“That no flesh should glory in his presence.” (1Cor. 1:29)
The Bible teaches that all glory belongs to the Lord, and that He will not share His glory with anyone.
As we have seen, there are several keys that the Lord may use to open the door of faith that leads to a miracle from God.
Although God may choose to use one or all of the keys to open faith’s door depending upon the situation, there is one key that is possibly the most important key of all.
That is the key of God receiving all the glory.
When the Bible talks about the glory of God, it uses Hebrew or Greek words that mean bigness, largeness, or awesomeness of God.
When it talks about “glorying in His presence”, it means to “vaunt oneself” or to “boast”.
When God is looking for someone to use to manifest a miracle, He is looking for someone who will always give Him the glory.
The Apostle Paul said,
“That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.” (1Cor. 1:31)
Unfortunately, there was a time that Paul did not immediately give God the glory and a disastrous situation was narrowly avoided.
“And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother’s womb, who never had walked: The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed, Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.” (Acts 14:8-10)
“And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker.” (Acts 14:11-12)
“Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people. Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out,” (Acts 14:13-14)
“And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:” (Acts 14:15)
“Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. And with these sayings scarce restrained they the people, that they had not done sacrifice unto them.” (Acts 14:16-18)
These Scriptures show why it is so important that if we present ourselves as a vessel for the Lord to use and believe for God to do the miraculous, then we need to be sure that the following verse is fulfilled.
“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” (Col. 3:17)
Everyone who hears our prayer should hear a prayer prayed in the name of Jesus Christ and should hear us immediately glorifying the Lord with thanksgiving and praise for the miracle that happens.
In the Book of Isaiah chapter 58, the Lord describes what an acceptable and spiritual fast to Him is.
“Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?” (Isa. 58:6)
“Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?” (Isa. 58:7)
“Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.” (Isa. 58:8)
The word “rereward” in verse eight is an old English word meaning “rearward”.
What these verses are saying is that when we crucify our flesh and pride, when we deny ourselves and fear, when we go forth in His name to do His work for His glory, then we are performing an acceptable spiritual fast unto the Lord.
His righteousness will make a way and go before us, and the Glory of the Lord is all that will be left behind when the miracle occurs, the need is met, and we are gone.
The Bible tells us in the Book of First Corinthians,
“But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;” (1Cor. 1:27)
We must always remember that “no flesh should glory in His presence.”
God is not looking for the noble, the strong, the talented, or the well-educated to use, although these can certainly be used by God if they are humble and willing.
God is looking for those with imperfections who He can anoint to perform the miraculous.
Both Moses and David were lowly shepherds when they were called and anointed by God.
The Bible says that Elijah was a man of “like passions”.
Elisha healed others and even raised the dead, but he fell ill and died. Yet his bones were still so anointed that when a dead man was thrown into his tomb and touched his bones, he was restored back to life.
Peter, James, and John were fishermen and the Bible says,
“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13)
The fact that they were unlearned and ignorant gave those that heard them cause to give glory to Jesus.
The Bible says that Paul had an affliction that caused many to think less of him, but it was for a reason.
“And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.” (2Cor. 12:7)
“For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.” (2Cor. 12:8)
“And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2Cor. 12:9)
We should never believe that our imperfections will hinder us from being used by God. The greater our physical or mental imperfections simply mean the greater the glory that will be given to God when the miraculous happens.
“Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” (2Cor. 12:10)
The Bible says,
“For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” (Mal. 3:6)
“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” (Heb. 13:8)
The same Jesus that walked on water, calmed the storm, healed the sick, fed the multitudes, cleansed the lepers, opened blinded eyes, caused the deaf to hear, cast out devils, caused the mute to speak, and raised the dead is the same Jesus that ascended into heaven, sat down at the right hand of the Father, and is coming again in power and great glory.
The angels told the disciples,
“Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11)
This is the same Jesus, who also told His disciples,
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.” (John 14:12)
In this verse of Scripture the word “greater” is the Greek word meaning “more”. We who believe would do more because He was going to the Father.
We are able to do the works that Jesus did because He has given us the same anointing.
“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.” (Acts 10:38)
“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
If we have been born again and filled with the Holy Ghost then the power for miracles is in our lives at this moment.
The door to these miracles is God’s faith that He has given us.
However, there are certain keys that God looks for in our lives that will unlock the door of Faith and release the manifested miracle working power of God.
One of these keys is love and compassion. The compassion of Christ is simply the motivational expression of the love of God, and the love of God is the empowerment of faith.
It is up to us to pray, ask, believe, and allow the Holy Spirit to change us in order that we are capable of having the same miracle empowering compassion of Christ flow out from us as it did from Him.
Another key is sanctification and consecration.
The people who are consecrated to God and separated from the love of the world are the people that God will use to be “chosen vessels”, sanctified and “fit for the Master’s use”, prepared unto every good work.
These are the people who have prepared themselves to behold and be part of the miracles created by God.
Another key is to prepare our lives to be a fertile ground for the manifested presence of God.
Sometimes all it takes to receive a miracle is to get into the presence of God.
Another key is to remember that miracles occur when the opportunity is provided for them because of a seemingly impossible need.
A miracle occurs when a miracle is needed.
If we are to see miracles, then we are going to have to go where the opportunity for miracles exist. We are going to have to go where the impossible needs to be faced.
We are going to have to allow ourselves to be put in a place where a miracle is needed.
Finally, and possibly most important, is the key that God can look into our hearts and know that once the miracle is given, He will receive all the glory.
“That no flesh should glory in his presence.” (1Cor. 1:29)
God has not changed. Even today, there are people throughout the earth who are in great need and are waiting and praying for miracles to happen.
He is just looking for someone who is willing to go and enter into their lives with faith, someone who is willing to lift up the Name of Jesus, hear from God, and who is bold enough to pray and believe that with God, all things are possible.
“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him…” (2Ch. 16:9)
All twelve books in the “How to Walk Christian Series” by Raymond Candy are available now in one collection of two volumes for $6.99 each at bn.com for the NOOK, amazon.com for the KINDLE, on iTunes at the iBookstore for the iPad and iPhone, and at Lulu.com for the PC and all e-reading devices
As Seen Through the Eyes of Faith 