September 23, 2014
If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!—Matthew 7:111
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Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory.—Ephesians 3:20–212
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Our weakness and foolishness are visible; God’s strength and wisdom are invisible. Our need is clear before our very eyes; God’s supply is hidden in the secret of His presence, and can only be realized by faith. …
I remember hearing of a Christian who was in great trouble, and who had tried every way for deliverance, but in vain, who said finally to another in a tone of the utmost despair, “Well, there is nothing left for me now but to trust the Lord.”
“Alas!” exclaimed the friend …, “is it possible it has come to that?”
We may shrink … from the thought of using such an expression, but, if we are honest with ourselves, I believe we shall be obliged to confess that sometimes, in the very bottom of our hearts, we have indulged in just this feeling. To come to the point of having nothing left to trust in but the Lord has seemed to us at times a desperate condition. And yet, if our Lord is to be believed, His “much mores” of grace are abundantly equal to the worst emergency that can befall us.
The apostle tells us that God is able to do “exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think”; and this describes what His “much mores” mean.3 We can think of very wonderful things in the way of salvation—spiritual blessings that would transform life for us, and make the whole universe resplendent with joy and triumph—and we can ask for them. But do we really believe that God is able and willing to do for us “exceeding abundantly” above all that we can ask or think? ...
In another place we are told that “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”4 If God has prepared more for us than it has ever entered into our hearts to conceive, surely we can have no question about obtaining that which has entered into our hearts, and “much more” beside.—Hannah Whitall Smith5
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Among those in the court of Alexander the Great was a philosopher of outstanding ability but little money. He asked Alexander for financial help and was told to draw whatever he needed from the imperial treasury. But when the man requested an amount equal to $50,000, he was refused—the treasurer needed to verify that such a large sum was authorized. When he asked Alexander, the ruler replied, “Pay the money at once. The philosopher has done me a singular honor. By the largeness of his request he shows that he has understood both my wealth and generosity.”
In the same way we honor the Lord when we come to Him humbly and ask for great things.
Be encouraged and believe for great things! God has wonderful answers in store!—George Whitten6
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“If God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more shall He clothe you?”7
Have you ever gazed at a blade of grass? I don't mean have you merely glanced at it; but have you taken it up and feasted your eyes upon it until its exquisite beauty is forever imprinted upon your soul? Contemplate, therefore, … If God takes so much pains with a blade of grass, how much more will He take with one of His own children.—J. H. Jowett8
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We usually think of things that are beyond our comprehension as supernatural or miraculous, but those things aren’t supernatural to God because He operates in the spiritual realm where everything is “natural” to Him. It’s like saying there is nothing impossible with God.9 A lot of things God does are beyond our power and grasp of things and what we consider natural, so when they happen we say they are supernatural. But with God, nothing is impossible, so nothing is supernatural to Him!
God can do things that are contrary to what we consider His natural laws. When someone gets healed of an incurable disease, for example, we call it a miracle because we’re seeing the evidence or manifestation of some of God’s laws that link the spiritual and the physical realms—laws that we know little about. To God, on the other hand, it’s simple! He knows how to undo whatever damage the disease may have done and thereby creates what to us is a miracle—a supernatural act that is beyond our capabilities.
God is able to work miracles on our behalf, according to His will—miracles of healing, supply, protection, or whatever else we may need, when we ask Him in faith and claim the promises from His Word. We can’t work miracles; we can only pray for Him to do it and marvel at His power when He does.—David Brandt Berg
Published on Anchor September 2014. Read by Debra Lee.
Music by Michael Dooley.
1 ESV.
2 ESV.
3 Ephesians 3:20 KJV.
4 1 Corinthians 2:9 KJV.
5 http://www.ccel.org/ccel/smith_hw/comfort.IX.html
6 http://www.worthydevotions.com/christian-devotional/are-you-in-great-need
7 Matthew 6:30.
8 Adapted from Brooks by the Traveler’s Way (London: H. R. Allenson, 1902).
9 Luke 1:37.
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