Christmas Miracle Journal

November 27, 2023

A miracle can be defined as a surprising and welcome event that cannot be explained by natural or scientific laws and, is therefore considered to be the work of God. One of my favorite miracles that happens over four million times every year in our country is a new baby is conceived. When the sperm enters the egg there is a dramatic flash caused by phosphorous. You can watch it on YouTube. It is like God proclaiming, “Ta Daaa! Let there be life.” It is quite miraculous that scientists have discovered that it is phosphorus that is flashing. Even more miraculous is that phosphorus fluoresces at 750 degrees Fahrenheit. Scientists have no idea how this happens without killing the mother.

The second miracle that occurs at conception is that life begins. We should never underestimate how profound a miracle life beginning is. Origin of Life Scientists have been trying to make life begin in the lab since 1952. That is when the famous Miller-Urey experiment produced some amino acids in a lab, which launched the discipline of study know as “Origin of Life Science.” Its goal is to create life in a lab and prove that life can exist without God. They have not only had no success in this venture, but they have gotten further away from any solution as the complexity of living cells continues to completely baffle them. As Albert Einstein said, “The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know.”

As December begins, I am intrigued by the virgin Mary’s conversation with the angel Gabriel in Luke 1:31-37. Gabriel tells her she will become pregnant. She asks, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.”

It is by the power of God’s Spirit that Mary becomes pregnant. The Holy Spirit came upon her and, worked a great miracle in her life. She humbly submitted herself to the power of the Holy Spirit, so she could be used to be the mother of God, thus allowing herself to be used to do a great miracle for the world.

The baby in her womb would tell His disciples, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12). In these words, Jesus is teaching them that they will be able to do the great miracles that He has done. Jesus says this because of how He did his miracles. Jesus did not do miracles because of his divinity. He did them by the power of the Holy Spirit, which he has given to us. Have you noticed that there is only one story of Jesus as a boy? This is probably because he didn’t do any miracles. Then he was baptized, and the Holy Spirit came upon Him like a dove (Luke 3:22), and after that He did miracles.

All through the Gospels, we see the Holy Spirit upon Jesus, who is always listening, always trusting, always obeying the Spirit’s call. The Spirit tells Jesus, “Look up. There is Zacchaeus in that tree. Invite him to lunch. He is ready to believe.” Jesus does the will of His Father’s Spirit, humbly submitting to His Father’s will, and showing us how to live showing radical trust, radical obedience, and radical love for God.

How would you like to have a Christmas miracle? If you will start a Christmas Miracle Journal today I think you will have a whole month of miracles. Start it with your family, your spouse, or a friend. Each day, maybe at dinner for example, reflect on the day and whether you saw any miracles. Think of things that happened that had no easy explanation. Maybe it was a series of circumstances that fell perfectly into place as if God’s guiding hand was at work. Make sure you write them down, so you can keep a record of God’s work in your life this month. You will notice more miracles happening around you than you ever realized. This is because you are training yourself to see God at work. As your ability to see God at work in your life improves it will seem like God is working a miracle a day or more. You should begin to see that God is working in and through every moment of your life. That will be a Christmas miracle that will change your life. (To find out more about Al Earley or read previous articles see, www.lagrangepres.org).