Quote from Forum Archives on August 10, 2009, 10:37 pm

Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>

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The Burning Bush Devotional

(A Devotional Classic from 2002)

Welcome to the 850 new subscribers since January 1, 2009

08.10.09

Miracles

One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, 'There is
a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they
among so many?' Then Jesus said, 'Make the people sit down.' Now there was
much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them
to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of
the fish, as much as they wanted. - John 6:8-11.

For years skeptics have been trying to throw doubt on the miracles recorded
in the Bible. There have been attacks on everything from the crossing of the
Red Sea to the virgin birth. It is somewhat surprising that these attacks
have been largely unsuccessful. The Harris Poll of July 1998 found of adults
in the United States 86% believes in the occurrence of miracles. 90% of
Christians, and 66% of non-Christians believe in miracles. Why does faith in
the miraculous persist? A Newsweek Poll conducted by Princeton Survey
Research Associates in April of 2000 reveals the answer. When those surveyed
were asked whether they personally had ever experienced or witnessed a
miracle, 48% said they had. Amazing! Almost half the people in the United
States say they have experienced or witnessed a miracle. No wonder the
skeptics have had a hard time casting doubt on the miracles of the Bible.

Even the disciples of Jesus had a hard time believing in the miraculous. The
disciples wanted to feed all of those people, but they could not even begin
to buy enough food with the money, they had available. They probably thought
it was reasonable to look among the people and see if there was enough food
that had been brought that could be shared. They had no idea that Jesus
could take a few loaves of barley and a couple of little fishes and feed
thousands of people. They were still having a hard time believing even after
the twelve baskets of fragments had been gathered up.

We may believe in miracles, but usually we believe that miracles happen more
often in the lives of other people. It is when it comes to our own lives
that we are the most skeptical of the miraculous. God can do it in other
people's lives, but we have a hard time believing He can do it in our life.
We pray for rain but we have a hard time carrying an umbrella around after
we do. Do miracles still occur today? Yes, half the people in the USA
believe they have experienced one or seen one. Can something miraculous
happen in your life? Could be. It may depend on your definition of a
miracle. The fact that my heart continues to beat thousands of times every
day sending life delivering blood through my veins and arteries is in the
category of the miraculous for me. The truck that didn't run over me or the
car I didn't run into is certainly miraculous when I consider how close, I
have come to being in terrible accidents.

The fact is that miracles still happen when it is God's will. If our prayers
are in accordance with God's will for our lives you can count on a miracle
happening in your life. In 1 John 5:14-15 we are told, "Now this is the
confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His
will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know
that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him." So, go ahead pray for
the impossible, the impracticable, the fantastic, and the miraculous - it's
okay to do so. God would have us to come to Him with confidence knowing that
we can pour our hearts out to Him. If we happen to ask for the wrong thing
He's not going to zap us with a lightening bolt. He wants us to know that He
is still God, and He loves us. His door is always open waiting for us to
enter in. I believe that is a miracle in itself. Look around today and it
may be that you will see some miracles too.

Copyright © 2009. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals
on a non-profit basis with source credited. The Burning Bush website has
been online since January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998 the email version of the
Burning Bush Devotional was first sent.

Prayer Requests: Please pray for Malachi, Cody, and Mica who are young boys
with cancer. Malachi is very ill and in much pain. He is paralyzed on one
side because of a tumor pressing on his brain. Many prayer needs are posted
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Prayer Group (Of course, I am always in need of prayer - please pray for
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