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- Written by: Don Goulding
You are the God who performs miracles;
you display your power among the peoples.
With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. (Psalms 77:14, 15) (NIV)
“If you only look for the Holy Spirit in the supernatural, you’ll miss ninety percent of what he’s doing,” my mentor said. His wisdom came from serving as a missionary in Africa for fifty years.
I used to think that a miracle, if I ever saw one, would be accompanied by heavenly sparks and angelic choirs. I didn’t think I would ever see one. Then one day I did.
I drove my children to an appointment and the slip of paper with the address went missing. We pulled to the roadside and searched everywhere, even under the floor mats. My eight-year-old daughter wanted to pray, so we closed our eyes.
“Jesus, please help us find the note so we’re not late.”
We opened our eyes, and the paper lay at her feet. No psychedelic colors or singing, just the paper. We drove on like nothing unusual happened.
I’ve begun to recognize that God can and does work with dramatics, but his favorite medium is to integrate into the common—a sacrificial ram caught in the thicket for Abraham, a soggy fleece to give Gideon courage, the King of the Universe born in a sheep manger. These events teach us to expect God’s intervention in any circumstance.
In Africa we asked for a miracle of the first order, so the churches would come together to launch revival. We organized prayer and put up posters. There were no angelic invasions or tongues of fire, but people filed in until the largest meeting ever held in the history of Doma, Zimbabwe was for the purpose of lifting up Jesus Christ.
Miracles are common in the common.
Prayer: Lord, bring your power into every corner of my average life.
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- Written by: Don Goulding
For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision something that is outward in the flesh, but someone is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart by the Spirit … (Romans 2:28, 29)
“Please share some words at our haircutting ceremony for Mary Rani.” My ministry partner held his hand on the curly head of a timid five-year-old girl as he invited me to speak.
A hundred beaming friends gathered beneath a scalloped canopy in Nellore, India. The dark of night hides India’s dilapidation and transforms it into a festival of strung flowers and garden lights. No one could tell us why children have their hair shorn, or what words should be said on such an occasion. They only knew it was a right of passage out of infancy.
Cultural neanderthal that I am, I pronounced the girl’s name as “Biryani,” which is a famous Indian rice dish. As the crowd laughed, I held the soft ringlets, Dani clipped the first locks from the precious lamb, and the Holy Spirit passed some appropriate words into my heart.
“We cut this child’s hair as a sign that the one thing she might take pride in, her beautiful hair, is to be humbled—circumcised if you will—before her God. Nothing in Mary Rani’s life should ever be treasured above him.”
As Mary Rani walked about with her deer like eyes, and shaved to the scalp, an important truth settled into both of us. If we allow it, our pride will focus on gifts from God more than on him. Temporarily foregoing the gift lets us worship the Giver without distraction.
Pride is a weed whose roots won’t be pulled until the end of time. In the interim, I must scissor off its growth every day. Thank you, Mary Rani, for that much needed reminder.
Prayer: Holy Father, cut my heart into pieces that will submit to you.
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- Written by: Don Goulding
They will bring the grandeur and the wealth of the nations into it, but nothing ritually unclean will ever enter into it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or practices falsehood, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. (Revelation 21:26, 27)
South Americans are lovers of life. They samba dance at fiestas, shout at soccer matches, and weep in cathedrals. Latinos fill life with passion.
Africans engage God’s creation. Soil, rain, animals, and fire are celebrated with rhythm and bold harmony. Africans extol God for his gifts.
Asians are masterful artists. For millenniums they’ve refined calligraphy, music, and bonsai gardening. Asians reflect God through the art of graceful living.
Europeans polish hospitality. A European is in his element when he can give a proper day of sport, thrice kissed cheeks, or a fifty-year-old port. Like their heavenly Father, they give their best.
North Americans run hard at life. They know the value of their short years and invest themselves fully. They take God seriously when he says to multiply their talents.
In every culture there is an “ism”—as in Americanism or Europeanism—that’s as holy as it is unique. Sift away our sinful fear of human diversity and what remains are the mosaic pieces that adorn heaven. The people listed in the book of life will bring this purified variety into our new home.
Like the magi who brought gold, incense, and myrrh from their respective countries, we will bring the grandeur of our nations as gifts of eternal worship.
Prayer: Father of all, I embrace your love of human diversity.