The Miracle Within

You hear much about miracles in these days as we long for God to work as He did in the New Testament. And while I am much disenchanted with false miracles orchestrated to impress the gullible I am certainly in favor of seeking the hand of God in the spread of the gospel in our world. In their prayer in Acts chapter 4 the disciples prayed, "Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus."

As we are led to pray similar prayers what kind of miracles might we ask God to perform for His glory? I believe Jesus gave us a hierarchy of miracles in Matthew chapter 11.

John the Baptist was in prison and surely discouraged as were his disciples. They had brought John word on the ministry of Jesus. On their urging John sent to Jesus asking, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we look for someone else."

Jesus told them to go back to John with these proofs of His ministry. They appear to me to be a crescendo of miracles ascending from great to greatest. He says, "Go tell John what you see and hear. The blind receive sight and the lame walk. Lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear. And the dead are raised." These are all pretty impressive climaxing with the dead being raised. But that is not the highest in the list Jesus sends. The clinching statement of His supernatural ministry was, "The poor have the gospel preached to them."

Now I ask you, why does the poor having the gospel preached to them even rate a place in this list of amazing works? It is a miracle. But it is a miracle of a different kind. This miracle had to be worked in the heart of the preachers Jesus was preparing. God has to work in our hearts for us care about the least in society.

As we formed Cross of Hope Ministries, we defined "the poor" more broadly and simply economically deprived. We are committed to take the gospel to those who are needy morally, spiritually, socially, and yes, materially.

And note the particular ministry Jesus gives as a sign of God's work in our hearts. It is more than simply ministering to the material or psychological needs of people. The gospel is to be preached to them. To do this we must recognize that the primary need of poor people is not bread but the gospel. And there is nothing we can do to lift them out of poverty that is more crucial than by the power of the word and the Holy Spirit making them disciples of Jesus Christ.