“Look, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” – 2 Kings 7:2
At the time of Elisha, there was a great famine in the land of Israel.
Tragically, the famine was so severe, that mothers were actually cannibalizing their babies.
Do you walk by faith believing God can do miracles? Or do you doubt His power by living a life hindered by unbelief?
The king of Israel found out the severity of the famine and blamed the prophet Elisha, and the God He served.
To make matters worse, the Syrian army was poised to attack Israel.
All odds seemed to be against him.
But, Elisha knew the will of God.
He had faith and believed God would do a miracle.
And through a dramatic twist of events, God showed Himself faithful.
Israel ended up plundering their enemy.
And God provided for their needs as a remedy for the drought.
Then Elisha said, “Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord: ‘Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.’”
So an officer on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, “Look, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” And he said, “In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.”
– 2 Kings 7:1-2
When Elisha reveals God’s solution to the famine to a trusted officer of the king, he is met with doubt and ridicule.
Then God caused the Syrians to believe they were being attacked and they all fled leaving behind all of their supplies.
Once the miracle was discovered, the people had plenty…literally overnight!
But the King of Israel and his officer never partook of the bounty because of their doubt and unbelief.
Is Doubting God Really Dangerous in Your Life?
“But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.” – James 1:6
One effective strategy of the enemy is to cause us to doubt our salvation and the faithfulness of God.
Satan has been attacking believers since the beginning of time when he questioned Eve in the Garden of Eden: “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’? (Genesis 3:1)
Additionally, the longer you walk with Jesus, the more you realize spiritual warfare rages every day.
The world’s slogan says you have to, “fight fire with fire.”
But true believers know you fight the devil’s fire with water – the water of the Holy Spirit that is.
Jesus Christ promises to give you the strength you need to defeat the wiles of the devil by the power of the Holy Spirit inside of you!
Spiritual warfare is not going to stop until you get to heaven.
If anything, it’s going to get more intense as you take a stand for Jesus Christ in these last days.
The darkness of evil is all around you.
It pervades society.
It masks itself in political correctness.
It appears harmless in a woman’s rights to choose life or death for her unborn child.
It emasculates the husband, and renders fathers irrelevant.
It deceives fathers to run from their responsibilities to their children thinking this is their only option.
It causes children to mature way too fast by exposing them to images their young eyes are not ready to see, and consequently, they rebel against their parents.
It goes on and on.
But God is still in control.
He is still on the throne.
Because Jesus Christ is the Light of the World.
Does Loving Darkness Really Make You Comparable to a Cockroach?
Similar to cockroaches, many people love the darkness of sin and evil rather than the light of Jesus Christ.
Back in my college days, I stayed in an old fraternity house that wasn’t very well kept.
The room I slept in had some make-shift wood paneling on the walls.
Too many times, I would enter my room at night, flick on the light switch and the cockroaches would scatter on the walls.
They’d frantically run and crawl into any darkness they could squeeze into.
Needless to say, I have a lifelong commitment to step on any cockroach that dares to cross my path.
For anyone still lost in darkness, when the light of Jesus Christ shines, it’s a shock.
You experience this physically when you’re in a dark room, and you step out into the light of day.
It takes time for your eyes to adjust.
And spiritually when you’ve walked in darkness, you’ll experience a similar thing.
It takes some time to adjust to the light.
Some of us adjust quicker than others.
But some prefer to live in the darkness. (See John 3:19-21)
This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5
As Christians, we are not to shun the darkness but turn on the Light of Jesus Christ for all the world to see.
7 Miracles of God That Will Skyrocket Your Faith
- The Creation of the World and Everything in it:
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. – Genesis 1:1
2. The Red Sea is Parted Before the Israelites Very Eyes:
But the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. – Exodus 14:29
3. God Stops the Earth from Rotating:
So the sun stood still, And the moon stopped, Till the people had revenge Upon their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. – Joshua 10:13
4. God Rains Down Fire From Heaven:
Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!” – 1Kings 18:38, 39
5. Jesus Changes Water into Wine:
So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. – John 4:46
6. Jesus is Raised from the Dead:
But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. – Mark 16:6
7. Jesus Ascends Into Heaven:
Now when He had spoken these things while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. – Acts 1:9
So Just How Big Is Your God?
Like headlines across the pages of the Bible, this sampling of miracles dramatically points to the omnipotence of God.
The power of God is clearly portrayed throughout history and He is still performing miracles today.
Miracle healings and countless lives radically turned from destruction and death to love, and joy reveal just how great our wonder-working God truly is.
Do you trust Him with the trials you are facing today?
I think one of the best prayers you can pray is, “God, help!”
Trust Him dear friend.
He has not left you during your times of need.
And He never will.
I encourage you to take a step of faith.
Give Him your troubles.
Cast all your cares upon Him.
And come to know your great, big, loving God of miracles.
And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out the demons. —Gospel of Mark 1:39
When I tell Christians that I do not believe in the supernatural, Christians usually respond that miracles are occurring all the time, all over the world. They say that the occurrence of miracles today is proof of the reality of the supernatural, and by extension, proof of the existence of their god. When I ask for evidence of these modern miracles, I am often told to read evangelical Christian scholar, Craig Keener’s, two volume work, “Miracles”. Well, I have read it. What is really interesting about this book is that Keener admits that he did not research even one of the hundreds of miracle claims he presents. He simply accepts the word of the various people who told him the stories.
What is even more interesting about this “Christian textbook of miracles” is that the most fantastical of miracles (eg. raising from the dead) always seem to occur in poor, Third World countries where the level of education and income is low and the level of belief in the supernatural (superstitions) is high.
When I point out this discrepancy to Christians their typical response is this: “God works his miracles among those with the greatest faith. People in the developing world have more faith in God than materialistic westerners whose cultures are turning their backs on God.”
Really?
Well, if that is true—that the reason that the more spectacular of miracles do not occur in the once-Christian West because these cultures have turned their backs on God and have engaged in willful sin against Him—then shouldn’t we see more demon possession in the West??? But we don’t, do we? When was the last time your neighborhood pastor or priest cast out demons from one of your neighbors or one of the homeless in the area? Never? Isn’t that odd? In Jesus’ day demon-possessed people seemed to be hanging out on every street corner! And according to Kenneth Woodward, author of “The Book of Miracles”, the belief in demon-possession and the need for exorcisms continued in the late Roman period and throughout the Middle Ages (500 CE – 1500 CE). So why are exorcisms so rare now?
Is it possible that the reason that there are few if any exorcisms today in the “sinful, God-rejecting” West is because “possessed” people in these cultures today are being medicated for their psychotic mental illnesses and seizure disorders??? Is the real reason that there are few if any exorcisms in First World countries today because demon-possession is nothing but an ancient superstition??? And what does that say about Jesus and his fame as an exorcist?
The absence of exorcisms today is excellent evidence that the miracles and exorcisms of the first century were legends, the exaggerations of emotionally hysterical, superstitious, scientifically-ignorant peoples; no different from the fantastical miracle claims which regularly come out of impoverished Third World countries today, mostly from Pentecostal sources…such as those in Craig Keener’s book. Modern, educated people should not believe in ghost impregnated virgins, water-walking, demon-possession, nor in the resurrection of the corpse of a brain-dead first century apocalyptic preacher.
A person born blind will never see, comprehend the colour yellow, no matter how much explanation he/she is given. If I require the expertise of an optician, I certainly will never consult with a butcher. ‘For not everyone has faith…’ acknowledges the Bible at 2 Thessalonians 3:2. Many people do not have the eyes of faith necessary to perceive the things of faith; and so will never ‘see’. This inability to perceive the things of God in no way invalidates, or reduces what God has promised. Matthew 11:25; Romans 3:3+4
And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out the demons. —Gospel of Mark 1:39
When I tell Christians that I do not believe in the supernatural, Christians usually respond that miracles are occurring all the time, all over the world. They say that the occurrence of miracles today is proof of the reality of the supernatural, and by extension, proof of the existence of their god. When I ask for evidence of these modern miracles, I am often told to read evangelical Christian scholar, Craig Keener’s, two volume work, “Miracles”. Well, I have read it. What is really interesting about this book is that Keener admits that he did not research even one of the hundreds of miracle claims he presents. He simply accepts the word of the various people who told him the stories.
What is even more interesting about this “Christian textbook of miracles” is that the most fantastical of miracles (eg. raising from the dead) always seem to occur in poor, Third World countries where the level of education and income is low and the level of belief in the supernatural (superstitions) is high.
When I point out this discrepancy to Christians their typical response is this: “God works his miracles among those with the greatest faith. People in the developing world have more faith in God than materialistic westerners whose cultures are turning their backs on God.”
Really?
Well, if that is true—that the reason that the more spectacular of miracles do not occur in the once-Christian West because these cultures have turned their backs on God and have engaged in willful sin against Him—then shouldn’t we see more demon possession in the West??? But we don’t, do we? When was the last time your neighborhood pastor or priest cast out demons from one of your neighbors or one of the homeless in the area? Never? Isn’t that odd? In Jesus’ day demon-possessed people seemed to be hanging out on every street corner! And according to Kenneth Woodward, author of “The Book of Miracles”, the belief in demon-possession and the need for exorcisms continued in the late Roman period and throughout the Middle Ages (500 CE – 1500 CE). So why are exorcisms so rare now?
Is it possible that the reason that there are few if any exorcisms today in the “sinful, God-rejecting” West is because “possessed” people in these cultures today are being medicated for their psychotic mental illnesses and seizure disorders??? Is the real reason that there are few if any exorcisms in First World countries today because demon-possession is nothing but an ancient superstition??? And what does that say about Jesus and his fame as an exorcist?
The absence of exorcisms today is excellent evidence that the miracles and exorcisms of the first century were legends, the exaggerations of emotionally hysterical, superstitious, scientifically-ignorant peoples; no different from the fantastical miracle claims which regularly come out of impoverished Third World countries today, mostly from Pentecostal sources…such as those in Craig Keener’s book. Modern, educated people should not believe in ghost impregnated virgins, water-walking, demon-possession, nor in the resurrection of the corpse of a brain-dead first century apocalyptic preacher.
A person born blind will never see, comprehend the colour yellow, no matter how much explanation he/she is given. If I require the expertise of an optician, I certainly will never consult with a butcher. ‘For not everyone has faith…’ acknowledges the Bible at 2 Thessalonians 3:2. Many people do not have the eyes of faith necessary to perceive the things of faith; and so will never ‘see’. This inability to perceive the things of God in no way invalidates, or reduces what God has promised. Matthew 11:25; Romans 3:3+4
Dear heavenly Father in heaven, please increase my faith and take away any doubts from my mind. I believe with all my heart you are the great I am! You are my God of Miracles. Incline my heart to walk wholeheartedly by faith alone in my Lord and savior Jesus Christ, in his name, in Jesus name I pray, Amen
Dear heavenly Father in heaven, please increase my faith and take away any doubts from my mind. I believe with all my heart you are the great I am! You are my God of Miracles. Incline my heart to walk wholeheartedly by faith alone in my Lord and savior Jesus Christ, in his name, in Jesus name I pray, Amen