07 December 2009 Devotion for Today "A Course in Miracles" Mark 6:38-43

 

^{38 But He said to them, "How many loaves do you have? Go and see."}

And when they found out they said, "Five, and two fish."

^{39 Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties. 41 And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all. 42 So they all ate and were filled. 43 And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish. 44 Now those who had eaten the loaves were about[f] five thousand men. (Mark 6:38-43)}

 
 

What is a miracle? Baker's Dictionary of the Bible defines a miracle as "an event in the external world brought about by the immediate agency or the simple volition of God." It goes on to add that a miracle occurs to show that the power behind it is not limited to the laws of matter or mind as it interrupts fixed natural laws. from<http://www.probe.org/site/c.fdKEIMNsEoG/b.4222629/k.EE2A/What_is_a_Biblical_Definition_of_Miracle.htm>

 
 

Yesterday at Salem Church I believe that we saw God working miracles all through the service. Its not that God has never worked like this before; its due to the fact that He opened my eyes to what He has been doing all along and gave me eyes to see it. Perhaps that might have been the greatest miracle of all. I want to take this time to share this with you today so that you would be encouraged and strengthened in your faith in Christ.

 
 

The first miracle was seen when sometime toward the end of the Sunday school hour, the electrical power went off. Some who had arrived to church said they saw the Dominion Power company working at the small substation that serves the Weeksville community. In the back of my mind I am thinking, "That's just great! Of all Sundays for the power to go out. Our youth were planning to do a special presentation requiring a video and they are sure to need microphones! Dear God, please hear my prayer, and do something." Excusing myself during Sunday school, I whispered a prayer as I stepped in the hallway. As I reached the stairwell, a church member by the name of Scott, met me to say, "Pastor Jeff, I want you to know that I just happen to have an electric generator on the back of my trailer. I was planning to use it during the parade tonight. It all gassed up and ready to go if the church can use it." I asked Scott to follow me, where we met Jeff, an electrician and a very resourceful deacon. We asked his opinion about utilizing the generator and Scott and Jeff set to work getting power restored to the church building while I scrambled to get the morning worship service underway.

 
 

I met with the choir for prayer and said, "Lord, Your church has had to rely upon nothing but Your power for centuries. Thank You for reminding us of this. Prepare our hearts today to rely upon You in Jesus Name, Amen." As we entered the sanctuary, there was a definite chill in the air. Thus far the power was not yet running for it would take a while. I began the service by the lighting of the Advent candle, but by the time the communion service was to start, the power was restored to the building; thanks to God's provision.

 
 

However, the second miracle was yet to be seen as the deacons dispensed the elements of communion, the bread and then the fruit of the vine. There was a large crowd in the service that morning, but I didn't realize that we might run short of communion elements. However, as the large group which sat in the narthex was being served, I observed that there were fewer than usual communion glasses in the trays. After the choir was served, of the deacons who was serving them brought back a tray completely empty. I eyed the small tray which was returned from the nursery after they were served. One full cup remained on it. As I began to serve the deacons I prayed to myself, "Lord, I don't know what You are trying to tell us here, but please let there be enough for everyone to have a communion glass." As I served the deacons, I returned with just one remaining communion juice glass, the one I would use to serve myself! God told me to say this: There is just one glass remaining here this morning. The only thing I can say about this is that God is telling us how much He loves us by providing for us. He loves us so much and wants us to know that when it comes to His provision, no one is left out! Thanks be to God!"

 
 

Following the Communion service and the offering the choir brought the special music. Following this, the youth and adults from the church gave a testimony presentation about their recent trip to Operation Christmas Child headquarters in Charlotte. They had the opportunity to process shoeboxes for this project and returned so blessed by the experience. Thanks to the restored power, we were able to view the video one of the participants made telling about the trip. However, during the testimony portion, after each youth and adult spoke, one of their team members spoke. But what was so remarkable about her testimony was the fact that her speech had been significantly impeded due to a severe brain injuries following an auto accident almost twelve months earlier. Katie spoke up and gave a perfectly clear, two-sentence delivery of what she did during the mission trip! She has spoken in broken sentences or one-word answers in personal conversations before, but nothing like this! Everyone broke out in applause and praise to God.

 
 

The service concluded not long afterward. No one even noticed that the service went a half an hour overtime- perhaps that was a miracle in itself. But there was no doubt how the Holy Spirit filled the service that day.

 
 

I realize that some theologians may not qualify what we experienced that Sunday as miracles, but there was no doubt in my mind that, miracle or not, God definitely intervened on our behalf. We are, after all, a Baptist church. Miracles just don't happen in Baptist churches! Or so I thought. Ordinarily I would have been severely "stressing" about the electricity problem. I did not. I just knew and trusted God that He would provide somehow and made up my mind that we would not need the electricity unless He intervened. He did. I also would have been dismayed (and so would have the ladies who prepared the communion cups) if I had known we might not have enough. God kept that information from me until the very end so that we would depend upon Him to provide. What can I say about young Katie speaking during the testimony service? That easily could have been explained away due to Katie's intensive speech therapy, her loving parents and grandparents also working with her constantly during her rehabilitation toward recovery. Still, she spoke and God was glorified in it.

 
 

The miraculous occurs when we can look beyond our myopic human nature and reason to look into the activity of God. There we see Him doing what He always does. Today I want to challenge you to do the same. Without a doubt you will experience the same blessing that I did on Sunday.

 
 

Prayer: Lord God, give me eyes to see, and ears to hear what You do each and every day even if my small mind and feeble faith do not have the capacity to understand it. In Jesus Name, Amen.

 
 

Have a blessed day!