Believing God Can Do What He Says He Can Do!

PERMISSION TO BELIEVE

Psalm 77:14
You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the people.


Permission to Believe - God’s ability to intervene miraculously in the lives of mortals. We have entered a time where there appears to be a prevalent belief of unbelief. Much of the body of Christ is paralyzed by unbelief. The frustrating cycle looks like this: We believe little, so we see little, so we continue to believe little and see little.

Perhaps the primary obstacle in believing God can still do what He says He can do is that we have chosen to believe our own eyes and ears over the Word of God. If our eyes have seen few supernatural interventions of God, we often convince ourselves that He is unwilling to perform them.

J.I. Packer wrote, “All Christians are at once beneficiaries and victims of tradition-beneficiaries, who receive nurturing truth and wisdom from God’s faithfulness in past generations; victims, who now take for granted things that need to be questioned, thus treating as divine absolutes patterns of belief and behavior that should be seen as human, provisional, and relative. We are all beneficiaries of good, wise and sound tradition and victims of poor, unwise and unsound traditions.”

The point is our faith is unlikely to exceed our most studied teachers. If we are not studying the Word of God and learning from those who go before us, we are disabling ourselves from having the ability to be blessed to the extent God wants to bless us.

Acts 17:10-11
Ministering at Berea
10 Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.

When was the last time we went to church or read something referring to the Word, that we searched to Bible to determine if we were given accurate information or if our interpretation is the same as we were told? We take for granted the information being given to without putting our heart into it to determine if it is accurate. The Word of God is our only plumb line.

Some believers believe that miracles only existed during certain eras of history. Others believe that we need to believe and expect miracles solely. Both the Old and New Testament are full of miracles. Miracles are strewn throughout the Word of God. God is never less than who He was the day He spoke the worlds into orbit.

Following is Scripture from the Old and New Testament:

Habakkuk 3:2
2 O LORD, I have heard your speech and was afraid; O LORD, revive Your work in the midst of the years! In the midst of the years make it known; In wrath remember mercy.

Psalm 77:13-14
13 Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary; Who is so great a God as our God? 14 You are the God who does wonders; You have declared Your strength among the peoples.

Psalm 74:9-23
9 We do not see our signs; There is no longer any prophet; Nor is there any among us who knows how long. 10 O God, how long will the adversary reproach? Will the enemy blaspheme Your name forever? 11 Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand? Take it out of Your bosom and destroy them. 12 For God is my King from of old, Working salvation in the midst of the earth. 13 You divided the sea by Your strength; You broke the heads of the sea serpents in the waters. 14 You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces, And gave him as food to the people inhabiting the wilderness. 15 You broke open the fountain and the flood; You dried up mighty rivers. 16 The day is Yours, the night also is Yours; You have prepared the light and the sun. 17 You have set all the borders of the earth; You have made summer and winter. 18 Remember this, that the enemy has reproached, O LORD, And that a foolish people has blasphemed Your name. 19 Oh, do not deliver the life of Your turtledove to the wild beast! Do not forget the life of Your poor forever. 20 Have respect to the covenant; For the dark places of the earth are full of the haunts of cruelty. 21 Oh, do not let the oppressed return ashamed! Let the poor and needy praise Your name. 22 Arise, O God, plead Your own cause; Remember how the foolish man reproaches You daily. 23 Do not forget the voice of Your enemies; The tumult of those who rise up against You increases continually.

Proverbs 2:1-5
1 My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, 2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; 3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, 4 If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; 5 Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God.


OURS IS A GOD OF WONDERS WHO IS STILL VERY CAPABLE OF PERFORMING MIRACLES EVEN IF WE DON’T LIVE IN A BIBLICAL ERA CHARACTERIZED BY THEM.