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The Greatest Miracle
The Greatest Miracle
address that subject here, only stating that it DOES happen. This is where believers become "newborn babies, desiring the sincere milk of the Word." 1 Peter 2:2. As Christians, we are not supposed to stay "spiritual babies" all our lives, although many do. Many churches are filled with "baby Christians" who never hunger and thirst after all of God's Word. They never strive to demonstrate the love of God to the brethren or to the lost around them. They never desire to walk a holy, separated life unto God. They just say, "Feed me!" and "Clean me up. I'm dirty and wet!" Many of these "babies" today run around looking for signs, wonders, and miracles. Others just state "There's nothing to those "miracles" or they would be happening in our group or to me!" I believe the Lord is very unhappy with those of us who are like either of these. GOD IS A GOD OF MIRACLES! He has always been and He always will be. But I believe the first of the really "great miracles" is the "Miracle of Salvation." Without it we are lost and on our way to Hell. No matter how "good we live" or how many "religious things" we do, we are lost without that lifechanging miracle. The greatest miracle for a "born again" Christian who is truly saved is the miracle of the continuous infilling of the Holy Sprit (see Ephesians 5:17-21). When the Spirit comes into each of us according to John 15:26, he "bears witness" or "testifies" to us of Jesus. "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me". When we are truly "filled" with His presence by the Spirit our lives will be continuously be transformed. We will first of all be filled with His love. We will have a hunger for His Word and for intimate time together with Him. We will desire to praise and worship Him in spirit and in truth. We will develop a hatred for sin, especially in OUR OWN LIVES. Our focus will not be to look for sin in other people, but to examine our own lives to see if there is anything there that is offensive to our beloved Jesus. We will develop a true love and compassion for other Christians, especially for those who are struggling with problems or sin in their own lives. We will weep and pray, interceding for our brethren. We will do whatever we can to help our brethren that are truly in need, knowing that all we are and all we have truly belongs to the Lord. Our love for the brethren will be in deed and in truth, not just in words. We will also be open to God to move within us as He wills to put within us a true love and compassion for the lost, loving the sinners for whom Christ died, but hating the sin that is destroying their lives and the lives of those around them. This love
will cause our lives to be transformed more and more into the image of Christ Jesus, where He can move and speak through us by the Spirit. This is an ongoing and life-long transformation which will never be fully completed this side of Glory, but it is one that each of us should strive to have in our lives. It will not make us "perfect" in the eyes of the world, many Christians will not even accept it, but it is what each of us truly needs. This "infilling" is not about "tongues" or about "signs and wonders" or "gifts and manifestations", although all of these may accompany the experience. It is about a continuous transformation in our lives, one that never ends as long as we permit it to go on. But the choice is up to us. This is a miracle that is freely available to every one who truly desires it, and is willing to "pay the price" necessary to allow it to happen. It involves truly "becoming His disciple." In three separate passages, Jesus talks of this: Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34, and Luke 9:23. They all refer to "denying himself" and "taking up his cross". All those to whom Jesus spoke knew that the only persons "carrying a cross" were going out to die. If we are to become Jesus disciple, we must choose daily to "die to self" and to set aside personal goals and ambitions and seek only the will of the Father for our lives, and to follow His leading as He leads by the Sprit. SALVATION IS THE GREATEST MIRACLE OF GOD POSSIBLE IN THE LIFE OF EVERY PERSON! IT IS THE MIRACLE THAT CAN LAST, NOT ONLY FOR THIS LIFETIME, BUT ALSO FOR ETERNITY. THE CONTINUOUS INFILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE GREATEST MIRACLE POSSIBLE IN THE LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN. IT IS THE MIRACLE THAT TRANSFORMES EACH OF US DAY BY DAY INTO THE IMAGE OF JESUS. Allow God to work this miracle in your life beginning today. He will take your life, a bit as a time as you yield it to Him, and He will do in your life the lifelong miracle of conforming you into His image. It's up to you. Do YOU TRULY desire GOD'S GREATEST MIRACLES? A bond-servant of the Lord Jesus Christ Charles W. (Chuck) Areson