Thought for March 1: Luke 1:35 – Miracle March
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.”
My favorite miracle is God invading humanity in the form of Jesus. It is a miracle to have a place to live. It is a miracle to place the stars in the sky. It is a miracle that the Mars lander had a place to photograph. It is a miracle I got out of bed this morning. It is a miracle to experience friends and life. It is a miracle have strength for another day. But by far the best miracle is God with us.
Thought for March 2: Mark 10:27 – Miracle March
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with god; all things are possible with God.”
Those who would call themselves Christian throughout history have clamored for miracles. God stepping in to fix something. Something that is beyond our might and measure. We pray for miracles of healing then pain then at times the pain worsens. We pray and expect God to change the world and it I know it is getting worse. My prayers seem to bounce off some stone wall between God and I. And yet, the miracle I seek might have already been provided and that the miracle we are praying for, which does not come as we had planned, does not mean that God has forgotten us or that He does not hear our heart’s cry. He does!
Thought for March 3: Ephesians 3:20 – Miracle March
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,
The people had listened intently to Jesus’ teaching. But the mind can comprehend only as long as the body can endure. The dinner stomach rumble had begun. The faithful leadership wanted to send them away. However, Jesus had something else in mind and He did it with only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. Many times, we look around at our meager resources and wonder how we are going to make it. Yet our Lord will meet every one of our needs according to His miraculous abilities even using our puny provisions. Look into your cupboards they are full. Full of miracles waiting to happen.
Thought for March 4: Deuteronomy 10:21 – Miracle March
He is the one you praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes.
God split the Red Sea, God gave manna in the wilderness, God raised Lazarus from the dead, God gave inspiration to preachers and teachers to reveal the will of God. God gave me one more sunrise and growing grass. God gives rain to a parched world. God changed me. God is changing you. He is God. He is our God. He is the one who deserves praise! And everything that is within me I give them up to God in praise. Wonders and miracles!
Thought for March 5: Jeremiah 32:27 – Miracle March
I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?
There are three stages of the work of God: the impossible, the difficult, and the done. Miracles still happen. Just because we do not see people raised from the dead on a regular basis does not mean God is not in the miracle business. The Lord receives glory from the miracles He does every day in our lives. We must continue to press Him in prayer for the miraculous and not settle so quickly into doubt, anxiety, or fear. Miracles will continue until morale improves.
Thought for March 6: Isaiah 43:2 – Miracle March
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
In California our politician leaders often talk about those who are “food insecure”. There are those within our cadre of friends and acquaintances who wonder where their next meal will come from. I worked in a food distribution center for these who could not make ends meet. Month after month the same faces, the same families, the same sad eyes would show up for a basket of food. Life is tough. I am not making light of their state. I saw the efforts of that “Food Bank” as a miracle. For those who passing through high waters, for those who walk through the fire, God is still with you. I took it as a privilege to be the hands and feet of Jesus.
Thought for March 7: Romans 8:28 – Miracle March
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
I do not understand the weakness of my life, nor the seemingly gradual delegation to inactivity. Ministry seems so far off. I struggle to be all that God wants of me. Yet I rejoice that no matter what “happens” in my life, I already have received the greatest miracle of all, which is eternal life. I will continually keep crying out to God knowing His Word is true. All things transformed into good. It is a miracle.
Thought for March 8: Romans 8:38,39 – Miracle March
I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Often, I look for a solution to the terrible circumstances in surrounding my life. My contry is full of events and circumstances which deeply sadden me. I have experienced the loss of job, illness, death of loved ones, ill health, broken relationships, and the results of simply wrong decisions. I want so much for a simple single solution. I want a single resounding bell ring of a miracle in everything around me. I think of the Christians persecuted and martyred today in the Middle East and around the globe. I pray for their deliverance and that God will do a miracle in their lives to rescue them from their oppressors. I perceive rapid changes to my life dictated by an elitist government. I need a miracle. Praise the Lord, that miracle has already been completed. Nothing can separate. It is a miracle.
Thought for March 9: Job 5:8,9 – Miracle March
But as for me, I would seek God, and I would place my cause before God who does great and unsearchable thing, things without number.
I will never get the Nobel prize for writing. I will never be President of the United States. I will never contract terminal little toe cancer. I will not spontaneously blow up in a great ball of fire. Hair will not spontaneously sprout on my bald head. I will never become a musical super star. I will not be eaten by a great fish nor will I pick-up manna from my back yard. I will never hit a rock and see water gush out. Yet there are thousands of miracles; those places where God has put his finger in the world and made a remarkable change. Miracles are exceedingly small pieces of sand which make up a grand beach. A beach which is washed again and again by God’s very presence.
Thought for March 10: Mark 9:23 – Miracle March
“If you can?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”
In response to a distraught father of an epileptic son and after asking if Jesus could heal, Jesus replied with “Everything is possible”. Walking on water or feeding 5,000 with a few loaves and a couple of fish were miracles. Departing the Red Sea; that was a good one. Raising a friend from the dead after three days, that is a miracle. There are two ways to live life. One way is to perceive the wondrous world around me without acknowledging miraculous; a life full of insane reality, using words like coincidence, myth, story, exaggeration. I have chosen a second and hugely different perception. A perception that sees miracles in everything. I use words like faith, hope, love, forgiveness, kindness, peace, and wonder. When I stop believing in miracles is the day in which I have forgotten that I am one.
Thought for March 11: John 2:11 – Miracle March
This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.
The poor, overworked, ragamuffin followers of Jesus were beginning to understand that Jesus was more than another magic man. Each healing, feeding, resurrection was experienced in wonder. It would have been great to walk with this miracle worker. Yet, miracles, no matter how wonderous, lead to a “Sir, can I have some more” attitude. I can see myself asking, “Jesus, when can we expect your next miracle?” When miracles become expected, when they become common place, when they become the new norm, are they still miracles? I must accept miracles not for the miracles themselves, but for the manifested glory and ultimately to a lasting belief.
Thought for March 12: Matthew 17:20 – Miracle March
He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
I am closer to my end than my beginning. Weakness of knees, back and shoulders have slowly impeded my pace of life. For years I was deathly afraid of my own weaknesses. It is inevitable as I face my own eternity with wide eyes, not to have some doubt. With my eyes wide open I only see decay. Yet when I close my eyes and let myself be vulnerable, does that moment allow miracles to take place. Miracles that are only alive when accessed by BLIND faith.
Thought for March 13: Matthew 21:21 – Miracle March
Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done.
There always have be cynics and scoffers. Those who would rather tear down than build up. Those who would try separate me from my faith. Those who would rather dwell in darkness and curse it than to get up and look for the good, the true, the faithful, the light. What is a miracle, if not the revelation of a small light in the middle of total darkness? What is a miracle if not the manifestation of light where only darkness is expected? Let there be light! Push out the expected darkness with a grand and all illuminating brightness. Miracles!
Thought for March 14: Romans 15:18,19 – Miracle March
I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.
The apostle Paul was just going about his ministry. A fanatic, prejudiced, zealot of a Hebrew. A stickler for the Law in all his ways. Yet his ministry was miraculously transformed and pointed in a new direction. His calling was drastically changed toward the infidel, the gentile, to those who were not of the chosen. A Jew becoming a gentile evangelist. And in that new ministry came miracles. Paul discovered the problem of living with miracles is that with God everything became plausible and possible. The miracle of ministry opens doors, and his once constricted and small world became grand and glorious.
Thought for March 15: Acts 19:11-12 – Miracle March
God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured, and the evil spirits left them.
My life and most people’s lives are a series of little miracles — strange coincidences which spring from uncontrollable impulses and give rise to incomprehensible dreams. We spend a lot of time pretending that we are normal, but underneath the surface each one of us knows that within us we are unique. And with that uniqueness comes the possibility of miracle. The problem with living with miracles was that they made everything seem plausible!
Thought for March 16: Acts 4:29-31 – Miracle March
Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
“What a concept”. As I sit here in my little cluttered office, I am still amazed at the miracles of life, with all the things we know and learn. But yet science has not touched the big mysteries. Science cannot tell me where my soul comes from. Science cannot tell me where I come from. Science cannot tell me where we go next. Science cannot even tell me why I am here. And when something truly miraculous manifests itself, our world runs and hides in caves. We deny. If it cannot be explained scientifically it cannot have happened. Miracles are not contrary to nature but only contrary to what we know about nature.
Thought for March 17: James 5:13-16 – Miracle March
Anyone who is having troubles should pray. Anyone who is happy should sing praises. Anyone who is sick should call the church’s elders. They should pray for and pour oil on the person in the name of the Lord. And the prayer that is said with faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will heal that person. And if the person has sinned, the sins will be forgiven. Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so God can heal you. When a believing person prays, great things happen.
What have I learned about miracles? I have learned of and been witness to miracles of healing, miracles of answered prayers, and of unexpected happy endings. Yet the greatest lesson I have learned is amazingly simple. Every miracle in my past and in my present has come quietly and simply. As if on tiptoe it has manifested itself in the background. So stealthily that I hardly knew it had occurred.
Thought for March 18: Acts 3:16 – Miracle March
By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.
Why did they believe? Because they saw miracles. Things one man took as chance, a man of faith took as a sign. A loved one recovering from disease, a fortunate business deal, a chance meeting with a long-lost friend. It not the grand doctrines or the sweeping ideals which make believers out of men. It is the simple magic in the world around them.”
Thought for March 19: Luke 16:31 – Miracle March
He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.
History bears me out on this. In America, the church has stood by while science has picked away at religion. Like being nibbled to death by a social duck. They would try and debunk miracles. Each effort training the mind to overcome the heart. They would have us believe, “God is a hallucination” or “religion is the opiate of the masses.” They would say, “church is delusional crutch for those who can’t accept the meaninglessness of life.” Science simply ignores the miraculous. They choose to even acknowledge miracles do happen. For me, I have no problem with the admission that something exists beyond my understanding. With that admission I proclaim, “That is a miracle!”
Thought for March 20: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18– Miracle March.
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Small miracles are miracles all the same. I often hear those who after finding a perfect parking spot or finding something needed on sale saying, “Praise the Lord.” Does God really care about parking spot fifty feet closer to the store? Does God orchestrate that perfect shirt on sale? Do we trivialize and lessen God’s big miracles giving thanks for small ones? I do not think so. God is the divine care giver. All this makes me realize that miracles are everyday things. Not only the sudden, great good fortune, wafting in on a new wind from the sky miracles, but mostly in routine. They are miracles just the same.
Thought for March 21: Philippians 4:7 – Miracle March
The peace of God which surpasses all comprehension, will guard you heart and mind.
Emotions are not my thing. I can get excited but not often. I feel empathy when I see or hear of friends not doing so well. I can smile at a good joke. I am warmed by the hand of my granddaughter. Never-the-less, I am mostly on a constant emotional level. When I listen to a teacher or a sermon, for the most part, I am not easily impressed. For a true blessing I must look carefully and with due diligence to see beyond the exterior and see the interior. I must set my mind every day discover the thousand little miracles which make my day. They are there hiding amid the normal and usual. I must keep looking and expecting. Today, I will look for a small sign, a small miracle. Today, I will connect with God.
Thought for March 22: Matthew 15:28 – Miracle March
Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
A mother crying for justice. No child should suffer. No sweet innocent little girl should be plagued by an emotional cruel disturbance of mind. Mom was from the outside, from the bad side of the country. There was no justice from the religious hierarchy governing the area. Jesus was her last hope. Justice can sleep for years and awaken when it is least expected. A miracle is nothing more than dormant justice rising up and arriving to compensate those it has cruelly abandoned. Suffering is nothing more than delayed justice. Hold on tight to the knowledge and faith. The miracle of justice is coming. Nothing is in vain.
Thought for March 23: Psalm 139:13-14 – Miracle March
For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful; I know that full well.
You did it God. You took two exceedingly small cells and smashed them together and I became. I was knitted together from raw materials and you made me. Science would take this happenstance and say it is biology and try to take all the wonder out of the miracle of life. They would say the product of conception is nothing more than a blob of cells. But just like God breathing into the nose of Adam in Genesis 2:7, I became a powerful work of God. I am assured, I fully know it was more than biology. I know it was a miracle of God.
Thought for March 24: Jeremiah 32:27 – Miracle March
“I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is there anything too hard for me?”
For over a year I have been living in endurance mode. Living without shared personal experiences have sapped the “want to” out of me. In times such as this, I get to a place where there is little expectation for anything good to happen. The hopes and dreams of some miracle which would change everything for the better, take a back seat to the pragmatic today. My head says, “It is only a fantasy, and that I have no real control over anything.” I want to yell at God for all the terrible. Yet my heart, my soul does not yell, it cries out expecting a miracle. And in that moment, God smiles.
Thought for March 25: -John 20:30-31 – Miracle March
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
I am struck in wonder of the possibilities. I read of the miracles of Jesus. Each were dutifully written down and stored for all eternity. Time after time Jesus revealed himself to the world as a miracle worker. He was one that cared, cried, healed, created, guided, taught, revealed, prayed, loved, challenged, sender, mover, witnessed, and comforted. Yet there were thousands of other miracles, acts of mercy not included in the accounts. John did not include them, but they happened. They were daily occurrences that became the norm. Today I will look for miracles in the normal.
Thought for March 26: Exodus 14:31 – Miracle March
Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.
Miracles are like a good Ruben sandwich. No one can exactly agree on the proper ingredients. If I am unsure of the quality of a restaurant, I will always order a Ruben. I have a perfect picture in my mind of that perfect combination of meat, bread, and sauce. Very seldom does the result equal the expectation. My picture perfect and slightly greasy sandwich on marbled rye, rarely meets my expectation. If miracles could be put in a box and defined, then everyone would believe. Miracles are not a result of some equation. Every miracle is intended for the consumption of the receiver. Your miracles are made just for you.
Thought for March 27 :Mark 12:42,43 – Miracle March
A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, ‘Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.
Science is not a bad thing. Being able to prove two plus two is a great thing. Yet when science tells me the cold clear water coming from a mountain stream rushing down from the crest of a snowcapped mountain is equal to the water I get out of my kitchen faucet, while true, is a little disappointing. In science the gravel in my dad’s driveway is the same as the grand sheer cliffs of the mountains of the Sierra. There is little wonder in science. There is no place for miracles. There is nothing but mystery in the world and it hides behind the constant scientific explanation and presumption. The very fabric of our seemingly poor, browbeat days are miracles. Two small coins became a treasure; a miracle. Each shining brightly, and they didn’t even know it.
Thought for March 28: Mark 10:51,52 – Miracle March
What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.
I have read every miracle in the life of Jesus. Each had a purpose specific to the situation. He fed the hungry when there was not enough food. He raised a dead person when sisters could not be consoled. He gave sight to the blind that they might see God. Every time, without exception, every miracle was a miracle of a second chance. Doing after hope was gone. Miracles are simply second chances in life. Second chances when all hope is lost. When at the end of your rope, you need not just hold on but you need to expect a second chance to thrive.
Thought for March 29: Psalms 9:1 – Miracle March
I will give thanks to you, LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
Miracle March has been about miracles. I learned a volume of knowledge. Each day it has become easier to sit and write. It was a commitment to be done and now it has become a blessing. Every time something hard becomes easier; every time you adjust to a situation which, last week, you did not know existed; every time a kindness falls as softly as the dew; or someone you love who was ill grows better; every time a blessing comes, not with trumpet and fanfare, but silently as night, you have witnessed a miracle.”
Thought for March 30: – Miracle March
Jesus performed countless miracles, yet the vast majority of people did not believe in Him. If God performed miracles today as He did in the past, the result would be the same. People would be amazed and would believe in God for a short time. That faith would be shallow and would disappear the moment something unexpected or frightening occurred. A faith based on miracles is not a mature faith. God performed the greatest “God miracle” of all time in coming to earth as the Man Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins (Romans 5:8) so that we could be saved (John 3:16). God does still perform miracles—many of them simply go unnoticed or are denied. However, we do not need more miracles. What we need is to believe in the miracle of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
Thought for March 31: Mark 2:14 – Miracle March
As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.
Why call a hated, despised tax collector to be a disciple? Why call odoriferous, gross, and rough fishermen? Why call a young man out of a tree? Why take a chance on a zealous Roman hater to join the merry men? Why select a man that was from the beginning unwilling to acknowledge Jesus? It would have made much more sense to reach out to the religious, the highly born, the Roman leadership. Jesus chose who he did just because they were the unloved. They were the neglected and the marginalized. And to their surprise, the previously unloved found that they were now loved. To be loved when you know you are unlovely. What a miracle!