A Word For Today – by Nathan Shaw

Four years ago I heard Donald Trump make the statement, “It’s gonna be HUGE!” A few weeks later I was praying for this generation and I heard God say, “It’s gonna be HUGE!” Suddenly the phrase was loaded with prophetic significance. God has big plans for this generation. On the 25th of August 2020 Tiffany Trump said, “Believing in miracles is a gift from God.” When I heard the phrase I instantly knew its prophetic significance. Believing in miracles is a gift God is releasing to a new generation. Interestingly, the name Tiffany comes from the Greek “theophania” which means “a manifestation or appearance of God.” Throughout history the enemies of God’s people change, but the mandate to reveal God in supernatural ways does not.

In Gideon’s day the Israelites lived in continual fear of their Midianite oppressors. In order to protect his harvest from being taken, Gideon threshed his wheat in a winepress! A winepress was a cavity cut out of rock. It was the most unlikely place to thresh wheat. Normally wheat was threshed at a threshing floor located outside the city, and with a threshing sledge pulled by animals. Gideon threshed with a stick, in a winepress, inside the city. It goes without saying: Gideon’s circumstances were limiting.

Despite the unusual situation, events took an even more unusual turn. As Gideon continued to beat the wheat the angel of the Lord appeared to him announcing, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior” (Judges 6:12). Incredulous, Gideon replied, “If the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about” (Judges 6:13). The oppression of the Midianites had caused Israel to cry out to God (Judges 6:6). God not only heard their cry, but set Himself to take action. It was time for miracles. All God had to work with was an unbelieving man and an unbelieving nation. Gideon didn’t understand three things: the time; the gift of miracles; and, his identity as a mighty warrior. God chose Gideon to rout an army of 135,000 with an army of only 300—a ratio of 1 to 450 (Judges 7:7, 8:10)! Miracles were the means that God used to bring about national deliverance.

Over a thousand years later a vastly different situation arose. God used Peter and John to heal a lame man. The man had been lame since birth and was over 40 years old when the miracle took place (Acts 3:1-10, 4:22). Because it was such an astonishing and very public miracle, word spread to all of Jerusalem. Unlike Gideon, Peter and John were not contending with a foreign army. Their opposition came from a combination of religious and political forces (Acts 4:1, 5-6). Peter and John were arrested. The religious and political leaders had a major problem on their hands because the man who had been healed was standing among them for all to see. “What shall we do to these men? For, indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it” (Acts 4:16). Peter and John were eventually released, but under threat not to speak in Jesus’ name.

Peter and John and their companions went straight to prayer. They understood the cosmic battle taking place: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: ‘Why did the nations rage, and the people plot vain things? The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ’” (Acts 4:24-26). They prayed boldly, “Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus” (Acts 4:29-30). Why did they pray this way? Because they understood the times, the gift of miracles, and, their identity as mighty warriors.

Miracles are God’s specialty. Through them He brings deliverance to individuals and nations—destinies and outcomes are radically changed. God is looking for people of faith and vision. Galatians 3:5 makes it clear: God supplies the Spirit to us; He works miracles among us; and He does this, not by the works of the law, but by the hearing of faith. Believing in miracles is a gift from God being released to this generation. They will understand the times, the gift of miracles, and, their identity as mighty warriors. Threats may rage. Miracles will speak. History will be changed. It’s gonna be HUGE!

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