Yep, yep. I believe in miracles. I believe that God will do a miracle for me. But – well, what happens when He says no. What happens when I have a heart for this or for that – but He closes the door. Slams it in our face.

This week on the program, we've been talking about miracles. This series is called "I Need a Miracle Please". How many times have you and I been caught in a tight spot and thought to ourselves – nothing short of a miracle is going to save me from this one.

Or, or there's something on our hearts. We have this desire. A good desire. A desire perhaps to serve God and yet things just don't seem to be working out.

We can't talk about miracles without talking about the fact that sometimes, sometimes, we go to God and ask Him for a miracle and that miracle seems to be denied by God. How can that be? Jesus Himself said:

If you love me and my word abides in you and you abide in me, you can ask anything that you wish in my name and it will be done for you. (John 15:7)

How can it be that God would deny me miracle that opens the door to me doing some good work for Him? How can it be that God denies me a miracle of healing – healing a sick child, or healing a loved one. How can it be? I've heard people preach that the only circumstance in which we miss out on something that we ask for, is if we don't have enough faith. Frankly – I'd love to ring their necks. Because that just isn't true. You may think that's pretty strong language but I get really angry with people who twist the truth.

Now a lack of faith, that sometimes is the reason we miss out on things from God. Yes. It is. Listen to what James writes when he talks about going to God and asking for wisdom. James chapter 1 beginning at verse 6. He says:

But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

See, God rewards faith, that's what we've been talking about over these last few days. But He doesn't demand complete faith, or perfect faith. In fact, the last time that I checked, faith the size of a tiny little mustard seed was enough to tell a mountain to go jump into the lake.

It's not the size of our faith that matters. Not the perfection of our faith. See sometimes, my heart is deeply troubled. Sometimes, I'm afraid to stand in a place that God's called me to stand. Sometimes I'm afraid to step forward and do the things that God's called me to do.

How do I know that I have faith? I'll tell you. If I stay in that place, and do the things that God's called me to do, if I'm prepared to fail unless God shows up, no matter how much my emotions are on that roller coaster ride, if I hang on to that tiny little seed of faith somewhere in my heart then I know I have faith. But if I run and hide to protect myself then I don't.

Sure, faith is important but sometimes we get it wrong. Sometimes we don't hear God properly. And sometimes we ask God for something that isn't in His sovereign will. I've written a book recently called 'Unlocking the Power of Prayer' and I've devoted a whole chapter to this question.

You know, when my children were little, I wouldn't give them a sharp knife to play with. It's only when they grew up into young adults that they got to use the carving knife. Sometimes we ask God for things that we're not mature enough to use or to do or to cope with.

And so the reason I get so upset by people that somehow seem to preach that we can expect God to deliver on any outrageous request that we make and that if He doesn't it's because we lack enough faith. That's not only a lie, but it condemns those who listen. It blames them for something that's not their fault.

And I just feel today that we need to deal with this decisively beca

Have you ever noticed how stubborn we can be? We sketch out our five-year plan, knowing exactly how life should unfold… and even though, deep down, we know that our plans don't always play out the way we think they should, we still find it maddening when things just don't go our way.

Take Steve Jobs. At thirty he was fired from Apple, the very company he'd founded. By all accounts, it was a humiliating experience. But years later, he admitted that being fired freed him to think more creatively. That setback led to Pixar, and eventually his return to Apple – where he reshaped the world of technology.

What appeared to be the end of a promising career turned out to be an essential stepping stone to success.

Proverbs 19:20-21 Listen to advice and accept discipline; then you, too, will become wise. People might make many plans, but what the LORD says is what will happen.

That cuts straight to the heart, doesn't it? Wisdom means admitting we don't know it all. It means being humble enough to listen – to God's Word, to godly counsel, even to the discipline that stings.

Because in the end, our clever strategies and carefully laid plans aren't what determine the outcome. God's purposes stand. Always.

And in Christ, we see that truth in the flesh. Men planned His downfall. Judas betrayed Him. The leaders schemed against Him. And yet through the cross and resurrection, God's greater plan – our salvation – triumphed.

So yes, plan wisely. But hold your plans loosely. Because in the end, the only plan that matters is God's … and that plan is Jesus.

That's His Word. Fresh … for you … today.

The people the world overlooks are never overlooked by God.

Sometimes, we expect God to show up with a miracle in our lives, kind of like the pizza delivery man at the front door. But God – well, sometimes He has a different plan. Sometimes He wants us to grow the sort of faith that's going to blow a hole in the roof.

It never ceases to amaze me how different God's ways are from our own. See when I want something from God – when I go to him and pray and ask Him for something, I kind of expect Him not just to say yes each and every time, but I expect Him to deliver me the answer on a platter.

I kind of imagine that it's like when I ring up to order a Pizza home delivery, and the little man shows up on his motorbike and delivers it to my front door. I mean – isn't that how it should be? Isn't that how we expect that God should operate? Come, putting up on His little motor bike and knock on our doors and say – here it is, just sign here?

Now, I know that sounds a little crazy, but the truth be known, that's how we expect God to operate. I mean why wouldn't He. He's our Dad. He loves us. Surely He wants to bless us.

But then again, I'm a dad too. And there's one thing for certain – I have never delivered breakfast in bed to any of my children. Because (a) I wanted them to learn how to be responsible and to get up out of bed for themselves and get breakfast for themselves and (b) in any case, I'm their father and they should be delivering breakfast for me in bed.

I'll do the things they can't do for themselves, I'll help them and I'll encourage them and I'll discipline them, but they need to learn to do the things that they have to do. And on top of that, I as a dad, will sometimes put them under pressure, or set them tasks that are difficult – because unless I do that, where are they going to learn that stuff from?

So why is it that we would somehow imagine that God would be any different? Why do we imagine that He'd be in the business of delivering breakfast in bed, or pizza to the front door? I'll tell you why. Because we have a consumer mentality. We live in a "me" centred world. God is supposed to dance to my tune. And that's an attitude that we can take into our expectations about miracles.

This week we're doing a series called "I Need a Miracle". But I want us to get realistic about this whole miracle thing. On the one hand sometimes we imagine that God wouldn't ever do a miracle for me, hopefully we've dealt with that earlier in the week. 'Cause that's a load of rubbish. God is a miracle working God. He was 2000 years ago. He still is today and nothing's changed.

But on the other hand, we can get this spiritual couch potato view of the world and expect miracles to be easy. But I have to tell you, my experience is, sure some miracles from God are easy. But some are a long time in coming and take a lot of perseverance and trust through difficult times, before they actually happen. And that bit kind of jars with our sugar daddy view of what God should be and how He should deliver miracles.

So today I want to share with you a story that could well be familiar to you. It's the story of a miracle. And yet it wasn't an easy one. It took quite some effort. Let's take a look. It comes from Mark's Gospel, chapter 2.

When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them.

Then some people came, bringing to him a paralysed man, carried by four of them. And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."

Now some of t

No matter the circumstance, one of the hardest things to do is to keep on going when every fibre of your being is screaming at you to stop. So, when was the last time you were tempted to give up?

In 1968, during the Mexico City Olympics, a marathon runner from Tanzania named John Stephen Akhwari fell badly, injuring his leg. Everyone expected him to quit. But hours after the winner had finished, Akhwari limped into the stadium, bloodied and exhausted, and determined to cross the line.

When asked why he hadn't stopped, he said, "My country didn't send me 10,000 miles to start the race. They sent me 10,000 miles to finish it."

That's the power of perseverance. And it's exactly what God's talking about here:

Hebrews 10:35-36 So don't lose the courage that you had in the past. Your courage will be rewarded richly. You must be patient. After you have done what God wants, you will get what he promised you.

Time and again, life hits us with setbacks. Our faith is sorely tested. And yet, God calls us not merely to start, but to finish – with courage, with patience, with trust.

It's not about gritting your teeth and pushing through in your own strength. It's about holding on to Christ, who has already run the race before us. He endured the cross. He pressed through the shame. And now He reigns in glory.

And the very same power – the very same resurrection power – that raised Him from the dead is available to you, here and now, to get you through to the end.

So don't give up. Your faith in Jesus will be rewarded. Not because you're strong enough, but because He is faithful enough. In Him, the finish line is certain and the prize is eternal.

That's God's Word. Fresh … for you … today.

Suffering is hard enough. The false teaching that says it’s a sign of weak faith makes it unbearable.

Have you noticed how the smallest bits of advice from your parents end up staying with you for life? It's uncanny how, decades later, something happens and you hear them speaking as though directly into that situation.

A teacher once asked a class of top CEOs what had influenced them most growing up. Was it books, mentors, training? Almost all of them said the same thing: "My parents' voice in my head." Wisdom passed down, often simple, often ordinary – but wisdom that had shaped who they'd become.

That's exactly what the book of Proverbs in the Bible is all about – godly wisdom passed down through everyday voices. Check this out:

Proverbs 1:8-9 My son, listen to your father when he corrects you, and don't ignore what your mother teaches you. What you learn from your parents will bring you honour and respect, like a crown or a gold medal.

See, wisdom isn't abstract. It comes to us through the ordinary people God places in our lives. Parents. Friends. Mentors. And ultimately, it comes to us perfectly in Jesus, who is the very wisdom of God in human.

A crown and a gold medal – symbols of honour and achievement. God's wisdom doesn't weigh you down. It lifts you up. It adorns you. It gives you dignity. It makes you shine in a dark world.

So don't despise the voices of wisdom around you. Don't shrug off correction. Don't ignore the people God uses to shape you. And above all, don't miss Jesus – because in Him, wisdom isn't just advice. It's life.

When you wear His wisdom, the world sees something different in you: God's glory reflected in the everyday.

That's God's Word. Fresh … for you … today.

Sometimes, we think that, well, we have to be perfect to receive a miracle. Never mind that we desperately need God's supernatural helping hand, never mind that He's a God of grace and mercy – we kind of figure that we have to get our act together first.

There's something about God that I sometimes find difficult to come to grips with. It almost seems as though there's a contradiction.On the one hand, when you read Gods Word, the Bible, it's pretty clear that God honours those who honour Him. In fact there's a specific verse in the Old Testament that says that. 1 Samuel 2:30, God says:

I will honour those who honour me but those who despise me will be treated with contempt.

That kind of makes sense doesn't it?

But then, then you see God do things, good things, miraculous things for people who never asked and who never particularly seem to deserve a miracle. And you think to yourself, well this honouring God and Him honouring us is one thing. But sometimes He kind of just zaps people from on high and does amazing things in their lives.

Me on the other hand, I just plod along, day after day, put up with all the stuff I have to put up with.Clearly, I'm not one of those special people. And clearly I don't deserve a miracle – so I'll just keep on plodding along. Well, maybe today, maybe today we're going to discover something that will just blow us apart.

I want to make something clear before we start talking about miracles today. I'm definitely, absolutely definitely NOT one of those people that we all look at and go – well he deserves a miracle. He's one of those Christians that God would definitely bless.

ABSOLUTELY NOT. In fact, if I could only show you the total disastrous mess that my life was in when I finally turned it over to God, you'd pick me as one of those people where you'd think "Well, God would never want that guy in His kingdom!"

It's really important for you to understand that. When Berni Dymet came to Christ he was just your average punter with his life in a mess.

And yet, I've seen miracle after miracle in my life since I gave it to Jesus. To be sure – not every miracle that I've asked for I've received. Sometimes, God had different plans. But so often, God's stepped in with miracles that I didn't even ask for. For example I was called to go to Bible College. Now I went part time because I was a business man and I was jetting all over the world all the time. I was always on a plane to somewhere.

I said, "God, how am I going to make lectures? I mean I'm never there. This is never going to work." But I just had a deep sense of God's calling and I took that step to go and I just felt God saying, "you go and I'll figure the rest out."

So I embarked on a 6 year part time degree, a Bachelor of Ministry. Now I was running an international IT consulting firm. Figure that out. So I took the step, I signed up. Not only did I finish the degree in just 4 years – but I only ever missed one lecture. That was the week that I was in New Zealand on my honeymoon with my now wife. Amazing. Somehow, I always made it there.

Once I was sitting on a tarmac in a plane that couldn't take off. I was overseas, they needed to fly in a spare part from another city and the Captain came on and suggested that we may not be able to take off today. I just smiled to myself and thought, "you just don't understand. I have a lecture at Bible College at 2pm this afternoon." And sure enough, I walked into the lecture room with just a minute to spare.

Or the time that an atheist program director on a huge radio station in Africa agreed to take our programs and air them to a weekly audience of millions of people. Or the time that … well I could go on.

And you know, the problem with hearing some bloke talking about all the miracles God's done in his life is that, to anyone listening, it can be just so disheartening. We

When history, hurt, and daily contact collide, forgiveness feels impossible. But Jesus offers a way through.

Have you ever had one of those moments when you aimed small, but the outcome turned out to be way bigger than you imagined? I sure have, and I suspect that you have too!

When I started out in the ministry of Christianityworks (the ministry that produces Fresh) it was a case of "last one out, turn out the lights". So I prayed – man, I prayed – prayers that to me, at the time, seemed like big, impossible prayers. But with the benefit of over two decades of hindsight, seeing all that God has done, I can see now how tiny they really were.

We often pray small prayers, don't we? We hedge our bets, we aim low, because deep down we're not sure if God will really show up. And yet Paul, sitting in prison, writes this:

Ephesians 3:20 With God's power working in us, he can do much, much more than anything we can ask or think of.

Did you catch that? Much, much more. Beyond what you can ask. Beyond what you can imagine. This isn't wishful thinking. It's God's power – resurrection power – working in us through Christ.

Now, does that mean life will be perfect? No. Paul wasn't writing this from a beach chair sipping iced tea. He was chained up in prison. But even there, he knew: God is still able to do more.

More grace. More strength. More breakthrough. More glory through the church, through Christ, forever.

So whatever you're facing today – don't shrink your prayers. Don't limit your hope. Because the God who raised Jesus from the dead is still doing more than you can ask or imagine. And He's doing it in you.

That's His Word. Fresh … for you … today.