What happened to all the miracles podcast notes

Several years ago I was working on a home improvement project for my daughters birthday. She shares a room with her sister and has always longed for a place of her own. So for her birthday this year my wife and I decided to give her the downstairs closet. I know that doesn’t sound like much of a present, but it’s one of those big closets that goes underneath the stairs so their’s plenty of room in it. I painted it blue, I made one whole wall a whiteboard. She has a fan and a desk and storage and she even has a locking cabinet to keep her brother from reading her diary. It really is cool. Plus, it’s a great discipline tool. If my daughter is disobidient, just lock her in the closet. I’m kidding. Although, I have to say that there are times in my household that I wouldn’t mind locking myself in that closet for a few hours just to get away from my family. Are there any other parents in this room who would like to give themselves a time out every once in a while? To make that closet worthy of my daughter I had to do a lot of work to that closet. Most notably, I had to get rid of a bundle of wires that was sticking out of the wall. They used to run to an old security system that was in the closet. So I cut the wires and shoved them back into the wall. That was on a Saturday. The next day, on Sunday afternoon, my wife turned to me and said, “Honey, why isn’t the phone working?” All of a sudden it dawned on me. When I cut all those wires I cut the power to the phone line. That began about 24 frustrating hours of cutting into the wall, finding the wires, and splicing just the right ones together to make the phone work. During that period of time I still had the phones. Still had all the technology available to me to make a phone call. But I didn’t have any power.

Let’s talk about miracles

The bible is filled with miracles. Let’s think about some of them for a second. I found a top ten list of bible miracles. This is from belief net
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
Abraham and Sarah Conceived at Old Age
Moses Parts the Red Sea
Manna from Heaven
Jonah and the Whale
Daniel and the Lions’ Den
The Immaculate Conception
Jesus Turns Water into Wine
Feeding the Multitudes
Jesus Walks on Water

Some huge gaps in that list don’t you think? What’s missing

Lazarus
Jesus rises from the dead
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
Noah and the Ark

There are some crazy miracles in the bible. What is the point of these miracles in the bible? What is God trying to communicate to us?

What problem do most people have when it comes to these miracles?

Christianity seems like a fairy tale. Its no more true than the story of Zeus and Hercules. How would you answer someone who believes the bible is a fairy tale?

Are the miracles to be taken literally?

It depends on what kind of God you want. Do you want a God that is limited by time and space and science or do you want a God that is limitless. Able to do anything at any time?

So why doesn’t God do those same kind of miracles in my life?

9 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side.6The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ” Luke 16

When God does a miracle, what does it look like?

When God does a miracle it’s instantaneous

When God does a miracle it’s undeniable

When God does a miracle he gets the credit, not men.

Let me ask you a question. What profession do you think would have access to seeing the most miracles in our society. I would have to say doctors. They see the most sick people. They diagnose sick people. If they believed in miracles, would you be more likely to believe?

There was a national survey of 1,100 doctors on the subject of miracles in 2004. The results were as™ follows:

74 percent of Physicians believe that miracles have occurred in the past:.

73 percent of Physicians believe miracles can occur today.

Why does God choose to withhold miracles from me?

Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness. Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size–abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Those verses remind me that ever scar has it’s story.

What scar do you have that tells a story?

I find that true in my life. Everytime I look in the mirror I see this scar between my eyes. It’s from when I was a kid. My sister and I were jumping up and down on the bed and I fell off and hit a night stand. These scars on my hand are from a time I was playing ball with my dog Elwood and the ball was too small and got lodged in his throat. So I had to reach in and pull it out. As I did, my dog gaged and bite down on my hand. Ten minutes later the stupid dog was running around like nothing happened and I got these. I grew this goatee to cover a scar on my chin. I fell down trying to put out a fire and needed 10 stitches.

My most recent scars carry my most recent lessons. I have four scars on my stomach to remind me of my colon surgery. You want to see them. Actually, that wouldn’t be appropriate for church or anywhere for that matter. These scars brought with them a message from God. A message that said slow down. Be thankful for what you have. These scars brought perspective and deeper maturity. I didn’t say I was mature, just that God brought deeper maturity. I could not have learned those lessons through a miracle. I would have liked that. I prayed for that. But my heavenly father knew better.

How can I access God’s miraculous power in my life?

James 5:13-15 maps out some steps we need to follow to access God’s power. Let’s look at them.

1) Pray through hard times

Are any among you suffering? They should keep on praying about it. And those who have reason to be thankful should continually sing praises to the Lord. James 5:13

Everyone suffers. God calls us to pray through those times. To let God change our attitudes. To make us thankful people.

2) Go to the elders

Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. And their prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make them well. And anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. James 5:14-15

If you need a miracle in your life, this is the step to take. Bring your need before the elders of the church. Ask them to pray for you. To lift you up before God. Lastly

3) Seek medical attention