Seven Steps To Receiving God's Miracles Series

5. STEP OUT IN FAITH (15) Turn over to Luke 18 and verse 8. …when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” What do you think that Jesus was talking about? He’s not talking about saving faith because when He returns He will take the church back to heaven for a marriage supper. He is talking about the faith that it takes to know God’s word, believe God’s word, stand on God’s word and step out in God’s word in order to transform your surroundings. If the church were doing that we would be in the midst of the greatest revival the world has ever known. And maybe we are. We tend to look at everything from an American perspective when around the world the Holy Spirit is moving as never before. Churches are being built in unprecedented numbers. People are being saved at astronomical rates. They are receiving the Holy Ghost baptism with the evidence of speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives the utterance by the thousands daily. In China in any given 24 hour period 30,000 people are coming to Christ. In Sub-Saharan Africa 20,000 and in Central and South America 10,000. Why is that? Because God’s people are penetrating the world with His word that is being confirmed by signs and wonders on a daily basis. Even when it doesn’t make any sense to take the Gospel into Muslim countries churches are being established. Even though it looks as if the enemy has established control over Africa people are being healed and delivered from disease and false religion. 15Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, 16the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea ) was completely cut off. God is waiting for you to step out in that kind of faith to receive your miracle.

6. CROSS OVER TO THE PROMISE (16) So the people crossed over opposite Jericho… I heard a great illustration about this very thing the other day and it refers to how the closer you get to your miracle the harder the enemy will work to defend his territory. In football the hardest yards to cover are the last twenty yards before the goal line. It’s called the Red Zone. You see the closer you get to reaching the goal the more stubborn the enemy gets to keep you from getting it. There are far more touchdowns that are scored from grinding it out on the ground on one yard plunges than 50 yard passes. How many of you, by faith, know that you have received your miracle but you just haven’t seen the manifestation of it yet? You know God’s Word. You stand on the Word. You act on the Word, but you just haven’t realized the fullness of the promise yet. Why? Football players give up because they haven’t totally bought into the head coach’s offensive scheme. We’ve tried this before and it didn’t work. Or they have become so tired from grinding out 3-4 yards at a time that they just don’t have the strength to finish. So they just give up and give out before the end zone. Or, they lose sight of the goal because they consider it a hopeless situation. Or, the enemy wants to keep them out more than they want to receive the promise. Hebrews 12:1-3, 1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.