I stand in awe of your deeds, LORD. Repeat them in our day.

Acts 9:26-43 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

When he came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. ²⁷ But Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had talked to him, and how at Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. ²⁸ And he was with them, moving about freely in Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord. ²⁹ And he was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews; but they were attempting to put him to death. ³⁰ But when the brethren learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus.

³¹ So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.

³² Now as Peter was traveling through all those regions, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. ³³ There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years, for he was paralyzed. ³⁴ Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your bed.” Immediately he got up. ³⁵ And all who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.

³⁶ Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which translated in Greek is called Dorcas); this woman was abounding with deeds of kindness and charity which she continually did. ³⁷ And it happened at that time that she fell sick and died; and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an upper room. ³⁸ Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, having heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him, imploring him, “Do not delay in coming to us.” ³⁹ So Peter arose and went with them. When he arrived, they brought him into the upper room; and all the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing all the tunics and garments that Dorcas used to make while she was with them. ⁴⁰ But Peter sent them all out and knelt down and prayed, and turning to the body, he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. ⁴¹ And he gave her his hand and raised her up; and calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. ⁴² It became known all over Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. ⁴³ And Peter stayed many days in Joppa with a tanner named Simon.

In today’s text we see the accounts of two more miracles. First:  Now as Peter was traveling through all those regions, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years, for he was paralyzed. Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your bed.” Immediately he got up. And all who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.   And then:   Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which translated in Greek is called Dorcas); this woman was abounding with deeds of kindness and charity which she continually did. And it happened at that time that she fell sick and died; and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an upper room. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, having heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him, imploring him, “Do not delay in coming to us.” So Peter arose and went with them. When he arrived, they brought him into the upper room; and all the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing all the tunics and garments that Dorcas used to make while she was with them. But Peter sent them all out and knelt down and prayed, and turning to the body, he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. And he gave her his hand and raised her up; and calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. It became known all over Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.   In the first instance it says:  all who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.  In the second:  It became known all over Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.  We aren’t given an exact number of how many came to believe in Christ, but certainly it was hundreds, probably thousands who came to believe because of the evidence of the signs and wonders, which confirmed the word of the gospel Peter preached.  That’s the reason for the miracles, that people would believe that Jesus is the Christ, that He died for the redemption from sin, to reconcile us to God and to restore us to all that God intended, to be eternally saved, free from sin and death and made whole, free from sickness and infirmity.

There is another reason these miracles are recorded in scripture. It is so that our faith would be increased, so that we would know and believe what can and will happen if we believe. Hebrews 13:8 says:  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.     Jesus Christ, God the Father and the Holy Spirit are unchanging, what they did in the days of Peter, Paul and the early church, they will still do today.     Signs and wonders, miracles of healing and deliverance still accompany those who believe.      For those who believe these accounts in scripture do give us faith to believe for our own circumstances and situations today. Many today though will say that the Bible is merely a collection of stories and fables and not true accounts of miracles. It is important that we continue to be witnesses for Christ as He called us to be. It is important that people today see and hear about the miracles that happen today.

Let me tell you a story, a factual account that happened about eight months ago. It was Friday evening, October 7, 2016. My wife and I were getting dinner ready for ourselves, and our grandchildren Carson and Chaeli, 8 and 6 years old. Something happened to trigger and asthma attack in my wife. It was a sudden and severe onset. I quickly went to get her inhaler which she used. Something was different. She did not continue with the asthma, but instead she had severe chest pain to the point she could not stand or speak. I called for my daughter and son-in-law to get there as quickly as possible and then called 911. I tried to be calm. I tried to hold onto faith believing all would be okay. I couldn’t stop thinking though of another Friday night, January 5, 2001, when my mother was taken in an ambulance with a heart attack and I never saw her alive again, or another Friday in August of 20011 when my Father was taken in an ambulance and he died a week later. Thankfully they both knew the Lord and we have confidence in their eternal situation and know we will see them again. But the thoughts of loss, not the promise of eternity rocked my faith that night. As we waited for the ambulance to arrive, to try to help Carson and Chaeli remain calm, we had them pray for their Mom Mom. We all held hands and Chaeli said: “In Jesus name make my Mom Mom all better, in Jesus name, Amen.” Later, when we got to the hospital, Dawna, my wife was stable. The EKG and the blood enzymes should no indication of a problem. There was however a severe heart murmur, something which had never been there before. The doctors would not release her until they could do farther tests. They were though unable to arrange for the stress test over the weekend, so they released her, until that could be arranged. Even up to the last exam before she was released, every doctor and every nurse who listened confirmed the murmur, something was wrong. We went home with orders to do nothing strenuous until more tests could be done. The first test which could be arranged was, I believe, an ultra sonic echo cardiogram. I might not have the name right, but what I know for sure was that what it showed was that there was nothing wrong. The murmur was gone!  Doctors and nurses have frequently confirmed, there is no murmur, Mom Mom is “all better,” thanks to the faithful prayer of a little girl and the awesome power of a mighty God.

People need to hear the testimony of miracles that happen today, in the lives of those who they see and interact with. I encourage you, to share your miraculous testimony of the power of God in the comments.

I pray that through the power of our testimony, as witnesses for Christ, that many will believe. Habakkuk 3:2 says:  LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, LORD. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known.    May we be witnesses of His awesome deeds as He repeats them in our day.  In Jesus name,   Amen.