Blessings & Miracles
It’s
true that we serve a God of miracles. But
brace yourself, because what I am going
to say about that will come as a total shock
to some of you.
The Lord’s preference is not to meet
your needs through a miracle.
Now
before you think I’ve lost all my faith,
hear me out. I define a miracle as the suspension
or superseding of natural laws, and personally,
I’ve received many. There is no doubt in
my mind that the Lord performs miracles
and uses them like a bell to draw people
unto Himself.
But
let me ask you, would you rather receive
a miracle of healing or live with the blessing
of good health? Would you rather have the
Lord perform a miracle to pull you out of
bankruptcy or be so blessed financially
that He wouldn’t have to? I think the logical
answer to both of those questions is obvious.
It’s
always better to avoid problems, which is
the result of living in blessing, than it
is to be delivered out of them, which requires
a miracle.
There
are three important reasons for receiving
from God through blessings rather than miracles.
First, blessings prevent crises, while miracles
deliver from crises. Second, a blessing
is always a more abundant supply than a
miracle. And third, miracles are a temporary
fix, while blessings are permanent solutions.
Therefore, if you’re living from miracle
to miracle, it probably means you’re living
from crisis to crisis.
God’s
original intent for His creation was to
function under His blessing instead of a
miracle. If sin hadn’t corrupted God’s creation,
there would be no need for miracles. Everyone
would be healthy, everyone would be prosperous,
and strife, the cause of broken relationships
and wars, wouldn’t even exist.
Unfortunately,
there is corruption in the earth, and there
will always be a place for miracles. However,
Jesus not only forgave us of our sins, He
redeemed us from the curse and placed blessings
on His followers.
Galatians
3:13 says, “Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse
for us: for it is written, Cursed is every
one that hangeth on a tree.”
If
we will believe we are blessed and act accordingly,
we can avoid many of the problems that make
us candidates for miracles.
Let
me illustrate. Some believers pray for financial
miracles but aren’t practicing the principle
of giving and will not work. They know God
loves them, so they’re counting on and believing
for a miracle. And that’s just what it will
take. They aren’t obeying God’s Word in
faith, so they can’t receive the blessing
God has spoken over them.
The Lord told us to work so that He would
bless the work of our hands and that if
we would give, it would be given unto us.
We
read in 2 Thessalonians 3:10, “For even
when we were with you, this we commanded
you, that if any would not work, neither
should he eat.”
Deuteronomy 28:12 reads, “The LORD shall
open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven
to give the rain unto thy land in his season,
and to bless all the work of thine hand:
and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and
thou shalt not borrow.”
Luke
6:38 says, “Give, and it shall be given
unto you; good measure, pressed down, and
shaken together, and running over, shall
men give into your bosom. For with the same
measure that ye mete withal it shall be
measured to you again.
If we don’t obey Him in these commands,
it’s either because of ignorance or we don’t
fully trust His promises. That doesn’t mean
the Lord hates us, but it means our unbelief
is stopping the blessing He has spoken from
coming to pass in our lives.
So,
lack of faith in God’s blessing causes us
to enter into crisis, and right before disaster,
if we continue steadfast in our belief for
a miracle, we receive just enough to get
us over the hump. Then next month we need
another miracle. I know this drill from
experience.
One
of the greatest mistakes of my life was
believing that to be a full-time minister,
I had to quit working a secular job. It
wasn’t that I minded working; I’ve been
a hard worker all my life and I enjoy it.
I honestly thought I had to make a choice,
that I couldn’t do both.
It
took years for the Lord to get through my
stubbornness and teach me I could work to
supplement my income until the ministry
grew. In the meantime, Jamie and I suffered
a lot of financial crises, unnecessarily.
Because
the Lord loved us, He kept us alive with
a lot of miracles. I remember the week
before our first son was born. We didn’t
have the money to pay the expenses. Miraculously,
a Bible study group from nearly 100 miles
away sent us all we needed to pay for the
birth, just in time.
The
day of Joshua’s birth, I ran out of gas
and pulled into a service station. Without
any money and not knowing what to do, I
started filling my tank believing God would
perform a miracle. (Please don’t do this—I’m
not recommending it; it’s just what I did.)
I
didn’t know it when I pulled in, but while
I was filling my tank, the owner came out,
and as it turns out, he was a Christian
friend. He asked how I was doing. I told
him about Joshua just being born, and he
said, “Well, let this tank of gas be on
me in celebration of his birth.” Thank You,
Jesus!
On another occasion, we went to the grocery
store with $7 and came home with three large
grocery sacks of meat and other food. Another
miracle. Once, our car ran for a week without
gas. The block even cracked because we didn’t
have enough antifreeze, and yet it didn’t
leak water. On and on, I could go. We experienced
miracles all the time.
Many
years later I was thinking about all those
miracles, and I began to be a little concerned.
It had been years since I’d seen miracles
like that in our finances. As I pondered
this, the Lord spoke to me and said, “Would
you like to go back to living by miracles,
or would you rather live in the blessings
you now enjoy?” That was a no-brainer.
I’d rather be blessed than in need of a
miracle. When I need gas now, I just pull
in, fill up, and buy it. Thank You, Jesus!
Because
miracles are “unnatural,” they are never
permanent. The Lord created laws that govern
the operation of His creation. He sometimes,
temporarily, supersedes them, but always
returns the situation back to the natural
operation of those laws.
For
instance, if we abuse our bodies, we can
receive a miracle of healing. But if the
root of the problem isn’t dealt with, the
sickness or infirmity will return, and we’ll
need another miracle.
But
when we believe God’s Word and follow its
instructions, it will teach us how to eat,
exercise, and enjoy emotional health that
works like a medicine (Prov. 17:22). The
Lord would rather keep you healthy through
His blessing than to heal you by a miracle.
And,
unlike miracles, once a blessing is received,
no outside force can stop it:
“Behold,
I have received commandment to bless: and
he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it”
(Num. 23:20).
The only thing that can stop the blessing
of God in our lives is our unbelief. What
a powerful truth. Balaam’s curse couldn’t
stop the blessing that was on the nation
of Israel. The blessing received in faith
will always trump the curse.
So,
what is the blessing of God, and how do
we receive it? To begin with, the blessing
of God isn’t things. The blessing of God
will produce things, but the blessing isn’t
things.
Galatians
3:14 says, “That the blessing of Abraham
might come on the Gentiles through Jesus
Christ; that we might receive the promise
of the Spirit through faith.”
Abraham’s
blessing has come upon us through faith
in Christ, and the blessing isn’t the things
that Abraham possessed. Would you want Abraham’s
animals that have been dead for four thousand
years? Do you want his tents and clothes?
I don’t think so. What you want is the favor
of God that was spoken over him, which produced
his physical and spiritual abundance.
That’s
what the blessing of God is; it’s His divine
spoken favor. And that blessing, if
mixed with faith, will produce abundance
in spirit, soul, and body.
There
is much more to the contrast of blessings
and miracles than what I have been able
to present here. I consider this to be one
of the most foundational and beneficial
truths the Lord has ever taught me. If
you can make the adjustment from a miracle
mentality to a blessed mentality, you will
begin to prosper as never before.
I
have an updated four-part teaching on this
subject that I would like you to have. Please
request this teaching today. It will take
you through the Scriptures and reveal the
power of a blessing like you’ve never seen
before. You’ll learn about the real damage
Balaam did to the children of Israel, how
that relates to you, and the power you have
to control the blessing of God in your life.
The
good news is, you are already blessed. The
bad news is, most don’t know the power of
that blessing. They would rather have
a miracle.
If
you receive this teaching in your heart,
you will come to a place where you will
pray, “Lord, help me to never need a
miracle from You again. I want to live in
the blessing.” When it comes to personal
needs, miracles should be for people who
don’t have the revelation of God’s blessing.
Don’t let that be you.
|
