Miracles demonstrate God’s desire to meet the needs of His people.
Matthew 15:22-28 gives us a picture of the Canaanite woman who came to Jesus seeking healing. She had no access to the blessings available at that time to the children of Israel—the people God had made His covenant with and who were the ones to receive His blessings. She was apart from God, His temple, His covenant, separated by the law and without hope! Yet she reached beyond the barriers and touched the very heart of God and found something even deeper than religion. She found grace and mercy for her time of need.
The Canaanite woman discovered that healing is the children’s bread, the very sustenance of life that God intended for you and me to experience.
When you look at our modern world you see that we are ravaged with a multitude of diseases, many of them incurable. These are diseases that the best medical practices and technologies in the world have no answer for.
In this story, Jesus reveals the picture of healing as common as bread on the table. Bread was a central part of every meal in middle-eastern society, and healing is meant to be just as common for our everyday life.
The Gospel of Matthew reveals healing as the very bread of life, the very bread on our table, the very sustenance that you and I should experience!
We all are familiar with sitting down in a restaurant and placing an order. We look at the menu and enjoy making our choices. I have seen some people get very anxious about it, and I have seen others wait and wait and wait because they can’t make a choice.
Years ago in Russia, where the food was rather bland, I recall looking forward to working on the border of China and going to a Chinese restaurant in the city of Khabarovsk. I was excited to eat spicy food, and with over 200 items on the menu, I was ready!
I asked for a certain type of rice but was told they didn’t have it, so I asked for another. They replied, “Don’t have it,” so I asked for another. They again replied, “Don’t have.” I gave up and asked what they did have.
“No rice, only potatoes.” Then I ordered Peking chicken. “Sorry, don’t have.” So I switched to Szechwan chicken. “Sorry, don’t have.” Hunan chicken? “Sorry, don’t have.” I finally gave up and asked, “What do you have??”
“Only Russian chicken legs.”
What would you do? I tell you this because some people believe it doesn’t matter what they really want in life. Many people think there is only one thing, opportunity, or flavor on the menu of life, just like I experienced. It might feel like you have no choice—but you always do!
Joshua 24:15
“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
You may not immediately get what you ask, but you can respond in a way that keeps your faith alive and an answer coming. Anger, disgust, frustration, or even hate is NOT the response that will bring a miracle. Forgiveness, mercy, joy, patience, and love toward others will turn the decisions of others into a triumph for Christ.
When Paul and Silas were thrown in prison, they could have responded with great anger because it was Jesus who told them to go to that city. They could have responded with tears, depression, resignation, etc., and everybody would have agreed to their sob story…but they chose to sing!
When the presence of Jesus is fresh in you, then you will have a good response to whatever is on the menu of life, or not on it. Your response is what makes you different, because you know you have a different source. The jail shook and doors flew open, and Paul was led out of the city as a dignitary, because he saw beyond the situation!
What do you see when you look into the mirror? Do you see your weaknesses, your inadequacies, your imperfections? Or do you see what God sees? He sees you as the righteousness of Christ Himself. He sees you as more than a conqueror in Christ!
We have an opportunity to look into the mirror of God’s Word—the perfect Law of liberty—and allow it to transform us from the inside out! We must not form opinions of ourselves based upon other people’s opinions or our own failures. They do not define us!
See yourself as God sees you. His idea of you is as wonderful and glorious as the Apostle Paul wrote: “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18 NKJV).
In the Old Testament we find the story of the children of Israel and God’s promise that He would take them to a land flowing with milk and honey. Moses led the nation of Israel to the edge of that Promised land. Perhaps you are on the edge of your promise today?
Moses sent twelve men to spy out the land. Ten of the spies saw themselves as mere grasshoppers in the sight of the giants that lived in the land. Two of the spies had a different perspective. They saw the giants through God’s eyes and said, “These giants are bread for us” (Numbers 14:9 KJV).
What is your perspective on healing? Has healing become a giant in your life? Jesus said, I am the bread of life (John 6:35)! He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil (Acts 10:38).
With the advent of His life, miracles became the foundation upon which everyday life was to be built. No longer were miracles to be a mystery or strange phenomenon, but miracles were to be front and center on the table of life!
Jesus came down from heaven as the express image of our heavenly Father, taking Him out of the shadows and revealing Him as the healer of humanity. Have you seen the bread of life come down for you? Jesus has set the table with healing for you!
Have you ever stopped a storm? Jesus did. In a boat when all others feared for their lives, He spoke peace and the winds obeyed! Over the years we have seen the power of the Name of Jesus in similar situations when storm winds threatened our events.
It is truly a wonder when the winds respond to that name.
It happened in the northern desert of Mexico at a church roof dedication. We were suddenly pounded by a mighty wind and rain such as the people had not experienced before. First the side windows began to rattle. Then the roof we were dedicating began tearing off, panel by panel, right above the pulpit. The people ran for the door and the walls. I did also, but Leslie stood her ground at the pulpit and commanded the storm to stop in the name of Jesus. After she said the name three times, the wind and rain instantly stopped. The roof was saved and we had a glorious celebration!
Have you ever asked yourself, “Am I doing what I’m called to do? Am I where God wants me to be? What do I want to see in my life?”
You would be amazed to know how many people live their lives without a sense of purpose or direction. They don’t know where they came from or where they’re going. Of course, if they believe in Christ they know that heaven is their eternal home, but what about this life? They find no answers in their aimless, day-to-day existence.
If you find yourself in this condition I have good news for you. You can have a new beginning! The secret is to commit yourself to change. You have committed yourself to the Lord; now allow Him to develop you. The fruits of self-discipline, joy, love and perseverance are in you.
See yourself with the image of a new creation! You are not bound to be the person of the past. The old man is dead, and now you are a resurrected person with the potential of God in you!
Once I was playing tennis at a certain sports club. There were weeds growing up on the court and there were holes in the backboard. The owners seemed not to care, but they were hurting themselves by not improving what they could. Maybe they thought small details didn’t matter, but they were terribly wrong. Small details are the best reflections of our whole attitude toward what we do. People will always notice in one way or another. And believe me, with that club’s kind of a sloppy attitude, you won’t succeed!
The attitude, “We only need to do enough to get by,” is just not good enough! If you only do the minimum expected of you, don’t expect much out of life. The Bible says, “…God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7). God gave you all the keys for success, so use them!
Andrew Carnegie, a well-known billionaire, had 50 millionaires working for him. He said, “No man ever became a millionaire by putting a million dollars as his goal. He did it by putting excellent service as his goal.”
Money is not a strong enough or worthy enough goal for life. You need a goal worthy enough to die for, so you can put your energies into it and live for it!
It’s important to pick a goal that will glorify God. Write down what money could do if you had it, then make those things your goals. Millions of Communists died for their goal, but because it was the wrong goal, those who remained later ate the bitter fruit of wasted lives.
Our goal should never be to make as much money as possible. Money is not the end-all, but rather the by-product of our life. Our goal is not our job–we all have jobs. Our work is different from our job. Our work deals with our attitudes and our thoughts before God and our actions before people. A worthy goal for a spiritual person is to be a positive influence on the job to transform attitudes and hearts!
Nations and individuals prosper for the same reasons: they serve others with excellence, meeting their needs and desires. We must cultivate that thinking in our society again. We must find new ways to improve service or the blessing of God will pass us by.
When I was in Mexico I looked out my hotel room window and saw a vendor selling donuts on the busy street corner below. Hundreds of people were walking by him but nobody was buying any donuts, so I thought I would help. I went down to him and told him that if he gave me one donut free, I would sell all of his donuts. He refused, but I was committed.
I bought two of his donuts, cut them up into small samples and started to give them away free to the people passing by. Many stopped for a sample, and once they tasted them they wanted to buy a whole donut. I showed this vendor at my own expense how he could make money quickly, but instead of thanking me he became angry, saying that he didn’t want to work that hard! He got paid by the hour, so it didn’t matter to him whether he sold donuts or not! Friend, if that is your attitude toward your job then you should quit today because you are in the wrong job!
The Bible tells us, “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men” Colossians 3:23). Whatever we do we should do with all our heart. It’s not God’s will, nor is it His fault if you are poor. Poor thinking produces poor living!
Over and over it is stated that the just shall live by faith. Faith is the atmosphere the Lord has chosen for people to live in.
If you were to walk into the ocean you would not live very long without a tank of oxygen. Why? You’re not equipped to live in water. People are not equipped to live in a fallen world without faith. Some may exist a little longer than others, just like some may swim in the ocean a little longer than others. All will eventually drown without oxygen in water, and all will perish without faith in this world.
Faith is the evidence of things not seen. We have been given a sixth sense to see what others can’t see, and to declare the unseen as ours. If you’re sick you have an ability to see yourself whole by faith in God’s will for all to be healed. If you’re poor, you have an ability to see beyond your poverty to a promised abundance!
