Changing the Course of History for One Miracle
With Christmas coming, many are remembering the advent of Jesus’ birth. Although many understand that a virgin birth is a miracle, there are even more miracles associated with the story.
The true miracle is how God placed man into the right place and position for the miracle to occur.
According to scripture, the Messiah would be born in the city of David, Bethlehem.
Some things had to transpire before it could take place though.
1. In 333 B.C., Alexander the Great and his scholars came up with a common Greek, known as konae Greek, that a large majority of the population within his empire could understand, being both spoken and written. This same language was used by the masses during the Roman Empire.
2. The Romans constructed roads between each city in their empire to transport soldiers from one place to another, making travel for the average citizen much simpler and more convenient.
Both of these God-directed tasks had to be in place for the grand finale!
3. Just before the birth of Jesus, God moved on the heart of Caesar Augustus to tax the people. But this was a tax unlike any before recorded in history. For this tax, citizens were required to travel to the place of their birth or ancestry.
With Mary in her last trimester of pregnancy, the journey would have been impossible without the fine roads and the decree could not have been carried out without a common language.
Because Mary and Joseph had no one to stay with upon arrival in Bethlehem, we can surmise that they may have never been there before. Eighty miles was a long distance to walk with bandits, thieves, and the elements.
This is indeed proof of Revelation 17:17, which states that God will put in into the hearts of the people to fulfill His will.
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Just what is His will? While it is not His will that any should perish, it is indeed His will that not one “jot nor tittle” should go undone until all be fulfilled, according to Matthew 5:18. God is determined that ALL things in His Word shall be fulfilled!
Just as in the case of Mary and Joseph, God moved the couple into a very out-of-the-way place for their miracle to take place.
Could God have just flown Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem? Sure! Could he have changed the economic conditions to where the two would have already been living in Bethlehem? Sure. But God has a way of working within the constructs of the world he has created.
Instead, he changed the hearts of world leaders, working on the heart to perform His Will! Men were inspired by God to invent a common language and to build roads through arduous labor just to bring one event to pass.
So just what does that mean for us?
Not only was Alexander the Great inspired to have a common language assembled, known as konae Greek, but the Romans were inspired to build roads to further their military efforts. Both set the stage for Mary and Joseph to fulfill the prophecy that the Christ child should be born in the City of David, Bethlehem.
God shook the world leaders of the time, employing thousands of laborers and scholars to bring the prophecy of the Messiah to fruition in exact form as prophesied! Halfway would not suffice!
This brings us to God’s will for our lives.
God may not have specifically spoken to you about it—or maybe He has—but there are certainly things that are promised regarding your life!
And…God will not rest until those promises are brought to fruition…even if the entire world must be shaken!
1st Psalm 37:23 says, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.”
Consider, Jesus said there is none good but God. Our goodness, therefore, must be a product of God within us. We are only considered God once we are surrendered to His Will and His Spirit has free operation in our lives. Then are our steps ordered by Him!
2nd Psalm 37:4-5 says, “Delight yourself also in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit thy ways unto Him and He shall direct thy steps.”
Living for God is not a drudgery; indeed, if we treat our walk with Him as such, we cannot delight Him…and in effect, cannot reap the desires of our hearts nor glean from His direction! It is when we take joy in thinking on Him, worshipping His name, praising Him for His mighty act—both in prayer and in witness—that we are given the desires of our hearts.
Why? How can God give such an open-ended promise? Quite simply because if we are delighted by God and His ways, our desires will be in alignment with His for our life!
And it is only when we have committed our ways to Him that He can guide our steps. To commit means to be ‘bound or obligated, as under a pledge to a particular cause, action, or attitude.’ It means to be dedicated, devoted, loyal to, intent, faithful to, devout, resolute, unable to be deterred, adherent, promised, tied to, and duty-bound.’ In essence, when we commit our way to the Lord, we are devoted to using our lives for His glory rather than our own.
3rd Matthew 6:33 says, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.”
How can we be righteous? Isaiah 64:6 tells us that our righteousness is as filthy rags. Even on our best day in the flesh, we aren’t worth having in the guest bathroom! But, 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us that “He was made sin for us who knew no sin that he may become our righteousness.” Furthermore, Abraham’s faith, according to Galatians 3:6, was accounted to him for righteousness!
When we are in tune with God, seeking to use our lives for the furtherance of His kingdom, we fulfill the requirement of Psalm 37 as well as Matthew 6:33. Indeed, all the things we have need of will be added to us!
When we please God, He will perform His perfect will in us. So how do we please God? Is there a checklist to simplify this process?
When We Please God, He Will Perform His Perfect Will In Our LivesHow can we please God?
1. His blood must be applied through baptism in His name. Our sins are washed by His blood; whose blood was shed for us? Indeed, Jesus’ blood was shed and it is through the application of His name in baptism that His blood is applied! This makes us His because we now bear His name upon us, much like the marriage contract we use today applies the groom’s name to the bride.
2. Receiving the Holy Ghost, evidenced by speaking in other tongues, not only saves our souls in conjunction with baptism and repentance, but it brings our flesh into subjection to the Spirit of God. We cannot say we are committed to His Ways and surrendered to His Will if we cannot submit enough to Him to receive this precious gift! Indeed, scripture tells us that without God’s Spirit residing within, “we are none of His.”
3. We must seek to bless His kingdom before our own.
4. Faith! Faith! Faith! Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen…(6) But without faith, it is impossible to please Him.”
5. Don’t waver in your desires. James 1:6-8 reads, “But if ye shall ask anything, ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways, let him not think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.”
6. Sow…Matthew 7:2 says, “With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” You reap what you sow…whether it is positive or negative, much or little, in faith or in doubt!
If you are in need of anything…a new job, the mending of a relationship, a financial release, healing, salvation, or deliverance—the key is to put God and His kingdom first! When we have submitted to God’s will rather than our own ideas, He will work wonders in our lives!
Indeed, he will shake all of heaven and earth to fulfill His word!
His Word states that He will grant us the desires of our hearts….when we delight in Him!
His Word states that He will add all our needs to us….if we will put Him first!
God will not allow one thing to pass from His word. He shall fulfill it!
As straightforward as it may seem, many questions sometimes plague us.
The questions that might remain in your mind:
1st Question: Is God able?
Answer: According to Ephesians 3:20, “to him that is able to do exceeding, abundantly above all that we ask or think” be all glory! He is able to supersede our wildest expectations! Is he able? For the God who “owns the cattle on a thousand hills,” indeed He is!
2nd Question: Am I worthy of God’s intervention?
Answer: No, but Hebrews 4:16 commands us to “come boldly before the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy.” Although unworthy, we are loved by God. Jesus said in John 14:14, “If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.”
3rd Question: Does God even care or am I inconsequential?
Answer: David asked the same thing in Psalm 8:4, “What is man that thou art mindful of him? Or the son of man, that thou visitest him?” Luke 12:6-7 says, “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.”
So what is the measurement I should use to know if God will move heaven and earth for my need?
We live in a performance-driven society. We think that we have to have a measurable quantity of something…47 prayers/day, 23 ‘please Lord’s’, and 17 fastings…to get a response from God. We seek to make it into a formula.
The answer to whether there is a shortcut or a quick tip is that there is no formula. Yes, there are things we do to align ourselves with God and to be available for His intervention, but ultimately, it is about relationship!
It is less about performance than it is about relationship and the things we will do to sustain that relationship as an expression of our closeness!
Consider the power of relationship:
• To Mary and Joseph, God’s role was Jehovah God…making them worshippers.
• To us, He is, likewise, Jehovah God…making us worshippers.
• For us, He is our Father for we are “born into Christ”…making us His children. Matthew 7:8-11 gives insight into this relationship: “For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?”
• He is our Redeemer…making us His debtors. Indeed, we belong to Him. Having once redeemed us, He is protective of us so we won’t be sold back into bondage!
• He is our Bridegroom…making us His bride. He is in the wooing stage so He is anxious to please us and bring us joy…as we should be in return! When you are really in love, you don’t try to get by doing the least required. You want to please to the fullest extent of your ability! Think about that the next time you think your pastor asks you to ‘do too much’ for God!
We can only strengthen these relationships through prayer. I can’t say I have a healthy relationship with my friend if we talk only twice each year.
It takes day-to-day correspondence. Back in the days of World War I and the Civil War, there were man and women who wrote their family members every day from the battlefields! There are now records of this correspondence in museums. They wrote every day despite the distances.
How much more should we communicate with God who is closer than any brother?
If we want to see the miraculous in our lives like Joseph and Mary…
If we want to see entire empires and nations shaken for our miracle…
We’ve got to have relationship, steadfast faith, and holiness.
God shook the entire Roman empire just to place Mary and Joseph in the right place at the right time to fulfill one line of His Word, foretelling that the Messiah would be born “in the city of David.”
He has given us so many more lines filled with promises; how much more will he honor His Word with a blood-bought child of God?
