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A Miracle at Home · Enjoying the Journey

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  In our busy world, family time is frequently neglected.
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  It is vital that we give attention to our families while we can,
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  and it is especially important to give attention to what God
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  says in his word about our homes. For the next few moments,
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  let's join Scott Pauley as we open the scriptures and and find God's
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  message for your family.
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  Our God is a miracle-working God. I'm not
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  ashamed to say that. I'm not afraid to say it. I still believe
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  that our God is able to do anything he desires
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  to do, any way he wants to do it,
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  anywhere he is allowed to work. And so
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  without any doubt or hesitancy, I can say to you today, there's nothing
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  too hard for the Lord. Now we know, of course, that throughout
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  scripture there were certain times when the Lord demonstrated
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  that miracle power in unique and unusual ways.
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  Almost without exception, it was at some critical juncture in
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  Israel's history where he was revealing himself and he was validating
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  his message. And one of those eras was of
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  course when our Lord Jesus Christ walked the earth. You remember during
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  his 3.5-year earthly ministry,
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  repeatedly our Lord was performing miracles,
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  and the ultimate of which was his own personal resurrection
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  from the dead. He came out of the grave. That, friends,
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  is a miracle-working God. But recently I've
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  been just meditating on the fact that so many of these miracles took
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  place in the context of home, of family,
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  which I find very interesting. For example, he healed the nobleman's
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  son. Do you remember that? He healed Peter's mother-in-law.
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  He raised a widow's son. He healed Jairus's daughter.
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  He healed the Syrophoenician woman's daughter. He healed that
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  demon-possessed boy whose father was so desperate he
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  didn't know what to do. He raised Lazarus from the dead.
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  You remember Lazarus's sisters Mary and Martha and
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  their mourning and their grieving. And then how the Lord Jesus stepped
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  into that situation. And in fact, if you look at all the miracles of Jesus,
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  in some way they affected some family,
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  because everybody is someone's son, someone's daughter, someone's brother
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  or sister, someone's mother or father. You think about the demon-possessed
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  man that our Lord met in the graveyard, and he delivered him, set him free.
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  Don't you know that man went home different? Don't you know that his wife
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  and his children were forever changed because of how the Lord Jesus had touched that
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  man's life? And so today I want to point out
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  to every listener that our God is able to
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  do his miracle work in your family. I don't know what you're
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  dealing with. I don't know what desperate situation is staring you in the face.
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  I will say this, that the greatest miracles are not the
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  miracles that touch the, the physical and the material and the temporal.
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  They are the miracles that change the spiritual and the eternal The
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  greatest miracle Christ ever performs is the saving of a soul.
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  And so perhaps it's a lost child, a wayward
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  family member, a prodigal. I don't know who
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  I'm talking to, and I don't know what it is you're dealing with, but I
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  want to tell you today on the authority of the Word of God that our
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  God is able. And to prove it,
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  I want to take you to Christ's first miracle. Would you open your
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  Bible today to John chapter number 2? Because John 2 really
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  picks up right where we left off. We've been talking about the, the silent
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  years of our Lord Jesus Christ and his relationship with Mary in the home.
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  And when you come to John chapter 2, Jesus and Mary have
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  a most interesting exchange, a conversation,
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  and the very first miracle grows out of it.
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  John 2, verse 1 says, and the 3rd day there was a marriage
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  in Cana of Galilee. And the mother of Jesus was there.
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  And both Jesus was called and his disciples to the marriage. And when they wanted
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  wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, they have no wine.
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  And Jesus saith unto her, woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour
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  is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, whatsoever he saith unto
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  you, do it. Now there's a lot of truth packed in this
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  passage. May I just say parenthetically before we go into it much further that
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  it's my conviction that our Lord Jesus did not turn water
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  into an alcoholic beverage. When people read wine,
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  immediately their mind goes to what we think of wine today,
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  but you have to be familiar with the ancient custom and the Eastern world
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  and the fact that wine was the fruit of the vine and could refer both
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  to that which is fermented but also, and very frequently, to that which was not
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  fermented And I believe our God is a consistent God.
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  I don't believe the God who said that wine is a mocker, strong drink is
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  raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise, uh,
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  would then turn around and make wine and give it to all these people at
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  a wedding. So that's a subject perhaps for another series,
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  but I want to say to you, our Lord is performing
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  a miracle at a marriage, at a wedding celebration.
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  And this is what is so important to, to remember. He was sanctifying
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  this, this event by his presence. In fact, sometimes we even say
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  that when we are at weddings. Ministers will say, our Lord
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  performed his first miracle at the marriage in Cana of Galilee and hallowed
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  the institution of marriage. Well, actually, he hallowed the institution
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  of marriage way back in Genesis chapter 2.
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  You see, our Lord was the one who instituted marriage to start
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  with. But it is significant that his first miracle takes place at
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  a marriage. And of course, you know the story. They have no wine,
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  and the Lord tells them to fill the water pots with water. And when
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  they start drawing out, it's not water any longer. Now it is
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  the most wonderful fruit of the vine they've ever tasted.
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  In fact, the Bible says in verse number 9, when the
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  ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine and knew not
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  whence it was, but the servants which drew the water knew. The governor
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  of the feast called the bridegroom and saith unto him, every man at the beginning
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  doth set forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is
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  worse. But thou hast kept the good wine until now.
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  I love that. Oh friends, Jesus always saves
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  the best for last. Yes, he does. Sin gives you
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  its best up front, and it's all downhill from there. The world is deteriorating,
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  but our Lord is saving the best for last for his people.
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  And then we read this verse, John chapter 2, verse number 11: This
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  beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of
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  Galilee, and manifested forth his glory, and his disciples
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  believed on him. Now, the law of first mention, the first miracle,
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  this beginning of miracles tells us several things. It tells
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  us basically that his purpose in the miracles was not simply to perform
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  miracles, it was to reveal his own glory And it was so people would believe
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  on him. And let's put this in the context of family and your
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  situation today. In fact, consider all the miracles that Jesus
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  did and the way they touched families and the way they impacted homes.
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  May I give you 2 or 3 applications today? First of
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  all, I want to say to you that our Lord wants to work in
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  families. It's beautiful to see how the Lord Jesus can step
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  into the most desperate dire situations.
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  I don't know what kind of mess you find yourself in today. I don't know
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  what circumstance you are enduring, but I know this:
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  our Lord Jesus is with you if you're a believer, because he
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  promised he would never leave you and never forsake you. If you're not a believer,
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  I say to you today, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
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  saved. Put your faith in Christ and recognize the presence
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  of Christ in your heart and in your home And when the Lord Jesus is
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  there, you have access to all of God's riches in
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  Christ Jesus. All of the resources of heaven are at the disposal
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  of the person who knows Christ as the— as his Savior. And so
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  the first principle is that Jesus wants to be present. He was present
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  at the marriage in Cana of Galilee. Is he present in your home today?
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  Have you acknowledged his presence? And then not only does the Lord
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  Jesus want to be there, his power is enough for whatever your need
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  is. I don't know what your need is. The Bible says these people had come
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  to nothing. Very often that's what the Lord brings us to— nothing.
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  He brings us to nothing not to leave us there. He brings us to nothing
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  to bring us to everything. He brings us to the end of ourselves to
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  bring us to the beginning of his resources. So today,
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  if you are desperate, if you're like the psalmist at wit's end,
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  you're throwing your hands up, recognize that perhaps heaven
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  is applauding now and saying, good, God's been trying to get you there all along.
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  Jesus is present in your home. God's power
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  is more than enough. But don't miss this application. This is where we must
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  live today. Someone has to believe him.
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  How did this miracle take place? Have you ever pondered this? Because one
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  woman, Jesus' mother Mary, another guest at the wedding,
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  was willing to believe him. And when you look at every one of the miracles
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  Jesus performed in any context, somebody had to
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  have faith in him. Some father, some mother,
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  uh, someone had to believe that the Lord Jesus was
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  enough. I wonder today, will you believe on him? Would you
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  believe on him right now, even wherever you are? Would you just bow your head
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  and heart and say to the Lord, Lord, I believe? Maybe like that one desperate
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  father, you have to say, Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief. But would
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  you believe on the Lord today for whatever your need is and whatever the need
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  of your family? Because friend, I want to tell you, our Christ is able
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  to work miracles in every home.
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  For more resources for your marriage and family,
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  visit us at etj.bible and click
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  on the Take the Next Step link, where you'll find many
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  Bible resources that will strengthen your marriage and equip
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  you to raise your children in the ways of the Lord.
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  We highly recommend Scott's book New Testament Marriage.
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  In it, you'll discover timeless biblical principles from the
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  husband and wife team Aquila and Priscilla, and these principles
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  are very applicable to your marriage today. From all
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  of us at Enjoying the Journey, thanks for listening today,
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  and until next time, we pray that you will enjoy
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  the journey.