Miracles Still Happen

God still does miracles.

They may not always be easy to see or recognize.

But everyday miracles surround us.

When Jesus walked the earth, He performed miracles.

These were done as signs and wonders.

John 4:48

Then Jesus said to him,

"Unless you people see signs and wonders,

you will by no means believe."

Everywhere Jesus went He did miracles 

so those who saw would believe.

The apostles went about performing miracles in the Name of Jesus

after His death and resurrection for the same reason.

Today, everyone who accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior

have received a miracle.

A miracle of salvation.

Through the Holy Spirit, people are freed from the bondage 

sickness, fear, and addictions.

Christians who receive the Holy Spirit "upon" them,

(different than the Holy Spirit in you),

are endowed with supernatural power.

Acts 1:8

 But you shall receive power when the 

Holy Spirit has come upon you;

and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem,

and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

This power is what allows us to go through life 

and be effective disciples for Christ.

In its most simplistic way, miracles can be as

simple as a sunrise, sunset, the smile of a newborn

or as complex as stars in the universe, or the way

our bodies are designed.

Miracles are answered prayer.

When we stay expectant, God will show up.

You Have Called Me Higher

I could just sit

I could just sit and wait for all Your goodness

Hope to feel Your presence

And I could just stay

I could just stay right where I am and hope to feel You

Hope to feel something again

And I could hold on

I could hold on to who I am and never let You

Change me from the inside

And I could be safe

I could be safe here in Your arms and never leave home

Never let these walls down

But You have called me higher

You have called me deeper

And I'll go where You will lead me Lord

You have called me higher

You have called me deeper

And I'll go where You lead me Lord

Where You lead me

Where You lead me Lord

And I could hold on

I could hold on to who I am and never let You

Change me from the inside

And I could be safe

I could be safe here in Your arms and never leave home

Never let these walls down

But You have called me higher

You have called me deeper

And I'll go where You will lead me Lord

You have called me higher

You have called me deeper

And I'll go where You lead me Lord

Where You lead me

And I will be Yours, oh

I will be Yours for all my life

And I will be Yours, oh

I will be Yours for all my life

And I will be Yours, oh

I will be Yours for all my life

So let Your mercy

And I will be Yours, oh

I will be Yours for all my life

So let Your mercy light the path before me

Cause You have called me higher

You have called me deeper

And I'll go where You will lead me Lord

Where You lead me

Where You lead me Lord

All Of Us

God didn't pick and choose the best of us.

He chose all of us.

God rejoices when we choose and turn to Him.

He is saddened when we reject Him.

God describes His joy in a metaphor in Isaiah 62:5:

For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you;

and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride

so shall your God rejoice over you.

Jesus is the bridegroom!

We are the bride.

It is up to us to say "yes".

John 3:16 KJV

That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish,

but have eternal life.

Whosoever: Who ever, what ever person, any person who, 

anyone, anybody.

We are chosen, all of us.

Choose Him!

Jehovah-Compound Names of God

YHWH / YAHWEH / JEHOVAH:“LORD” (Deuteronomy 6:4;Daniel 9:14) – strictly speaking, the only proper name for God. Translated in English Bibles “LORD” (all capitals) to distinguish it from Adonai, “Lord.” The revelation of the name is first given to Moses “I Am who I Am” (Exodus 3:14). This name specifies an immediacy, a presence. Yahweh is present, accessible, near to those who call on Him for deliverance (Psalm 107:13), forgiveness (Psalm 25:11) and guidance (Psalm 31:3).

JEHOVAH-JIREH:"The Lord Will Provide" (Genesis 22:14) – the name memorialized by Abraham when God provided the ram to be sacrificed in place of Isaac.

JEHOVAH-RAPHA:"The Lord Who Heals" (Exodus 15:26) – “I am Jehovah who heals you” both in body and soul. In body, by preserving from and curing diseases, and in soul, by pardoning iniquities.

JEHOVAH-NISSI:"The Lord Our Banner" (Exodus 17:15), where banner is understood to be a rallying place. This name commemorates the desert victory over the Amalekites in Exodus 17.

JEHOVAH-M'KADDESH:"The Lord Who Sanctifies, Makes Holy" (Leviticus 20:8;Ezekiel 37:28) – God makes it clear that He alone, not the law, can cleanse His people and make them holy.

JEHOVAH-SHALOM:"The Lord Our Peace" (Judges 6:24) – the name given by Gideon to the altar he built after the Angel of the Lord assured him he would not die as he thought he would after seeing Him.

JEHOVAH-ELOHIM:"LORD God" (Genesis 2:4;Psalm 59:5) – a combination of God’s unique name YHWH and the generic “Lord,” signifying that He is the Lord of Lords.

JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU:"The Lord Our Righteousness” (Jeremiah 33:16) – As with YHWH-M’Kaddesh, it is God alone who provides righteousness to man, ultimately in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, who became sin for us “that we might become the Righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

JEHOVAH-ROHI:"The Lord Our Shepherd" (Psalm 23:1) – After David pondered his relationship as a shepherd to his sheep, he realized that was exactly the relationship God had with him, and so he declares, “Jehovah-Rohi is my Shepherd. I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1).

JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH:"The Lord Is There” (Ezekiel 48:35) – the name ascribed to Jerusalem and the Temple there, indicating that the once-departed glory of the Lord (Ezekiel 8—11) had returned (Ezekiel 44:1-4).

JEHOVAH-SABAOTH:"The Lord of Hosts" (Isaiah 1:24;Psalm 46:7) –Hosts means “hordes,” both of angels and of men. He is Lord of the host of heaven and of the inhabitants of the earth, of Jews and Gentiles, of rich and poor, master and slave. The name is expressive of the majesty, power, and authority of God and shows that He is able to accomplish what He determines to do.

Experiential Knowledge

God knows about being human.

He knows what trials we go through.

He knows our full range of emotions.

Not because He created us, but because He became one of us.

God took on human flesh in the Man Jesus.

Jesus laid His divinity aside to become us. 

Philippians 2:7-10

He had humble beginnings.

Born in a cave.

Fled Jerusalem to save His life from Herod.

Jesus had  a physical body, a mind with emotions.

A family with brothers and sisters.

He learned and took lessons.

He worked.

His friends and family denied Him.

Mark 6:4-5

But Jesus said to them, 

"A prophet is not without honor except in his own country,

among his own relatives, and in his own house.

He had adversity.

Hardship, sadness, hurt, distress, pain.

He had happiness, love, blessing, friends.

Jesus has experiential knowledge 

and knows the aches and pains our bodies have.

He knows what it feels like to be overwhelmed and tired.

He knows the depth of our souls.

Upon Ascension, the Holy Spirit was sent to live inside us.

Jesus connects with us not only because He lived like us

but through the connection with the Holy Spirit and our spirit.

It is a direct line to God the Father.

The Holy Spirit being one with Jesus knows the same 

things He knows. 

In this way we can have confidence God hears us,

sees us, knows us, understands and speaks to us.

Hebrews 4:15

For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable

to understand and sympathize and have a shared feeling

with our weaknesses and infirmities

and liability to the assaults of temptation,

but One Who has been tempted in every respect as we are,

yet without sinning.

Lord, You Are

You are holy, You are faithful

You are savior, You are friend

You are all I'll ever need

Lord, You are

And You are every question's answer

You are every reason why

You are moving, You are still, Lord

You are

And You are the Lord on high

And You are the way, the truth, the life

And You are the word made flesh

You are the Bright Morning Star

You are

You are glory, Hallelujah

You are hope of peace on earth

You are alpha and omega

You are

And You are comfort, You are refuge

You are love personified

And You are kindness and compassion

You are

And You are the Lord on high

And You are the way, the truth, the life

And You are the word made flesh

You are the Bright Morning Star

You are

You are my God and my King

You are the words that I sing

You are the reason I made this offering

Church, We Are

Matthew 5:14

You are the light of the world.

A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.

We are a city on a hill,

Shining a light for all to see

Letting our light shine bright

For the lost,

The lonely,

And the forgotten

Shining bright to light

The way as a candle in the window

Never dimming, 

Never extinguished

Forever beaming

Always pointing the way

To the One Who is the Way

John 8:12 AMP

Once more Jesus addressed the crowd.

He said, I am the Light of the world.

He who follows Me will not be walking in the dark,

but will have the Light which is Life.

God's Telephone Number

Jeremiah 33:3

Call to Me and I will answer you

and show you great and mighty things,

which you do not know.

We have a direct line to God.

He always answers.

There is never a busy signal or an answering machine.

God is never to busy for us.

Shortly after Jesus proclaims His death for the third time,

He came upon two blind men calling Him to heal them.
Jesus took compassion on them and restored their sight.
Matthew 20:29-33

What a beautiful example of God taking time to answer.

Make Scripture Personal

Psalm 121 NIV

I will lift up my eyes to the mountains---where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let my foot slip--He who watches over me will not slumber;
indeed, He who watches over my country will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord watches over me--the Lord is my shade at my right hand;
the sun will not harm me by day, not the moon  by night.

The Lord will keep me from all harm--He will watch over my life;
the Lord will watch over my coming and going both now and forever more.

Make reading the Bible personal.

Insert your name into the verses or use "I or me"

In this verse, the underlined words are changed

.  

After all, it's God's love letter to all of us.

God Loves Me

GOD Loves me.

God LOVES me.

God Loves ME.

ME!

Notice the emphasis.

There is nothing more powerful than the love of God for He is love. Through Jesus Christ's death and resurrection we are shown the ultimate love God has for us. 

So in those times where we feel unloved say out loud

God loves me!

"Saving us is the greatest and most concrete demonstration of God's love,

the definitive display of His grace throughout time and eternity".

David Jeremiah

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,

That whoever believes in Him should

not perish but have everlasting life.

Romans 8:37-39

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors 

through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither 

death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, 

nor things present nor things to come, 

nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, 

shall be able to separate us from the love of God

which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Ephesians 2:4-5

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love 

with which He loved us, even when we were dead in 

trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.

1 John 4:9-10

In this the love of God was manifested toward us,

that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world,

that we might live through Him.  In this

is love, not that we loved God, but that He love us and 

sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.