The God of Miracles

8/6/2019 The God of Miracles

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When the day of Pentecost had

come, they were all together inone place. 2 And suddenly there

came from heaven a noise like aviolent rushing wind, and it filledthe whole house where they

were sitting.Acts 2:1-2


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And there appeared to them

tongues as of fire distributingthemselves, and they rested on

each one of them. 4 And theywere all filled with the Holy Spiritand began to speak with other

tongues, as the Spirit was givingthem utterance.

Acts 2:3-4


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Now there were Jews living in

Jerusalem, devout men fromevery nation under heaven. 6

And when this sound occurred,the crowd came together, andwere bewildered because each

one of them was hearing themspeak in his own language.

Acts 2:5-6


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They were amazed and

astonished, saying, "Why, arenot all these who are speaking

Galileans? 8 "And how is it thatwe each hear them in our ownlanguage to which we were

born?Acts 2:7-8


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But Peter, taking his stand with

the eleven, raised his voice anddeclared to them: . . . Jesus the

Nazarene, a man attested toyou by God with miracles andwonders and signs which God

performed through Him in yourmidst,. . . .

Acts 2:14 & 22


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It is vital for us toconstantly live in the

understanding thatGod is the God ofMiracles.


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Not one thing haschanged since Jesus

sent the Holy Spirit tofill the mouths of Hisdisciples with

miraculous speech.


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After being empoweredthrough the baptism ofJesus with the Holy Spiritthey went everywherepreaching the gospel anddoing miracles in Hisname.


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In the midst of extremedifficulty their prayer wasfor God to demonstrateHis miraculous power asthey preached His Word.


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"And now, Lord, take noteof their threats, and grantthat Your bond-servantsmay speak Your word withall confidence,

Acts 4:29


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while You extend Yourhand to heal, and signsand wonders take placethrough the name of Yourholy servant Jesus."

Acts 4:30


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And when they had prayed,the place where they hadgathered together was

shaken, and they were allfilled with the Holy Spirit and

began to speak the word ofGod with boldness.Acts 4:31


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Miracles are given to

demonstrate Gods love andcare for us and to give the world

a chance to see God in action.And they are for everyone!


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Our God isthe God ofMiracles.


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Jesus said we would seegreater works done throughus than He did while he was

on earth.


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God intends for us to continually

live in His miraculous power. Heintends for us to have our lives

touched by the supernaturalpower from on high. He intendsfor us to see Him at work in our

lives in a very direct way everysecond of our lives.


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"Truly, truly, I say to you, hewho believes in Me, theworks that I do, he will do

also; and greater works thanthese he will do; because I go

to the Father. John 14:12


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"And behold, I am sending forth

the promise of My Father uponyou; but you are to stay in the

city until you are clothed withpower from on high.Luke 24:49


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but you will receive power when

the Holy Spirit has come uponyou; and you shall be My

witnesses both in Jerusalem,and in all Judea and Samaria,and even to the remotest part of

the earth.Acts 1:8


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God wants to manifestHimself to the world byproviding, protecting andgiving His presence to Hischildren.


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For the eyes of the LORD runto and fro throughout thewhole earth, to show Himself

strong on behalf of thosewhose heart is loyal to Him.

2 Chronicles 16:9


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For the eyes of the LORDmove to and frothroughout the earth thatHe may strongly supportthose whose heart iscompletely His.

2 Chronicles 16:9


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God searches for thosewho He can pour out Hismiracle power upon. Hewants us to know that Heis our helper and that Heis strong!


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In the parables of theMustard Seed Jesus givesus some clues as to howto see a greatermanifestation of Hismiraculous power in ourlives.


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1. Find out what ittakes to see

miraculous powermanifested through

you.


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When they came to the crowd, a man

came up to Jesus, falling on his kneesbefore Him and saying, 15 "Lord, havemercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and

is very ill; for he often falls into the fireand often into the water. 16 "I broughthim to Your disciples, and they could

not cure him.Matthew 17:14-16


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Then the disciples came to Jesus privately

and said, "Why could we not drive it out?And He said to them, "Because of thelittleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, ifyou have faith the size of a mustard seed,

you will say to this mountain, 'Move fromhere to there,' and it will move; and nothingwill be impossible to you.

Matthew 17:19-20


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Notice the disciples did not

blame the child or his father forthe lack of a miracle. They

sincerely asked why THEYcould not drive the demon out ofthe boy.


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That is what the disciples did

and so must we.


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I am called to believe God with

and for others. If we dont see amiracle it is me that needs to

find out what is wrong. I do notneed to find someone toblame. Especially the one

suffering.


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Not only that I am to believe for

the one who is possibly unableto hold on to faith because they

are overwhelmed with theircircumstances.


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Now we who are strong ought to

bear the weaknesses of thosewithout strength and not just

please ourselves. 2 Each of usis to please his neighbor for hisgood, to his edification.

Romans 15:1


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If we are going to attribute a lack

of the miraculous power of Godin someones life then let us first

attribute it to ourselves. Jesusdid not condemn those whowere suffering he healed them.


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In answering the question they

asked about why they were notable to see the miracle Jesus

told them two things that arevital to build an atmosphere forthe miraculous.


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First he said it was the littleness

of their faith.


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Then the disciples came to Jesus privately

and said, "Why could we not drive it out?And He said to them, "Because of thelittleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, ifyou have faith the size of a mustard seed,

you will say to this mountain, 'Move fromhere to there,' and it will move; and nothingwill be impossible to you. "But this kind does

not go out except by prayer and fasting."Matthew 17:19-21


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Today I am going to share with you an

interpretation of this passage thatI

amalmost certain you will have never heard andmost likely never thought of. Yet I believe it istrue. In fact it is the most consistent way of

understanding Jesus use of the MustardSeed.


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I believe Jesus was telling the

disciples that they could not castout the demon because their

faith was not yet mature.It wasvery small but it had the

potential to grow. It was a

statement of hope and notdiscouragement.


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For sure it was a statement of

truth. Their faith was very small.Jesus was certainly challenging

them to grow in faith.B

ut it wasalso a statement of hope andencouragement that their faith

would grow like a mustard seed.


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The mustard seed has a growth

process. It starts as one of thetiniest seeds on earth but grows

to be a large shrub.


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And He said, "How shall we picture the

kingdom of God, or by what parable shall wepresent it? 31 "It is like a mustard seed,which, when sown upon the soil, though it issmaller than all the seeds that are upon the

soil, 32 yet when it is sown, it grows up andbecomes larger than all the garden plantsand forms large branches; so that THE

BIRDS OF THE AIR can NEST UNDERITSSHADE.

Mark 4:30


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Jesus was telling them if they

would sow their faith they wouldmove mountains someday. But

he was also saying on that daythey were still developing theirfaith.


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It was an encouragement to

grow not a rebuke for somethingthey lacked.


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I believe he was saying,

If you sow it youwill grow it.


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The point is that we are to be

continually growing in faith. Wemay have almost no faith at all

yet if we sow what faith we have just like the little mustard seed we will grow in faith.


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One of the most wonderful

financial miracles I have everseen grew out of God telling me

this secret.


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I was a man of faith when my

sweetheart met me. I hadcommitted myself to be debt

free and trusting God for myprovision. I had lived this foryears and had seen marvelous

answers to prayer. I had alsolived in some very difficult

circumstances.


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When we were preparing to go

to Israel for a year we wereshort on funds and I told her that

we should get a one way ticketand trust God for the returnflight. She was not happy with

my idea.. That is actually anunderstatement..


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As we were discussing my lack

of sanity and her lack of faithGod spoke clearly and firmly to

me. He said, WhenI

want toteach her faith, I will teach herfaith. You leave her alone.


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I had enough sense and enough

fear of God to do what He said. Iworked a few weeks longer,

fixed up and sold a car and hadenough money to get a roundtrip ticket. That was a miracle

too but the greatest one was yetto come.


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During our stay at the Kibbutz

Carie became pregnant. Thatwas wonderful but what was not

so nice was the fact her duedate was just about the sametime as we were supposed to

return home.


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Though we had bought flight

insurance the company we hadpurchased it from had gone out

of business. When we appealedto the airline company they saidI could fly home but she could

not and that they would notexchange either her flight or

mine.


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Now you might say that was not

much of a problem except thatyou dont know how Israelis

have babies.


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Any kind of anesthetic was

considered weakness of thehighest magnitude. Even

Lamaze is for wimps to them. Aunaturel with every painexperienced to the full was the

true destiny and joy of onebearing a child!


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Not only that but the local nurse

loved telling Carie she would becoming over on the day she was

to deliver and helping her outwith the delivery right there inour little stone room.


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I was amused. Carie was

desperate But I was not theone having the baby was I?


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I had never heard her pray such

prayers of desperation. Shewanted to go home. The

problem was we did not haveany money to do so. We hadspent it all on a round trip ticket

that was now worthless.


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After several weeks of struggle

she did what all of us have to doif we are to see miracles. She

asked God to show her what Hewanted. It was that simple.


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She said she was willing to stay

and have her child in Israel ifthat was what He wanted. She

wanted to go home and if thatwas what He wanted she askedfor a tangible sign by the end of

the week. She said that if He didnot show by a miracle that she

was to go home she would stay.


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I challenged her that if she really

wanted to know that it was Godthat we should not let others

know about our need. Sheagreed that we would let ourFather who knows what we

need be the only one who wouldknow.


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At the end of that week, shortly

before sunset the leader of ourteam met her on the road and

said that God had told him togive her one hundred dollars.She had her first miracle.


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Over the next month it

happened just like that. Moneybegin to come from many

different sources all unsolicitedand each saying that God hadput it on their hearts to give.


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We had found a flight that was

very inexpensive but had tomake arrangements to purchase

by a certain date.If we did nothave the money by that date in

spite of the miracles we had

seen we still would be staying inIsrael.


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That day came and we were still

$60 short.


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No one knew.


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That morning before we went to

work Carie and I prayedearnestly that God would

provide but again surrenderedourselves to stay in Israel if itwas His will.


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Through the day we were in a

state of expectancy.Especially when the mail came.

We thought perhaps someonewould send us the rest of themoney. But it was not to be.


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The day was coming to an end

and we did not see the miraclewe thought we would. She

accepted it so graciously. As weprayed before we went to ourevening meeting with our team

she told the Lord that she wouldfollow where ever He would

lead.


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This is what God means when

He asks us to have faith in Him.This is true faith. It was the faith

Jesus demonstrated on theworst day of his life and theworst day in history.


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This is what God means when

He asks us to have faith in Him.This is true faith. It was the faith

Jesus demonstrated on theworst day of his life and theworst day in history.


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He went away again a second

time and prayed, saying, "MyFather, if this cannot pass away

unlessI

drink it, Your will bedone.Matthew 26:42


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But that night of surrender to

Gods perfect will for his life didnot lead to abandonment but to

the greatest miracle of history.the resurrection.


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At the end of our meeting a

visiting parent of one of theyoung people on our team came

to me and shook my hand. Hesaid he felt God had told him togive me what was in his hand to

me. It was $60!


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Then he put his hand in his

pocket and said I have some ofthis funny money (Israeli money)T

hatI

wont use soI

want togive that to you as well. It wasenough to buy several presents

for her relatives..


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No one had known that we had

any need much less the specificamount we needed that very

night. Carie had her miracle!


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My sweetheart learned faith

from God and not me. I am gladbecause I have watched in

wonder and awe since that timeas she has prayed for miracleafter miracle and seen them

happen.


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With each new experience of

believing God for these miraclesI have seen her grow in faith.

Like a Mustard seed..I

tstarted out very small. Now ithas grown to be strong and

often moves mountains.


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When he was very little I used to

let Ariel play my guitar as muchas he wanted. His earliest music

was not what the worldexpected for him to be the nextCanadian Idol but to me it was

the sweetest music I could everhear. I knew a secret..


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I knew that if he loved playing

that instrument and continuedplaying it. No matter how it

sounded. He would one dayplay beautifully from his heart.


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Like the Mustard Seed, He had

the essential element to becomea skilled player but it had to

grow.


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Growth in faith happens by

sowing it for a miracle.


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He presented another parable to

them, saying, "The kingdom ofheaven is like a mustard seed,

which a man took and sowed inhis field;Matthew 13:31


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and this is smaller than all other

seeds, but when it is full grown,it is larger than the gardenplants and becomes a tree, sothat THE BIRDS OF THE AIRcome and NESTINITS

BRANCHES.Matthew 13:32


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Like a mustard seed I

have seen that formiracles to come it takes

a certain kind of soil forour faith to grow in.


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When we sow it into good

soil our faith grows andbrings forth the fruit of

miracles.


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Derek Axford knows about

the effect of the soil on thecrops he grew up planting

on his fathers farm.


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Good soil does not just

happen. It has to beworked into a substance

that will give life to theseeds planted in it.


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The developing of the soil

that will cause our mustardseed faith to grow is the

second thing Jesus said tohis disciples in his answer to

their question about why theycould not cast out the demon.


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"But this kind does notgo out except by prayer

and fasting." Matthew 17:19-21


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God made it very simple

for us. If we want to see amiracle we need to ask for

it and to have the propermotivation in our asking.


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You do not havebecause you donot ask.

James 4:2b


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You ask and do notreceive, because you

ask with wrong motives,so that you may spend

it on your pleasures.James 4:3


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Jesus told his disciples

that to see the kind ofmiracle that was needed

they would have to prayand fast.


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Praying is asking.

Fasting deals with our selfmotives.


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These are the soil

conditioners that createthe kind of soil where faith

grows.


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Prayer and Fasting are

the soil conditioners thatcreate the kind of soil

where faith grows.


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I have seen the power of

prayer and fasting to bringGods miracle working

presence into my own life.


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I have seen it in history as

well.


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I would be so bold as to say that

I do not believe there has everbeen a move of God withoutbelievers doing their part bypraying and setting aside theirearthly preoccupations (fasting)

in order to call out to God forHim to show Himself throughthem to the world.


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That is exactly what the

disciples were continually doingin the days before the dynamite(dunamis) power from God fellon them in the upper room.


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These all with one mind were

continually devoting themselvesto prayer,

Acts 1:14


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But our prayer needs to be one

of expectancy.


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When we pray to God we need

to expect Him to answer. If wedont we may not even noticethat He did.


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When my sweetheart and I were

first dating she had her bikestolen from her sisters house inTulsa Oklahoma.


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What made it really bad was it

was a gift from her grandmotherand had strong sentimentalvalue.


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When she told me what had

happened I said we should praythat God would show us where itwas. I believed that He would.We prayed and I had a vision ofthe bike in a park under a bush.

I knew the park and so we wentthere to find the bike.


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It was there under the very bush

I saw it under. The nice part ofthis story is that my sweetheartis a woman of great integrity.She can tell you that thishappened exactly like I am

telling you. It is verifiable andcould not have happenedwithout God showing me.

I h f 18 4 Ohi


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In the summer of 1854 Ohio was

in the midst of a prolonged andsevere drought. A pastor in alocal church called his people topray for rain.

A hi h h th d f hi


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As his church gathered for worship on aSunday morning in 1853, Charles Finneywalked into the pulpit, carrying anumbrella. Setting his umbrella down by hischair, he began to pray, Lord, we do not

presume to tell you what is best for us. Youinvite us to come to you as children to afather and tell you all of our wants. We needrain. Unless you give us rain our cattle willdie and our harvest will come to naught. It isan easy thing for you to do, O Lord, send usrain.


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B t ti i t t


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But notice one very important

aspect of his behaviouraround this incident. Though

he told everyone that theywere going to pray for an endto the drought, he was theonly one who brought hisumbrella.

H t d G d t d


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He expected God to do a

miracle and God did.

Th tl id t th L d "I


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The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase

our faith! 6 And the Lord said, "If youhad faith like a mustard seed, you

would say to this mulberry tree, 'Beuprooted and be planted in the sea';and it would obey you.

Luke 17:5-6


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O it th t th


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Or was it that they saw

Jesus doing the miraclesfor others and wanted to

see the samethemselves?

Th k h t h ld


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They knew what he could

do because they saw himdo it with their own eyes.


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A d th t i tl h t


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And that is exactly what

Jesus wanted. He wantedthem to ask

Wh th did J t ld


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When they did Jesus told

them once more that theywould see what they

desired if they sowed theirfaith as a mustard seed

with expectancy of themiraculous.

Wh t t d it i h


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What a tragedy it is when we

lose our expectancy of Godsworking through miracles in

our life. God wants us to ask.God wants us to have propermotives and God wants us toexpect Him to worksupernaturally in our lives.

It i d ti t li lif


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It is our destiny to live a life

filled with His powermanifested in supernatural

works.


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He is theGod ofMiracles

Documents

The God of Miracles