Category Archives: Miracles

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December 1, 2025

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Attitudes & Behavior, Bible Stories, Fear & Doubt, God's Plan, God's Promises, Miracles, Trusting God

NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE 

Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.” [Luke 1:34,38 (NLT)]

Angels taking on bodily form and appearing to people certainly wasn’t an everyday occurrence. Although they are God’s messengers, the message angels bring can be good news or bad. While they may help God’s people as they did for Elijah and Daniel, angels also execute God’s judgment as they did when striking down the firstborn males in Egypt. I suspect Gabriel looked fiercer and more powerful than the elegant sweet angels hanging on our Christmas trees. When he arrived unannounced in the empty Temple sanctuary, Zechariah was overwhelmed with fear and, when he suddenly appeared in an empty room in Nazareth, Mary was troubled and perplexed. Not knowing whether he was on a mission of judgment or mercy, it’s no wonder both Zechariah and Mary were fearful. Gabriel began his visits by telling them both not to be afraid.

After being told his elderly barren wife would bear him a son, Zechariah’s response was one of doubt: “How can I be sure this will happen?” Rather than rejoicing at the divine promise of a son, Zechariah focused on the impossibility of such a thing happening. When Mary was given the startling news that she would conceive and give birth, she knew that babies weren’t brought by the stork or found in a cabbage patch. As a virgin, a pregnancy seemed impossible, but she didn’t question the veracity of the angel’s words. Although Zechariah questioned the truth of Gabriel’s revelation, Mary didn’t express doubt that she would bear a son. Her response was that of wonder. Wanting to know the process by which this miracle would happen, she simply asked “But how?”

After explaining that the Holy Spirit would come upon her, Gabriel told Mary that her elderly cousin Elizabeth was pregnant and that, “Nothing is impossible with God!” Knowing that her barren cousin was with child may have reassured Mary that what seems impossible can happen. Nevertheless, their situations were different; Elizabeth was married and Mary was not! Mary’s response, however, was that of willing submission. Putting her unknown future into God’s hands, she said, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” [Luke 1:38]

Our typical response when God calls us to His work is often one of disbelief. Abraham couldn’t see how his people would possess Canaan, Sarah couldn’t see how God could give her a child when her child-bearing days were over, Moses couldn’t believe he could convince both the Israelites and Pharaoh, Gideon even demanded signs before questioning his ability to rescue Israel, Samuel couldn’t see how he could anoint a new king without being killed by Saul, and Zechariah asked how he could believe the angel. Initially, none of them believed that our all-powerful God, the creator of the universe, can do the impossible!

Unlike Moses, Mary didn’t try to squirm out of this unexpected turn of events with excuses; unlike Sarah, she didn’t laugh in unbelief; unlike Gideon, she didn’t ask for a series of signs; unlike Samuel, she didn’t point out the problems she was sure to face; and, unlike Zechariah, she believed the angel’s words and left the details to the One for whom nothing is unachievable!

Do we forget that God doesn’t have the limitations we have? He can make manna appear, feed 5,000 with a few fish and loaves, part the sea, walk on water, still storms, restore sight to the blind, put babies in barren wombs, and raise the dead. Nevertheless, when called by God to serve, do we allow the unfeasibility, impracticality, or size of His task to keep us from stepping out in faith and doing His work? Could we be missing God’s blessings because we’re too busy focusing on the human problems instead of responding in faith and trusting God with the details? Let us never forget that nothing is impossible with God. He will work out the how; we just need to submit as readily as did Mary.

You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said. [Luke 1:45 (NLT)]

Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.” [Matthew 19:26 (NLT)]

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March 27, 2025

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Attitudes & Behavior, Bible Stories, God's Grace & Love, God's Plan, Holidays & Holy Days, Miracles, Obedience

A MATTER OF CHOICE (Part 2)

And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. [Luke 1:38 (ESV)]

When writing about the Annunciation of our Lord, I came upon some articles by women who take offense at the story of Jesus’ conception. Interpreting Mary’s response as involuntary, they picture the angel Gabriel’s visit to Mary as some weird sort of supernatural rape. This is inconsistent both with Scripture and God as we know Him. The Archangel didn’t say, “Surprise, you’re pregnant!” and leave nor did he physically impregnate her. Read the words as reported by Luke; Gabriel told Mary what would happen, not what had already occurred. It was only after Mary asked how the angel’s words would be fulfilled and Gabriel explained that the Holy Spirit would make it possible that she accepted God’s invitation to motherhood. It was then that the miraculous power of God—the “Most High”—came upon her.

The God we know from Scripture is one of choice: it was He who gave us free will. Although God pursues, seeks, and invites us, it remains our choice to accept or reject Him. Jesus called the people to follow Him, but not everyone who heard His invitation did. When the people of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave, that’s exactly what He did. In Jesus’ parables about banquets to which the invited guests refused to come, the host accepted their refusals and simply invited others to the feast. God gave us free will and He will not violate this gift. No one, not even the virgin Mary, was ever forced to partake of God’s grace.

Although some would have us think that Mary was powerless in Gabriel’s presence, she was the one with the power. It was Mary who decided if she would accept God’s call. Calling God a “sovereign gentleman,” writer Mark Ballenger makes the point that, like a true gentleman, God waited for Mary’s verbal consent before the Holy Spirit came upon her!

When people object to Mary calling herself the “Lord’s servant”, they are confusing being servile (mindlessly doing what is ordered) with consciously choosing to serve. There is nothing demeaning or weak about being a servant. After all, Jesus was God but He “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” [Philippians 2:7] The One who calls us to be servants, is the same One who served us! He laid aside His majesty to wash His disciple’s filthy feet and He laid aside His divinity to suffer and die for all of mankind. If God can selflessly serve us, there is nothing demeaning about our serving Him!

Mary was far more than an incubator for God. We remember her not because she had the womb in which Jesus grew; we remember her because she freely chose to be a faithful and obedient servant to God. God could not have carried out His plan of salvation without Mary’s consent and cooperation. Let us remember that God cannot continue to carry out the plans for His Kingdom without our consent and cooperation. Like Mary, we are called to be God’s servants. Whether we accept His invitation, however, is entirely up to us.

But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. [Mark 10:43-45 (ESV)]

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March 24, 2025

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Church & Worship, God's Plan, Holidays & Holy Days, Miracles, Thanks & Praise

ON MARCH 25 (Part 1)

So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. [John 1:14 (NLT)]

If we were living in England or any of its colonies between 1155 and 1752, today would be New Year’s Eve. Back then, the British Isles used the Julian calendar. Named after Julius Caesar, the calendar year originally began January 1. After the fall of the Roman Empire, however, the new year’s onset gradually changed to the first day of spring. While starting a new year in the dead of winter seemed counter-intuitive, beginning it on March 25, the date of both the spring equinox and the Christian Feast of the Annunciation of Christ’s Birth, seemed a more logical way to start the year.

The Julian calendar, however, miscalculated the adjustments needed for leap years as well as the date of the spring equinox. Wanting Christians to celebrate Easter on the correct date, Pope Gregory instituted a new liturgical calendar with a better way of calculating leap years in 1582. Called the Gregorian calendar, January 1 was set as the beginning of the year. While March 25 no longer marked the equinox, it remained the date of the Annunciation. Although much of Roman Catholic Europe adopted Gregory’s calendar, Protestant England resisted and continued to follow the Julian calendar until finally adopting the Gregorian one in 1752.

While no longer New Year’s Day, for those in liturgical churches, tomorrow (March 25) is known as the Annunciation of our Lord. Commemorating the angel Gabriel’s visit to the Virgin Mary, it is a celebration as much Protestant as it is Roman Catholic. The Annunciation was celebrated as far back as the fourth or fifth century and its March date was set in the seventh.

Let’s not forget that the story of Jesus didn’t begin in Bethlehem; it began in Nazareth nine months prior to that night. It was when Mary became pregnant that God became incarnate—a human being made of flesh and blood. Granted, He was only two cells fused together at first. Nevertheless, that zygote had everything in it to become the man Jesus. It divided again and again, the embryo grew, the cells began to differentiate, and the fetus developed everything needed to live outside His mother. Since sin-filled man was incapable of going to God, on that day, our perfect God came to us. Fully God and fully man—that baby boy forming in Mary’s womb was the promised Messiah and savior of mankind!

While Jesus’ incarnation is the core of our Christianity, it is difficult to understand and, for some people, impossible to believe. Nevertheless, the God who spoke the world into creation, created night and day, scattered the stars through the sky, filled the oceans with water, and populated the earth with living plants and animals could certainly manage to plant a fetus in a womb without going through the ordinary steps. When Mary assented to God’s will, Jesus was conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit!

Of course, since we really don’t know when Jesus’ birth took place, we don’t know the date of His conception. Nevertheless, having grown up in a liturgical church, I find a richness and strength in remembering and celebrating events in the life of Christ (even if the dates are wrong). Luke’s gospel account of Gabriel’s visit to Mary seems more appropriate in this spring season of new beginnings and fresh starts than in winter, a time of dormancy. On what I hope to be a beautiful spring day for you, please take the time to read the account of this blessed miracle found in Luke 1:28-36. Remember to thank God for His entry into the world as a man so that He could save humanity.

Jesus Christ became Incarnate for one purpose, to make a way back to God that man might stand before Him as He was created to do, the friend and lover of God Himself. [Oswald Chambers]

Without question, this is the great mystery of our faith: Christ was revealed in a human body and vindicated by the Spirit. He was seen by angels and announced to the nations. He was believed in throughout the world and taken to heaven in glory. [1 Timothy 3:16 (NLT)]

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January 16, 2025

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THE FIG TREE – Part 2

As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots.  And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. [Mark 11:20-23 (ESV)]

The next morning, while Jesus and the disciples walked from Bethany to Jerusalem for yet another confrontation with Judea’s religious leaders, the disciples saw the tree Jesus cursed the previous day. The disciples had witnessed Jesus cast out demons and still a storm with a just a word but, when they saw the withered and dead fig tree, they were amazed. Normally, trees die slowly from the top down but this tree instantly withered from the roots up. With dead roots, no amount of water or fertilizer would revive it. Having witnessed the tree go from abundance to ruin with just a word from the Lord, rather than asking Jesus to explain cursing the tree, the disciples focused on the speed with which the fig died.

Rather than focusing on spiritual hypocrisy and the significance of the dead fig, Jesus focused on how He performed the miracle and spoke about the power of genuine faith. This wasn’t faith in something vague like positive thinking or an object; it wasn’t faith in faith or faith in the power of prayer. He made it clear that the sole object of this faith must be God! After all, faith is only as good as the object in which it trusts and God is all-powerful, ever-faithful, and trustworthy to His promises.

Pause for a moment and consider—even though Jesus was God, He was living as a man with the limitations of humanity. By saying, “Have faith in God,” He displayed both His humanity and His dependence upon God. Jesus’ power to speak with authority, forgive sins, calm a storm, heal the sick, raise the dead, provide food for a multitude, and wither that fig tree came from His faith in God and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Explaining the power of faith in God, Jesus told them that, with faith, they could move the mountain on which they were standing (the Mount of Olives) into the sea (probably the Dead Sea 15 miles away). Moving a mountain is even more inconceivable than killing a tree with a word but Jesus uses this hyperbole to emphasize that what is impossible with man can be accomplished through faith in the power of God!

We tend to say that prayer changes things—but it is God who does the changing! Although we speak of the power of prayer, prayer alone has no power; the power comes from God who hears that prayer. We often lament, “If only I had more faith!” The disciples even asked Jesus to increase their faith. Jesus, however, told them that the size of their faith doesn’t matter—even a mustard seed of faith is enough! (With a diameter of 1 to 2 millimeters, the mustard seed was used proverbially to represent the smallest of things.) It’s not the amount of faith that matters—as long as we put our faith completely in God’s power rather than ours. It’s not faith that moves those mountains—it’s God! Even if our faith is not great, our God is!

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” [Luke 17:5-6 (ESV)]

But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” Luke 18:27 (ESV)]

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January 13, 2025

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THE FIG TREE (Part 1)

He noticed a fig tree in full leaf a little way off, so he went over to see if he could find any figs. But there were only leaves because it was too early in the season for fruit. Then Jesus said to the tree, “May no one ever eat your fruit again!” And the disciples heard him say it. …  The next morning as they passed by the fig tree he had cursed, the disciples noticed it had withered from the roots up. Peter remembered what Jesus had said to the tree on the previous day and exclaimed, “Look, Rabbi! The fig tree you cursed has withered and died!” [Mark 11:13-14, 20-21 (NLT)]

Mark tells of a time when a hungry Jesus cursed a fig tree and caused it to wither and die simply because it had no figs. As the only destructive miracle done by the Lord, His action is difficult to understand, especially since we’re told “it was too early in the season for fruit.” The same power that brought Lazarus back to life and turned water into wine easily could have given the tree ripe figs, so why did Jesus kill the fruitless tree?

Jesus never acted haphazardly and what seems at first to be a pointless act of power becomes a living parable when we put it in context. Taking place during Jesus’ last week of earthly life, Jesus and the disciples were walking from Bethany up to Jerusalem. After cursing the tree (11:13-14), Jesus went into Jerusalem and cleansed the temple of money-changers and merchants (11:15-17). That evening, while the chief priests and scribes plotted Jesus’ death, He and the disciples returned to Bethany (11:18-19). It is the next morning that the withered tree is discovered (11:20-21). The timing of these events was no accident.

Not living in 1st century Judea, we find our figs at the grocery and know nothing about their cultivation. Because both wild and cultivated fig trees were plentiful in Palestine, Jesus and the disciples knew that a fig tree produces edible small fig knobs before its leaves ever appear. Called taqsh, these knobs are the precursors of figs and often were eaten by travelers and the poor. Even though it wasn’t the season for mature fruit, any fig tree “in full leaf” would have displayed a crop of taqsh. The absence of taqsh meant the tree never would never produce fruit. Jesus wouldn’t have cursed an immature tree or one without leaves and He didn’t curse the tree simply because it had no figs. He cursed that leaf-filled tree because it was guilty of false advertising! While its leaves promised knob-like figlets (taqsh) there were none.

Both the cleansing of the temple and the cursing of the unfruitful fig tree have to do with judgment. Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, the fig tree is symbolic of Israel and the tree’s condition often represented the people’s spiritual fruitfulness, peace, prosperity, and well-being. The fig tree died in judgment but flourished when Israel was righteous and holy.

With its rituals and sacrifices, Israel looked fruitful but, like the fig tree, it lacked fruit—the fruit of righteousness that God demanded. His house of prayer and worship had been turned into a marketplace filled with thieves while Israel’s empty worship was a fruitless sham. With their sacrifices, tzitzit and tefillin, public prayers, adherence to the oral Law, and concern about spiritual cleanliness, they had the trappings of religion but, like the leafy fig, they were all show without substance. Both Jesus’ cursing of the fig tree and His cleansing of the Temple signify God’s impending judgment for religious hypocrisy. Moreover, the dead tree even points to the Temple’s destruction in 70 AD (predicted by Jesus in Matthew 23:38 and 24:2).

The message found in the destruction of this fig tree is not limited to the 1st century Israel; it is meant for us all. The cursing of that tree tells us that God expects His people to bear fruit. It is a warning that fruitlessness leads to judgment. Like that fruitless tree, could we be more show than substance—all leaves but no fruit?

A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. [Matthew 7:17-19 (NLT)]

Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. [John 15:5-6 (NLT)]

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August 8, 2024

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DO THE WORK

Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. [1 Chronicles 28:20 (NLT)]

Jesus offered fishing advice to the disciples twice after they’d spent a night of fishing with absolutely nothing to show for it and, twice, after doing as He directed, they ended up with a miraculous catch of fish. The first time, their catch was so heavy that their nets began to tear and the two boats hauling it in nearly sunk from the weight! The second time, unable to pull the net into their boat, the men had to get out and drag it into shore!

Even a fresh crew would have had difficulty hauling in such enormous catches but these men had worked all night and probably were exhausted from the countless times they’d dropped or cast their nets and brought them in. Moreover, the fishermen’s work wasn’t over once they reached shore. They had to disentangle their catch from the three-layered trammel nets and had to clean, repair, and dry those nets before their work was done!

As awestruck as the disciples were by those overflowing nets, imagine their astonishment if the fish had jumped right into their boats! Surely the One with the divine power to restore lepers, cast out demons, feed a multitude with a boy’s lunch, cause a silver coin to appear in a fish’s mouth, and make fish appear at His command easily could have filled the disciple’s boats without the exhausted men lifting a hand. Despite the more than thirty miracles of provision and healing recorded in the gospels, Jesus chose to have them work for their blessing. He miraculously provided the fish but it was the men who did the heavy lifting!

Thomas Edison said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” I think it’s much the same with God’s answers to our prayers. We’d prefer a God of instant solutions but most of God’s answers come disguised as work. Just as the disciples had to cast their nets before catching those fish, the Israelites had to go out daily to gather the manna God provided, Naaman had to wash in the Jordan seven times before God healed Him, and the servants had to fill the jugs with water before that water became wine. The ark didn’t suddenly appear on Noah’s doorstep nor were Jerusalem’s walls restored in a day—God’s provision required the work of human hands!

When we ask for a plentiful harvest, we shouldn’t be disappointed when the answer looks like seeds, bags of fertilizer, a hoe, and a shovel. When we pray for relief from our debts, it’s likely God’s provision will look more like overtime or a second job than an inheritance or a winning lottery ticket. When we pray for recovery from a stroke, God’s provision may mean hours of physical, occupational, and speech therapy rather than a miraculous restoration and, when we pray for sobriety, God’s answer will look a lot like rehab, a counselor, and twelve steps to work. Although God is responsible for the outcome, we’re responsible for the work!

Saint Augustine (or possibly Ignatius) wisely said, “Pray as if everything depended on God and work as if everything depended on you.” That is good advice but only if we remember that prayer is how we must begin! It’s only after turning it over to God that we roll up our sleeves and get to work, always remembering that He alone is in charge and the outcome is up to Him!

You could not be saved through any effort of your own, but now that you are saved it is necessary for you to put forward every effort you can to glorify Him. [Harry Ironside]

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21 (NLT)]

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