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 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 told you the story of how Jesus healed a deaf man with a speech impediment. Let’s go back to that story again today.
(Mark 7:31-37 TPT)
31 After this, Jesus left the coastland of Tyre and came through Sidon on his way to Lake Galilee and over into regions of Syria.
32 Some people brought to him a deaf man with a severe speech impediment. They pleaded with Jesus to place his hands on him and heal him.
33 So Jesus led him away from the crowd to a private spot. Then he stuck his fingers into the man’s ears and placed some of his saliva on the man’s tongue.
34 Then he gazed into heaven, sighed deeply, and spoke to the man’s ears and tongue, “Ethpathakh,” which is Aramaic for “Open up, now!”
35 At once the man’s ears opened and he could hear perfectly, and his tongue was untied and he began to speak normally.
36 Jesus ordered everyone to keep this miracle a secret, but the more he told them not to, the more the news spread!
37 The people were absolutely beside themselves and astonished beyond measure. And they began to declare, “Everything he does is wonderful! He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak!”
So what does this mean for you today? A few things:
1. The love God has for us is amazing.
I received several social media and email responses to yesterday’s message, along with phone calls and text messages. As I talked about what Jesus did for this blind and mute man, I could not help but meditate on the love of God. As I considered what Jesus did for this man, over and over again in my heart, the Lord ministered to me about how dedicated He is to the purpose He established for us before the world began.
Before we move on to another miracle, let’s consider this one again. When Jesus arrived in Decapolis (a.k.a., Ten Cities), a man was brought to Jesus who could not hear or speak. In the case of the man whose friends broke through the roof to get to Jesus, the Bible says, “Jesus saw their faith.” But in this case, the people who brought the man left him with Jesus without exhibiting any faith.
Jesus wanted to heal him, but He was looking for the man to release his faith. The obvious challenges were that this man could not hear the Gospel, nor could he speak the language of faith to get his breakthrough. All he had was his sight. So Jesus, being dedicated to getting this man his breakthrough, worked with what the man had.
Jesus took the man away from everyone else and ministered to him in a way he had the ability to receive. The man could see, so Jesus took His fingers and put them into the man’s ears as if to stir up faith in the man to believe for hearing. Jesus then got the man to open his mouth and stick out his tongue and moistened the man’s tongue with saliva from His own mouth as if to stir up faith in the man to believe for clear speech. Jesus then looked up to heaven and said, “Ephphatha!” This word literally means, “Be opened!” Immediately the man’s ears were opened, and his tongue was loosened. He began to hear and speak clearly.
We serve a God who will go to great lengths to minister to us in ways we can receive!
2. God is looking for your faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please Him (Heb 11:6).
— God does all He does for you by grace, which is unearned and mostly undeserved. However, his grace is accessed with our faith, which is why He requires us to walk and live by faith.
— While God requires you to operate in faith, He has already dealt to you “the measure of faith” you need (Rom 12:3). God will also do all He can to stir-up your faith to the point where you can release it in order to access His best.
— Jesus had to get creative with a man who could not hear or speak, and He will get creative with you. He will do whatever He needs to do to get your attention. Once He has your attention, He will engage you in a way that will lead to a manifestation of His best in your life.
— Jesus tailor-made this miracle (in Mark 7) for this situation (the deaf man with a speech impediment). And guess what? Our God has tailor-made miracles for you as well! Even if what you need is not a miracle, He has tailor-made answers to the challenges you are facing right now. That’s how much God loves you.
3. God is more committed to you than you are committed to Him.
— God is committed to the plans He made for you before the world began. He will do all He can to see them come to pass!
— The Bible says, “Even when we are faithless, He [God] remains faithful, for He cannot deny/disown Himself.” (2 Tim 2:13)
— If you are Born-Again, you are covered by the Blood of Jesus and called according to God’s purpose. When satan looks at you, he sees sin. When God looks at you, He sees His Son. God sees you covered by the Blood of His Son and filled with His Spirit, so for God to deny you, He would have to deny Himself!
— Paul told us to establish our confidence in the fact that God is committed to finishing what He started in our lives (Phil 1:6). When life gets tough, and your future seems bleak, even when you can’t have confidence in your ability, have confidence in God and in His commitment to your success!
— God is looking for ways to bless you. He will make ways (if He has to) to manifest His best in your life.
— God’s plans for you are much greater than anything you could have ever thought of, dreamed up, or imagined (Eph 3:20).
— Think about what God did for this man (who was deaf and mute), and it will give you an indication of what He will do for you. God loves you more than you realize!
Declaration of Faith:
Father, this is a season of refreshing and restoring for me!
You have dealt me the measure of faith I need, and You then work with me to stir up my faith to the point where I release it! I declare that You won’t have to work hard.
I am quick to release my faith. I look at every situation through the lens of faith. I speak to every issue, declaring the language of faith. I literally live by faith every second of every day.
And while all of this is good, I know Your commitment to me is even greater than anything I do! You are constantly looking for ways to bless me, to cause me to prosper, and to use me for Your glory on the earth. You load me up with Your grace, You open doors for me that no man can close, and You look for creative ways to manifest Your best in my life!
So I enter this day with fearless confidence because my confidence is IN YOU! Therefore, 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!
