Why No Miracles?

I have wondered with dismay for years why we don't see the miracles that we read about in the Bible. We pray, and sometimes people don't get well. They suffer the rest of their lives, or they don't make it. Maybe they slowly get better. WHY?

I believe I've found something, so I'll lay it out for you to consider.

Mark 16:15-20:
"He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.'
After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it."

Acts 14:3: "So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders."

1 Corinthians 2:1-5:
"When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power."

Philippians 1:7: It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me."

Hebrews 2:4: "God testified to it [this salvation] by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will."

Luke 24:46-48: "He told them, 'This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.'"

Here is how I understand this. Our mission as disciples of Christ is to proclaim the gospel to every creature, and make disciples. The Lord confirms the gospel with signs, wonders, miracles, and spiritual gifts as he wills. Perhaps the problem is that we are not truly sharing the gospel. God will confirm the gospel with miracles.

My Christmas Wish List

Please remember it's my birthday. You can't really buy anything for the man who has everything, but I did leave you a wish list.
1. Whatever you do for the least among you, you have done for me.
2. Whatever you did not do for the least among you, you did not do for me.
3. I don't want you to be a hero for me-I want you to know me.
4. Love God with all your heart.
5. Love your neighbor as yourself.

I have given you a budget-don't spend too much money; do spend the time.
Please buy thoughtful gifts for your loved ones-but know that you can never buy their love.
Please decorate the world around you with the trimmings of the season-but know that they are just trimmings.
Sing even if no one else thinks it sounds right-I like it!
Read the Christmas story at least once-out loud. I placed it in Matthew 2 and Luke 2 for you.
Merry Christmas!
Love, Jesus

2000AD

...this is from way back in 1998AD, when we were contemplating the dawn of a new millenium and Y2K...

Does the number 5,760 excite you? How about the number 1,378? Or does an indefinite number of billions interest you? What does your calendar say? In under fifteen months, the calendar we are most accustomed to will proclaim the beginning of the year 2000, Anno Domini. Anno Domini, in case you are unaware of it, is Latin for "in the year of our Lord." Let us examine this 2000AD more closely. Calendars are a means of measuring and recording time. They are based chiefly on cyclical movements of the sun, moon, and stars, as from ancient times those were the only means of marking time. The Hebrew calendar starts with their traditional date of Creation, 3,760BC, and is based upon the lunar cycle. The Muslim calendar is also lunar, and counts back to the flight of Mohammed to Medina in 622AD, with reference to our own calendar. Our calendar is regulated by both the sun and the moon, with Christmas based upon a solar calendar and Easter based upon a lunar calendar. But it is fully based upon the Son.

"In the AD 500's the monk Dionysius Exiguus introduced the present custom of reckoning the years from the birth of Christ, which he miscalculated four to six years later than the actual date."-World Book, 1962 Thus every calendar we use honors the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2000 is not some mystical or magical number, but despite human error in its calculation still is very important in that it points to the central character of all history, the one who divides time. "But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son,...." For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given," and "Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." GAL 4:4, ISA 9:6, LK2:11. That day of reckoning marked the most important lifetime in the world. What is the purpose of his coming? "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God." ISA 61:1-2 Christ came at the appointed time for his appointed mission, sent by the God who said,

"Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. God made two great lights-the greater light to govern the sky and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day from the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. GE1:14-18

Our calendars proclaim exactly what God said at the beginning, by means of the sun, moon, and stars. He has sovereignly used the calendar to point to his Son for a special purpose. "But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." 2PE 3:8

A Jew might count time from his estimate of the Creation of the world; a Muslim might count from the flight of Mohammed. The coming year would then be for them 5,760 or 1,378. What would be appropriate for someone who denies God? Probably nothing more exact than an indefinite number of billions, variable in accordance with the latest theory. For one who has a relationship with Jesus, counting from his entrance into the world as a babe would be appropriate. We could laughingly look upon the error in calculation of his birthday, knowing full well that Jesus came specifically because of our imperfection. I pray that you will thing of that every time you write the date or look at a calendar.

For this is the day the Lord has made,
I will rejoice and be glad in it!

In Harm's Way

In harm's way a man sent a woman great with child. With nothing to her name she huddled between haybales, crying out in the pains of childbirth. This heartbroken young woman away from home had to fashion a nursery from her austere surroundings, using a feeding trough for a cradle and the tenuous shelter of this barn to buffer against the wind and the cold. This evil world has no room for the King's son, but a thousand armies couldn't steal the peace found in this place.

The stable is always open,
but are you out shopping?
Your gift is in the manger,
but you are at the mall.
Angry, impatient, dysfunctional families rush together with gifts and food and candles and colors-but the real celebration is a birth in a barn. Have you gone to the wrong party?

Of course, you realize this baby is Jesus and Christmas is his birthday. The party is at his home, but you have to go the way he came. he left heaven to be in harm's way so that he could invite you, the stable is always open, and he is even at the door. I'm tired of going to the wrong parties myself.

Christmas in the Face of a Child

His face shines on a cold, wintry morn. It is framed in peace as he becomes acquainted with this new world, humble surroundings of lights, sounds and earthy smells. He has not come unannounced, but he will take a journey few will understand. The light of his eyes has come into a dark world.

He has a kingly heritage, a path of destiny. From his youth he will challenge the world. He is a threat, and will be hated, accused, and betrayed. This sweet boy will one day have to lay down his life.

In this cruel and dark world, who can show us any good? The light of his face shines upon us. There is love in his eyes, joy in his little grin, warmth in his tiny fist as it grips his mother's hand. There is hope and a future in his delicate frame. He is a gift to the world.

The Labor of a Servant

A man

faces his task.

As he talks with his father, he hopes there is another way. In anguish, he steels himself to the requirements of his mission, and his father sends a messenger of encouragement.

In the morning, duty calls with the kiss of a friend. He is opposed on every side by those he is serving, but he will work with all his heart. it is a labor of deep love, and he wants to please his father, who is looking on.

Knowing the reward that will be due him, he shoulders the load. he is heavily opposed, and grows weak from pressure and abuse. his strength is failing, and another is enlisted to bear the splintered burden. He must press on.

There are others that will follow; he will complete the task with honor and without uttering a complaint. The work is heartbreaking and dries up his strength. He undergoes unspeakable humiliation, but for others. At his moment of greatest need, his father turns away. Even the light of day flees in anguish for his ordeal. he is fading.

The weight of the load is taking his life away. Has he spent his strength in vain and for nothing? Will he fail? He surrenders as he shouts, "The work is done!"

"And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, 'Surely this man was the Son of God!'" MK 15:37NIV84