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Miracle
of God
Miracle
Kham Put.
A midnight-like darkness
hampered the struggling group as it crossed a valley between two high mountain
ranges. “We could see absolutely nothing
” Paot late told a missionary
Maxine
Stewart. “We didn’t even know where to step.” Suddenly hundreds of fireflies
swarmed into view. Their glow made enough light for the people to see the path.
The refugees reached the next mountain by “firefly light
” said Mrs. Stewart in
the April issue of the Commission Magazine.
After Paot was transferred
to Kham Put refugee camp
she was invited to a Christian meeting
“I know that
old man
” she exclaimed at a picture on the wall of the chapel. “He is the one
who led us and showed us the way to
Miracles of Jairus’
Daughter
There was a
time when the first-born daughter of that great English expositor of Scripture
Dr. G. Campbell Morgan
lay at the point of death. Years later
speaking on the
incident of the raising of Jairus’ daughter
he said these words:
“I can hardly speak of
this matter without becoming personal and reminiscent
remembering a time forty
years ago when my own first lassie lay at the point of death
dying. I called
for Him then
and He came
and surely said to our troubled hearts
“Fear not
believe only.” He did not say
“She shall be made whole.” She was not made
whole on the earhly plane; she passed away into the life beyond. But He did say
to her
‘Talitha cumi
’ that He
needed her
and He took her to be with Himself. She has been with Him for all
these years
as we measure time here
and I have missed her every day. But His
word
‘Believe only
’ has been the strength of all the passing years.” ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
Miracles of Jairus’
Daughter
Ray Stedman
has told the story of a time when he and his wife were driving through Oregon
with his little daughter
Susan. She had developed a fever the night before
when they were staying in a motel
but it didn’t seem serious. As they drove
along
all of a sudden the little girl went into convulsions. Her eyes turned
up
her body began to jerk
and she obviously was in great danger. Stedman’s
heart clutched. He stopped the car
grabbed Susan
and stumbled across the road
to a farmhouse that happened to be visible nearby. It was about six in the
morning
but the frantic father thundered on the door. When a woman appeared
he cried out
“My daughter is very sick-she’s in convulsions. Do you have a
bathtub where we can put her in warm water?”
The lady was so taken
aback she hardly knew what to say. She motioned down the hall
and without
waiting for any words
Stedman pushed the front door open
went down the hall
and started running water in the tub. Later he called a doctor and arranged to
take his daughter to him for an examination.
It all turned out all
right
but Stedman never forgot that moment when it looked as though his
daughter was going to die. Later he found out this farm family had the only
bathtub and the only phone for miles around!
This is the same emotion
that drove Jairus
that agonized father
to Jesus-the fear that his little one
who had blessed their home and filled it with sunshine for twelve years
was to
be taken from them. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
In a recent number of the
"Sunday School Times" a story is told of an Eastern king which
illustrates at once our delusion respecting natural processes
and also God's
work and presence in them. The king was seated in a garden
and one of his
counselors was speaking of the wonderful works of God.
"Show me a
sign
" said the king
"and I will believe."
"Here are four
acorns
" said the counselor
"will you
Majesty
plant them in the
ground
and then stoop down for a moment and look into this clear pool of
water?"
The king did so
"Now
" said the other
"look up."
The king looked up and saw
four oak-trees where he had planted the acorns. "Wonderful!" he
exclaimed
"this is indeed the work of God."
"How long were
you looking into the water?" asked the counselor.
"Only a second
"
said the king. "Eighty years have passed as a second
" said the
other. The king looked at his garments; they were threadbare. He looked at his
reflection in the water; he had become an old man. "There is no miracle
here
then
" he said angrily.
"Yes
" said the
other
"it is God's work
whether he did it in one second or in eighty
years."
Sunday School Times.
God seems to do nothing of
Himself which He can possibly delegate to His creatures. He commands us to do
slowly and blunderingly what He could do perfectly and in the twinkling of an
eye.
C.S. Lewis
Studies in
Theology.
An alcoholic became a
believer
was asked how he could possibly believe all the nonsense in the Bible
about miracles. "You don't believe that Jesus changed the water into wine
do you?" "I sure do
because in our house Jesus changed the whiskey
into furniture."
R. Stedman
Authentic
Christianity
p. 36.
Everybody in the hospital
was awaiting a visit from Pope John Paul II. A doctor with a handful of
paperwork took a seat in a wheelchair and busied himself with his notes. The
Pope swept in
and blessed the doctor
who immediately stood up and walked forward.
The devout in the Pope's entourage crossed themselves and rolled their eyes
upward.
L.M. Boyd
Crown
Syndicate
January
1984.
Percentage of adults who
mostly agree or completely agree with the statement
"Even today
miracles
are performed by the power of God": 82.
Princeton Religion
Research Center's PRRC Emerging Trends
November 1988.