Do you know that there are more than 8,000 promises in the Bible? That’s a lot of promises! But more important than knowing or reciting those 8,000 promises is knowing the promise giver Himself. When we know God—really know Him—it is easy to believe that He has only the very best in His heart for us.
Can God work a miracle in your life? Of course, He can. But only an immature child looks to a parent for what he or she can “get” out of that relationship. Maturing sons and daughters want to know their parent and spend time together with them.
Look to God
The first step to experiencing God’s miracles is to spend time with Him and actually know Him. To know His names (and their meanings) and His promises is to trust Him! Take the time in your daily life to develop a relationship with God. This is the most important foundation for living a life of miracles. The foremost priority of the believer is to look to our God. We must look to Him through Scripture and the leading of the Holy Spirit so we can see how caring and fabulous He is! This concept is summed up by the Hebrew word avot, which means the first and refers to the most important and foundational thing in our lives.
Larry taught that the avot (or avos, the plural form) refers to the beginnings of a thing, and those beginnings are the all-important foundation that must be continued and built upon. The way something begins determines how it will ultimately finish. Again, we can look at this like the top button on a button-down shirt—if you don’t get the top one buttoned right, none of the other buttons will line up. But when you match the top button to the correct buttonhole, everything else lines up perfectly and easily! Our relationship with God is our top priority, our “top button.”
So how do we get to know God? As I said, the way a thing begins determines the way it progresses and turns out. So every morning, before you dive into all of your to-do lists or responsibilities, dive into His presence. As you breathe your first breaths of the morning, stop and breathe in God’s breath of life. Focus on Jesus and connect yourself to His Word, His love and His peace.
Larry and I have personally practiced this—in good times and tough times—and taught this to others for more than 45 years. Knowing God, having an intimate relationship with Him, is the absolute most important key for us to live consistently in His presence.
You see, experiencing miracles by the moment is the outflow of a deep, consistent pursuit of God. I’m not talking about a theory; I’m talking about my actual experience in knowing God! When we make knowing Him the avot, the top button, of our days and lives, everything else lines up accordingly. Let’s not wait until we need a miracle to become acquainted with the miracle worker!
My top priority in seeking my miracle healing of cancer was to seek the Lord Himself! To intimately know Him, His nature and His love has always been my goal. I want to commune with God. I had so much to do and deal with during this time, but I knew that above all, my future depended on saturating my heart, mind, soul and body with the Spirit of the living God! The most important thing on my long to-do list was to spend time in His presence!
The sense of peace, normalcy and joy that overrode my circumstances was tangible. In fact, so many people commented that they were astounded by how positive Larry and I were as we told our church family about what was happening and that we were actually encouraging them to believe everything was going to turn out great.
In your own life, no matter what you’re facing or going through, dedicate time to spend in the presence of God, worshipping and glorifying Him. Let His presence envelop and elevate you into His reality. Declare the promises from the Word of God! Rather than dwelling on and magnifying the problems, dwell on and magnify His promises! Think and talk about His love, goodness and limitless power to change your life and circumstances! Now, let me explain how to do this.
yāḏa—to Know and Trust Him
The Hebrew word know (yāḏa), like our word know in English, can have various meanings. It can indicate mental knowledge in that a person understands or has knowledge of something. But the concept of knowing something or someone takes on a specialized meaning in the Hebrew language when it has to do with relationship—especially a relationship made through covenant.
In the Bible, the Hebrew word yāḏa can mean to acknowledge the terms of a covenant one has entered into, loyalty, or keeping your word. Let’s look at the usage of the word know in Genesis 18:19 (KJV, emphasis added):
“For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.”
It’s interesting to note that the word yāḏa is often translated as “chosen” in Genesis 18:19. Notice how the verse reads in the New International Version (emphasis added):
“For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”
The Lord is saying in this verse that He knows Abraham and trusts him to keep his side of the covenant. This implies a depth of confidence and intimacy in the relationship. It is important to understand that God’s covenant was not based upon the fact that Abraham was a perfect man. Abraham wasn’t perfect. So perfection did not make Abraham worthy of God’s covenant. The Scriptures are very open about Abraham’s and Sarah’s human weaknesses. But God and Abraham had an interactive and intimate relationship that involved yāḏa—knowing and trusting each other.
Think about it. The Lord knew He could trust Abraham, and Abraham knew he could trust the Lord! Do you know that you can trust the Lord? The basis for trusting someone is to first know him. To know God is to trust Him, and for Him to know us is to trust us! That is what a covenant relationship between the Lord and us looks like! Wow!
Whether the concept of an intimate relationship with the Lord is new to you or you are a seasoned prayer warrior, exciting new adventures with God await us all! Let’s make the choice to commit ourselves to knowing God right now. Whether it is an hour or five minutes, dedicate time to Him alone first thing each morning. Make knowing Him the way you begin your day. God is ready, willing and available to you.
People often say, “God is awesome,” but what does it mean to be in “awe” of God?
Leviticus 9:22-24 describes Aaron and the priests during a time of worship when, as James W. Ritenbaugh writes in the Forerunner Commentary, “they fell on their faces out of fear, reverence, respect, awe, and wonder from the knowledge that God was in their midst.”
Biblical references to the “fear” of God often also means deep respect and reverential “awe” of realizing the realities of who He is!
Knowing Brings Personal Ownership and Possession of His Promises
As pastors, Larry and I have seen these aha moments pass over our people’s faces, words and body language as they hear the word of God and experience an “aha moment.”
Oftentimes someone will say, “Pastor, I finally get it!”
There are Bible terms that refer to this same concept. The Greek word logos refers to the written word of God. The Greek word rhema is also based upon the written Word of God, but refers to the Word being spoken and brought to life and significance as it applies to a specific person or circumstance. We often refer to these as revelations that can cause a turning point, open new opportunities or expand our limited perspective of our lives and futures.
This is the type of “knowing” that Jesus referred to in John 8:32 (MEV) when he stated, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.”
Larry and I can look back and point to every time we experienced one of these dynamic rhema, knowing, epiphany, wake-up calls, revelation or aha moments that hit us in our hearts. As we “owned” the realities of His promises and truths, they have dynamically impacted us, set us free and changed the course of our lives forever! We have experienced these points since we were both born again decades ago. We’ve joyfully experienced these aha moments when God called us to ministry and we surrendered our futures to His will. Look at some of the revelations we’ve received in our aha moments:
God is a good, loving, kind Father, not a mean, hard taskmaster.
God is not a taker; He is a giver.
God does not require us to take a vow of poverty but to take a vow of priorities.
The type of “awe” we have for the Lord becomes our point of reference to how we see God. The type of awe we have for God impacts how we see God, how we respond to Him and how we relate to Him and expect to receive things from Him.
Be Still and ‘Know’ That He Is God
Consider this. If we see God as vengeful, cruel, judgmental, a hard taskmaster or uncaring, then our perspective of Him will be filled with the “awe” of fear and dread. We don’t want to be close to someone we fear or dread. Our response to knowing God will be one of apprehension.
If we see God as good, pleasant and worthy of appreciation, that is good, but it’s not really personal, a priority or relevant in our hearts. This kind of awe produces thoughts that God is there, but He is irrelevant in our lives, so we become indifferent to His presence and person.
If we see God as magnificent, all-powerful, sacred and our loving Father, then our perspective of Him will be filled with the “awe” of sacred reverence, respect, amazement, astonishment, wonder, personal intimacy, hope, faith, confidence, inspiration and expectation!
What are your everyday “God thoughts?”
What perspective of “awe” do we have for the Lord? Fearful, indifferent, casual, cautiously hopeful, intimate, faith-filled, expectant? An awe-ah moment with God and His promises can take us from awful and hopeless, to awesome and hopeful. That awe-ah moment leave us awestruck and assured of the fullness of His promises, blessings and miracles to come to life in our own lives and futures!
These same awe-ah and aha moments are here for you too. No matter what you’re facing, let the Spirit of God bring the promises of God to life within your heart right now. Take a moment to close your eyes, calm your mind, be still and “know” that He is God. (See Ps. 46:10).
Pause and let it sink in deeply how much God loves you and how awesome He is. Own these truths personally. Let these biblical truths bring a moment of truth to your heart and life. But, above all, try to grasp the reality and the “awe” that God is real and that you are in His presence!
Pray With Me
Pause for a moment right now and pray this prayer with me:
Father, I believe that You are real and that You love me and care about me. I take You at Your Word that You, Yourself, are watching over my life to perform Your Word and promises for me. I believe it and I receive it into my heart, mind, body and future right now. Thank You, Lord. Amen.
I hope you just experienced an awe-ha moment with the Lord. Did He impress your heart to do something? Did He say something to you just now? Write it down. Take all the time you want or need to engage in conversation with God, because I sure am!
For more information on Miracles by the Moment, visit MyCharismaShop.com.
Larry and Tiz Huch are the pastors of New Beginnings in Bedford, Texas, and hosts of the weekly television broadcast New Beginnings With Larry & Tiz Huch, which is changing lives worldwide. Over more than 45 years of ministry, the Huchs have planted seven churches in the U.S. and Australia and have written several books individually and together. They are dedicated to building bridges of peace, friendship and unity between Christians and Jews.
[…] life. This is an example of why it is so very important to read Scripture in the correct context. The Bible is our greatest tool to understand God and grow in our faith; however, we need to do a little research when we apply […]