What a marvelous thing it is to see that the hand of the Lord has moved strongly somehow in your life and make you a witness to an actual miracle of God.
We could not call ourselves Christians if we did not take the Bible at its word and know that the Lord can and will alter our reality as He sees fit. Jesus Himself pushes us towards this kind of thinking and encourages us to engage this world in this manner. In fact He says that there is no problem for a true child of God to heal the sick, cast out demons, bring back to life dead people and even to throw mountains out-of-place and into the sea.
It is the foundation of our belief in Jesus that He can and does work in powerful and miraculous ways.
Shouldn´t we then seek to witness these miracles within our lifetime?
Yes, of course!
The closer we walk to Jesus the more familiar we will become in seeing His mighty ability to adjust things at His will and perform all kinds of miracles. So this is a highly desirable thing to be a witness and share a part in these treasures we find in Jesus Christ.
However, there is a problem on the horizon even for those who have had miraculous answers to prayer and there is danger wrapped up in these gifts which He gives.
There are many stories in the Bible of people who had benefited by miracles of God but then somehow had fallen into a trap with the world shortly after.
If you and I have the ability to grow in knowledge and hone our skills with practice, don´t you think that it would be prudent to grant our great adversary the Devil this same ability? He has worked closely with the human race since our origins has the help of society in general to assist him in his plans to deter us from following Jesus to the end.
But however deadly or skilled the Devil or the fallen society we live in may be, there is one more factor which blows in their favor.
Self
What makes us special within the creation of God is that we were all created as individuals and given a soul. This soul or spirit within us is what makes the machine of flesh and bone into a thinking and actual living being. It has a nature and it also has the ability to choose in some way the direction of its eternal destiny.
Unfortunately our natures suffered a great injury and change at the fall of man. We allowed sin to enter into our nature and separate us from the presence of God.
The end result is that we can no longer trust that nature that lives within us. It has a strong tendency to follow the trends and enticing ways of this world. It does not bow unconditionally to the Lord even if we wish it would.
Jesus warns us often and sternly to beware of the dangers of the tendencies of our fallen nature or ¨Self.¨ In fact, He flat-out tells us that we can have no part with Him, unless we are able to get self out-of-the-way and direct ourselves purely to Him. (Matthew 10:37-39)
Therefore we should be constantly on the lookout, and guard ourselves not only from the attack of the Devil, nor the enticing temptations of this world. But we should come before the Lord often to ask His help in showing us when and where this dangerous nature of ¨self¨ conspires against us.
You see, within the spiritual realm, we know that the outward expressions are not the only things that our Lord sees. He sees into the intentions behind each and every act. If we do even a good thing, but do it for selfish reasons, He can easily see our duplicity and therefore the final result does not actually bring glory unto Him.
So where is the danger in praying for miracles to be performed for us or in our lives?
If our devious heart is working unknowingly behind our backs to go along with the Devil or the world, we may pray for something and somehow within the grace of God, our wish may be granted. But if our intentions were not in bringing honor and glory to the Lord, than we have fallen into the trap that self has laid for us there.
So when we ask our Lord to answer our prayers, let us bring ourselves into the equation. Let us humble ourselves and ask the Lord to examine our hearts. We should allow Him to purify our motives so that we have only His interest in mind. This brings glory and honor to Him. Then when we receive an answer to prayer or witness miracles, we need to work along with the Spirit to make sure that our secret desires of the soul is not to lift up self but rather to honor Him.
So pray on, and may the hand of the Lord work wonders in our times. But let us remain safe in the arms of the Lord and far from feeding our dangerous selfish nature.
To Him be the glory for great things He has done, is doing and will still do someday. And may you and I be there to witness it and praise His holy name!
Amen
Scott W
Searching For Christ 
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