Fresh Bread # 149
MIRACLES
“And He did not many mighty works there
Because
Of
Their Unbelief.”
(Matthew 13:58)
FAITH IS A CHOICE
 
We can choose to BELIEVE God or not believe Him. When we choose
to BELIEVE what He says, we honor Him. When we choose NOT to believe His Word, we dishonor Him. He is His Word.
HAVE YOU EVER
CHOSEN
TO DISHONOR A FRIEND?
Suppose you have a friend who has never lied to you, never stolen from
you, never deceived you, and you basically trust them. They are the friend who tells you they are going to do something
for you and you BELIEVE them.
Perhaps they wrote you a letter, so you could SEE their commitment in
black and white; proof on a written page like a legal document. Now, they are bound by law to keep their word.
Their track record is evidence that you can count on them. They
have always been faithful so you don’t expect them to change. You have no doubt about the reliability of their Word.
THEN ONE DAY
Then one day you walk up to this friend and say, “I don’t
believe a word you say.”
It’s like a slap in their face. You have grieved and hurt
them deeply, and dishonored their integrity…more than anything you could do.
IN DAYS OF YORE
When one man slapped another in the face with his glove he knew his honor
was at stake. It was so important to him that he accepted this challenge as a dual of swords. Each man’s honor
was a “life or death” decision. The winner retained his Honor. The other man died. That’s
how important a man’s word was to him. How much more so, God’s!
TRUE
Even a good friend we trust will let us down sometimes by not keeping
their word, but God never does that. Jesus never lied and always kept His Word. He BELIEVED what His Father said. He
trusted that God’s Word was secure and infallible above all other Words. He only did what the Father told Him to
do.
IT’S OUR CHOICE
It’s always our choice to BELIEVE the word of any person we meet. And
it’s our choice to BELIEVE every Word of God…or not.
TWO REASONS
PEOPLE
DON’T BELIEVE
1. Ignorance
2. Un-persuadable (chooses not to believe).
IGNORANCE
God understands this and His Grace and Mercy is poured out on those who
have never heard His message. Those who have no Bibles, can’t read, have had no one to ever tell them about Jesus.
But those who have heard, over and over, have His Word in their hands,
and still choose not to Believe Him, are the ones who grieve Him. By constant refusal their hearts become hardened and
un-persuadable because they have chosen not to believe.
DOUBTING THOMAS
Did it grieve our Lord when Thomas refused to BELIEVE Jesus when He said
He would return? Were there limits to what Thomas chose to believe about our Lord’s Words? As long as Thomas
could SEE his friend Jesus, he could Believe His Words, but what came in to harden his heart and cause him to choose not to believe…every Word?
Doubt came in. Thomas began to waver in His choice to believe every Word
of God. Pride and intellectualism came in…and I see him in a puffed up manner challenging Jesus and His Word as
he told the other disciples who had seen Jesus, “Except I SEE in His hands the print of the nails, and put
my finger into the print of the nails (hole), and thrust my hand into His side, I will NOT (choose not, refuse
to) BELIEVE” that what Jesus told us is true. (John 20:15).
MIRACLES OF MERCY
How did Jesus handle this insult? He handled it with Great Love
and Mercy; Forgiveness and Patience.
Jesus came to Thomas who was still with the disciples. I can picture
Jesus with eyes of Love, understanding, and compassion, reach out to Thomas and say: (author’s paraphrase of John
20:27) “Come here, Thomas. I know what you are thinking, give me your hand. And He takes the hand of
Thomas and places his finger in the hole in His hand. Give Me your other hand Thomas. Here now, thrust it into
my side where the sword pierced My heart for you, and ‘BE NOT FAITHLESS, BUT BELIEVING.’”
GRACE OF GOD
Evidence of many miracles are appearing daily and abundantly in the world
today. I believe it’s God’s Hand of Mercy reaching out to the lost as well as the saved; to those who are limited
like Thomas and have not made a Choice to Believe God and all of His promises. So that we believe Him so
much we can’t help but say so.
Thomas SAW Jesus in the flesh and believed. Miracles are examples
of Jesus in the flesh.
Oh, how far out Lord will extend Himself to open our eyes and help us
BELIEVE. If we will only ask, even to the prayer, “Lord, help my unbelief.”
HOW BLESSED WE ARE
When Thomas SAW…he BELIEVED and said, “My Lord and my God.” His
spiritual eyes were opened by seeing a physical miracle…proof of Christ’s return from the grave.
And Jesus tenderly said, “Thomas, because you have SEEN Me, you
have believed, but blessed are they that have not seen Me, and yet have Believed.”
So, which is the greater miracle? The one Thomas experienced or
the one many of us walk in daily? Both are forms of God’s Love for us that we might know Him better. And one
day, we will see Him Face to Face. Praise God!
|
