Some Miracles Take a Long Time

 Nowadays, some couples want to live without children. Some women only want to have one or two children. They want to pursue a career first and only try to get pregnant when they are 35. Many then have problems and end up paying a lot of money for artificial insemination.

In the biblical era, it was quite different. A woman was expected to be married, and there was great shame in being childless.

In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron.

Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly.
But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old. Lk 1:5–7 NIV

Elizabeth was old and despite her strong faith and devotion, and her many prayers, she remained childless. Had God forgotten her? She was faithful, but was God not faithful?

But God had a plan for her. She was to be the mother of a great prophet. Her son was John the Baptist.

Sometimes our faith and patience must be tested for years before God can perform a great miracle and give us even greater blessings.

When Moses fled Egypt at 40 years old, he was not a prophet and was not at all ready to rule a nation. After 40 years as a shepherd in the desert, he was able to begin fulfilling his destiny.

Abraham was to be the father of many nations, but he received this promise at about 75 years of age. He had to wait until he was almost 100 years old, and his wife was over 90 before they had their promised son.

Sometimes we see miracles happen very quickly. I know of a family that had a baby who was completely deaf. Before the little boy was 18 months old, he and his mother attended a service where the preacher prayed for him. A week later, he could hear a little, and three months later, he had 100% normal hearing.

When Jesus performed miracle healings in the New Testament, it didn't take long. The sick recovered dramatically. This also happens today, especially in revivals, but there are also healings where the recovery time takes longer, but the healing is still miraculous.

For many years I was a member of a congregation with a wonderful pastor. The pastor became ill. He was very close to death because of cancer, but God healed him. His recovery took quite a long time and afterwards he was never strong, but he lived for more than ten years. His ministry after his healing was even better and more blessed than before.

Before the war, there were no antibiotics. A pastor in England became ill with tuberculosis, which at that time was incurable. The pastor believed in miracle healings and he prayed that God would heal him.

The Holy Spirit promised him that if he would pray two hours each day, God would heal him. He believed and obeyed. He prayed every day and he gradually recovered completely.

In the Bible, we read how devout Jews and Christians somehow, in some mysterious way, received messages from the Holy Spirit. God has not changed. He still speaks. It is part of His nature.

Do you know God's voice? You can learn to listen to God. Ask God to help you. He can heal the deaf ears and also awaken a listening heart in you.

God wants you to Experience the Holy Spirit

Perhaps you are striving to live uprightly and correctly and to make God's truth known. This is good, but the people around you will only recognise God's truth if they see and feel God's grace and love in you.

You can live virtuously and speak of God's grace and love, but if you don't experience and enjoy God's love, others will only hear religious talk.

Some may respect your virtue, but it will not awaken a longing for God's love in their hearts.

On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.

Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. Jn 7:37–39 NIV

You can only pass on what you have received. If you have only received beliefs, you can only pass on beliefs.

Unfortunately, there are many in some churches who are satisfied with beliefs, but people in the world are not interested in beliefs at all. Many hunger and thirst for a reality that they can experience.

God did not send his eternal, infinitely loved Son into the world just to establish a religion. Do you want to experience God like the Lord's first disciples? Why not?

We already find models for our faith in the Old Testament.

Before the fall of man, Adam and Eve walked with God in the garden.

Then we see Enoch.

Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years.
Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away. Gen 5:23–24 NIV

This man was certainly a hero of faith in a Bible story, but what does this have to do with us, ordinary Christians?

Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. Jn 7:38–39 NIV

This is how Jesus describes his intention for ordinary Christians, for us. How can this be anything other than an overwhelming blessing? If we don't experience the infilling of the Holy Spirit as a dramatic visitation, something has gone tragically wrong.

But for many Christians, being filled with the Holy Spirit is just a dry doctrine. That can't be!

Then we see Abraham.

To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran. Acts 7:2 NIV

Abraham knew no doctrines. He experienced a visitation of God's glory. When he believed and obeyed God, the world changed for ever.

We must not throw away the doctrines in the Bible and seek only experiences.

But so many cling tightly to commandments and Bible texts and are afraid of visitations from God himself. This is a tragic mistake.

If you want to cling to biblical commandments, then you should take this Bible verse seriously.

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, Eph 5:18 NIV

Many Christians think this means they should never have a glass of wine, and they don't drink, but they ignore the second part.

Drunkenness is a dramatic experience that has negative after-effects, but when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, it should also be a dramatic experience, but with heavenly effects.

God wants to overwhelm you with all kinds of blessings because He loves you immensely and to bless those around you through your life.

Friendship with a Holy God

 There are Christians who worship Jesus, but they are motivated by religious duty, not spontaneous love.

Some pray with a prayer book. Others pray without a prayer book, but their prayer is a religious routine.

Some misunderstand the Lord's Prayer.

Jesus said we should know our heavenly Father as ABBA. ABBA means Papa or Daddy in Hebrew.

But there is another extreme. There are Christians who want to treat Jesus as their mate, and a very permissive mate at that, who supposedly doesn't take little faults like pornography addiction seriously.

I once heard of a young Christian who was enthusiastic about reading charismatic paperbacks and discussing revivals. His girlfriend was a prostitute and his life was far from chaste and holy.

I sometimes see supposedly devout Christians who consider sex before marriage normal. I am amazed that they do not suffer painful pangs of conscience. I could never live like that.

God is love. He longs to love people as friends.

 In the Old Testament, Abraham, Moses and David were friends of God.

The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent. Ex 33:11 NIV

But there is no true friendship without love and respect.

God is holy.

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. Heb 12:14 NIV

Arthur Blessitt is an American missionary and evangelist. When he was a young preacher, he evangelised in a red light district. Like Jesus, he did not stay away from sinners and prostitutes, but like Jesus, he was also holy and faithful.

He asked permission to preach in a nightclub with naked dancers. He went backstage and spoke to the naked young women who were having a rest.

Many men would be overcome with sexual thoughts and feelings in this situation but God gave Arthur Blessitt the gift of grace to minister with God's holy love.

After listening to the loving sermon for a while, the women began to have chaste feelings and they covered their naked bodies with towels.

The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him, and he makes his covenant known to them. Ps 25:14 NRSV

What is your Purpose in Life?

 Abraham was a strong old man, but still an old man, that is, no longer a virile bridegroom. His wife was also way past her used by date.

Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Ro 4:19 NIV

But despite everything, Abraham had a promise from God.

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Ro 4:18 NIV

If you receive a promise from God and don’t see its fulfilment so quickly, you must cultivate the virtue of hope.

Human hope can be little better than wishing. If you harbour wishes, you can merely dream without really expecting any fulfilment. But with God, hope is an attitude and a way of thinking in which we truly expect God's blessing.

Genuine hope is a gift of God, but we must put hope to work in our thinking and in our lives.

Faith and love are the key to life with God, but you need to have hope to keep your faith alive, so God can use you for his purpose.

And what is God's purpose for you?

God's purpose for Noah was to preach, to warn his contemporaries, to build an enormous ship, to save many animals and his family from the Flood.  

Is shipbuilding your calling? Probably not.

God's destiny for Moses was to free two million slaves and lead them through the desert. You are probably not called to do that.

David was a shepherd, poet, musician, and then a soldier, general, king and prophet.

Esther was an orphan and then a queen.

So we can see that everyone has a very individual destiny and calling.

After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel. Jdg 3:31 NIV

Shamgar was obviously a cowherd or farmer. He was also effective as a soldier, but not with conventional weapons.

David was a soldier, but in the beginning he fought with a slingshot.

Maria Luise Prean-Bruni has written a brilliant book on this subject.

‘Come into your destiny. God created you as an original. Don't die a copy.’

God created Billy Graham but only once. Everyone is different.

What is your calling?