Seeing beyond sight

"The Transfiguration" Artist unknown

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 2 Peter 1-3 Psalm 35

TO CHEW ON: "For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'" 2 Peter 1:16,17.


Do you think first-person accounts of people seeing visions of heaven and Jesus are believable? Or hoax? Or maybe you view them as sacrilege? In the last few years many such modern stories have surfaced. Several—Heaven is for Real and Miracles from Heaven—have even been made into movies.

I wonder if Peter's account of Jesus' transfiguration, which he refers to here (and is told in full in Luke 9:28-36) met with the same mixed response. There was no doubt in Peter's mind, though, as to the reality of what he had seen and heard. He used this vision as grounds for his authority (2 Peter 1:18-21). Indeed, most if not all of the prophetic writings in the Bible derive from God's communicating with people in ways we would call extrasensory or supernatural.

Most of us humans, though, live in a state of limited reception, especially to the spiritual realm. So when someone claims to have a vision, even Christians, especially us 21st century ones, influenced by the prove-it-in-the-lab-or-I-won't-believe-it mentality of humanistic naturalism, are skeptical.

I know there is room for caution when we hear stories of people experiencing the supernatural. Still, I hope that I am not so cautious as to disqualify myself from hearing from God in any way He should want to speak to me.

In this regard, let me leave you with some quotes from a book by author Mike Mason. The e-book Adventures in Heaven is the story Mason tells of his friend who claimed to have many supernatural and heavenly experiences. Mike himself saw Jesus only once. Here is some of his account:

"No sooner had he said these words than I found myself looking at Jesus! He was right there in front of me, larger than life. … The first thing that struck me was His joy. He was positively beaming like ten thousand suns. … And that face—how full of character! … And what is revealed in the face of Jesus is all love, all beauty, all wisdom, all goodness…." Kindle Location 3399.

This is how that vision affected him:

"Seeing Jesus, it turned out, far from leaving me with my head stuck in the clouds, was absolutely the best thing that could have happened. I didn't tell anyone else my experience. I didn't have to. I'd been filled with the joy and the love of God, and so all my contacts with people over the next few days took on a wholly different quality" - Kindle Location 3433.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, I'm glad that You are not bound by the limitations I feel within my human tent. Help me to perceive You in whatever way You choose to reveal Yourself to me. Amen.
 
PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 35

The Bible Project VIDEO: 2 Peter (Read Scripture Series)




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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The glory of miracles

Jesus turns water into  wine - Artist unknown

TODAY'S SPECIAL: John 1-2; Psalm 103

TO CHEW ON: "This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him." John 2:11

The glory Jesus showed the people around Him was not always what we think of as glory, i.e. a bright, white, shining visual phenomenon. Rather it was the glory of signs, wonders, miracles and healing. And when we examine the Bible's telling of some of these events, we see that Jesus' glory shown in these ways accomplished different things in different people.

The glory of miracles, signs and wonders:

• Caused people to believe in Jesus.

• The disciples believed after the miracle in today's reading- John 2:11.

• When Jesus was going to meet Mary and Martha after Lazarus' death, He said, to His disciples, that He was glad it had come to this "that you may believe?" Onlookers as well as disciples believed on Him after He brought Lazarus back to life - John 11:15, 45,48.

• Caused people to ponder His identity and come to various conclusions about Him.

• Nicodemus concluded He was a "...teacher come from God" - John 3:2.

• The nobleman and His household believed Jesus was as good as His word - John 4:50,53.

• The scribes, Pharisees, and Jewish leaders saw a threat to their power in His miracles and teachings and pronounced Jesus and his works demonic - John 10:20,21.

• After Jesus fed the multitude, His disciples and those who had eaten believed He was the fulfillment of prophecy - John 6:14.

• Convicted and challenged His disciples.

• The great abundance of fish the disciples caught after following Jesus' instructions caused Peter to be aware of His sin - Luke 5:8.

• John the Baptist's faith was stretched when Jesus continued performing miracles while he, John, was stuck in prison (Matthew 11:2-6). It was an imprisonment that eventually led to his death. Like him we may sometimes have our faith stretched in this way when, no matter how great our need and how hard we pray, God doesn't perform a miracle for us. I take this as a lesson that these glory works are for God's purposes, not ours; we can't manipulate them. 

• Jesus' feeding of the multitude was proof that Jesus could care for the disciples' physical needs - Mark 8:16-21.

• Miracles performed in Jesus' name continued on in the church past His death and resurrection, causing the disciples to get into all kinds of trouble - Acts 2:22; 4:30; 8:5,6.

• Are a means of drawing people to Jesus for salvation - Hebrews 2:2-4.

The Greek word "glory" used John 2:11 is doxa  "The NT doxa becomes splendour, radiance and majesty centred in Jesus. Here doxa is the majestic absolute perfection residing in Christ and evidenced by the miracles He performed" - Dick Mills, Word Wealth, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1446.

This is the same glory (doxa) Jesus prayed would carry on in us, His disciples:
"And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one" - John 17:22 (emphasis added).

May His glory touch us and flow through us in signs, wonders, and miracles!


PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You for coming to Earth to show us God's glory through miracles. Thank You for still performing miracles today. Help me to believe even when you don't answer My prayer with a miracle. 

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 103

The Bible Project VIDEO: John - Part 1 of 2 (Read Scripture Series)



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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Would Jesus be grieved at our hard hearts?

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Mark 1-2; Psalm 95

TO CHEW ON: "And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, 'Stretch out your hand.' And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other." Mark 3:5

In our reading today we see a rare thing—Jesus angry. What angered Him? It was the attitude of the Pharisees. They objected to Him healing the withered hand of a fellow worshipper because it was against their rules of what's allowed on the Sabbath. Mark described the source of Jesus' anger as "being grieved by the hardness of their hearts"  - Mark 2:5.

["Hard/hardness  is porosis— hardening, callousness. It's a medical term used to describe the process by which fractured bones are set by an ossifying or calloused petrifying. Sometimes it describes a hard substance in the eye that blinds. Used metaphorically porosis denotes a dulled spiritual perceptivity, spiritual blindness and hardness" - Dick Mills, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible p. 1568.]

We find lots of hard hearts in the Bible, in both Old and New Testaments.

1. People's hearts are hard towards believing in God even after seeing supernatural evidences of Him.

• Pharaoh's heart is described as "hard" during the plagues. Repeatedly when a plague ends, he reneged on his promise to let the people go - Exodus 8:15; 9:34.

• Even the Israelites had hard hearts despite seeing signs and experiencing wonders during the exodus and the years they spent in the wilderness - Psalm 78:32.

2. Hard-heartedness toward God continued throughout Israel's OT history - Jeremiah 5:3; Zechariah 7:8-14.

3. It was often a top-down attitude, beginning with the king.

• Judah's King Zedekiah was only 21 when he took the throne and his 11-year reign was summed up: "…he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turing to the LORD God of Israel" - 2 Chronicles 36:13.

• It caused King Jehoiakim to systematically burn the scroll Jeremiah had just dictated to Baruch the scribe - Jeremiah 36:24.

4. Some hard heart causes and characteristics:

• It was caused by pride (Daniel 5:20) and the the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:13).

• It resulted in a lack of compassion (Mark 3:2-6—our reading), spiritual dullness (Mark 8:17), doubt and unbelief (Mark 16:14), broken relationships (Mark 10:4,5), and a withdrawal of God's presence (through His people and the Holy Spirit - Acts 19:9).  

5. It is remedied by repentance and confession - Nehemiah 9:17.

6. If persisted in, its end consequence is judgement - Romans 2:5.

I would have loved to be a synagogue spider watching this interchange between Jesus and the Pharisees. But then the thought occurs, what if He came to my church—to yours? Is there a chance He would be grieved and angered by what He sees there of our attitude toward the withered hand types—the homeless, the mentally ill, the poor, the sexually broken, the addicts?

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, please help me to see my heart as You see it, and to recognize any hard-heartedness. I need You to replace it with a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). Amen. 

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 95

The Bible Project VIDEO: Mark (Read Scripture Series)



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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Watch! Be ready

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Matthew 23-24; Psalm 92

TO CHEW ON: " 'For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.' " Matthew 24:38-39


Our reading gives us some natural signs that herald the near return of Christ including:

" '…the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken' " - Matthew 24:29.

What causes this unnatural darkening? Volcanic matter in earth's atmosphere?

What are those falling stars? Meteors and comets plowing into us?

I can just imagine how such natural disasters will be reported in the news. Scientific experts will analyze and prescribe. They will be the fault of fracking, or fossil fuel use, or CO2, or disturbed ecosystems, or weakened magnetism at the poles, or pollution, or… We will be told, if we only do more of this, less of that, the balance will right itself.

Meanwhile wherever it can, life will go on as usual - Matthew 24:37-38, 40-41.

I describe this scenario because even for those of us who have read these Bible passages and have been forewarned, it's easy to get lulled into complacency by the naturalistic explanations of scientists and those who supposedly understand earth's mechanisms (or at least have lots of theories).

Believers expressing their take on events are / will be mocked no less than Noah was. They're even viewed as dangerous because of their convictions that supernatural forces are at work here and thus they don't buy into scientific prescriptions of how to save the earth.

The billboard sign I take from this passage for myself—for all of us who believe these prophecies—is BE ALERT! Be watchful for Jesus' second coming.

" ' … when you see these things, know that it is near' " - Matthew 24:33. 

" 'But watch therefore…' " Matthew 24:42. 

" 'Therefore you also, be ready' " - Matthew 24:44.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, help me to see Your hand at work in earth's natural events and disasters. Help me to live alert to signs of Your return, not dulled by the spirit of my time. Amen. 

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 92

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Spiritual dreams

"The Wise Men Come to Worship" by James Tissot

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Matthew 1-2; Psalm 81

TO CHEW ON: "Then being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way." Matthew 2:12

A sidebar article in my Bible observes about dreams, "The NT opens with a burst of dreams, visions, angelic visitations and prophecies and closes with John's revelation…" James W. Ryle, "Dreams, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1291,2.

The story of Jesus' incarnation is particularly full of dreams.

• An angel comes to Joseph in a dream to tell him it is OK to marry Mary - Matthew 1:20.

• In our reading today, an angel warns the wise men away from return to Herod - Matthew 2:12.

• In the next verse of Matthew, we have another dream of Joseph's in which an angel tells him to flee from Herod to Egypt with Mary and baby Jesus - Matthew 2:13.

• After Herod dies, an angel gives Joseph the news and tells him to settle his family in Israel - Matthew 2:19.

• En-route another dream confirms his intuition about the danger of living in Judea and so he returns to Galilee - Matthew 2:22.

The article quoted from above goes on to say:

"…neither Jesus nor the apostles give any particular precept concerning the phenomena of dreams or visions. This is somewhat enigmatic in that, while the Bible does not teach about dreams and visions in any systematic manner, yet by citing so many significant examples it validates their existence and use by God as a means of communicating to people" - Ibid.  

What do you think—does God still speak to people in dreams today? Google that question and you'll raise many links to check out. Perhaps one of the simplest answers is on the Billy Graham Evangelical Association Answers page:

"God may communicate through dreams or visions even today, but we need to carefully check any such guidance we receive with Scripture and godly counsel to be sure it is from the Lord..." (read the entire answer).

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for preserving Jesus' human life through dream warnings and messages. I know You can communicate to me in whatever way You choose. Help me to be listening. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 81

The Bible Project VIDEO: Matthew (Part 1: 1-13) (Read Scripture Series)



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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Angel visits

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Judges 13-15; Psalm 74

TO CHEW ON: "And the Angel of the Lord said to him, 'Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?'" Judges 13:18

An amazing thing happened to Manoah's barren wife. An angel visited her, told her she would have a son, and gave instructions for how she should live during her pregnancy as well as how to raise her soon-to-be-born little boy.

When she told Manoah, he prayed for an another angel visitation and the Angel appeared to his wife again, stuck around long enough for Manoah to meet Him, quiz Him, even offer Him food.

Did you notice my capitalizations there? That's because in this instance it seems that the Angel was none other than God Himself—a theophany—the Angel of the Lord as distinct from an angel of the Lord. Wayne Grudem, in his Systematic Theology chapter on angels says:

"Who is the Angel of the Lord? Several passages of Scripture, especially in the Old Testament, speak of the angel of the Lord in a way that suggests that he is God himself taking on a human form to appear briefly to various people in the Old Testament.

In some passages "the angel of the Lord" (not "an angel of the Lord") is spoken of as the Lord himself. [He goes on to give some examples and continues] .... These are clear instances of the angel of the Lord or the angel of God appearing as God himself, perhaps more specifically as God the Son taking on a human body for a short time in order to appear to human beings" - Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, p. 401.

In addition, in this case the fact that the Angel says His name is "wonderful" reminds us of Isaiah 9:6 where "Wonderful" is one of the names of the coming Messiah.

Why did God choose to visit Manoah and his wife in this way? Why does God ever break through in supernatural visitations and unexplainable phenomenon? Some time ago I read a fascinating book called Angels, Miracles, and Heavenly Encounters. It is a collection of first-person and as-told-to stories of people who have experienced angelic visits.

Compiler James Stuart Bell in the Introduction gives us some reasons as to why God may choose to break through in such ways:

"The supernatural world, the world revealed to us in the Scriptures, is normally apprehended by faith and not by our senses. But at times, though they may be few and far between, for God's own mysterious reasons, we are allowed a window into that world. He may be trying to warn us about some danger, encourage our faith, or provide guidance in terms of our behaviour .... Some of these experiences may be meant to be shared to edify others ... these very personal stories ... convey how much God cares for us and how active and close He is to us—fighting our battles and revealing the eternal consequences of our choices and behaviour, even our thoughts and attitudes here on earth" - James Stuart Bell, "Introduction," Angels, Miracles, and Heavenly Encounters, Kindle Location 130 (emphasis added).

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for Your involvement in human existence. Thank You for these stories of angel visits—old and new—that reinforce Your reality and how much You care for us. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 74

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Let your reasoning lead to faith

Religious leaders - Artist unknown

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Matthew 21:18-32

TO CHEW ON: "And they reasoned among themselves saying, 'If we  say, "From heaven," He will say to us "Why then did you not believe him?" But if we say, "From men," we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet.' " Matthew 21:25,26


These chief priests, scribes and elders had the mindset of the conniving politician down pat. Their reasoning showed that they were more concerned with the impression they were making on observers than about searching their own hearts.

Jesus' claims often pulled out of His hearers such a reasoning response. That's what happens when what you see doesn't line up with what you have always thought possible. For example, after He said to the paralytic (whose friends lowered him to Jesus through a roof), "Your sins are forgiven," the scribes "reasoned" in their hearts that He had made a blasphemous statement (Mark 2:6-12).

When He talked about being the bread of life, the Jews "quarreled" with His claim (John 6:52).

Though such back-and-forth conversations in a reasoning, what-might-appear-to-us-as-argumentative style was the manner of Jewish teachers, Jesus never left the discussion on the theoretical plane. He inevitably pushed for a decision and a commitment.

In our reading today, Jesus refused to answer the leaders' insincere question about His authority to do miracles (Matthew 21:23-27). What was the point? It would just have produced more 'reasoning.'

In the story about the paralytic, from Mark, after forgiving the paralytic's sins, Jesus healed him physically, challenging the onlookers' assumptions that He was an ordinary man.

In the John account, after hearing the objections to His claims of being the bread of life, Jesus challenged the Jews to eat His flesh and drink His blood (a metaphorical allusion to the Last Supper and His death) - John 6:53-58.

Another time, when Jesus heard the wise answer of a scribe to His question, "Which is the greatest commandment?" He concluded, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God"  Mark 12:34) (the implication being, 'Why don't you just take that next step and enter it?').

Paul does a good job of summing up the tension between reasoning and going farther.

"Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe" - 1 Corinthians 1:20,21 (emphasis added).

It's fine for us to discuss and reason. But at the end of the day we need to take that step of admitting who He really is and, in the perfect reasonableness of believing faith, surrender to Him the lordship of our lives.

PRAYER: Dear God, there is in our age more than ever the tendency to reason away Your claims. Help me to go beyond playing with words and ideas, and to commit myself to You in action-changing belief. Amen.

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New King James Version (NKJV) Used with permission. The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Super-natural

"Mount Sinai" - Artist unnamed

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Psalm 113:1-114:8

TO CHEW ON: “Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
At the presence of the God of Jacob
Who turned the rock into a pool of water
The flint into a fountain of waters.” Psalm 114: 7-8

The psalmist has packed years of history into this 16-line poem. It speaks of the time Israel left Egypt and slavery. In the desert, God lived with them – hovering close in a cloud and overshadowing the tabernacle with His glory.

Nature complied with God’s plans. The Read Sea parted to let them cross (Exodus 14:16). After 40 years of wandering in the desert, the Jordan River likewise divided up so they could walk to the other side (Joshua 3:17).

The mountains and hills skipping like rams and lambs probably refers to the rolling and shaking of Mount Sinai when God met with Moses there (Exodus 19:18). The “rock into a pool of water" and “flint into a fountain of water” refer to God supplying their drinking water from rock – at least twice (Exodus 17:6; Numbers 20:11).

Don’t you just love the psalmist’s saucy questioning of these inanimate natural objects: “What ails you, O sea, that you fled? O Jordan that you turned back? O mountains that you skipped like rams? O little hills like lambs?” It’s a type of rhetorical question – to which the answer would have been, “We couldn’t help it. What would you do but comply (tremble) in the presence of God?”

We know, however, that at the time these things were happening the Israelites were anything but confident that God knew what He was doing. It was only in retrospect that His modus operandi became evident.

Does God still intervene in miraculous ways on our behalf? I believe so. I can just see us in heaven, with the benefit of perfect hindsight and insight, thanking and praising God for the stayed storms, the just-missed auto accidents, the at-the-time annoying delays which kept us from being in the wrong place at the right time.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You that even inanimate nature is under Your control. Help me to have confidence in You as the God of everything.

MORE: In “The Laws of Physics as God” John Piper makes a defense for a God who is behind the laws of nature, and above them.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Do your 8-12-year-olds have daily devotions? Point them to Bible Drive-Thru.

Enter the supernatural dimension

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: John 3:1-17

TO CHEW ON: “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’” John 3:3

Nicodemus started his conversation with Jesus by giving Him an almost generic compliment: “‘Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him’” - John 3:2.

Jesus’ answer (‘“Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God’” - John 3:3) didn’t seem to have anything to do with what Nicodemus had just said. Instead, Jesus cut to the chase, addressed the heart of the matter, probably got at what Nicodemus wanted to know: What do You have; and can I get it too?

In the conversation that followed, Jesus explained several things to puzzled Nicodemus:

1. He needed to be “born again” to see this kingdom of God - John 3:3.

2. He could only enter this kingdom through this new birth - John 3:5.

3. Being “born again” was not a physical but a spiritual experience. It involved water (baptism, repentance) and the Spirit.

4. The Spirit was the member of the godhead active in this new birth. The Spirit’s action is compared to wind (John 3:6-8). I can’t help but think of the Spirit hovering over unformed creation in Genesis 1:2 before the light arrived. Here, at the new birth, the Spirit blows over human lives to activate them toward God spiritually.

5. This new birth would be and is based on a physical time-and-space event—Jesus’ death and resurrection - John 3:13-16.

Still today we puzzle over the depths of Jesus’ words to Nicodemus. Thinking back to our own “new birth” experience, we may be able to detect the work of that Spirit wind as we felt dissatisfaction with life as it was, began a search for answers, were wowed by how God brought people into our lives, and seemingly orchestrated circumstances to bring us to repentance and faith. Suddenly we saw evidences of God everywhere. His fingerprints were all over our lives!

Jack Hayford sums up the new birth wonderfully in an article in my Bible:

“New birth is more than simply being “saved.” It is a requalifying experience opening up the possibilities of our whole being to the supernatural dimension of life and fitting us for a beginning in God’s kingdom order” - Jack Hayford, “New Birth,” New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1447 (emphasis added)

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You for paying the death penalty for my sin so I could enter the kingdom of God. Please keep my eyes open to the supernatural dimension of kingdom life—even as I still live on natural earth. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The argument of power

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 1 Corinthians 4:1-21

TO CHEW ON: “For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power.” 1 Corinthians 4:20

Does it seem to you that some folks are impervious to the gospel? No argument, no matter how logical or compelling, convinces them of the existence of God and His evaluation of and remedy for mankind.

If I’m understanding Paul correctly here, he is saying there is a way to conquer even such refusal to believe. It’s not with words, though, but with the power of God.

The Bible speaks often about the power of God. The references below are a few places. They give us an idea of the areas and ways God’s power has shown up in the past and may again.

1. Israel’s Chronicles historian told how historical figures, here David and a “man of God,” understood the rise and fall of nations to be due to God’s help or withdrawal of help - 1 Chronicles 29:12; 2 Chronicles 25:8.

2. The Spirit of the Lord gave the prophets the courage and power to rebuke sin - Micah 3:8.

3. Jesus’ life was characterized by the power of the Spirit - Luke 3:22; 4:14,15. The gospels are full of accounts of His teachings and miracles that repeatedly overcame unbelief.

4. On the day of Pentecost the Spirit descended on the disciples with physical sounds, sights, and manifestations - Acts 2:2-4.

5. That spiritual power was on display in the lives of the disciples, in their witnessing power, favour, miracles, and eventually, opposition - Acts 4:33; 6:7-15.

6. Paul prayed in his letter to the Ephesians that the power of God’s Spirit would strengthen his readers in the inner person - Ephesians 3:16.

7. Paul encouraged Timothy to use his spiritual gift to conquer fear and live in power, love, and a sound mind - 2 Timothy 1:17.

Does God still show up today in supernatural power, miracles, signs, and wonders? I believe He does. One example is in the dreams and visions of Jesus that many Muslims who come to faith tell about.

I am praying for the kingdom to come in supernatural power to some folks I know, who remain unmoved by words.  

PRAYER: Dear Holy Spirit, may Your power flow in and through us as a means to convince a skeptical world of the kingdom of God and win them into it. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

By faith

Israel marches around Jericho - Artist unknown

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Hebrews 11:17-31

TO CHEW ON: "By faith…"- Hebrews 11:17,20,21,22,23,24,27,28,29,39,31


I love how various aspects of faith are illustrated in today's segment of Hebrews 11—the Bible's famous Faith Chapter. Through these examples we discover that faith has many facets. Let's identify some of them.

Abraham's faith involved obedience and overcoming rationalism as he compared God's mysterious instructions to sacrifice Isaac with His prior promise to provide a nation through this son - Hebrews 11:17-20.

Isaac and Jacob's faith in blessing their sons, and Joseph's faith in the request that he be burred in the promised land consisted of hope for the future and prophetic foresight - Hebrews 11:20-22.

Moses' parents hiding their baby boy showed the risk that faith sometimes involves, as well as hope for the future of their "no ordinary child" - Hebrews 11:23.

Moses' faith, demonstrated when he broke with his Egyptian upbringing, was anchored in spiritual belief about who the real God was - Hebrews 11:24-27. His instituting of the Passover demonstrated that too, along with the faith of obedience - Hebrews 11:28.

The Israelites passing through the Red Sea showed trust in God's power to accomplish the supernatural - Hebrews 11:29.

The Israelites march around Jericho showed the obedience and overcoming rationalism facets of faith - Hebrews 11:30.

Rahab's faith was an example of spiritual belief and obedience - Hebrews 11:31.

We could go on to parse the faith examples that continue, but you get the idea. For me, this realization of the many aspects of faith is helpful in that it's true for us too. The faith that's required when we pray for the future of our children and grandchildren, for example, is somewhat different from the faith we need when we pray for healing, or change our daily routine to do God's assignments. God sees, recognizes and blesses all the various shades of faith we need to exercise in our life with Him. 

For what do you and I need faith today? Are we exercising that particular faith muscle?

PRAYER: Dear Father, please help me to live by faith in big and little things today. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Go to God first

Image: Pixabay.com

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 107:23-43

TO CHEW ON: "Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble
And He brings them out of their distresses." Psalm 107:28


"I've talked to God more in the last few days than ever before in my life," I heard a woman say on a news interview. She had just lived through the recent West Virginia flood.

It's not unusual for us to call out to God during disaster. The characters in Psalm 107 certainly do. In the middle of a storm at sea where the waves pitching the boat "… mount up to the heavens," then "… go down again to the depths," the sailors "… are at their wits' end. Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble" - Psalm 107:23-28.

The writer of Psalm 107 tells of God coming through for the troubled and harassed:

• He gets them out of trouble:

"He brings them out of their distresses
He calms the storm…" - Psalm 107:28,29.

• He guides:

'He guides them to their safe haven" - Psalm 107:30.

• He supplies (even supernaturally):

"He turns a wilderness into pools of water
And dry land into watersprings" - Psalm 107:35.

• He blesses:

"He also blesses them, and they multiply greatly" - Psalm 107:38.

• In fact, He even turns the natural order around for them:

"He pours contempt on princes
And causes them to wander in the wilderness
Yet He sets the poor on high" - Psalm 107:40,41.

The grand conclusion of all this is that God is a God of love and kindness:

"Whoever is wise will observe these things,
And they will understand the lovingkindness of God" - Psalm 107:43.

Whatever trouble we're in, whether it is from a natural disaster, a health crisis, a financial crunch, a storm in the family, the oppression of government, let's let this psalm inspire us to do the thing we often do last, first: Call On God. When he personally demonstrates His lovingkindess to us, perhaps we'll be inspired to pen our own version of Psalm 107.


PRAYER: Dear Father, the cynical side of me says, "This is too simplistic" and "It doesn't always work out so smoothly." So help me to trust Your lovingkindness when I'm in the middle of a crisis and don't see (or understand) Your goodness. Help me to have the simple faith of the writer of Psalm 107. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The mystery of miracles

Peter Raises Dorcas - Artist unknown

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Acts 9:32-43

TO CHEW ON: "All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord … This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord." Acts 9:34,42

I love how these miracles, performed through Peter, led to chain reactions. The healing of the paralyzed Aeneas resulted in conversions in Lydda and Sharon. When Dorcas died a short distance away (in Joppa) the disciples sent for Peter. (Did they expect him to raise her from the dead, I wonder?) She came  back to life and word spread all over town and resulted in many more conversions.

A sidebar article in my Bible explains:

"There is a clear pattern in the NT in which evangelism or even mass evangelism follows demonstrations of God's kingdom power (Mark 16:14-20; Acts 5:12,14; 9:35,42 [our reading]; Acts 13:14-12; 19:11-20)" - Todd Hunter, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p.1508.

Possible reactions to miracles:

However, demonstrations of God's kingdom power (miracles) do not always result belief. In a Sunday sermon several weeks ago, the speaker at my church named six possible reactions to miracles. These were reactions when Jesus healed the man born blind (John 9:2-38). These reactions could follow the miracles we see today as well:

• Logic - reaction of the disciples in John 9:2.
• Tradition - reaction of the neighbours in John 9:8.
• Religion - reaction of the Pharisees - John 9:13.
• Unbelief - reaction of the Jews - John 9:18.
• Fear - reaction of the man's parents - John 9:20.
• Belief - reaction of the healed man - John 9:25, 35-38.

Why doesn't God give me a miracle?

Finally, I ask myself—and you—these questions about miracles:

1. What is my attitude toward God when He denies a miracle? I can think of many, many people who have prayed for a miracle but it hasn't happened.

2. Is there a way to convince God to perform one? Does my faith, obedience, prayer and fasting, etc., have everything to do with it? Anything to do with it?

3. The purpose of God sending a miracle, or not, isn't, according to the Bible, mainly concerned with my well-being, comfort, release from pain and suffering, prosperity etc.


The purpose of miracles:

Looking up the list of references under "Miracles Testify" in my Thompson Chain Bible reveals some of the pre-church and early church purposes of miracles:

• Reveal Jesus' identity as Messiah and deity - Luke 5:7; John 3:2; 6:14; 7:31; 9:32; 10:25, 37-38; Acts 4:30.

• Lead to awe and praise of God - Luke 7:17; Acts 3:10.

• Lead to people believing in and coming to faith in Jesus - John 2:23; 4:53; 11:15, 45, 48; 20:30; Acts 9:34, 42 (our story).  

• Show that God is present - Matthew 27:54; Acts 2:22.

• Not always understood. If anyone could have used a miracle, it was the imprisoned John the Baptist. Yet Jesus never intervened on his behalf, telling him, instead, not to stumble over this - Luke 7:22.

• Cause people to pay attention to the message of the miracle-worker - Acts 8:6.

• Are distributed according to God's will - Hebrews 2:4.

PRAYER: Dear Father, I believe Your miracle-working power is as strong today as ever. Help me to fit in with Your plans and if those include miracles, may You get all the glory. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

God's glory brought down to earth

 Detail of "Transfiguration" by Raphael (1516-1520)

See the entire painting and read its history on Art and the Bible.

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Luke 9:21-36

TO CHEW ON: "Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray." Luke 9:28


Luke links Jesus' sobering words of Luke 9:23-27 (where He speaks of His death, the need for the disciples to face their own deaths daily, the Father being ashamed of those who are ashamed of Jesus and His words, and some disciples not seeing death till they see the kingdom of God) with Jesus' transfiguration. It's as if Luke is saying, With Jesus' pronouncements ringing in their ears the disciples experienced this (Luke 9:28 - 36).

How might the two be connected?

• The transfiguration conversation between Jesus, Moses and Elijah underlined the fact of Jesus' impending death - Luke 9:22,31. (My Bible's Harmony of the Gospels dates the transfiguration somewhere in the beginning to middle of AD 29, about a year before the crucifixion.)

• The disciples were given a taste of the glory Jesus referred to in Luke 9:26. The glory the disciples experienced was visible. Jesus' clothes became white and glistening. It was a glory of well-being. Peter wanted to stay in it and the disciples only became fearful as the cloud that eventually separated them from it overshadowed them - Luke 9:34. This experience gave them a foretaste of what it was like to be in God's penetrating, all-seeing, all-knowing, all-revealing presence—a place they would not want to enter with the shame of having denied Jesus and His words.

• God's words from the cloud ("This is My believed Son. Hear Him" - Luke 9:34) supported Jesus' claim of being on the side of His Father and the angels - Luke 9:26.

And then, kathunk! The voice was silent. The cloud lifted. They were alone with Jesus. I can imagine their thoughts: What just happened? Did it really happen? What does it mean? To their credit the puzzled disciples kept this experience to themselves for the time being.

Some takeaways from this story for me, for us...

1. God's  revelations, when He pulls back the curtain to show us glimpses of the divine, will line up with what He has said in other places, e.g. the teachings of the Bible.

2. We don't want to enter His presence ashamed because of our short-sighted fear of man.

3. It's okay to keep divine encounters to ourselves until we gain insight into what they mean.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, help me to live in such a way that I can someday stand unashamed before You in all Your glory. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Three prayer principles

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Job 42:1-17

TO CHEW ON: "And the Lord restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before." Job 42:10

We see some principles of prayer at play here in the happy ending to Job's story.

1. Prayer operates as a go-between.
Here it's Job's prayers that God wants to use to reconcile Job's friends to Himself. What Job does here reminds us of Jesus. When God told Job's friends that Job would offer a sacrifice and pray for them (Job 42:8), he (Job) was foreshadowing what Jesus did for us when He sacrificed His life and prayed for us from the cross.

2. Prayer operates beyond the boundaries of the natural.
Job was to pray for these friends who had insulted him and made him feel even worse than he did. We are reminded of Jesus' words: " 'But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you' " Matthew 5:44. The result for Job was a doubled restoring of his fortunes. How did that work?!

3. Prayer may require forgiveness on the part of the pray-er.
Job's friends had, in effect, called him a windbag (Job 8:2), empty-headed (Job 11:3), and wicked (Job 22:5). He was distressed and hurt by them (Job: "Miserable comforters are you all!" - Job 16:2 and "How long will you torment my soul and break me in pieces with words?" - Job 19:2).

Now he was to pray for them. Surely that required some attitude adjustments on his part—as in a complete relinquishment of bad feelings and grudge-holding against Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. We call that forgiveness. We are reminded of Jesus' words from the cross: "'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do…'" and Stephen's when he was being stoned: "Lay not this sin to their charge" (Luke 23:34 and Acts 7:60).

Let's keep these thoughts about prayer in mind as we pray.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to acknowledge the importance and power of prayer by actually spending more time praying, especially for those who have hurt, offended or troubled me. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Signs will follow

"Carry this Gospel to all the world"
by Harold Copping

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Mark 16:9-20

TO CHEW ON: "'And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover.'.... And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs." Mark 16:17-18, 20.

Christianity has divided itself roughly into two camps.
- Those who believe that these signs Jesus spoke of, which were promised to "confirm" the word have ceased (Cessasionists).

- Those who believe that signs legitimately continue till this day (Continuationists).

A footnote on this passage in my Bible defends the Continuationist position:

"The signs accredit the gospel message and cannot be limited to the apostolic age, any more than the Lord's commission to carry the gospel throughout the world. The signs, therefore, confirm the ministries of Christ's ambassadors in every generation" - J. Lyle Story, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1380.

This latter is what I believe (in other words, I am a continuationist). But if this promise applies to us, why don't we see more signs accompanying the preaching of the gospel?

Perhaps one reason is that we don't really desire them and so we don't ask (as the disciples did in Acts 4:29-30). John Piper, in an article on this topic, makes this observation (he is referring specifically to the spiritual gift signs referred to in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10):

"I wonder how many of us have said for years that we are open to God's moving in spiritual gifts, but have been disobedient to this command to earnestly desire them... I would ask all of us: are we so sure of our hermeneutical procedure for diminishing the gifts that we would risk walking in disobedience to a plain command of Scripture? "Earnestly desire spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy."

I have come to the point of seeing that the risk lies in the other direction. It would be a risk not to seek spiritual gifts for myself and my church. It would be a risk not to pray with the early church, "Grant your servants to speak your word with boldness while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through your holy servant Jesus." Disobedience is always a greater risk than obedience" - John Piper "Signs and Wonders: Then and Now."

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You for breaking through natural laws with supernatural acts when You were on earth, and since then throughout history. Help me to be more open to You working in and through my life in supernatural ways. Amen.

MORE: Feast of St. Mark

Today the church celebrates the Gospel writer Mark in the Feast of St. Mark. The day's liturgy begins with this collect:

Almighty God, by the hand of Mark the evangelist you have given to your Church the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God: We thank you for this witness, and pray that we may be firmly grounded in its truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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More on the two views mentioned above: 
Continuationism:

• Wikipedia article "Continuationism"
• Theopedia article Continuationism (with links to supporting articles)

Cessationism

• Wikipedia article "Cessationism"
• Theopedia article "Cessationism" (with links to supporting articles)

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Channels of the supernatural

Detail from "The Centurion's Faith" - The Bible in Pictures

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Luke 7:1-10

TO CHEW ON: "When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, 'I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel.'" Luke 7:10

The events of this story play out on two planes.

There is the natural one where a Gentile centurion, concerned about a favourite ill servant asks Jewish leaders to be a go-between and request Jesus heal the man.  These leaders come to Jesus and beg Him for a healing because the sick man's boss is deserving, in that he has built them a synagogue.

On His way to heal the man, Jesus is met by friends the centurion has sent to try to dissuade Him from coming all the way. The centurion has told them to say, "Lord … I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof …. But say the word and my servant will be healed." And then they explain how the centurion understands authority, and particularly Jesus' authority (Luke 7:8).

And so we come to the second plane, the plane of the supernatural. Jesus ignores the fact that a Gentile is asking for help, though properly through Jewish liaisons, and that he might be considered worthy to receive it because he has helped the Jews. Instead, He draws attention to one thing—the man's faith.

Somehow this centurion, with his background of chain-of-command and military authority gets it. He recognizes what the Jews, even the disciples, don't—that Jesus represents and operates under the authority and with the authority of the greatest Authority on earth.

The centurion's servant is healed not because his boss built the synagogue or comes to Jesus through the right people but because he believes and the One in whom he believes extends grace.

There is a lesson for us in this. God still saves us and meets our needs through these channels. It's not who we are, who we know, or what we do but our faith in Him and His grace extended to us.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." Ephesians 2:8,9

PRAYER: Dear God, it's easy for me to think in terms of earning Your favour, something I know I can't do. Please help me to grasp the lesson of this story at a deep level. Amen.

MORE: Grace awakens longing and resentment

"The Gospel of the grace of God awakens an intense longing in human souls and an equally intense resentment, because the revelation which it brings is not palatable. There is a certain pride in man that will give and give, but to come and accept is another thing. I will give myself in consecration, I will do anything, but do not humiliate me to the level of the most hell-deserving sinner and tell me that all I have to do is accept the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ" - Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, November 28th reading.

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The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. - Used with permission.

Kitchen Glory

"The Wedding at Cana" by Gustave Dore

TODAY’S SPECIAL: John 2:1-12

TO CHEW ON: “This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.” John 2:10 (emphasis mine)


Che Ahn defines God's glory in his book When Heaven Came Down:

“God’s glory is His manifest presence by which He reveals His character of goodness and displays His power through signs and wonders.” p. 28

At the Cana wedding Jesus displayed His "character of goodness" by helping out some desperate servants. The wine had run out – a potentially humiliating experience for the groom and his family. Jesus changed the water in six water pots into wine.

Like all the things Jesus does, it was quality workmanship–wine of such high grade the master asked the bridegroom why he had kept the best for the feast’s end. This miracle also blended into everyday life–like miracles often do. The wine didn’t glow or in any way distinguish itself from ordinary wine–except that it was better–so that the onlookers probably later asked themselves, did I really see what I thought I saw?

Another thing this story teaches us is where we can expect to experience God’s glory. We’re probably not surprised when a sense of His presence invades a worship service or prayer meeting. But here it came right into the middle of a domestic crisis. You’ve probably experienced plenty of those. I know I have. Have you ever asked God for a sign of His glory when you’ve lost your keys, clogged the toilet or discovered the washing machine has broken down? Let's ask God to enter our common everyday crises with His glory.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, please remind me next time I’m in a jam that Your glory is available for that situation too. Open my eyes to the possibility of signs and wonders in my kitchen. 

MORE: Author friend Bonnie Bruno has assembled an entire book of stories about God revealing himself in ordinary situations. When God Steps In will lift your gaze upward and have you looking for evidences of His fingerprints on the most unlikely parts of your life.

Are you care-free or care-full?

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Luke 21:20-38

TO CHEW ON: "'But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life and that Day come on you unexpectedly.'" Luke 21:34

In the days leading up to hurricane Sandy unleashing her fury on the eastern U.S. seaboard, residents got lots of warning. The advice, especially to those living right on the beach, was to evacuate. Many did, but some didn't.

I remember seeing interviews of folks who rode out the terrifying storm. When asked why they hadn't followed the evacuation orders, they said things like 'We've lived here for 40 years and always weathered the storms before. We didn't expect it to be as bad as it was.'

In today's reading Jesus predicts an end-time storm that involves more than nasty weather. He tells His disciples that a Day of brutal warfare against Jerusalem is coming (Luke 21:20-24). Space phenomena will accompany it, along with distress amongst nations and widespread fear (Luke 21:25-26). The return of Jesus ("'the Son of Man'") will climax this time.Then Jesus says: "'Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads...'"

But like those warned of Sandy, many won't take these words seriously. Instead their hearts will be "'...weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life...'" and the storm will catch them by surprise.

The seemingly increasing recurrence of natural disasters, storms, earthquakes, tsunamis, economic upheaval, and national unrest has caused some prophecy watchers to suggest we are now in the time Jesus referred to: "'...when these things begin to happen.'" Are we taking Him seriously?

Though we may not be the partying type, the distraction of "cares" is something else.

["Cares - merimna. From meir 'to divide' and noos 'the mind.' The word denotes distraction anxieties, burdens and worries. Merimna means to be anxious beforehand about daily life. Such worry is unnecessary because the Father's love provides for both our daily needs and our special needs" - Dick Mills, Word Wealth, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1769.]

At this pivotal time in history, let's put those cares where they belong ("Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you" 1 Peter 5:7) and keep our heads up and our focus clear.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to watch the times and discern the time we're in on Your calendar. Help me to give my daily cares to You and to keep free of being distracted by life's details. Amen.

MORE: A sobering observation

Joel Rosenberg in his book Implosion: Can America Recover From Its Economic and Spiritual Challenges In Time? draws the following conclusion in his chapter "The Natural Disaster Scenarios":

"While the Bible doesn't specifically tell us which natural disasters will hit which countries in the last days, Scripture clearly warns us that a wide range of game-changing, life-altering disasters will occur with growing frequency and intensity as we get closer to the return of Jesus Christ. We can currently see 'historic,' 'rare,' and 'unprecedented' disasters happening with growing frequency around the world and here in the United states. Furthermore, scientists say we are due for even more powerful and cataclysmic disasters" - Joel Rosenberg, Implosion, pp. 184, 185.

Kitchen glory

TODAY’S SPECIAL: John 2:1-12

TO CHEW ON: “This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.” John 2:10 (emphasis mine)


Che Ahn defines God's glory in his book When Heaven Came Down:

“God’s glory is His manifest presence by which He reveals His character of goodness and displays His power through signs and wonders.” p. 28

At the Cana wedding Jesus displayed His "character of goodness" by helping out some desperate servants. The wine had run out – a potentially humiliating experience for the groom and his family. Jesus changed the water in six water pots into wine.

"The Wedding At Cana" by Gustave Dore

Like all the things Jesus does, it was quality workmanship – wine of such high grade the master asked the bridegroom why he had kept the best for the feast’s end. This miracle also blended into everyday life – like miracles often do. The wine didn’t glow or in any way distinguish itself from ordinary wine – except that it was better – so that the onlookers probably later asked themselves, did I really see what I thought I saw?

Another thing this story teaches us is where we can expect to experience God’s glory. We’re probably not surprised when a sense of His presence invades a worship service or prayer meeting. But here it came right into the middle of a domestic crisis. You’ve probably experienced plenty of those. I know I have. Have you ever asked God for a sign of His glory when you’ve lost your keys, clogged the toilet or discovered the washing machine has broken down? Let's ask God to enter our common everyday crises with His glory.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, please remind me next time I’m in a jam that Your glory is available for that situation too. Open my eyes to the possibility of signs and wonders in my kitchen. 

MORE: Author friend Bonnie Bruno has assembled an entire book of stories about God revealing himself in ordinary situations. When God Steps In will lift your gaze upward and have you looking for evidences of His fingerprints on the most unlikely parts of your life.