Psalms 106:8 “Nevertheless He saved them for His name’s sake that He might make His mighty power to be known.”
I love to read the Old Testament; it is fascinating to me. Story after story of the hand of God bringing deliverance to His chosen people, the Israelites, by many miraculous wonders. The deliverance from Egypt is one of my favorites.
As a young Christian, I often wondered why God didn’t just slaughter Pharaoh with just one plague and be done with it. As I got older and studied more, I began to realize how God has a plan for his people. His purpose has always been to reveal himself more and more to his chosen people by his mighty power and for them also to know His favor upon their life.
Is it any different today? Certainly not! The Bible says that we should know him and the power of his resurrection and the same power that raised up Jesus now is within us! It’s so hard to realize that, but what a wonderful blessing to know that His power has been revealed in us through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Isaiah 53:1 says this “Who hath believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?” Aren’t you thankful for the many times in our life that the arm of the Lord has been revealed in miraculous ways? Most important is the revealing of Christ as God’s son, our sacrifice, our savior, and our redeemer, but He has also come to show favor on our behalf in our sickness, our weakness, our struggles, our heartache, and pain. He is here in every aspect of our life and can, as the Bible says in Philippians 4:19, “supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
This year has been a special time for us. God has shown favor to my family and my church family by performing two wonderful miracles before us all. People may say the days of miracles ended with the apostles I beg to differ, and I want to share a testimony of the wonderful things God has done this year for “His Name’s Sake.”
About a year and half ago we had a special program at church, which required the use of spotlights in the sanctuary. The lights on our ceiling revealed the sanctuary ceiling was drooping. It had large humps across the span of the whole sanctuary. We consulted with a structural engineer and discovered the trusses in our ceiling were damaged. They had dropped down significantly, causing a safety hazard to our church. The engineer made us move out of our beautiful sanctuary to our old church, which had been converted to the youth department.
We were heartbroken. Our new sanctuary was built in 2001; we paid off the loan for it in 2011. Our hearts were broken for all those who were part of the building program. They who worked hard physically and gave generously to see their beautiful church built. We are a small congregation located in a farming community. Our people have a heart of love for God and their community.
The ironic thing about this was a sermon my husband, the pastor, had preached just a few months prior to us leaving our sanctuary because of the faulty ceiling. He asked: “What if we didn’t have our church?” “What if it was taken away?” He was referring to the times in which we live, the ever-changing government situations and the like. I believe it was from the Lord. I look back and realize that we take so much for granted. Just as the Israelites did time after time, so do we.
God has blessed us in many ways. We have many freedoms -so many things that we think will always be there- but one day they may not. The availability of the old building has been such a gift. If not for it, we would have been forced to find a place to worship!
A few years prior to this building situation, God blessed us with the money to buy new stained-glass windows. We also remodeled the church foyer with new tile and furnishings, replaced flooring in halls and bathroom, and bought a new church bus….and paid for it all! These projects depleted our available funds, so now we faced a major structural repair problem. We realized we would have to get a loan to fund the repairs.
Our people have a mind to work and a heart to give. They are not afraid of a challenge. They know God works for the good of those who are called according to his purpose. We prayed for God to lead us on this journey, not knowing what was ahead was going be a miracle!
Our people met and prayed. They made plans, knowing we could get a loan, but God had a better plan. 1 Cor. 2:5: “That your faith should not stand in wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” Hebrews 11:40: “God provided something better for us”. Here’s the miracle:
On March 2, 2018, a dear lady and member of our church passed away. She had not been able to come to church in years because of her health. She had no husband, nor any children. Our church was notified that she had left everything she owned, her house, her furniture, her land, her vehicles all her possessions, to Chandler Mountain Baptist Church. We were beyond humbled by her gift; we knew God had done this, but more was revealed day by day.
I told you earlier that we built our new church in 2001 and paid it off in 2011. We learned that this dear lady had made out her will in 2011, leaving the church her property and home. It amazes us that provision had been made for us when we didn’t even need it. The year the building collapsed is the year she passed away, and the church is the heir to all she had!!
I write this with tears in my eyes and a smile on my face. We were given such a wonderful gift at the most perfect time. I say, “why Lord? What have we done to deserve such a gift?” I am reminded of every time deliverance came for God’s people.
Jesus said I do this for “MY Name’s Sake”. Ephesians. 3:10 says this “now unto him that is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that work in us.” Ephesians 2:7 “That he might in the ages to come show us his exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us”
God, for His Name’s Sake, has done this for our church! So, we can tell the story of deliverance to our children and their children…for generations to come! God is a mighty God. He will provide our needs, just as he did in days of old. He is doing it this very day in this generation.
Help us to proclaim what deeds he has done! Help us to share the good news whenever its possible. Whenever an opportunity comes, let us use the open door before us and make known that “all things are possible if we only believe.”
This story gets sweeter by the day. We opened the sale of the property we inherited in April 2018, had a contract May 1, and closed June 28, 2018…with no realtor involved. We listed it on Facebook; the couple that purchased it are missionaries who had been looking for property for two years! They will be training people from third world countries to farm, so they can teach others. They will also be developing pottery to purify water in foreign countries.
One lady obeyed the voice of God and gave of her heart. She has helped a local church continue to work in the community and share the gospel of Christ. God’s hand brought missionaries in through the sale of that property. They continue to work for his kingdom around the world! Why? “For His Name’s Sake.”
I needed a miracle in my life this year. God gave me one and I can honestly say: “not because someone else told me -but because I have witnessed it for myself.”
To God Be the glory; great things he hath done!
Diane Mann
Lean into Jesus Ministries
#dianemannblogs
