Rise and shine and give God the glory!

Hello again. It is Thursday, September 10, 2009 and I bring you greetings from my view of the world to yours. We received some photos this week of our dear Brother Milton and his wife Glenda as they attended a Church facility dedication ceremony. The Church they attend in Florida added a new foyer and dedicated it in memory of the nearly fifty years of faithful service by this called out couple. Seeing those pictures caused my jaw to drop once again in recognition of God’s provision into Bro. Milton’s life. I was there when the doctors said several times that they saw little to no hope in his survival. I was there when they said he would probably be unable to ever function again. I was there as his family balled their eyes out. I was there in the restrictive ICU for days upon days with his very life ebbing away. Is it a miracle? It might not be in the sense of how Jesus used His hands to actually touch the eyes of the blind man, BUT, it is just as much a direct provision of God, regardless of how it was accomplished!

I know enough about the study of theological matters to understand that a technical definition of a Bible miracle has to do with God setting aside the physical laws of nature in order to accomplish the impossible. We studied last week about God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah that she would conceive a child. He would be 100 and she would be 90. Was that impossible? According to the text she was past the age of childbearing, therefore, she, by the physical changes experienced, was no longer capable of producing a child. However, God touched her body and she and Abraham conceived a child. This is an example of a miracle. There was a time in my life when I would split hairs over these precise definitions. But you live and learn. What way can we explain Bro. Milton’s stunning recovery and his remarkable personal testimony? Rise and shine and give God the glory!

We may not know the ‘how’ in terms of being able to pinpoint his response to this treatment or that treatment but we have heard more than one doctor call his recovery a miraculous situation. Bottom line: Rise and shine and give God the glory! It was God, and His workings are marvelous in our sight. I, on the other hand, do not subscribe to the use of the word miracle to describe a team winning a game or something stunning and unexpected that happens. Some folks tend to live in a here a miracle, there a miracle, everywhere a miracle miracle kind of mindset. At the same time, when we consider the revelation God has given of Himself in the Book He has preserved for us, it is obvious He is a supernatural, miracle working God. He is also Creator of all things, therefore, when we encounter life each day and see Him at work, how is it that we should respond? Rise and shine and give God the glory! Amen. …More later.