One day, five miracles, all available for us today...

::::::::

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. -- Hebrews 13: 8 (NIV)

A devotional I read this week led me to examine the ninth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. Within this chapter is a typical day in the life of Christ during His three year ministry on earth. A typical day filled with healings and miracles. A typical day where people put their faith in Him and that faith was rewarded. A typical day that can still happen this day for anyone truly seeking a Savior. Sometimes in this life we get so bogged down with the grind -- even in the church. We can tend to forget the principle message of Christ -- repentance and forgiveness of sins. We can tend to forget the power our Lord and Savior possesses. We can tend to forget the healing and miracles that He can do in the lives of people on any given day. So take a walk with me through this typical day and let us see the miracles first hand again and apply them to ourselves and our loved ones today.

Jesus climbed into a boat and went back across the lake to his own town. Some people brought to him a paralyzed man on a mat. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, "Be encouraged, my child! Your sins are forgiven." -- Matthew 9: 1-2 (NLT)

Our walk with Jesus starts with the healing of a paralytic man. There are many things in this life that can paralyze us. Besides physical ailments, the world is a very unforgiving and relentless place. Many people, including Christians are paralyzed by their past. Haunted by mistakes and decisions they have made which they can never get back again. Haunted by the collapse of youthful dreams that were never realized. Haunted by sin or unforgiveness. These things are like shackles binding us and restricting us from moving forward in our lives. They paralyze us. Others are paralyzed in the present. They seemingly have no direction. They do not know which way to go. They are living but only on a day by day basis. Each day paralyzing us from considering what future God might have intended for us. If not past or present, many are paralyzed by the future. The unknown tightens around them and chokes the present life out of them. Fear, anxiety and panic are rampant paralyzing agents in this culture. Billions upon billions of dollars are spent each year to cover up symptoms instead of treating the root problems of the paralysis. The good news is that Jesus looked at this man and said -- walk! The key verse reminds us that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever so the same Jesus that started His day by healing this paralyzed man also can heal you of what paralyzes you. Why? Because He has the authority:

And the man jumped up and went home! Fear swept through the crowd as they saw this happen. And they praised God for sending a man with such great authority. -- Matthew 9: 7-8 (NLT)

Great authority! That is the God we serve beloved. Whatever you find paralyzing your life today God can heal it with a single word and produce the same miracle in your life that He performed here for this man. Moving on in His day, the leader of a Synagogue approaches Jesus because his daughter had died but he knew if Jesus would just come and touch her that she would live again. Before He could perform this miracle however another occurred:

So Jesus and his disciples got up and went with him. Just then a woman who had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding came up behind him. She touched the fringe of his robe, for she thought, "If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed." -- Matthew 9: 19-21 (NLT)

This is the familiar story of the woman with the issue of blood. Other Gospel accounts provide more details about her. This woman was a picture of suffering. Twelve long years she suffered from this affliction. The Bible tells us that she sought all of the help from the world she could. Medical experts of her day simply went through all of her money and left her no better than she was this day. Likewise we too can face long and debilitating conditions in this life. These can be medical or otherwise. Like this woman, we too tend to seek out the answers the world offers only to be left in the same or a worsening condition. The promises of this world are fleeting and empty beloved. They will not heal you and they will take everything you have.

But note that this woman had to come to Jesus. Another Gospel account says she had to press her way through the crowd just to touch the hem of His garment. Because while God has the authority -- He will not force it upon us. We have to get to the point like this woman and say enough is enough. We have to force our way through the crowds in our lives to reach out for Jesus. When we do we will discover the truth contained in the key verse -- Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. The Bible says if we turn to Him, He will draw close to us. Remember when the prodigal son decided to come back home:

So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. -- Luke 15: 20 (NIV)

God is filled with this same compassion for us today. Whatever issue it is that we are struggling with today -- He just wants us to turn to Him with it. Stop turning to the world with it -- the answers are not there! Press in and touch the hem of His garment today! Moving along in His day, Jesus comes to the house of the Synagogue leader discussed earlier:

When Jesus arrived at the official's home, he saw the noisy crowd and heard the funeral music. "Get out!" he told them. "The girl isn't dead; she's only asleep." But the crowd laughed at him. After the crowd was put outside, however, Jesus went in and took the girl by the hand, and she stood up! The report of this miracle swept through the entire countryside. -- Matthew 9: 23-26 (NLT)

Beloved, whatever is dead in your life -- God can bring it back! He is the Master over life and death. Only He has defeated the grave. There are far too many Christians walking in defeat. They walk without any of the power Christ appropriated for them on Calvary.

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. -- Colossians 2: 6-10 (NIV)

We are supposed to rooted in Christ, built up in Him, strengthened in faith and overflowing with thankfulness. Instead we fall too easily for the lies of the enemy and hollow or deceptive philosophies sold to us by this world. It saps us of the power we need to have in this life. It often leads to a need for the one word the modern church is obsessed with -- revival. It seems the church has been perpetually chasing revival. My pastor was fond of saying if we ever pursued righteousness to begin with we wouldn't find ourselves needing to be revived so often! But the good news today is the key verse reminds us that the same Jesus from yesterday who raised this girl from the dead is the same Jesus today who can revive those things in your life that are dead as well. Don't buy the lies of the devil who tells you things can't change or things will never be better. Remember, when you sell yourself short on what you can accomplish it is really God you are selling short because He lives inside of you. God can bring it to life beloved!

After Jesus left the girl's home, two blind men followed along behind him, shouting, "Son of David, have mercy on us!" They went right into the house where he was staying, and Jesus asked them, "Do you believe I can make you see?" "Yes, Lord," they told him, "we do." Then he touched their eyes and said, "Because of your faith, it will happen." Then their eyes were opened, and they could see! Jesus sternly warned them, "Don't tell anyone about this." But instead, they went out and spread his fame all over the region. -- Matthew 9: 27-31 (NLT)

It has been a busy day no? Healed a paralytic, raised a girl from the dead and stopped a 12 year old case of suffering. He is not done yet though! Now we see Jesus is approached by two blind men who desperately want to see again. Beyond the physical realm there lies the spiritual. This is a realm the church remains woefully ignorant of. Spiritual warfare is constantly mentioned in Scripture yet it is barely broached in the modern church, which is seeking more seeker-friendly topics to talk about. Everyone would rather hear about how much they are going to be blessed than how many demons they may be facing each day. The Book of Daniel tells a story of how Daniel prayed for 21 days before an angel showed up and it turns out there was a reason for the delay:

Then he said, "Don't be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia. Now I am here to explain what will happen to your people in the future, for this vision concerns a time yet to come." -- Daniel 10: 12-14 (NLT)

Do we understand these verses? While Daniel was praying in the natural realm, there was a war waging in the heavenly realm. The spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia resisted the angel sent to Daniel and prevented him until God sent the archangel Michael to take up the battle. You may say "what does this have to do with me?" Everything because this battle goes on all around us every day and we cannot see it. The Bible says that we war against evil spirits in heavenly places. But time after time we see the church and individual Christians employ carnal weapons to fight spiritual battles. The good news however is that the key verses reminds us that the same Jesus who cured these two men of their physical blindness can heal us today of our spiritual blindness as well because He is the same today as yesterday. But we have to recognize our blindness. You may think it difficult to not realize you are blind but remember Christ's rebuke to the Church at Laodicea:

You say, "I am rich. I have everything I want. I don't need a thing!' And you don't realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. -- Revelation 3: 17 (NLT)

Oh does this ever describe the state of a great portion of the modern church today! Rich beyond the dreams of avarice as the world measures but blind spiritually to anything that truly matters. As these two men cried out that day -- Son of David! Have mercy on us!

When they left, a demon-possessed man who couldn't speak was brought to Jesus. So Jesus cast out the demon, and then the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed. "Nothing like this has ever happened in Israel!" they exclaimed. -- Matthew 9: 32-33 (NLT)

And here was the final stop on the Jesus miracle tour for this one day out of the nearly 1100 during the ministry of Jesus. For the last act of this chapter we see Jesus cast out a demon from a possessed man. The reminder for us today is clear. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives inside of us. We have power and authority over the works of Satan but we rarely walk in them. We hear all the time of Christians talking about how the enemy is chasing them and we wonder why are you running? The Bible does not say to run from the devil but to resist him and he must flee. There is a folklore story about Martin Luther being awoken late at night by the visage of Satan himself standing at the end of his bed in all of his horror personified. Luther looks up, says -- "oh it's you" -- and goes back to sleep. In the garden, Eve did not lose the battle when she bit the fruit but rather, when she engaged in a conversation with the enemy. There is a reason he is called the enemy! We are to cast him out -- not sit down for brunch with him. There is a terrific example of this in Nehemiah; who was busy rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. This prompted reactions from the enemies of Israel. After several tactics failed his enemies asked to meet with him on the Plain of Ono.

But they were scheming to harm me; so I sent messengers to them with this reply: "I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?" Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave them the same answer. -- Nehemiah 6: 2b-4 (NIV)

Beloved the enemy is always scheming to harm you. You are carrying on a great project for the Lord! Why should the work of God stop so we can go and meet with someone we know is scheming to harm us? No matter how persistent the enemy is the answer must remain "no." Don't dance with the devil beloved -- he will always insist on leading. We know we have this power inside of us because the key verse assures us that the same Jesus, who cast the demon out of that man in Luke Chapter Nine, is the same Jesus today. The evil spirits of this world still must obey Him. We have to walk within the power that already resides inside of us.

Just one day in the life of Jesus Christ. Two blind men healed. One demon possessed man delivered. One dead girl raised back to life. One hopeless case cured after 12 years of suffering and one paralytic picking up his mat and walking home. That is the God we serve. Do not try and put Him in a box or minimize Him in your life. This one random day can be typical for us in our daily lives if we would just tap into the power that already lives inside of us. We serve an extraordinary God beloved, with extraordinary powers. What He has done yesterday He can do today for us and for our children's children tomorrow.

Reverend Anthony Wade -- January 25, 2013

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.