This morning, we continue our series, “The Miracles of Jesus.”
Before we get into the miracle, let’s look at the foundational scripture I will share be sharing with you all year.
(Psalm 126:4 TPT)
Now, Lord, do it again! Restore us to our former glory! May streams of your refreshing flow over us until our dry hearts are drenched again.
This is a season of refreshing and restoring for us. I pray you get refreshed and restored as we study each miracle.
Yesterday I introduced you to the story of Elizabeth (who was old) and Mary (who was young) getting pregnant supernaturally. I already set the stage. Let’s go back to that story today.
So what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. Being pregnant with God’s purpose is a critical and delicate season.
Both Mary and Elizabeth were pregnant. Both pregnancies resulted from a promise from God and the manifestation of a miracle on this planet. God’s promise was growing inside both women, but they were at different stages.
I already told you that Mary was not showing. She did not have a baby bump. She did not have the results of a pregnancy test. She was not carrying her ultrasound report around with her. All she knew was that God said it, she believed it, and she was living her life as if she was pregnant. She had no way to validate it, but she believed it anyway. I know what that’s like. I have several things I am believing God for right now, that I have no way of validating (with sense-realm evidence), but I believe it anyway.
Faith believes what God has promised, even without sense realm evidence (Heb 11:1). Faith believes the unseen over the seen (2 Cor 4:18). Faith even speaks what God revealed BEFORE it happens (2 Cor 4:13), which is the language of faith. Mary was doing all of these things. But she still needed to be around someone who could understand what she was believing God for and who could help further solidify her faith.
Elizabeth was at a different stage. Unlike Mary, she did not get pregnant by the Holy Spirit. She got pregnant by her husband. But God was still involved because she had been barren all her life, and she and her husband were past childbearing age. They needed a miracle, and they got it. She was pregnant. There she was, six months pregnant, waiting for the promised child, John the Baptist, to be born. She was living with her husband, but he could not encourage her much because God shut his mouth. He could not speak because he did not believe what God was saying through the angel Gabriel, and since God did not want him to speak negatively about the promise, God made him mute until the baby was born.
This series on miracles is designed to help increase your faith. The Bible says that faith comes by hearing the word of God (Romans 1:17). While I am teaching you about the supernatural power of God and how it was manifested in situation after situation, the goal is for you to see yourself in the situations. In Today’s Word, every day, I ask you a question: So what does this mean for you today? I always want you to connect with the text. I always want you to relate to the situation.
I am taking my time explaining this situation to you because I want you to identify with it. I’m sure you know what it’s like to have a significant promise that you believe you’re pregnant with. But you have no way to validate it. You are not “showing” yet. Like Mary, you don’t have a pregnancy test, so you have no proof. But you know what God said, and you believe that you’re pregnant with it. You were walking around, believing in God, knowing that there’s something growing inside of you, and you were waiting for the moment when God will allow you to give birth to it. While you are in the state, you have to be very careful whom you connect yourself with. Remember, you should only share precious things with precious people, which is why Mary went to visit her cousin Elizabeth.
Elizabeth was blessed by the interaction as well. She was living with a growing promise, but she did not have anyone around her to help fuel her faith. This is where Mary comes in. As soon as Mary walked through the door of her home, the promise she was carrying around on the inside of her was set on fire!
The point I am making here is that there is a space between the promise and the performance. In that space, while you are waiting on the ultimate manifestation of what God said, you are pregnant with God’s purpose. You are carrying “your baby” around in your heart. You know the time will come for you to bring the baby forth. In this stage, it is critical that you surround yourself with the right people. Whether you are early in the journey, like Mary was, where you have not experienced anything yet that can validate what God said, or you are late in the journey, like Elizabeth was, where you know you are pregnant, and you are waiting for the baby to come, this is a season where you have to surround yourself with people who will help you and not hurt you!
If you surround yourself with the wrong people, people with no faith, their lack of faith can lead to a faith failure in your heart. So if you are around those types of people, make sure you don’t share what you are pregnant with because they won’t believe it! But when you share precious things with precious people and people of faith hear what you are believing God for, they can help reinforce your faith, as Elizabeth did for Mary and vice-versa. We are supposed to build each other UP and not tear each other DOWN.
*** Protect your baby while you are waiting to give birth to God’s promise!
2. While you are pregnant with God’s purpose, make sure you surround yourself with people who will make your baby leap.
Elizabeth was living with a miracle growing inside of her. She literally had God’s promise in her belly. But she did not have anyone around her to help fuel her faith. Her husband had his mouth shut by God. She was believing God without much external support until Mary came to visit. As soon as Mary walked through the door of her home, her baby leaped!
— While you are carrying God’s promise in your heart, you need to surround yourself with people who are going to make your baby leap!
— When you are around people who are anointed like you are anointed, just being in their presence can cause a reaction in your heart. You will literally “feel” different. Your spirit will sense the power of the Holy Spirit in and on them.
— Elizabeth had been carrying her baby for six months before Mary showed up. For six months, she had no one to ignite her faith and reinforce what God was doing in her life. But when Mary showed up, it set off a reaction in her. In turn, Elizabeth provided Mary with what she needed to hear. Mary’s faith was stirred, reinforced, and edified. Both women were receiving so much from the fellowship that Mary remained in Elizabeth’s house for three months. When you are around the right people, it’s like you never want the fellowship to end. When you are around the wrong people, you can’t wait ’till they leave your house!
— When you surround yourself with people of faith, especially those on a similar faith journey, you can reinforce one another. You may even experience moments where what is on them causes a SPARK or FIRE inside of you, like what happened with Elizabeth. My point here, as I close the message for today (and this week), is that you should surround yourself with people who will reinforce your faith. Living a life of faith can be challenging. There will be times when you battle thoughts of fear, doubt, and unbelief. But when you get around the right people, your BABY WILL LEAP, and you will be reminded that it is only a matter of time before you see, in your hands, what you have already seen in your heart!
Declaration of Faith:
Father, this is a season of refreshing and restoring for me!
You have spoken many precious promises over me. There are things that are growing in my heart.
I am carrying multiple babies in my spiritual belly. I am pregnant with purpose, and I know it.
I also know that there will come a time when I have to give birth!
While I am waiting on the manifestation of Your promises, I know this season is a critical time.
So I surround myself with the right people, people of like precious faith. When I do, MY BABY WILL LEAP, my faith will be reinforced, and my doubts will be squelched.
I LEVEL UP my relationships in 2023. I connect with the right people, I hear the right things, and I am able to believe long enough to SEE what You SAID!
Living this way, I know GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
