Miracles

I recently participated in a beautiful church service in a small Brazilian church.  Talking with the pastor before the service I said "Every church is a miracle.  Imagine any other system working for nearly 2000 years that asks every member to give 10% of their income, volunteer their time and give 100% of their daily life to see the system succeed." He quickly agreed because he tithes and leads his church without receiving any pay as he simultaneously leads his own family and over 150 employees in his four restaurants. A church may have 10 people or 10,000 people.  Every church is a miracle.  The church is a miracle because only God could have kept her healed and alive for this long.  A miracle is something only God can do and from what I have seen only God could have kept the church alive.  Men certainly have not kept her alive. People want to see miracles.  We all want living proof that the God of the Bible is still at work today as He was in the past.  Unfortunately we do not see the existence of churches as living proof that God is still active.  How sad! We prefer to see a physical healing or a raise in salary so we can satisfy our need to know God is still active.  We are satisfied with too little!  If we could see every church correctly we would say  "It is a miracle!  2000 years have gone by since Pentecost and the church still exists!  The Body of Christ remains visible and available in the whole world because God is keeping it healed and alive." People flock to churches when word gets out that God is doing miracles in that church.  Who doesn't want to see miracles?  Who doesn't want to have something miraculously resolved in a matter of seconds?  Everyone does. It is sad, however, that we do not see that we ourselves are an ongoing miracle just like the church is an ongoing miracle.  Every disciple in whom Jesus dwells is a miracle 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. The next time you are leaving your home to go looking for a miracle, remember that angels leave home to see you!  They still cannot quite believe that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have made us their home on earth.  Truly, you are a miracle just as surely as the church is a miracle.  You are something only God could have done and continues to do. You can go looking for miracles if you want to, but I am going to continue to see the church and my life in Christ as the main miracles.  These two are the main miracles because they are for every one of us and they are God's very best work for us and in us.  I like miracles that happen for everyone! Bud McCord Abide International

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