“This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.” – John 2:11

Christian physicist and MIT professor Ian Hutchinson wrote “Can a scientist believe in miracles?” He affirms his answer “I’m a scientist, and I believe in miracles. So, the answer is yes.”

He notes that most of us don’t understand the Bible’s view of miracles. He says, “We tend to view God as mostly hands-off, standing on the sidelines, letting nature look after itself, but then on rare occasions reaching in to tweak things by the odd miracle here and there.” But Hutchinson argues that according to the Bible, “[God] continuously holds the universe in the palm of his hand … It exists because of his continuous creative power and will: If he were to stop exerting that upholding power, stop paying attention to every part of the universe, it would instantly cease to exist.”

Thus, he defines a miracle this way: A miracle is “an extraordinary act of God” by which God “upholds a part of the universe in a manner different from the normal.” He adds, “Yes, we know more today than people did long ago, but what we know today makes the universe seem, if anything, even more open."

The same God who performed miracles in the Bible continues to do so to bring glory to Jesus Christ. Today in prayer, praise the Lord that He continually shows us His glory and place your faith in Him.

“A miracle is an event beyond the power of any known physical law to produce; it is a spiritual occurrence produced by the power of God, a marvel, a wonder.” – Billy Graham

God’s Word: “And when the Israelites saw the great power the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.” – Exodus 14:31

By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2025, Devotional E-Mail   

DEVOTIONS IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN †

“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” – John 1:12

In their book “Does God Really Like Me?: Discovering the God Who Wants to Be With Us” authors Cyd and Geoff Holsclaw write: “Being made in God’s image is also about God’s purposes in the world (God through us). In order to understand how image is connected with purpose, we need to understand a common practice in the ancient world. Since the end of the Second World War in 1945, North Korea has been ruled by the Kim family.

Kim Il Sung and then his son Kim Jong Il ruled for over sixty-six years, demanding total loyalty and even veneration. To this day pictures of these leaders are hung in just about every home, office building, and school. There are over five hundred statues of Kim Il Sung all around North Korea. Kim Il Sung’s grandson, Kim Jong Un, assumed power in 2011 and is now building three enormous statues on the highest mountain in North Korea as a tribute to himself, his father, and his grandfather.

These pictures and statues are constant reminders to the people of North Korea that the Kim’s are in charge and demand their loyalty. In the same way, to show where they ruled and reigned, kings in the ancient world set up giant statues of themselves. The kings placed these images in the center of their cities and at the borders of their lands to remind people who was in charge. As we said in chapter three, an image isn’t something we look at on a screen, a reflection in a mirror, or picture seen with the eyes.

Image refers to a statue or a figure that can be touched—something we can’t ignore. In the ancient world it was understood that a god would have a living image of himself in the world. But the living image only applied to one person: the king! Egyptian and Babylonian kings—and they alone—were called the image of god. Because the king was the god’s image in the world, the king was also the rightful ruler of the kingdom, and he set up images of himself to remind everyone that he alone was in charge. Great for the king. Bad for everyone else. All of Humanity Rules!”

No matter what your situation in life, the Lord of the Universe loves you as His child. Today in prayer, praise the Lord that He is a loving God and He has given us the right to become His children through Jesus Christ.

“Unless we have seen in Jesus what God is like we would never even have dared to think of ourselves as being able to become the children of God. It is what Jesus is that opens to us the possibility of becoming the children of God.” – William Barclay

God’s Word: “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” – 2 Corinthians 6:18

By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2025, Devotional E-Mail   

DEVOTIONS IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN †