Kingdom Warriors

What is a miracle?

A miracle can be defined as ?the supernatural intervention of God that interrupts the normal course of the natural life.? When God stops the clock of time and puts His finger on a situation, a miracle takes place. When He removes His finger, natural time resumes once again. He is a God of miracles. And we see this in the following examples of Scripture:

God stops the Sun

Then Joshua spoke to the Lord on the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, be silent and stand still at Gibeon, and you, moon, in the Valley of Ajalon! ¹³ And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the nation took vengeance upon their enemies. Is not this written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of the heavens and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day - Joshua 10:12-13 AMP.

According to discoveries in astronomy, we now know that the earth orbits the sun, not the other way round. When Joshua gave the order, therefore it was actually the earth that stood still, not the sun. In addition to orbiting the sun, the earth also rotates on its axis, making a complete turn every 24 hours at a speed close to 1000 miles per hour. This rotation is what produces night and day, sunrise and sunset.

With this in mind, why did Joshua order the sun to stop if it is the earth that is in orbit? Joshua was simply speaking from his point of view. The most incredible aspect of this miracle is that the earth actually did stand still! It stopped rotating without being destroyed.

We cannot limit God. He is supernatural and all-powerful. He has complete and total dominion over nature.

In the Old Testament, God showed Himself to be a supernatural God of miracles,

At the Tower of Babel, He divided the people by giving them new languages (Genesis 11:5-8);

At Sodom and Gomorrah when God destroyed entire cities with fire from heaven (Genesis 19:24-25);

God saved Moses from Pharaoh?s plot to kill Israel?s firstborn sons (Exodus 12);

In the desert, God spoke to Moses from a bush the burned without being consumed (Exodus 3);

In Pharaoh?s palace, God turned Aaron?s rod into a serpent (Exodus 7:10-12), turned the Nile River into blood (Exodus 7:14-24), and caused plagues of frogs, lice, flies, boils, and locusts (Exodus 7-10);

God parted the Red Sea and delivered Israel out of Egypt and slavery (Exodus 13:17 ? 14:29);

In the wilderness, God caused mamma to descend from heaven every day (Exodus 16:1-24), sent quail for them to eat (Numbers 11:31-32), and drew water from a rock (Exodus 17:6);

He cause earthquakes to defeat and drive off the Philistines (1 Samuel 14:15);

The destroyed the walls of Jericho (Joshua 6);

He caused an axe to float on water (2 Kings 6:6);

He gave Samson the strength to kill lions and tear down the columns of the Philistines (Judges 16:21-30);

He gave Abraham and his sterile wife, Sarah, a son in their old age (Genesis 21:1-3);

He enabled a young shepherd named David to kill a giant named Goliath with only a sling and a stone (1 Samuel 17);

He fed the widow of Zarephath with the multiplication of oil (1 Kings 17:8-15);

He caused a donkey to speak (Numbers 22-24);

He consumed Elijah?s sacrifice on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:16-46);

He commanded rain to fall after a drought (1 Kings 18:16-46);

He healed Naaman through His prophet (2 Kings 5:1-9);

He raised Elisha?s bones from the dead (2 Kings 13;14, 20-21);

He kept Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego safe and unharmed in a fiery furnace (Daniel 3);

He kept Daniel safe when the king placed him in a lion?s den (Daniel 6:10-23);

He preserved the life of Jonah in the belly of a whale (Jonah 1-2).

And these are but a few examples.

We also see the miracle when God sent His only Son, Jesus, to reveal the Heavenly Father as a supernatural God, and when His Son performed spectacular miracles, such as when He:

Turned water into wine (John 2:1-11);

Healed the 10 lepers, a centurion?s servant, a paralytic, Peter?s mother in-law, and a deaf-mute (for example Luke 17:11-19, Matthew 8:5-13, Luke 5:17-26, Mark 1:29-39, Mark 7:31-37);

Straightened the back of the woman who had been bent for many years (Luke 13:10-17);

Healed the blind beggar by the pool (Mark 10:46-52);

Restored the sight to one who was blind from birth (John 9:1-25);

Raised the son of the widow of Nain from the dead (Luke 7:11-17);

Delivered the daughter of the Syro-Phoenician woman (Mark 7:24-30);

Raised Lazarus 3 days after his death (John 11:1-27);

Multiplied the bread and the fish and fed 5000 people (Mark 6:30-44);

Walked on water (Matthew 14:22-33);

Pulled money from the mouth of a fish (Matthew 17:24-27);

Cursed a fig tree causing it to dry up (Matthew 21:18-21);

And delivered a demon-possessed man (Mark 5:1-20).

Most of all, we see it when Jesus surrendered to the cross, descended into hell, took the keys of death from Satan, and was raised from the dead before ascending to heaven and sending us His Holy Spirit. In addition, we see it in the miracles that took place in the early church. And we continue to marvel at the miracles, signs, and wonders God performs in the church today.

The 2 Sources of Supernatural Power

God

Satan

Any supernatural power that does not come from God is from Satan. Therefore, we must be alert to avoid being deceived.

And God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and man]; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves upon the earth - Genesis 1:28 AMP.

Man was created with God?s supernatural power to exercise dominion and lordship on the earth. He was not created to trust solely on his natural abilities, mind, reasoning, or any other source of sensorial knowledge offered by the world. Man was created to walk in the supernatural power of God.

The Supernatural God Revealed Himself Through Jesus

And Peter answered Him, Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water. ²⁹ He said, Come! So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and he came toward Jesus - Matthew 14:28-29 AMP.

Walking on water was one of Jesus? most awesome miracles. When Peter saw Him, he said he wanted to do the same thing and Jesus answered, ?Come.? As soon as Peter started to walk on the water, however, he felt a strong wind and focused on the storm, took his eyes off of Jesus, and began to sink. Notice that Jesus did not rebuke Peter for wanting to walk on water, too. On the contrary, Jesus encouraged Peter to do it. Why did Peter want to walk on water? What was his motive? Peter left the safety of the boat because he was prompted by the instinctual need for supernatural power that resides in man, the desire to cross over the line from the natural into the supernatural. Unfortunately that instinctual need has led many men away from God and towards more destructive supernatural options, such as magic, witchcraft, diabolical games, false religions, satanic sects, idolatry, and much more.

Today, we will notice that some rely solely on their natural abilities, trusting only in science, technology, mathematics, philosophy, logic, and other branches of human intellect and understanding. Others opt for witchcraft or other ungodly supernatural powers. Many fail to realize that their choices lead to idolatry and dissatisfaction. For this reason, God is raising a new generation with the audacity to leave the boat and walk on the water. This new generation wants more because God has placed that desire within them.