blessing for us ahead of time, even if for a little while it is in disguise to us, like it was for Joseph.
We should not fear anything because if we are not meant to go through something then we need to trust God that He will shield us from it. And we need to be at peace!!! Daniel wasn’t meant to die in the lion’s den, so God intervened. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego weren’t meant to die in the blazing furnace of fire, and so, again, God intervened. We must have faith that God is with us, always, and very much involved in our lives!
And if something is unavoidable then we are going to go through it, like Joseph did, but we must have faith that God will be with us every step of the way. Faith in God is the key to peace.
