“Touches of God”

Fresh Manna 2009© by Pastor Tim Burt

Listen to these words describing God’s greatness and mighty power.

Jeremiah 32:18-20 “…You are the great and powerful God, the Lord Almighty. You have all wisdom and do great and mighty miracles. You are very aware of the conduct of all people, and you reward them according to their deeds. You performed miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt—things still remembered to this day! And you have continued to do great miracles in Israel and all around the world. You have made your name very great, as it is today.”

God is great and mighty! In Jeremiah 33:3 it says: “Call to me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things you do not know.” When you read these words, it should stir you up to seek and pursue the great and mighty things God wants to show you. You are made in the image of God and you have it in your DNA to do great and mighty things. But, if you don’t get God’s insight to what ‘great and mighty’ is, you’ll confuse it with worldly accomplishment and never know the blessing behind what He really meant.

God alone is God. He alone raises up and tears down Kings and those in authority. He alone made the Heavens and the earth and all within it. He alone could create something as complex as the human body. Man’s efforts are crude in comparison. God has His great and mighty and we have ours—that which He desires us to do. The great and mighty He has for us isn’t about satisfying our pride or ego or attaining personal glory. It’s not about accomplishments motivated by the desire of man’s praise. Doing great and mighty things has to do with obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit that brings the touch of God to those around us. Jesus demonstrated that for us.

Jesus came not only to reconcile us to God, but also to demonstrate touching others with God’s love. His motivation was born from pure love which He demonstrated through personal sacrifice and selflessness. He demonstrated great mercy and compassion that led to the touch of God that constantly changed lives. He showed us what “great and mighty” means and how to walk it out in our day-to-day life. We may not be raising someone from the dead or seeing someone healed every time we pray for them, but we can pray in faith and we will see God move through our prayers.

An unbeliever can do good works just like a believer can. But an unbeliever can’t do good works accompanied by prayer, encouragement, and faith in the promises of God. The good works are good, but prayer, encouragement, and faith in the promises of God is what ministers to the spirit of man.

I watch the great and mighty in action all the time through people in our church. While a young woman was going through cancer treatment, I watched people bring her family meals, cards of encouragement and support, and stand with her in prayer. She is doing great now. During a cold Minnesota winter I watched a man that did heating and air conditioning fix the furnace of a family who’d been without heat—not for money, but out of the love of God within his heart. I watched a family motivated purely by the love of God make a decision to set aside a significant amount of money each month so that at year’s end they could give to families in need at Christmas. I watched hundreds of people deliver wonderful Thanksgiving baskets of food to people in need in the community along with a message of God’s love.

These kinds of actions won’t make headlines in the newspaper, but they will make headlines in the hearts of those they touch. They are the great and mighty thing that God puts in our heart when we pay attention. More tomorrow…

Hebrews 10:24 “Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds.”
In His love,
Pastor Tim