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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
This is what the Lord says—your
Redeemer, who formed you in the womb:
“I am the Lord who says to the
watery deep, ‘Be dry, and I will dry up your streams’”.
Isaiah
44:24a, 27
This ends this
reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
One thing is certain about the Lord
as we look at our scriptures and experience His work in our lives and the lives
of others.
He is a Lord of miraculous power.
How miraculous?
Think about anything that could be
humanly improbable or impossible. Man or woman could not possibly achieve it
but nothing is beyond what the Lord God Almighty can do. Nothing.
This is the fourth assertion we
find from the Lord in the closing verses of Isaiah 44 and thus the fourth
devotion on what He assures us we find in Him.
First, He is the Maker of all
things. Next, the sole source of perfect truth. Thirdly, He is the Lord who
builds us up in righteousness upon His sure, firm foundations. And as we see
today, He is the worker of miracles.
Need an example?
Look at our scripture verses again:
This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: “I
am the Lord who says to the watery deep, ‘Be dry, and I will dry up your
streams.’” Isaiah 44:24a, 27
Who can control the seas so that
they move and dry up?
The Lord can.
Remember when the Israelites were
fleeing the Egyptians with Pharaoh and his men hot in pursuit. There was a vast
sea in front of them and unless some passage was made, they would have been
trapped, unable to escape and facing being captured again or even killed.
The Lord, their Deliverer, wasn’t
about to let that happen. Here’s the scriptural account of what went down:
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the
Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land.
The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground,
with a wall of water on their right and on their left. Exodus 14:21-22
Can you even imagine what it had to
be like to experience this, to be an Israelite walking on dry land where there
once was a sea which was now turned into walls of water, framing their pathway?
It had to be simply unbelievable but then again, this was the Lord making it
happen and He can do all things.
We would be well served to remember
this as we are dealing with issues in our lives. As I like to say regularly to
people who are struggling in the midst of circumstances, the Lord has worked
greater miracles than fixing whatever they are going through. And indeed, He
has.
Consider these other astounding events:
1. Feeding the masses with little.
As evening approached, the disciples came to Him and said, “This is a
remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can
go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”
Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to
eat.”
“We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.
“Bring them here to me,” He said. And He directed the people to sit
down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to
heaven, He gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then He gave them to the
disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were
satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that
were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men,
besides women and children. Matthew 14:15-21
Jesus called his disciples to Him and said, “I have compassion for
these people; they have already been with Me three days and have nothing to
eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”
His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote
place to feed such a crowd?”
“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.
“Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”
He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then He took the seven
loaves and the fish, and when He had given thanks, He broke them and gave them
to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. They all ate and were
satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that
were left over. The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides
women and children. Matthew 15:32-38
Two separate occasions in the
Gospel of Matthew. Each involved a multitude of people who needed fed but with
little food to give them. In each instance, the Lord took a little bread and a
few fish, and fed the masses. Imagine you are a disciple that knew what Jesus
had done. How would you have felt?
I don’t know about you but I would
begin to think that there is nothing this man could do and I would be right
because He was the Lord, the One who could do all things.
I could go on to cover the manna
and quail (Exodus 16) the Lord sent to His people or the water He brought them from
a rock (Exodus 17) during their journey to the Promised Land but you get the
point. The Lord is our Great Provider and defies the odds in making sure we are
nourished and nurtured.
2. Calming the storm.
Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept
over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke Him, saying,
“Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then He got
up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the
winds and the waves obey him!” Matthew 8:24-27
Imagine you were a disciple in that
boat. This wasn’t a cruise ship but rather a basic boat which would easily be
capsized by rough seas. When a storm came upon them, it had so much fury that
the waves were sweeping over the sides of the boat. It would be easy to be
afraid of drowning.
But Jesus was in the boat. He was
physically with the disciples and yet they allowed their fear to replace their
faith, even though they had already seen Him use His miraculous powers. Didn’t
they know He would never let them perish? Apparently not because we know they hurried
to wake Him and earned His rebuke as a result before He rebuked the winds and
waves bringing complete calm.
What was the result?
Utter amazement. This Jesus could
command the winds and waves. He could dissipate storms and bring calm. He could
do miraculous things with the elements of weather.
Friends, this almighty Lord we
serve, the same Lord we read of in the scriptures, is ready to calm the storms
of our lives as well. All we need to do is place our full faith and trust in
Him and maintain that even when the winds and waves might threaten. We always
find peace when we confidently maintain and sustain our belief and hope in the
Lord. He can do all things and that includes bringing you through your
circumstances.
3. Giving mobility to the lame, sight
to the blind, and hearing to the deaf.
A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard
that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no
room left, not even outside the door, and He preached the word to them. Some
men came, bringing to Him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they
could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the
roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was
lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your
sins are forgiven.”
Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to
themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can
forgive sins but God alone?”
Immediately Jesus knew in His spirit that this was what they were
thinking in their hearts, and He said to them, “Why are you thinking these
things? Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are
forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But I want you to know
that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.”
So He said to the man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”
He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone
and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!” Mark
2:1-12
Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to
the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. There some people
brought to Him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus
to place His hand on him.
After He took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put His fingers
into the man’s ears. Then He spit and touched the man’s tongue. He looked up to
heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be
opened!”). At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he
began to speak plainly.
Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the
more they kept talking about it. People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He
has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute
speak.” Mark 7:31-37
They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged
Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the
village. When He had spit on the man’s eyes and put His hands on him, Jesus
asked, “Do you see anything?”
He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking
around.”
Once more Jesus put His hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were
opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Mark 8:22-25
Three separate encounters, each
with a man who had suffered through a long term affliction. One had no
mobility, confined to lying around on a mat. Another had no sight and the other
no hearing. All were healed and restored to full health by Lord Jesus, the
Great Physician, the One who can do all things.
We need to keep in mind that doctors
might say one thing but only the Lord has the final word when it comes to
matters of health. He is a proven worker of miracles and no illness or injury
is beyond His repair.
4. Bringing the dead to life.
While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of
Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother
the teacher anymore?”
Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just
believe.”
He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the
brother of James. When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw
a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to
them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” But
they laughed at Him.
After He put them all out, He took the child’s father and mother and
the disciples who were with Him, and went in where the child was. He took her
by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl,
I say to you, get up!”). Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around
(she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. Mark
5:35-42
Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It
was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.
“Take away the stone,” He said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time
there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see
the glory of God?”
So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I
thank you that you have heard me. I knew that You always hear Me, but I said
this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that You
sent Me.”
When He had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come
out!”
The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen,
and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” John
11:38-44
How miraculous is our Lord?
He can and has raised the dead to
life. Now that’s power!
Who can resurrect and reanimate?
Only the Maker and Giver of life,
the Lord God Almighty, that’s who.
What makes this fact even more
amazing is that the Lord did not just make resurrection a one or two person
event. No, God, our of His incredible love for His people, sent His only Son
Jesus, the very Jesus who would raise Jairus’ daughter and Lazarus from the
dead, to ultimately die for every man and woman, bearing all their sins on
Calvary’s cross before being buried in a tomb for three days and then
resurrected by His Father, paving the way for all who place their belief and
trust in Jesus as Savior to follow some day.
We would be dead from our sins without
intercession and that’s why we need Jesus. He is the only way to God the Father
(John 14:6) and through Him, we are justified (made just as if we had never
sinned) and pardoned from our death penalty, free to live now and forever in
service to a Savior who defined selfless sacrifice and obedience to His Father’s
will.
Friends, I could list far more
miracles than those mentioned but the main point is made here. Through the
Lord, all things are possible. Let us be encouraged by this truth as we offer
the Lord the fullest measure of our honor, praise, and glory, now and forever
more.
Amen.
In
Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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