Tuesday, July 15, 2008

A God of Miracles - Mormon 9:15-20

15 And now, O all ye that have imagined up unto yourselves a god who can do no miracles, I would ask of you, have all these things passed, of which I have spoken? Has the end come yet? Behold I say unto you, Nay; and God has not ceased to be a God of miracles.
16 Behold, are not the things that God hath wrought marvelous in our eyes? Yea, and who can comprehend the marvelous works of God?
17 Who shall say that it was not a miracle that by his word the heaven and the earth should be; and by the power of his word man was created of the dust of the earth; and by the power of his word have miracles been wrought?
18 And who shall say that Jesus Christ did not do many mighty miracles? And there were many mighty miracles wrought by the hands of the apostles.
19 And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles.
20 And the reason why he ceaseth to do miracles among the children of men is because that they dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the right way, and know not the God in whom they should trust.

(Book of Mormon | Mormon 9:15 - 20)

Moroni makes a very valid point in these verses. Throughout the scriptures we read time and again how God is a God of miracles. Anciently, prophets performed great miracles like Moses and Elijah.

Jesus performed even greater miracles while he was on earth, and he gave His power, the priesthood, to His Apostles. They also performed many mighty miracles.
Jesus did not perform many miracles amongst His countrymen because of their lack of faith, not due to His lack of ability.

If there are no miracles being performed today it would be due to our lack of faith. However, God does not change, and His priesthood is on the earth. Miracles, both large and small are performed today.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints declares that there are Apostles on the earth.

A good friend of mine that I home teach, Kate, recently spent about six months in the ICU with pancreatitis. When she was first in the hospital she was given a priesthood blessing that she would recover.
She was fortunate that there was a doctor in her hospital that travelled extensively, and at that moment was in her hospital. He studied nothing but the pancreas. He is one of the top pancreas specialists in the country. He performed tests on Kate’s pancreas. The results were not promising. He told Kate’s husband, Tim, that he had never seen a person with test results like hers survive.

As mentioned earlier, she spent six long and difficult months in the ICU. She has been home and getting stronger everyday now for several months. The doctors are baffled as to why she lived. They performed several operations on her during her convalescence where they told Kate and Tim that the chances of survival were improbable.

Is God a God of miracles today? Absolutely. Some of His miracles might not be on as grand a scale as that, or at least they might not be perceived to be, but He is not asleep and He loves his children. Those that look for His hand in their lives will see it in numerous ways.

1 comment:

Tristi Pinkston said...

Hey Dan,

I just gave you an award. Come get it!

http://tristipinkston.blogspot.com/2008/07/ive-been-awarded.html