WHEN YOU NEED A MIRACLE: OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL, 4TH DECEMBER 2018.

MEMORISE:

Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? John 11:40

READ: Matthew 8:5-13

5 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,

6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.

7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.

8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.

9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

11 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.

12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

13 And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.

MESSAGE

There is a different key that opens each door in a house. This fact of life also applies to the things of God. There are certain things you must do in order to receive a miracle at any point in time. The most important key to open the door o miracles is the act of exercising faith. The fact that you have been in church for decades does not guarantee that you have the kind of faith that can get you the miracle you desire. 

In the story behind today’s memory verse, despite Mary and Martha’s closeness with Jesus Christ, their faith was so weak that they did not believe their brother could be raised from the dead. Jesus had to prop up their faith by admonishing them to believe in order to see the glory of God. In contrast to this in today’s Bible reading, we see a manifestation of great faith that received commendation from our Lord. 

The centurion had faith that Jesus did not need to be physically present with his critically ill servant before He could heal him. Remarkably, it was the Lord Himself who described the centurion’s faith as “great”! I pray that you will also begin to walk in this type of faith in Jesus’ Name.

Do you know that there are times when the faith of a member of the congregation is greater than that of the pastor? There is this testimony of one of my daughters who came to me for prayer that God should change the sex of her baby from female to male because the husband said he would send her packing if she gave birth to another female child. 

As I tried to persuade her to accept the will of God for that baby, since it was already confirmed beyond reasonable doubt that the child in her womb was a girl, she told me, “Daddy, but you taught us that with God nothing shall be impossible!” At that point, I decided to agree with her in faith. Beloved, this daughter of mine got what she wanted because the Lord changed the sex of her fully grown foetus from female to male.

In addition to faith, humility could also be seen in the centurion. Despite his stature as a high ranking Roman officer, he did not see himself as worthy enough to have the Lord come into his house. This attitude of humility worked for the centurion, and it will work for you as well. If you have pending acts of repentance or restitution to fulfill, go ahead to do them in humility. Don’t forget to add the icing of praise to your prayer, and you will receive your miracle today in Jesus’ Name.

PRAYER POINT:

Father, increase my faith and let the Lordship of Christ prevail over my circumstances today.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:  Ezekiel 43-44, John 7:1-24

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 10: MY FAITH LOOKS UP TO THEE.

1. My faith looks up to Thee,
Thou Lamb of Calvary,
Savior divine!
Now hear me while I pray,
Take all my guilt away,
Oh, let me from this day
Be wholly Thine!

2. May Thy rich grace impart
Strength to my fainting heart,
My zeal inspire!
As Thou hast died for me,
Oh, may my love to Thee
Pure, warm, and changeless be,
A living fire!

3. While life’s dark maze I tread,
And griefs around me spread,
Be Thou my guide;
Bid darkness turn to day,
Wipe sorrow’s tears away,
Nor let me ever stray
From Thee aside.

4. When ends life’s transient dream,
When death’s cold, sullen stream
Shall o’er me roll;
Blest Savior, then in love,
Fear and distrust remove;
Oh, bear me safe above,
A ransomed soul!