Hope Deferred Makes the Heart Sick. Proverbs 13:12
The absence of miracles will often cause people to doubt God's Word. For instance, when God called Gideon, Gideon asked God, "If I am a mighty man of valor where are all the miracles?" This is why Moses asked God to be with him to perform miracles. This is why Elisha asked, "Where is the Lord God of Elijah?" This is why God told Joshua, "As I was with Moses so I will be with thee." This is why we are required to do the same things Jesus did and take up the work He left for us. John 14:12
Miracles are performed to deliver people in danger, to perform judgments upon those who interfere with His work, to calm storms, to cast out devils, to bind up broken hearts, to deliver the captives, and to deliver people from natural stubbornness and rebellion so they may receive the Holy Spirit. Miracles cause people to be saved. Denying miracles does not!!
New Testament Miracles:
John 2 - Jesus turned water into wine.
John 11 - Jesus commanded Lazarus to come forth from the dead after he had been embalmed. John 11 - Jesus fed 5000 with 5 loaves of bread and two fishes.
Luke 17 - Nine lepers were healed. The one that returned found he had a whole nose, whole ear, whole hand, etc. It was more than a healing!! IT WAS A MIRACLE!!
And numerous other accounts of Miracles, Signs and Wonders are recorded throughout the Old and New Testaments of the Bible!!
Do not get me wrong, I am also waiting upon a couple of Miracles myself, but in my waiting my heart is encouraged and transformed when people are healed. Knowing that God chooses me as a vessel is a Miracle in itself because I was not always this 'Free'!! IN FACT, I was a HOT MESS!!! I have references to confirm this, by the way!!
The other day, someone I have never shared anything about my life with, said, "You have been through a lot in your lifetime, it is a wonder that you are not bitter." Miracles, Signs and Wonders come in all shapes and sizes!!
I do know this much "Hurt People, Hurt People, BUT FREE People, FREE People!!
He has a purpose and a plan for our lives, that He placed in us before we were born. He knew us before the beginning of time and while we were being formed in our mother's womb!! And there is nothing that we can do to mess HIS Plan up!! NOTHING!! If you take a few detours, make sure you take lots of pictures!! And when you are ready, He will be waiting for you patiently and is always pursuing you, ALWAYS!!! He loves everything about you even when you do not!! To me, that is a Miracle in itself, that someone would love me NO MATTER WHAT!!
EVEN IN MY MESS, HE LOVED!!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
The Secret of No Plan B
So, I am reading this book called the Secret of the Secret Place by Bob Sorge! And in this chapter The Secret of No Plan B he talks about Isaiah 44:14-20 and he says in his book:
The Lord gave me a definition of a false god. This definition helps me because even though in our westernized culture there are few people who actually worship figures of wood or stone, we too have our own false gods. In this passage, the Lord describes the idolaters as saying to their block of wood, "Deliver me, for you are my god!" So a god is defined as this: anything to which we ascribe the power to deliver us. Westerners have their own set of false gods - sources to which they turn to for deliverance when in times of crisis or need (let the reader understand).
Some of the gods in our own culture are:
Money, Health Insurance, Medical treatment/prescriptions, Social Security, Retirement plans and IRA's, credit cards/consolidation loans, drugs/alcohol, pleasure/entertainment/recreation/sports, sex, friends (to deliver us from loneliness), couselors, lawsuits, filing bankruptcy, etc.
God-worshippers are those who come to God first in their time of need. They seek God's face and wait on Him to receive directives for the course to take. The secret place becomes a threshold where we wait upon God, seeking His powerful intervention, and crying out to Him for wisdom and revelation. Occasionally, the Spirit will say to you, "In this instance, I want you to wait on Me only and stand in faith until I intervene sovereignly in your situation." When God gives you this word then fasten your seatbelt! You are in for the ride of your life. You are stepping into the God zone. Here we find the stuff of miracles. This is the dimension where God rises up in His wrath and vengeance and wreaks havoc upon your enemies. Your role is to gaze upon Him, love Him and grow in patience and faith; His role is to loose resurrection power in His time and way. Not every crisis falls into this category, but when it does... get excited!! You're taking the high road of the greatest saints of history, the pathway where God reveals the power of His arm, the splendor of His majestic beauty, and the awesomeness of His eternal purpose. (Psalms 62:5-8).
As I write this chapter (Bob Sorge), I am personally in great need of divine intervention in regard to physical infirmity. I have been tempted to consider some other avenues of relief, such as those listed above. But, instead, I have said to the Lord, "You are my Helper. If You don't save me, I am not saved. If You don't heal me, I am not healed. If You don't deliver me, I am not delivered. I have no other recourse, no Plan B, no alternative plan. I am not entertaining other options. It's You and You alone. I worship You. You are my God!!"
Is it possible, though, that this storm has come to guide you into a higher dimension of Kingdom Living? Oh, I hope you can learn the secret; When the storm hits, run into the secret place, establish your spirit, and say to Him with unwavering resolve, "You alone are my expectation." Our God loves to prove Himself strong on behalf of those who have NO other gods before Him.
This book is powerful and faith filled. I recommend it to anyone. It is awesome!
The Lord gave me a definition of a false god. This definition helps me because even though in our westernized culture there are few people who actually worship figures of wood or stone, we too have our own false gods. In this passage, the Lord describes the idolaters as saying to their block of wood, "Deliver me, for you are my god!" So a god is defined as this: anything to which we ascribe the power to deliver us. Westerners have their own set of false gods - sources to which they turn to for deliverance when in times of crisis or need (let the reader understand).
Some of the gods in our own culture are:
Money, Health Insurance, Medical treatment/prescriptions, Social Security, Retirement plans and IRA's, credit cards/consolidation loans, drugs/alcohol, pleasure/entertainment/recreation/sports, sex, friends (to deliver us from loneliness), couselors, lawsuits, filing bankruptcy, etc.
God-worshippers are those who come to God first in their time of need. They seek God's face and wait on Him to receive directives for the course to take. The secret place becomes a threshold where we wait upon God, seeking His powerful intervention, and crying out to Him for wisdom and revelation. Occasionally, the Spirit will say to you, "In this instance, I want you to wait on Me only and stand in faith until I intervene sovereignly in your situation." When God gives you this word then fasten your seatbelt! You are in for the ride of your life. You are stepping into the God zone. Here we find the stuff of miracles. This is the dimension where God rises up in His wrath and vengeance and wreaks havoc upon your enemies. Your role is to gaze upon Him, love Him and grow in patience and faith; His role is to loose resurrection power in His time and way. Not every crisis falls into this category, but when it does... get excited!! You're taking the high road of the greatest saints of history, the pathway where God reveals the power of His arm, the splendor of His majestic beauty, and the awesomeness of His eternal purpose. (Psalms 62:5-8).
As I write this chapter (Bob Sorge), I am personally in great need of divine intervention in regard to physical infirmity. I have been tempted to consider some other avenues of relief, such as those listed above. But, instead, I have said to the Lord, "You are my Helper. If You don't save me, I am not saved. If You don't heal me, I am not healed. If You don't deliver me, I am not delivered. I have no other recourse, no Plan B, no alternative plan. I am not entertaining other options. It's You and You alone. I worship You. You are my God!!"
Is it possible, though, that this storm has come to guide you into a higher dimension of Kingdom Living? Oh, I hope you can learn the secret; When the storm hits, run into the secret place, establish your spirit, and say to Him with unwavering resolve, "You alone are my expectation." Our God loves to prove Himself strong on behalf of those who have NO other gods before Him.
This book is powerful and faith filled. I recommend it to anyone. It is awesome!
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