CONSECRATE YOURSELF, FOR GOD WILL DO WONDERS AMONG YOU

It has been a full three years since I’ve written on my blog. Many things have happened, and they are still happening. On December 17, 2022, we will have been in Virginia for five years! It’s unbelievable how fast the time has gone. 

 

Above, see how our grandsons have grown up—not as much in age as in height. We also added a baby girl to the Ruckel Tribe of boys in January 2020. Below they are (l to r): Sam, 12; Lily Rose, 20 mos.; Matty, 12; Gabe, 13; Ben, 15. These grandkids are a blessing every day!

On my health front, two months ago, my annual CT scan revealed I had a new mass in my left lung. I felt some disappointment at this discovery. I wanted to be through with this frailty, fatigue and feeling less than well all the time. A month later, the PET scan “lit up” as they say, indicating the mass was cancerous. However, the biopsy, which they wanted to use to find what type of cancer the mass was. Unable to proceed with a needle biopsy, they took brushings and scrapings of the lung’s interior. Those five different tests showed NO MALIGNANT CELLS.

The results totally confused my oncologist, who insisted she was sure the mass was cancer. But I, being totally surprised by the results, received it as a miracle of God’s healing of the mass and neutering its effect on me.

This blog presents my thoughts about the reaction I experienced to a miracle. Fifty-five years ago, I entered Oral Roberts University and spent three years hearing and saying, “Expect a Miracle”. I’m sad to say that the reasoning that I remember for that motto was only that God might perform a wonder when you asked for it. In hindsight, my thinking was one dimensional. Since then I’ve added other dimensions to the idea, however, knowing with my mind and experiencing with my heart, again, are different. Following are some of them I’ve grasped since first hearing OR’s watchword.

I now know that not only is God able to perform miracles, but He wants to give them to us. His love is deeper and wider and higher than we can conceive, and He’s ready to show it and give it to us in innumerable ways that we cannot think of or imagine.

God is not limited by time or space. That’s an enigma to our finite minds. Our miracle may be in process, and we may not experience it at the time we think we need it. However, if we remember that God’s timing is never wrong, we can be more patient or, possibly impatient, in our waiting for it.

Our testimony to others of our miracle can multiply it. Not only is God glorified in the retelling of our story, but others can receive healing or encouragement for their daily walk by what has happened to us. Wonders are to be talked about, praising God for His grace, love, and power. It puts a “praise God!” or a “maybe He can for me” on people’s lips. Whatever they feel, they are looking at God and He can work with that.

Let’s go back to the mantra “Expect a Miracle”. After receiving my sign of God’s love, a verse in my devotional reading arrested my attention. Joshua 3:5 says: “Joshua told the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves, because the Lord will do wonders among you tomorrow.’” And, just like that, a puzzle piece fell into place for me. If I am ‘expecting’, a miracle, or any wonder from God, why am I not consecrating myself more?

The word consecrate means several things, but we’ll look at it as to make holy or to dedicate to a higher purpose. For the Israelites, consecration looked like following the kosher rules of purification and animal sacrifices, or anointing with oil/blood, and staying away from items or people not consecrated.

Today, each Christian is to be consecrated to God; for some, it is simpler than others. People who are in ministry consecrate themselves more easily than those who are in secular jobs. With that in mind, I’m going to say that our consecration is internal—in our minds and hearts, our attitudes, words, and deeds. We must desire to be set apart for holy thoughts of our mind, consciously pushing aside the impure thoughts for the pure. We seek to put our hands to the tasks set out in the Bible to care for the poor and bring salvation to unbelievers as the responsible works of our hands.

Reading the Bible and praying, spending time with Holy Spirit, watching for, and hearing what we can do in our neighborhoods are ways that set us apart as well. It’s a way of life: an attitude of ‘on Earth as it is in Heaven’, saturating the world with Kingdom life, without seeking benefit for ourselves. We give what we have, so we can receive more, again, to give away. If we receive benefit for ourselves, it is the crumbs of God’s gifts we spread to the world in need of Him.

I’m thinking more about consecration, of ways and outlets to serve God better, looking closer at Jesus’ example of serving. It’s not a daily exercise though I hope it will become one. Join me in consecrating yourself today because God wants to/will do wonders among you.

Ladying for today: My mind doesn’t always stop long enough to hear what Holy Spirit has to say to me, but I know the value I receive and the suffering I avoid are more than worth the time I spend to listen.