Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us (Ephesians 3:20, NASB1995).
If we do not believe in miracles, we lose hope for resolutions to most of our difficulties.
How many of us are facing situations that are beyond our resources of time, energy, money, or ability? We need a miracle. Let’s believe in miracles this week.
I grew up in a church and attended a seminary that was cessationist in theology (the sign gifts and miracles of the New Testament were limited to the first century). Over the past thirty years, I’ve fought this doubtful theology from my past and also skepticism from our Western and rationalist mindset—to believe wholeheartedly that I can…
Expect a miracle this week.
I have the Bible on my side in this debate. In my studies, I can’t find a single verse of Scripture that teaches the signs/miracles of the Bible were only for the first century.
But we can easily find passages that teach we should expect wonders from God.
Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12, ESV).
Paul writes, “To another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles…” (1 Corinthians 12:9-10a).
And in the Book of James, “And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up” (James 5:15).
Let’s believe in miracles.
I have history on my side, too. Craig Keener’s book Miracles! is the most comprehensive book ever written on the history of miracles.
In this book, he says…
Suffice it to note here that, as we shall observe soon in greater detail, hundreds of millions of people in the world claim to have witnessed supernatural healings.
Keener concludes…
Not only the Majority World today but also the history of Christianity, including in the West, is replete with supernaturalist claims. The modern Western prejudice against acknowledging or exploring miracle claims rests on a total lack of evidence for such claims, even in Western history.
I have personal testimony of at least five dramatic healings. And my belief is God uses the supernatural to attract people to faith in Jesus.
Most of the hundreds of people with whom I’ve discussed their salvation story talk about something happening to them before conversion that they couldn’t explain other than God’s miraculous power.
In an age when we need God more than ever…
Let’s believe in miracles this week.