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Sometimes people receive a miracle and never realize the real potential of the miracle. Only God knows the true potential and far reaching affects of the miracle He is willing to give you.
The story of my grandmother’s birth and my mother’s troubled pregnancies.
A miracle is nothing less than a Divine intervention by God. Every gift and each blessing from God is a miracle. However, God most often blesses us for reasons beyond our current circumstances.
The prime example of this truth is seen through the life and continuing impact of our father of faith, Abraham.
The story beginning in Genesis 11 and continuing, tells how Abraham and his wife Sarah passed the childbearing years of life together without having children. Both Abraham and Sarah so deeply desired a child and made it their constant prayer. However, as time went on and Abraham neared 100 years old and with Sarah almost 90, it seemed their dreams and prayers would go unanswered in their favor. This despite the fact that God had promised them a child.
Twenty-five years after they received God’s promise of a son, long after Sarah was thought able to conceive by any natural means, she became pregnant and miraculously gave birth to her firstborn son, Isaac. God told them that He was going to bless them, and He did, but that is not all God said about their miracle. God also told them what He wanted to see after He had blessed them. We read this about this in:
Genesis 12:2 I will cause you to become the father of a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and I will make you a blessing to others. (NLT)
Simply put, God intended to bless Abraham so that He could bless so many others through Abraham. It is the same with almost every other miracle recorded in the Bible. Every blessing God sends our way is meant to overflow our lives in such a way that we become a blessing to others. It’s the ‘cup running over’ principle from Psalms 23.
This is the best way to show true thanksgiving to God for His abundant blessings on our life.
Luke 12:48b Much is required from those to whom much is given, and much more is required from those to whom much more is given.
You see, there are two sure pathways to prosperity. The first truth from God’s Word involves us becoming a blessing to others even when we are in need. This is the biblical principle of sowing and reaping. We all understand that seed must first be planted before one can expect a crop. This truth is stated in many forms throughout both the Old and the New Testaments. Simply put, sometimes helping others get what they need opens up a heavenly door for our needs to be met. Job found this to be true when at last he prayed for his enemies, God turned his situation around and blessed Job with twice as much as he lost in return.
Proverbs 19:17 ¶ If you help the poor, you are lending to the LORD—and he will repay you!
The second principle which points us to a sure pathway to prosperity is giving to others because we have been given to first. To bless others with the blessing we were blessed with. With each and every blessing we receive, we are admonished to take a portion of that blessing and cheerfully offer it to God as a means of giving thanks. In fact, when God wants to bless the work of the Kingdom by funding some church or ministry, He most often sends it through some person. How does God normally accomplish this?
God knows what each one of us will do with what he gives us. He bases this on what He has observed us doing with what He has already given us thus far. The only way to change His opinion of us, if we need to, is to begin a new history with what we have right now and continue impressing Him with the very next blessing we receive.
Luke 6:38 If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use in giving—large or small—it will be used to measure what is given back to you. (NLT)
Miracle blessings are designed to reach farther than their initial and immediate impact. From the miracle of creation in the Garden of Eden to the miracle of the Children of Israel being delivered from Egypt, from the miracle blessings God gave Rahab and Ruth to the miracle given a young girl named Mary from the town of Nazareth. Miracles and blessings are designed to have far reaching impact, often much farther than the initial or immediate need.
This is what God intended when He decided to bless the widow of 2 Kings 4 with her miracle. We have read this story together over and again during these past few weeks. It has become a very familiar passage for many of us. Tonight I want to bring a conclusion to this series and tie it to our responsibility to show Thanksgiving for each and every blessing we receive from God.
Luke 17 NLT
16 He fell face down on the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan.
17 Jesus asked, "Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine?
It is noted in the Gospel of Luke that Jesus provided a miracle pathway to healing for ten lepers. These lepers were healed after they had left Jesus’ presence. Upon realizing that they had received the miracle they had requested only one returned to give proper thanksgiving.
This account points to the facts that few make the effort to show true heart felt thanksgiving for their miracles and how important it is to Jesus that God get the glory for each and every blessing.
How does give glory to God … by first recognizing Him as our Source and then by using our miracle results as He first intended when He granted our miracle. Getting a blessing from God is only half of the story, what we do with our miracle is the rest.
When Jesus rescued the woman who had been caught in adultery from being stoned to death, he simply asked her to let that moment affect the rest of her life, to ‘go her way and sin no more’ lest a greater trouble come upon her. What could be a greater trouble than certain death by stoning? To fall into the hands of a Living God Whom you never thanked for all of the blessings He sacrificed His Son for you to receive.
In conclusion let me say that:
* God is willing to grant you a miracle if you will participate.
* The miracle will meet your need and more.
* God wants you to thank Him, and give Him all the credit.
* He wants to direct the more.
Remember, thanksgiving is simply: Thanks & Giving … Thank God and Give.
