Saturday, July 19, 2008

Believe In Miracles!

“The miracles of nature do not seem miracles because they are so common. If no one had ever seen a flower, even a dandelion would be the most startling event in the world.”
- Unknown Author



“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” - Albert Einstein


“Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature.”
- St. Augustine



With God all things are possible...

18 comments:

Donald said...

If I go a few days without shaving it seems inevitable that someone is going to ask me if I am "trying" to grow a beard. I usually will answer them by saying that I don't have to try to grow a beard, I have to try not growing a beard.
Growing a beard for me is totally natural and effortless. The effort comes in not allowing it to grow.
I remember watching prayer services in church and it seems that everyone would be "trying" to believe in miracles.
One would think that for us it should be natural and effortless.
There are areas where I find it easy to believe in miracles, but there are way too many instances where I have to "try" to believe and I must shamefully admit that too many of those times I come up lacking.

Anonymous said...

“SAVING ARWERLD”

All things are possible

By Rev. Dennis Caldwell

There was a small young boy named Arwerld who had a bad habit of eating or at least tasting “everything” that he found. Anywhere he went he would sneak off and look under the sink or cabinets for containers of household cleaners, insecticides, glue, paint, you name it. Arwerld seemed to have a special instinct for finding medicine cabinets and the like – things he should not be getting into. Upon finding his treasure he would began to indulge himself in an eating, drinking or tasting frenzy. Soon someone would be calling the poison control center’s number or sometimes in sever reactions even 911 for an ambulance and paramedics. This behavior continued even into adulthood clearly indicating Arwerld needed Deliverance from this deadly behavior defect before he kills himself.

But what would Save Arwerld from a behavior that seemed to be implanted into his very psyche from birth? Everyone pondered what could be done; we could remove all the cleaners, chemicals, medications, glues, paints, and such. But these are all needful and good when used in the proper way. They came to the conclusion that they would have to “change Arwerld’s mind” instead of changing his surroundings. This way Arwerld could continue to use and enjoy the world around him in the proper way even to the fullest extent if he could completely recover from this insensible suicidal behavior.

The family took Arwerld to see Dr Knowitall Candoitall. The doctor checked Arwerld over and said I see what needs to be done.
What is it? The family asked.
“I have to inform you, Arwerld has a dead mind that cannot function properly; he needs a new one that is alive and can function properly”.
“What in the world will we do, where would we get a new mind?” they ask.
Dr. Candoitall answered, No Problem! I will let him use Mine, it is Perfect.
“How can you do that Dr. Candoitall?”
“Oh you see I have Given My Life to solving this very problem and have made a way. I have made a mind transforming radio Spiritwave system; where when the patient is given an implanted Spiritwave receiver module, he thinks my thoughts not his thoughts – thinks the way I think, his ways change to be like my ways not his ways.”
“Is it a hard procedure?” asked the family.
“No its just like planting a seed in the patient” said Dr. Candoitall.
“The system is called a MRS system for short, but I like to call it my New Man machine, because the results are just like taking off an old man and putting on a new man”
“Wow I wish I could build something like that”
“Well you see as I said before I gave my life to build it, because I loved my patients so much and wanted to save them from this helpless condition. The only way I could do that was to share my mind with them because theirs was dead and could not function properly”
“Well lets Hook up Arwerld”
“OK, Arwerld, do you want a new mind so that you will stop this destructive behavior?”
“Oh yes Dr. Candoitall, I am so tired of being like this and I can’t help myself.”
So Dr. Knowitall Candoitall implanted the Life Giving Spiritwave receiver module into Arwerld’s dead mind and it became alive as he began to think Dr. Candoitall’s thoughts which led him to change his ways to be like Dr. Candoitall’s ways.

And Arwerld was Delivered from his destructive, insensible, suicidal behavior. The doctors implanting procedure was completely successful, it literally Saved Arwerld’s Life.

The Family Rejoiced at Arwerld’s revitalization and restoration to life as it should be. Thanking Dr knowitall Candoitall, they said, “we don’t know how you did it.”
He said “after all I AM Dr. Knowitall Candoitall, there is Nothing I don’t know and Nothing too hard for Me.

Rev. Dennis Caldwell

Thomas Kissinger writes:
God made a promise to Abram in Genesis chapter 12. It was a
magnificent promise that stated that in him (Abram) all the families
of the earth would be blessed. Here it is...

Genesis 12
1Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and
from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I
will shew thee:

2And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and
make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

3And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth
thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

In acts 3:26 we are told exactly what that blessing is which is to
come upon all the families of the earth. Here it is...

26Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to
bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.

The word "iniquities" used here comes from #4189 in the Strong's
(4189 // ponhria // poneria // pon-ay-ree'-ah // ). It
means: wickedness, depravity, evil purposes and desires.

Once again, this shows that Jesus came to save us from a condition,
and not a location. This condition is sin, which could be better
understood as a sin nature. The sin nature causes us to be a worker
of iniquity (lawlessness).

God has blessed all the families of the earth, in that He sent His
Son Jesus as a SACRIFICE FOR SIN, that we might be saved from our
iniquity.

Let us recognize God's process of redemption, which includes the
sanctification of the soul. He is blessing us by turning every one
of us away from our iniquities.


Rom. 8:5-7 NIV
(5) Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
(6) The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;
(7) the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.

Act 3:26 MKJV
(26) Having raised up His son Jesus, God sent Him to you first, to bless you in turning every one of you away from his iniquities.G4189
The word "iniquities" used here comes from #4189 in the Strong's
(4189 // ponhria // poneria // pon-ay-ree'-ah // ). It
means: wickedness, depravity, evil purposes and desires.

Col. 1:21 NIV Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.

Eph. 4:23 MKJV and be renewed in the spirit of your mind.

Col. 3:2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.


Rom. 12:2 NIV Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Eph 4:24 MKJV
24 And you should put on the new man, who according to God was created in righteousness and true holiness.



Php. 3:19 NIV Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.

Col. 2:18-19 NIV Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. 19 He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.


2Co. 3:14 NIV But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away.


2Co. 4:4 NIV The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.


2Co. 11:3 NIV But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.


2Ti. 3:8 NIV Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth—men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected.

Tit. 1:15 -16 NIV To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.


1Pe. 1:13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Heb. 8:10 This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

Anonymous said...

I choose to live as though everything is a miracle...

Nothing to lose.

Anonymous said...

Good Morning Holy Spirit!
Good Morning Bishop!
Good Morning Bloggers!

"The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common." (Emerson)

With God all things are possible...miracles are NOW events.

With God all things are possible...
...miracles everyday that possibly go mostly unseen because there is a preoccupation with visualizing/associating the miraculous exclusively with Bible (text) related events...I trust God to do what He said - more than we can ask or think right Now....

To paraphrase the words of L.J. Peter, I do not believe in miracles, I depend on them...

...my life, here and now, is miraculous...and I am truly thankful for it.

mayam

Anonymous said...

Wow Donald,
What an illustration! I wont forget that one

YES! Everything is a miracle!

And I am glad because like mayam said I too count on them.

SORRY THAT I PUT SO MANY VERSES AT THE END OF MY LAST POST; I DIDN’T REALIZE THAT IT WAS THAT LONG.

PEACE
ICNST

peacemaker said...

"People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child -- our own two eyes. All is a miracle."

Thich Nhat Hanh


Generally, our 5 natural senses are used as perception tools to identify things that satisfy the egoic nature. That is the case for those whose existence is bound to and enslaved in their carnal (fleshly, egoic, earthly...not sinful) desires. True seekers of Christ consciousness, those whose perception of existence is a journey of the same, I believe, can train and utilize the natural senses to discern the supernatural in everyday sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and feelings. Thus, forming an awareness to the God-presence in everything and sees all of creation as it truly is...a beautiful miracle.

As Kathryn Kuhlman always said: "I believe-a in miracles, because I believe-a in God".

Peace
PM

Anonymous said...

Miraculous:

God formed His Universe, planets - everything from His Word and a . at the end of it.

He breathed into dust, maybe smaller than this . and man became a living soul.

Anonymous said...

mayam and peacemaker, I enjoyed reading the Emerson and Thich Nhat Hanh. I agree, there is wonder in the mundane. It is certainly something to wonder at that we are even here. Existence, consciousness, the life that surrounds us is a sigularity (as far as we know) in the universe. To be here at all is miraculous.

The word 'miracle' only attained its supernatural connotation in the early church. Among secular sources in Latin and Old French, it means 'object of wonder' from the Greek and Sanskrit words meaning 'to smile'. (Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper, Historian. 19 Jul. 2008.)

donald, I would say that we don't have to believe in miracles, just recognize them. That's the natural wonder that you're driving at, I think.

So, peacemaker, a belief in a god is not necessary to accept the miraculous.

I wonder at life, and smile.

Peace,

Abraham

Anonymous said...

Hello Family:

The miracle is that we all have the same life blood, regardless of blood type, race, gender, geographical location, belief systems, etc.- where we were created with purpose, and mostly that God knows each one individually, even if millions of other people have not a clue as to who we are. Created in the likeness of God as a completely unique entity in the scheme of an entire universe, while serving as an integral part / piece rightly joined together for a greater purpose than our own. Being able to stand out as a particular person / spirit in the eyes of God, even while in the midst of the masses, a place where we are not just another number / face in the crowd. God knows us by NAME, the innermost workings, even when / if we are uncertain as to who we are. God meeting with us right where we are, no matter where that happens to be, making himself available and accessible, while enabling us to understand that not only is HE real , but also relatable, having the mercy to abide with us despite our shortcomings or idiosyncrasies, straightening us out when necessary, because we are viable and important to HIM. Sounds like a miracle that nearly takes your breath away and leaving one speechless... SELAH... Amen.

peacemaker said...

No disagreement there, Abraham.

As a matter of fact, I know some who believe in God, or as you wrote, "a god", but strongly deny the miraculous. It's all a matter of perception and/or belief, I suppose.
For me, personally, as I travel farther down my spiritual evolutionary path, and further from the antiquated beliefs of the western church(post Nicea)with its doctrines, creeds, and dogma, I still find peace in communing with the all-pervading Presence that is the essence of everything(I did a lot of drugs, so belief in the supernatural is not a stretch for me). I no longer though, identify that "Presence" as the Judeo-Christian God of the Old Testament, but as the Universal Source whose wholeness permeates everything from the micro to the macro. The Great Sea towards which All rivers flow. I believe that is the true message of the Christ, whom Jesus perfectly embodied. But still, believing all that, I refer to that presence as God. My choice.
As for traditional thought, I believe things are changing. But as for miracles, they certainly happen and they happen for the simple reason: life happens; the two are one.
So, I certainly agree one doesn’t need to embrace a specific belief in a specific god to believe in the miraculous. Just engagement in the process of life itself.

Peace to You,
PM

PS,
Correct me if I’m wrong, I presume you to be a teacher of some sort. I hope not English. If so, please forgive my destruction of the simple art of punctuation.

Son of Zadok said...

Today I saw the Lord. He was a lonely old woman with half her mind. We prayed together beside her bed. We could feel the virtue of the Lord between us. I smiled , she smiled, God smiled.

Today I sang with Jesus. He was a broken woman of color. And her words were full of the colors of Christ. Her Glorys and Hallelujahs gave angels mighty strength.

Today Jesus spoke to me, through a lady who couldn't say a word. But when we prayed God was there. He said he loved us both and that's all we needed to hear.

Many times we think the world doesn't want to hear. But maybe were not looking in the right places. Are we reaching out to the least among us? The ones waiting for a friendly face just to say hello. When we minister to these, we've ministered to our Lord. If we want to find God; we need not search far. If we want to touch his hand; we need not reach to the heavens. If we want to feel him in our heart; we don't have to bear and toil with our own.
The Kingdom of God is within us and we are to rule and reign with His love. Let us take our blessings into the dark places and their we'll find the one we seek.

Anonymous said...

...it seems to me that miracles were realities long before man gave them a name...and, in the spirit of an old adage, if you are curious about the evolution of water, you don't ask the fish...

Donald said...

mir·a·cle Audio Help /ˈmɪrəkəl/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[mir-uh-kuhl] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun 1. an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause.
2. such an effect or event manifesting or considered as a work of God.

From what I can gather from the definition above which is from dictionary.com it would appear that there is NOTHING that can be considered anything other than a miracle.

Donald said...

All this talk about miracles and here I am witnessing one in the here and now!
I told Her Majesty that I wanted to ride the scooter across the bay to the Original Oyster House and she actually got ready in less than two hours.

Anonymous said...

Here is the way I see it: everything we've ever experienced is a miracle, always has been, always will be, but here is the deal. We get familiar with it all and it becomes the same old routine, day in and day out.

BUT, bring someone from a deep, dark, sure enough back in there, third almost fourth world place, blind fold them and just bring them to to your house. They would go tree swinging nuts over the miacles just in your home, because of what they are not familiar with.

BUT, a year from when you brought them home, they would be familiar with a whole lot of things.
The "new" that they had at first experinced, starts to rub off a bit with time.

I have never seen anyone who was not just dead, but I'm talkin' sure enough dead, come back to life.

BUT, get this. There is a lot of stuff out there that is saying that the year 2012 is the end of the world as we know it. I sure do hope that it's true. Not the end of the world as we've known it as a destruction thing, but as a brand new thing with a new set of standards. And that some of the new will be that the faithers, (that's people who walk in a demonstration of faith that have to be careful, because their faith could literally move a mountain, and people could get buried alive without any notice that a mountain was being moved) will be participating in the miracles of laying their hands on people who are sure enough dead and will see them come back to life, and will see limbs that are missing grow back and..... And that that and a whole lot more will become routine, the familiar.

But with this I close. These days we, us, the mes' and yous', the ones reading this and the ones just like us are there or at least almost there, that yes we believe and are beginning to really expect to be a part of the miracles that there is no familiarity, the unbelieveable that will become believeable because it will be happening all the time. Let me introduce us to MITN to which we will be a part: Miracles in the Now!

NTL

Iris said...

While I was reading all of the post for today, Great is Thy Faithfulness was playing….

Miracles…. It happens everyday…I have been an eyewitness to the miraculous many times in my life…. Both what Humans would call big and small… But what God would call ...”It’s just what I do”… Regardless of our perception…. He is faithful to allow us to see them daily… If we just notice… Change our perception and not let the mundane become a familiar, but allow every moment of everyday be a miracle… We will see the miracles all around us all of the time… Believe me He is faithful to perform them… we just have to notice….

There is a song that some dear friends of mine wrote…. It is a simple tune but has become a way that I have learned to perceive the things around me….

They go like this…

I anticipate the inevitable…
Supernatural…
Intervention of God…
I expect a miracle…

Then after we expect and we notice… we honor the one who is our miracle….

We say….

Great is Thy faithfulness, oh God, my Father,
there is no shadow of turning with Thee.
Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not,
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Summer and winter, springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Great is Thy faithfulness;
Great is Thy faithfulness,
Morning by morning new mercies I see.

All I have needed, Thy hand hath provided;
great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide.
Your strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine with ten thousand aside.

Oh great… great is Thy faithfulness,
Oh great… great is Thy faithfulness,
Morning by morning new mercies I see.

All I have needed, Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness,
Great is Thy faithfulness,
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.

.

Anonymous said...

I THINK MIRACLES ARE WHEN WE SCREW THINGS UP SO BAD THAT GOD HAS TO INTERVINE IN A REALLY BIG WAY TO STRAIGHTEN THEM OUT.

Anonymous said...

It's unbelievable, but I believe I agree with all of the above!!

Now that's a miracle...

NTL