A 7-Day Study of Jesus' Miracles

Today’s Passage: Exodus 14:21-31

“Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. During the last watch of the night, the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, ‘Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.’

Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.’ Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen — the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.

But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. That day, the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.”

By faith, Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and amazingly, the unthinkable happened: the wind and water began to shift, revealing a path forward for the fleeing Israelites. Not only did this shift in the landscape offer salvation to the Israelites, it revealed to them the ultimate power and authority of God.

He would fight for his people; no power on earth could stop the work of God’s redemptive plan for His people. The result of this awe-inspiring event was that the people feared the Lord and put their trust in Him. Miracles build our faith, inspiring future obedience.

Reflections Questions

1. In what part of our stories do we need to trust God for our deliverance?

2. How has God revealed his power to you? What has this revealed to your heart about who God is?

3. How have miracles inspired your faith and obedience?

Let’s Pray

Father,

We thank you that you are a God who fights for us! When we see no way forward, you make a way. Your redemptive work is unstoppable. By grace, grow more faith in my heart in response to the miracles recorded in your Word and the miracles we see unfold in our lives. Help us respond with obedience as we observe your great power and love for us.

Amen.

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/rudall30

Today’s Passage: Mark 6:34-44

“When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. By this time, it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. ‘This is a remote place,’ they said, ‘and it’s already very late. Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.’ But he answered, ‘You give them something to eat.’

They said to him, ‘That would take more than half a year’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?’  ‘How many loaves do you have?’ he asked. ‘Go and see.’ When they found out, they said, ‘Five — and two fish.’ Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.”

Jesus was preaching to a large crowd, sharing with them the treasures of Heaven, when His disciples realized that the people were tired and hungry. Jesus responded to their need, and rather than sending them out on their own to find provisions, He multiplied a small gift of fish and loaves to feed the large crowd.

God multiplied what they surrendered to His care, providing more than they could even eat, as there were leftovers! This miracle was a result of God seeing human need and having compassion, and the little the crowd had was offered to Christ. Obedience, not human abundance, often leads to miracles.

Reflection Questions

1. What little do you offer God to multiply today?

2. What is your first reaction when resources feel limited?

Let’s Pray

Father,

I thank you that you respond to my needs. You care about the nourishment and rest my body requires. I am amazed at your ability to take my little and make it into plenty. God, I surrender all I have to you. I ask that you do more than I can with my life. Help me to have faith when I’m worried about my next meal. Thank you for caring for me.

Amen.

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Studio-Annika

Today’s Passage: John 5:1-9

“Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here, a great number of disabled people used to lie — the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?’ ‘Sir,’ the invalid replied, ‘I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.’ At once, the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath.”

We can get stuck in our misery, so used to our pain that we stop believing that our circumstances could ever change. This is what happened to the invalid. He endured thirty-eight years of suffering, of being unseen and dependent on others. He saw no way out of his circumstances, but Jesus came by and saw this man.

He had compassion on him, but before He offered healing, He challenged him to take a step of faith. Jesus told him to do something impossible, to get up! And the man’s faith and obedience led to his healing. Jesus invited him to respond, not to remain passive.

Reflection Questions

1. What steps of faith do you feel God leading you to take? 

2. Are excuses holding you back from receiving healing? 

Let’s Pray

God,

Help me to respond with faith and obedience to your prompts. Renew my hope in you! Remind me that healing, breakthroughs, and new beginnings are always possible with the Lord. Help me to be obedient when it feels uncomfortable or even impossible.

Amen.

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/camaralenta

Today’s Passage: Luke 8:43-48

“And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. ‘Who touched me?’ Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, ‘Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.’ But Jesus said, ‘Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.’ Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.’”

When we are struggling with our health, addiction, oppression, abuse, or other great need, we lose part of who we are meant to be. We lose some of our dignity and purpose. Our need holds us back from realizing part of our potential.

The woman with the issue of blood lived as an outcast because of her health condition. Despite being considered unclean, she touched Jesus because she had faith that just one touch would be required for her health to be restored.

Jesus knew that His power had healed her and took time to see her and acknowledge her faith. This miracle not only restored her health but also broke her free from being designated unclean. When God acts on our behalf, our lives expand, restoring to us lost potential, purpose, and hope for the future.

Reflection Questions

1. Where do you need restoration in your life?

2. Do you believe that God notices your pain?

Let’s Pray

Jesus,

By faith, I ask for you to bring emotional, spiritual, and physical healing into my story. Restore to me the joy of my salvation. Restore to me hope for my future. Restore my potential and purposes that have been thwarted by my current suffering. Thank you for seeing me and offering me a taste of your goodness here in the land of the living. Your grace is sufficient. 

Amen.

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Jacob Wackerhausen

Today’s Passage: Mark 4:35-41

“That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, ‘Let us go over to the other side.’ Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?’ He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, ‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?’ They were terrified and asked each other, ‘Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!’”

The disciples were amazed because their Rabbi not only had the authority to heal, but amazingly, He could speak to the wind and the waves and they obeyed. Never before had such a miracle taken place on Earth!

God has ultimate authority over all Creation. Nature must submit to His commands. Biology itself has to shift when He intervenes. All things are under God’s control. God has the ability to calm the chaos that is at work in the fallen Creation.

Even more than that, He offers peace even when the storm is raging. Jesus slept while the disciples panicked. His peace surpassed human understanding. As Christ followers, we can have confidence that God is powerful enough to bring order to chaos, but we can also have peace while the storm surges, knowing His timing is perfect.

Reflection Questions

1. What storm are you facing?

2. How can you respond with faith in the midst of the storm?

Let’s Pray

Jesus,

Bring peace to my storm. Calm the chaos around me. Encourage my heart, reminding me that all things are under your control. Speak to the powers of turmoil in my life, tell them to be still. I trust in your authority over all things in Heaven and Earth.

Amen.

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/rudall30

Today’s Passage: John 9:1-7

“As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned,’ said Jesus, ‘but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’ After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. ‘Go,’ he told him, ‘wash in the Pool of Siloam’ (this word means ‘Sent’). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.”

Jesus was asked “why” by his disciples. Why was this man blind from birth? Why? It is a question we all often ponder when things are not as they should be. Jesus reveals that this man’s disability was not a result of sin, but it was an opportunity for God’s work to be made complete in his life. God was going to use this man’s deficit for God’s glory.

God does not see our circumstances as we do. Where we see a struggle, God may see an opportunity. Our job is to look for the light, to rely on His power, and to give Him the glory. His ways are higher than ours, but one thing is for certain: our pain is never wasted in God’s kingdom.

Reflection Questions

1. What circumstances in your life might you see as a struggle where God wants to use as an opportunity for growth?

2. How has God responded to your why questions?

Let’s Pray

Father,

By the power of your Spirit, give me your eyes to see my circumstances. Help me to trust that my story can be used for your glory. Show me how to trust that trials serve a purpose in my life.  Help me to live with a humble heart, accepting your hand at work in my life.

Amen.

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/rudall30

Today’s Passage: John 11:38-44

“Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. ‘Take away the stone,’ he said. ‘But, Lord,’ said Martha, the sister of the dead man, ‘by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.’ Then Jesus said, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.’ When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, ‘Take off the grave clothes and let him go.’”

Jesus did the unimaginable when the people rolled the stone away from Lazarus' grave; He boldly command his dead body to come back to life. To everyone’s amazement, Lazarus’s dead parts responded, and life began to pump through his cells once again.

Who is this man who can bring the dead back to life? This Messianic miracle pointed to Jesus’ true identity and foreshadowed Jesus coming death and resurrection.

What Jesus did for Lazarus is what He now does for all who believe. Our dead parts come to life when we accept God’s Spirit into our story. Not only do we see our sins die away here in the land of the living, but we are also promised eternity in Heaven with Jesus. This is the ultimate miracle. The best is yet to come for believers. We have the ultimate hope for our future thanks to God’s gift of salvation for all who believe. 

Reflection Questions

1. Do you need God’s resurrection life? Pray and ask Him to be your Lord and Savior.

2. What habits or beliefs do you need to leave behind as a follower of Jesus?

Let’s Pray

Father,

I thank you for your gift of salvation and eternal life. Bring to life any dead things in my story. Help me leave behind my sin, regrets, hurts, and hopelessness. Help me to live with hope every day, remembering that the best is yet to come! Renew my strength and joy.

Amen.

Photo credit: Unsplash/Bruno van der Kraan