The River Runs Through

I first wrote this four years ago but felt the need to repost it.  During this season of all our lives, we need Holy Spirit more than ever.  Come Holy Spirit, come. 

God has been highlighting Ezekiel 47 to Joel and me the past week.  In this chapter the prophet Ezekiel is shown by an angel the water that was flowing from God's Temple.  The angel first shows Ezekiel where it is coming from, and then he measures it..... first ankle deep, then knee deep, then chest deep, and then over his head.  On either side of this river 12 fruit trees are growing and they produce new fruit every month of the year because they are watered by the Temple river.  The leaves on these trees are used for medicine. It is a very interesting prophetic vision given to the prophet Ezekiel for Israel.

 God's references to a river first started on September 19th (2016), a few days before our river flooded here in town. While meditating  I saw Joel by a river, fishing on the side of the bank.  He then put his pole down and took off his boots and socks, rolled up his pants and got into the river.  He waded around for a while and then immersed himself in the river.  While in the water Joel noticed a small waterfall where a fresh stream was flowing into the river.  He climbed out and started walking up the hill to find its source.  He came up to a huge boulder flecked with gold that was at least a 60 feet high. The water reflected off the dark colored rocks as it trickled down, forming a stream and then ending up in the river.  I then saw God's hands come out from the rock and He laid them on Joel's head.  As He did so I noticed that Joel's hair was dark black, like when he was young.  I heard "I have anointed you to preach the gospel, heal the sick, cast out demons, and raise the dead."  Joel then turned around and he could see his life from this starting place and as it went down to the river.  On either side he could see things that he had been protected from, and as his life journey progressed the path got wider and wider.  At the end the path split looking like arms raised in praise to God.  I then heard the prayer of Jabez..."Oh Lord, that you would bless me indeed.  Enlarge my territory.  Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." (And God granted him his request.)   

What God showed me that morning led me to read Ezekiel 47 again, and then another devotional we read also mentioned the river of God.  I remembered something similar in Heidi Baker's book, "Birthing the Miraculous" so Joel and I went back and read the chapter "Deeper Still", based on Ezekiel 47. We prayed that God would keep revealing to us what He wanted us to know about this river, because when we get the same message more than 2-3 times we know we are to pay attention.

Later that same day I went to Bethel Church's site and noticed that they were premiering the movie "Holy Spirit Reborn", so Joel and I decided to watch it.  I mentioned it in a previous post.  About half way through an evangelist from a South African villages spoke about how God came to him as a boy and led him to become a Christian.  He spent his time bringing Jesus and His healing power to the villages.  He talked about how Holy Spirit came into his life, sharing that Holy Spirit is like a flowing river.  He went on to that that when we are in a river we cannot control where it takes us, the current does that....and it is the same with Holy Spirit.  He takes us with Him and we are not in control, but we can trust Him with the journey.  He ended by saying "God is our Father and Creator, Jesus is our Savior, and Holy Spirit has been placed here in us and on earth now to empower and love us.   He wants us to surrender and let Him work through us in others."

So we know when we are just wading in a river ankle deep we can be in control of what is going on. When we are in knee deep we still have that control.  Waist deep as and it gets harder to go where we want to go.  Then when the water is up to our necks, we are not in control of where the river current takes us.  It is also the same with Holy Spirit.  When God asks us to surrender to Him and His plans for our lives, do we just wade in that, or do we immerse ourselves, trusting God to take us where He desires us to go.....trusting Holy Spirit as He blesses us.  Loving us, empowering us with that river of Living Water to be used by God for His plan and purpose.

Pastor Seth Dahl says that Holy Spirit is never shown to be a depersonalized force.  He is God.  He wants an intimate relationship with us. He is not an "it".  He is Holy.  Part of the Trinity.  Not just a wind.....but God's breath, living, powerful, and personal.  When Jesus left this earth he told the disciples that God was sending them someone to help them do even more than He had done.  Come Holy Spirit, come.

When God Interrupts Your Plans

                                                                         

Recently I picked up a book to re-read that has graced our book shelf for the past 8 years.  It is written by Guidepost author and editor John Sherrill, titled "They Speak In Other Tongues".  It was first written in 1965 and re-published with an addition in 2004.  I guess you could define this post as a book review with our personal story attached.  

This book came into our home and changed our lives after Joel was healed overnight from Lyme and several other health problems.  He was given a complete "divine overhaul" at 4 am on a January morning.  With his healing came a gift that he was not looking for~ his own prayer language.  Joel and I had watched two hours of a video from a pastor/teacher who spoke on "God wanting you well" the night before Joel was miraculously healed. He had mentioned speaking in tongues during his teaching so at that time I had asked Joel what he thought of the gift found in the New Testament and he told me, "I am Lutheran, I don't know what I would do with it."  But God had other plans.  With Holy Spirit showing up in a big way, I began to do some research for Joel on "what to do with it" and this book by John Sherrill came to my attention.  I am so glad it did.

John Sherrill and his wife Elizabeth have both written several best sellers and started their own publishing company.  They were also editors at Guideposts magazine in NYC.  John began learning about speaking in tongues through his interactions with Ruth Peale whose husband Norman Vincent Peale is well known for his work as a pastor, author of "The Power of Positive Thinking", and creator of Guideposts Magazine.  (we have gotten this monthly magazine for decades).  When Sherrill began his research he was a skeptic who was writing a story and had no interest at all in the gifts of the Spirit, but his quest to find out what this was all about changed their lives forever.  God interrupted their plans for His own.  And the book he wrote changed our lives forever too.  It gave us a deeper understanding of what a prayer language is and how God uses it to build us up and bring us closer to Him.  

I have had people tell me with a dismissive air that "it is the least of the gifts, you know."  Others have said they wondered if it was from the devil.  Was it really real?  We cannot deny that it is right there in our Bibles or that it existed then and still exists today.  When Joel first spoke of it to our Synod here, they were disturbed by what he had to say.  Later on we learned that 5 of Joel's pastor colleagues had this "gift" but did not talk about it to others.  It certainly can stir things up when it is mentioned in our Lutheran world.  And yet, there it is in Acts and in I Corinthians where Paul speaks about it.

I have been enjoying Sherrill's book once again as I read about his research, his experiences, his conclusions and how it all shaped their lives.  God never leaves us where we are, He has bigger plans for us than we could ever imagine.  We are both grateful for the gift of a prayer language as a way to worship and praise God, a way to pray when we don't know what to pray, a way to grow and "edify" ourselves as the scripture claims.  It may seem a  "little to the right of crazy" for some, but for us it is now just part of our prayer life.  For us it is a time when "one's own spirit and the Holy Spirit are in communion and that is a good thing.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is curious or interested in what having the gift of speaking in tongues is all about.  John Sherrill has passed away now, but he and his wife "Tib" have a firm faith and solid foundation behind them.  They co-authored such books as Brother Andrew's "God's Smugglers" and Corrie TenBoom's book "The Hiding Place".  They are the kind of people you wish you could sit down with for a long visit and listen to all they have experienced in their lives.  

Bend Your Ear

We met through an email group that was made up of Christians with Lyme Disease.  Over 500 in the group who prayed for each other.  At times several would engage in phone conference calls where we would fast and pray together.  I became closer to two young women; Katherine who is now a dear friend.  We actually met in person at a healing conference in CT in 2013 and have continued to stay close.  The other young woman I have stayed in touch with mostly through Facebook.  When Joel and I attended that healing conference at a Lutheran church in CT, we took a commuter train to NYC to visit all the sights,  While there we were able to meet in person with K.F. at Grand Central Station where we had a face to face visit.  What fun it was to get together and actually hug the person I had been praying for.

K.F. is a mom of two now and married to a doctor who happens to be from Sri Lanka.  A man who has stories about the prejudice against him, even in the hospital, white coat or not.  But I am not talking about the racism he experienced. It is not my story to tell.  What I do want to share here is the boldness and courage K.F. has shown as she shared on Facebook no less, her journey of recovery from severe ongoing sexual abuse throughout her childhood.  What struck me about her writing was how little we listen, truly listen to others.  Especially when it does not fit into our own beliefs or agenda or it makes us uncomfortable.  What impacted me was the courage with which she spoke out on social media, one of the most judgmental communities of all.

You see, as a child she did what we are told to do, she told someone what was happening to her.  She told many as best she could describe it....and no one listened.  No one believed her.  Finally in her senior year of high school, she told a friend and he told his mom and that mom stepped in.  The many years of abuse and lack of help brought K.F. to a place of rage and anger and it was not until after a lot of therapy and knowing Jesus as her Savior that her healing began.  And now she is a mom of two daughters....a wife, and a child of God.

I understand her emotional turmoil in not being listened to.  Someone important and close to me did not listen or reach out to me when my six year old self told them as I best knew how that I was being sexually abused.  I was told with such intensity to never speak of it again, that I did not.  I hid it from others and even from myself until I was 63 years old.

Listening.  We all want someone to listen to us, don't we.  To hear us.  To do their best to understand and just listen.  Our world is groaning now.  America as we knew it is imploding on itself and everyone has an opinion as to why.  In the past I have defended the media, attempting to find the most neutral place to gather information, but in the past couple of months I have come to realize that every news station is bias or looking out for what sells.  When did every newscast become "breaking news"?  One day I watched each and every news station to observe how they "spin the news" and believe me each one has their own spin.   It is so difficult to get beyond what sells to what we need to hear.  So the past 11 days Joel and I have turned off the TV from any news and our home has become a much more peaceful place.   But I digress.....

Listening.  How do we have a listening ear?  How do we weep with those who weep, support all who are in the middle of this turmoil we call 2020?   How do we seek truth?   And for those who need it, how do we become their listening ear?  How do we face the hard stuff so that little children who speak about what has happened to them are not ignored.    Maybe we start by listening to the little children.

Not too long ago as I was dusting, I was speaking to God about how I desired to have a more intimate relationship with Him and wanted to hear His voice more often, and I immediately heard Him say, "make more time for me".   So simple as His child.   Make more time to not only voice our needs, but quietly listen.....in His Word, in what He shows us, what He whispers to us....yeah.....make more time.  There are many ways to hear the voice of God.  A close friend uses journaling as a way to hear from God.   Sometimes He gives us rhema words, they just stand out when we read scripture.  Sometimes He uses the voices of others.  For me at times it is visions that come up in my mind.  Sometimes it is a "knowing" that comes for people.   God loves to communicate with us.

We can learn from God how to be a listening ear for a hurting world.  Right now.  Right here.  Because the whole world is groaning.  And ALL of God's children have a story to tell.  We need to just bend our ear and listen.

Gifts That Keep On Giving

There are times I find myself saying, "Chemo is the gift that keeps on giving."  I haven't meant this in a positive way, of course.  The after affects of chemo, some visible and some not visible, are a reminder of what it does to the body while killing cancer cells. There is a list of symptoms that whisper, talk, and sometimes yell at me.   Yeah, chemo is the gift that keeps on giving.

Radiation is also a gift that keeps on giving, but in less obvious ways.  It is there in print, in black and white, the side effects of it. Yesterday I had a conversation with my radiology oncologist, Dr. S.  He is the nicest man, filled with wisdom and compassion.  His words confirmed my thinking on the gripping/grabbing pains I periodically get in the radiated area.  Radiation is also a gift that keeps on giving.

So how can these two treatments be  described as gifts?  Joel said to me recently that he thought I was doing amazingly well considering that the treatments for this cancer were to cut and remove, use poison, and burn it away.  That is the way we fight cancer right now.  I believe in the future these treatments will be replaced with more powerful and less harmful ways to kill cancer, but these are the "gifts" we have right now.  This is how we fight for a cure, to live our best life.

BUT we cannot forget the One who fights for us.  When I had radiation treatments I would ask Jesus to not only be in the room, which He promised me He would be, but that He would also be in the beam...the proton beam that penetrated my body.  Now, I am in the process of "adjusting" to a tiny little pill that carries a powerful punch.  A hormone inhibitor that is causing me increased pain and at this moment major stomach issues.  I have started thanking God for this pill....a gift that will in the oncologist's words "be most affective in keeping the cancer from returning."  I have not only started thanking Him for this pill but asking Him to work through the pill while at the same time praying for healing.  The healing of a miracle that comes from only Jesus.

I am not one who has found the medical world very comforting.  I would avoid doctors and medications to the point of being unhealthy.  In this journey, especially the past few months, I have learned to appreciate the medical world and even the drugs and treatments used to help me.  They are gifts from God, but we cannot forget that the ultimate gift for our salvation and healing is Jesus.  Jehovah Rafa....the God who heals.   Let us worship Him!  Our Way Maker, Miracle Worker!

And isn't Jesus the gift who keeps on giving?!  He has given us the gift of eternal life but He loves us so much that that is not the only gift He offers.  He offers His love....deep and wide......endless.....He offers us forgiveness......He offers us healing of body, soul, and spirit.  He is the ultimate and most important gift that just keeps on giving!

So, while I use what is available in the world to bring healing and fight the enemy, I keep my eyes on Jesus, who is bigger than any of my ~~ any of our problems.  Never forget.........."The Lord will fight for you, you need only to be calm."  Rest in the truth of it.

Let Me Rock Your Boat

Yesterday we fasted in preparation for a session of prayer last night with a couple from AZ who have a powerful ministry.  They are good friends with our sweet friends Dw and Linny, who suggested we call them. We felt the need for some prayer....and insights so we set a time to talk last night.  During this time of fasting we took the time to listen to our recorded prophetic session from when we were at Bethel Church in CA in the fall of 2017.  Please note that when we receive words we pray over them, looking for God to come through in the words that come from others.  Testing the truth of it in scripture and discernment.   We strongly believe the words spoken during that session were from God and we hold them close whether we understand it all or not.

We received several things we are hanging on to, but one that stood out for me today was when the man, who was also named Joel, asked us if we ever rock the boat......He said it was a bit strange, but he saw a vision of us rocking a boat.  We did tell him in our world, that we probably do rock boats with what we believe and practice, things such as God wants us ALL well, Jesus died for sins AND sicknesses.  Holy Spirit wants to shake up your world with visions, encounters, and His Presence "manifested" in many ways.  Speaking in tongues is a gift available to all, etc. etc.  It makes some people uncomfortable.  Been there myself.   In the words this other Joel said, he told us God wants us to keep rocking the boat.  He kept saying it over and over again  "keep rocking the boat".  He told us we are very aware that we are doing what God wants us to do......and then said, "God says when you stop rocking the boat He will be bringing you home.  To heaven.  In other words, we replied.........."Keep rocking the boat!"

The past few months, this challenging journey we are on, has kept our focus narrow and has not left much room for rocking boats and truthfully at times I have doubted and struggled with His promises to me for healing.  Were God's promises lies?  Even saying that makes me uncomfortable.  God never lies. And His promises are "yes and Amen".  Over time I have told Joel more than once that I questioned how I could speak about healing being for now and for all when I am battling cancer for the 4th time and the future looks scary?  I was healed of Lyme, of chemical sensitivities, of cancer, of thyroid disease ( no longer on meds after 27 yrs).  Healed of a cyst on my leg....it just left!  Healed of living life from my sofa.......  And yet.......here I am in the midst of the biggest battle of my life so far.  Can I still speak about healing?  Let me say, my experience right now?  It does not change the truth of what the Bible says.

Plenty of people have prayed for me, over me, yet this time a miracle did not take place.  Jesus is using doctors to heal me.  I can't say I am happy about that, but I am being obedient in using the treatments, doctors, and surgeries to heal.  It is a journey in humility.

Speaking of being humbled, we were forewarned by God about this journey at that same prophetic session. Lori, the woman at our session shared that she saw us crawling on our hands and knees.  We were going through a difficult season and being humbled in the process.  She went on to say that we were strong and independent people and that we were going to need to now rely on God.  Just like the verse I keep getting, God will fight my battles...just stay calm.  She also said that there would be grace in the journey and we would stand up again and there would be a new thing for us!  We have hung on to those words at the end......sometimes for me only by a thread, but we hang on to His promises.  We don't believe God gave me Stage 3b cancer, but we do believe He can and will use it for good.   And we believe every prayer that has been prayed for me and for Joel has been heard by God.  Look at how the mass is breaking up?!  The kidney surgeries are over.  Strength is returning.  Hear our prayers, O Lord.

Do all people get healed?  No, we know they do not.  Do all people receive a miraculous healing?  No they do not.  But the point for me is, I believe we can.  "By His stripes we are healed."  I believe what it says in the Lord's Prayer.  "The kingdom come, thy will be done on EARTH as it is in Heaven.  In Heaven we won't need healing, will we?!  I believe that there is sooooooooooo much more for us. Catherine Marshall wrote a book many years ago called, "Something More".  I read that book often and felt her same hunger for something more in my relationship with Jesus.  It is available. He desires it too.

I confess, at times I seek the healing more than I do the Healer.  I desire the miracle instead of desiring a more intimate relationship with Jesus.  It is what He wants you know.  For us to seek Him.  For us to want a close relationship with Him that has us talking with Him throughout our days and nights like a good friend.  Because He is one.  The One.

Seeking God and a closer relationship with Him is what it is really all about.  We don't understand the mystery of it all....God is God and we are not, but we know He wants to communicate with us all throughout our days and nights.  He sent His son,  He sent Holy Spirit.  As we surrender to Him, stand firm on His promises, and let ourselves be embraced in His loving arms, we believe all will be well.  We trust Him.  We let Him fight for us.  We rely on Him.

Even in this difficult season of crawling on our hands and knees,  or maybe because of it, we seek Him more than ever, we trust Him in the storm.  As He teaches us humility and trust we lean on Him.  And at times, we rock the boat.

A 4 AM Wake Up Call!

It was seven years ago this week, in the early morning hours of January 24th that my sweet husband was completely, divinely, miraculously healed.  We had watched a evangelist from Colorado speak on healing the night before.  We don't agree with all this man teaches, but his words on God wanting us well resonated within and were Biblically sound. Joel went to bed that night speaking to Lyme Disease and commanding it die in Jesus name.  He woke at 4am, sat up in bed and said, "I am healed!".  (The affirmation that followed was not something he had ever desired......he spoke in tongues.  God blessed him right then and there with a prayer language.) 

Joel was healed instantly from Lyme and the co-infections Bartonella and Babesia.  He was healed of arthritis.  He was healed of thyroid disease.  The "Pre-parkinson's" symptoms he was experiencing completely left.  He eventually was healed from sleep apnea and recurrent corneal erosion of his eyes.  The fatigue left completely.  A doctor verified all these miraculous changes a couple of months later. He was healed by prayer.  Thank you Jesus!

Needless to say, this put us on a journey to my own healing from Lyme, Bartonella, Babesia, and Ehrlichia.  I was healed of thyroid disease and no longer needed meds after 27 years.  The MCS and CFS improved over a few months and then were gone.  My healing was not instant, but a process.Our journey continued as we studied the scriptures and read everything we could on healing.

We celebrate Joel's healing every year by sharing his story and giving GOD the glory.  We celebrate by sharing our beliefs that God does want us well.  Jesus still heals.  Miracles still exist. 

This year I have struggled some with finding the balance between Joel's and my healing and the cancer, kidney stones, and macular degeneration I battle now.  My experiences right now do not verify or change what we know to be true.  God is still our Healer.  Miracles still exist.  Jesus still heals and has given us the authority to command our mountains to move.  The scriptures tell us, "by His stripes we are healed."

And that is where the truth lies.  In God's Word.  In what we know to be true!  We have seen that truth manifested in the bodies of others we have prayed for.  Knees healed or improved.  COPD gone.  Allergic reaction to a wasp disappearing.  Back pain gone.  We continue to pray for my own body to heal............we continue to pray for others..........we continue to know that Jesus is the best physician while giving thanks for the physicians he has provided to care for us on earth. 

When I watch Joel ride his bike 20 miles.............when I watch him run up and down the stairs......when I watch him skipping with a look of pure joy on his face...........I give thanks.  I give thanks for the healing that took place in his Lyme ravaged body at 4 am on January 24th, 2012.  To God be all the glory!!

It Is Finished And Off

Today Joel sent his manuscript off to a publisher.  After years of work, months of revising, meetings with an editor/columnist who guided him in the process, and a lot of prayer, his book on his healing has been sent to a publisher.  It can take up to a few months for them to read and decide if they want to publish or not.  If they say no, he starts the process over again or self publishes.  We have no clue what is ahead, but out of obedience to God he moved forward to write, never thinking of himself as an author.  A preacher, yes, a teacher, yes, but a writer?  Not so much.  Yet God......

Joel's book is about his miraculous healing and what he has learned over the past 6 years regarding healing.  It is a story we want our family to remember for generations to come.  We both have taken quite a journey into the world of "God wants you well."  Joel's journey was amazing, as you who read my blog know.  He was healed in the middle of the night from 9 different conditions or diseases.  Doctor confirmed.  Thank you Jesus.

My journey to healing has not been an overnight miracle.  The Lyme and 3 co-infections died, the MCS is gone, the CFS does not control me any longer and an endocrinologist at Mayo told me I did not need thyroid medication after having been on it 27 years.  Yeah.  I had a long time large cyst disappear from my leg, and I have had energy return,, demonic spirits lifted off,. (Yeah, that is real.)  And I have survived three kinds of cancer thanks to the medical world. I keep fighting for complete and full healing because I believe that is what God wants for His kids.

I do have to say that this latest thing with my eye and the strobe lights has caused me to have major anxiety at times as I cope with the fireworks my eyes are producing in response to the retina issues.  There are times I have paused with weariness and wanted to give up.  And then I go back to what I know to be true.  What I have read in the pages of Joel's manuscript, what God's Word tells me.  And I cannot stop fighting.  Sometimes I rest, sometimes I weep, sometimes I rejoice in the circumstances,and I remember that God is faithful and He is good.  I remember that I am still here.  I remind myself that Jesus wants me to have abundant life and is with me.

Joel's story needs to be heard.  So does mine, which is why I have a chapter in the book too.    I know from experience that there are many who receive a miracle or partial healing and more who press in for the long haul to receive their healing. There is mystery and grace in it, and no answer to the whys of it all, but that does not change what God's Word says about healing.

We sent Joel's manuscript off on the Internet with a wing and a prayer today.  God often calls us to do the impossible.  I have heard it said if you can do what you are called to do on your own, you are not thinking big enough.  Joel could not have written this book without God's leading.  It is a new beginning for him and for that we are so grateful.    A new adventure with God in this season of His life.  We rejoice today ~ It is finished and off!

A Firestorm

Whiskeytown Lake

last fall

A few days ago I noticed on my Facebook feed that there was a forest fire near Redding California.  Redding is surrounded by mountains and sits in a desert valley in the northern part of the state.  It is the home of Bethel Church, a large charismatic prophetic church that in well known across the world.  Joel and I went there last fall for 10 days.  We spent 40 hours at the church engaging in a variety of worship and teaching activities.  I left a piece of my heart back in that church community.  We also got to know the city of 95,000 quite well enjoying some of their beautiful places like Whiskeytown  Lake and Mt. Shasta. 

Whiskeytown Lake

We learned very quickly that Whiskeytown and the surrounding Lake area had burned.  Overnight a fire that had consumed 6,000 acres was fueled by winds to consume 20,000 acres.  Just three days later 38,000 of the residents have had mandatory evacuations, with about half of the city escaping south on Interstate 5.  Everything in the city is covered in ash and smoke hides the sun.  As of Sunday morning, the fire now has consumed 89,000 acres and is only 5% contained. 

I am very aware that this is only one of many fires that are out of control in the West.  This one touches my heart in a special way.  I cannot imagine the trauma involved with some of the stories I have heard on Instagram or Facebook live.  The fire has created it's own weather pattern and some poeple only have a few minutes to get out of their homes before it came with a roar, a fire tornado,  and fierce attack, burning everything in it's path.  A firestorm.

Bethel Church is still in tact, and since the fire turned a different direction, it was able to hold worship services this morning.  We watched live on Facebook, their media center was blocked and in an evacuation zone so Bethel TV was not up and running.  They are putting their resources in with the shelters and Salvation Army, and are planning to help all individual church members who have lost their homes.  Today they worshiped and prayed with people.  Worship is a weapon of warfare and certainly this destructive fire is not from God.  It is the enemy that comes to steal, kill, and destroy.  Not God.  God comes to give us abundant life.  And prayer?  It is a powerful tool and wonderful way to connect with God. 

A firestorm.  Ever feel like you have one of those in your own life, made up of sickness or disease, financial difficulties, or loss, to name a few.  It can come like a firestorm, burning up everything in its path, Our problems can seem bigger than our God.  The only place to turn is to Jesus.  Jesus, our Savior, our Provider, our Healer, our Everything.  Sometimes all we can do is speak His name, remembering that there is power in His name.  Everything can look bleak, hopeless.  But Jesus.  Our circumstances overwhelm......but Jesus. 

Jesus has the answers for us in His Word.  His promises.  God never goes back on His promises.    We can find a promise for every circumstance.  Like the one Sean Bohls prophesied over Bethel and the city of Redding based on Romans 8:28  "All things work together for good for those who love the Lrod." 

Things look desolate in the Redding community, and the fire rages on.  Losing your home, your possessions, your sense of comfort and safety has to be extremely traumatic.  In the midst of the suffering is where Jesus comforts and sustains.   No matter what firestorm comes our way, we are never without our God.

God's People Packages

Recently during my quiet time, I visualized an angel handing me a shofar.  From what I understand, in the Old Testament a shofar was made from a ram's horn and was used for special occasions, for confusing the enemy, and for declaring God's goodness.  After I was handed a shofar I heard the words, "Declare the works of the Lord".   It is always a good idea to do what God instructs! so I am sharing a recent story of God's goodness today.

A couple of weeks ago at our group Bible Study a woman stated she wanted to pray for me.  She asked everyone to lay hands on me and they did.  She said the enemy was trying hard to stop me from doing the ministry God has for me.  She commanded weakness to leave, the devil to get lost, and asked Jesus for healing.  She then prayed for Joel telling him "it has been a trying time for you.  God has something new for you. He knows you need a purpose.  It is coming."  She new about the Vit. D toxicity but did not know about Joel's desire for a new purpose.  I did not see much change at that time but we were grateful for the prayers.  There is nothing like prayer to bring comfort to a situation.

The next week I shared I was going to Mayo for help with the Vit. D toxicity.  Later when most people were gone, she and a couple others lay hands on me again and prayed over my body, sharing words of knowledge from God.  She said to me, "Something is happening tomorrow, and you will know it.  You will know!"  I went home that night ready for a change.  The next day I felt better than I had in a long long time. As the days went on my energy returned and strength came back into my body.  I began walking again, 20 minutes at a time.  I feel the best now that I have felt since February when this whole D drama began.  So today I am declaring God's healing work in me and I am so grateful.  Thank you Jesus!

This woman who prayed for me is quite a character.  She comes from the deep south, and after decades in Iowa she still has quite an accent.  She was not always the easiest person for me to be around......until God opened my eyes.  And after she started sharing words from God with others and they were "spot on" I gained a high respect for her.  And when she prayed and my energy returned, I became more than grateful for her gifts she willingly shares.  She is a unique vessel blessed to be a blessing.

This is not the first time that God has used someone that I have "struggled with" to change my life.  There was a man a few years ago whom we met at church here in town.  I talked to God about him because he liked Joel so much,  and truthfully, he scared me.  Then one night after services he tells me he needs to come over to our house because God gave him a dream about us.  He also spoke about a ministry God had for me and he had many others words to share.  It was quite powerful.  Later after he left I asked God why he chose a burly biker guy like R. to share His plan for us.  God said, "You need to see my people the way I seem them."    Needless to say, I was humbled by this.

How often do we brush off what God is saying to us because we are not comfortable with the person who is sharing?  Or maybe we are not comfortable with what is being shared?

Do you ever ponder if God can use you?  Too often we see ourselves through our own eyes, and not God's.  He sees us as we are called to be, and as His kids, He loves us so deeply, seeing us at our best....expecting the best.....knowing what we can be even when we can't imagine it. He sees all His children through His Fatherly eyes.

God comes to us in so many different ways.  We get this idea of how He speaks to us or of who He uses to speak to us and if we get stuck there, we can miss so many blessings God has instore.  It is so important that we keep our hearts open to all that God has for us

I remember hearing a story about Bethel, when God began to bring big changes to that church.  One of the elders came to Pastor Bill Johnson and said, "I have to leave this church.  I know God is moving here.  I know that what is happening is from God, but it makes me uncomfortable and scared, and I just can't deal with it so I am leaving."  This man knew God was moving in the lives of Bethel members, but he walked away from it because it came in people packages he was not familiar or comfortable with.

I wonder how much we miss out on when we judge people by how they look or how they come across.  I just wonder how many of us would embrace Jesus if He came into our world today as a radical man speaking in parables, performing miracles of healing and multiplying food, and raising the dead.  Or casting out demons?  You can go online and see how such men and women are spoken of.  They are often "crucified" as false prophets or liars.  We look at them with a skeptical, critical mind, so would we do the same with Jesus?

I began this post writing about declaring God's goodness.  Sharing our testimonies, our stories with God, brings Him glory.  He likes that.  Today I am more than grateful for the healing that continues to come and I am grateful that God sees fit to let me see Him working through others like myself,  people who come in different packages.

Follow The Yellow Brick Road....

Yesterday we traveled northeast to see an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Mn.  My doctor here wanted me to see someone who understood Vit D toxicity better.  I expect if anyone knows how to deal in rare problems, it would be a place like Mayo.

I received a phone call from Mayo on Sunday morning ~ Mother's Day ~ to set up an appointment for me and they wanted me in right away so, after I protested that they were calling on a Sunday morning???  We scheduled for this week.  An hour before my appointment we arrived at the large building with enough people to fill a small town, and promptly ran into our daughter's sister-in-law who was working there that day!  Small world.  As we headed to the 3rd floor, and Desk 3D as instructed, they could not find me in the system.  Oh boy.  Nope.  Nada.  I was not listed as a patient and it turns out I was not even sent to the right location.  After a couple of phone calls they found out the doctor I was scheduled to see had just gone over to St. Mary's Hospital a couple of miles away so she would meet with me there.... We had already spent 20 minutes trying to find a parking space in a nearby ramp, so we went to get on a shuttle. After getting to St. Mary's we walked.....and walked.....and walked.....arriving at the right desk where we were escorted in to a hospital type doctor's office where we waited to see the endocrinologist.

Not the relaxing start I had envisioned.  The doctor was good and very informative.  It seems that they don't usually see patients with this level of Vit D unless they have been hospitalized for symptoms first.  My calcium levels are still in the normal range which is rare for the amount of Vit D in my body and blood.  She thinks the large quantity of water I drink every day along with salt water a few times a week have washed the calcium out of my blood and kept it from damaging my liver, kidneys or heart.  I am now on a low calcium diet , drinking water and salt water, and waiting for the D to go down.  According to her  it will take months.  But God.......

I am excited to share how God has been moving in the midst of this journey.

We like to talk with Holy Spirit and before we even knew about the Vit D we were asking Holy just what was needed for my body since the "flu" just was not going away.  Strange as it sounds, I was told to drink salt water.  Now in the past I have had low sodium which would cause a funky feeling and my Lyme doctor at the time had me drink salt water.  I don't eat processed food nor salt my food much so don't often get enough sodium.  We listened to God's guidance and I have been drinking salt water once a day or every other day and unbeknownst to us, it was getting rid of the calcium in my blood!  Only God.    When I look back on how the doctor decided to ck for LOW Vit D and did a full blood panel coming up with the toxicity and one "slightly off" liver test?  An answer to our prayer that if there was something going on, the doctor would find it. And helping rid my body of calcium building up in my blood?  I did not even know I had that, but God did and told me to drink salt water.

The symptoms of fatigue and weakness have continued to hang around, but this past Tuesday Joel felt the need to pray for a "spirit of weakness" to get off my body..........and I began to improve.  Tuesday night people in our group lay hands on me and a woman prayed over me, declaring somethings was going to change tomorrow. and I would know it.....and it did and I did.  For the first time in 3 months I felt close to normal.  Only God.

I just love how God intervenes in the lives of His children.  We cry for help and He answers.  I am still on the yellow brick road to recovery, but God has led the way, breaking off anything in the spirit realm, guiding the doctors, and answering our prayers.  He truly desires to help us.  We just need to keep following the yellow brick road.  It will lead us Home.

He Sent His Word

A few weeks ago I woke up at 4 a.m. to God saying, "You need to pray scriptures over Joel's body."  I shared this with Joel the next morning, but at the time he was doing fine and I am sorry to say we let it go by.  Until......

A few days later Joel asked me to pray for his hand.  It was really hurting and was very painful, even to touch.  I prayed and the pain increased.  I prayed again and it seemed to increase even more.  We continued to pray over it but right before bed Joel declared, "Tomorrow it will be gone!"  A few minutes later he asked me to look at his hand and I could see the thumb and palm area were really swollen.  What in the world?

The next morning his hand was back to normal, but by that night his hips hurt......and then his shoulder.  His hips hurt so bad he was coming downstairs in the middle of the night to sleep in the recliner.  We kept praying, but it was not until his shoulder became painful that I remembered what God had told me in the middle of the night.  "Pray scriptures over Joel's body".  So, we began to do so.  Morning and night we prayed.....'It is written........by His stripes we were healed. It is written.....Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own  understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.  Indeed, fear God and stay away from evil.  Then you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones."  It is written....... It is written.......

I continued to pray several scriptures regarding healing and the power of the Word over Joel and he joined in. Morning and evening we prayed over his body as God had instructed.   As of now the pain in his shoulder is 90% gone and his hips have improved greatly too.  The hand is good.  We are praising God while continuing to speak scriptures.

According to the Bible, God's Word is living and powerful, sharper than "any two edge sword".  We read in Deuteronomy,  "He (God) sent His Word and healed them and delivered them from the pit."  His Word.  So powerful.  How great is that?!

                        

Jesus used scriptures to come against the enemy when He was tempted in the wilderness.  "It is written" is how he responded to every temptation.  He knew God's Word is powerful and He set an example for us when the enemy comes to "kill, steal, and destroy."

One of my favorite verses that speaks to the power of God's Word is found in Proverbs 4: 20-23

"My child, pay attention to what I say.  

Don't lose sight of my words, 

let them penetrate deep into your heart.  

For they bring life to those who find them 

and healing to all their flesh.  

Above all I else guard your heart 

for everything you do flows from it."

I just love that God, the Creator of everything including words, chooses to impregnate His scriptures with power and healing.  And I love it that God expands our own faith in Him by asking us to step out in obedience and pray in new ways.  Remembering, there is power in His Words.

We Are The Storm

To use an old quote........March is coming in like a lion this year....I hope that means it will leave like a lamb!  We started yesterday with rain, then sleet, corn snow, and then snow with high winds adding to the mix.  All the snow that left with our 50 degree weekend weather, has been replaced by a few inches of the white stuff today. Ugh!  It is really pretty to look at the trees and bushes dressed in winter white, but still.....ugh!  Let winter be gone..........come Spring, come!

We also have birthdays that come in March.  Our daughter, our daughter-in-law,  and myself.  My birthday will be coming in like a lion for me ~~ 70.  Seriously.  When did I get that old?  And how?  Only by the grace of God.  To have a child close to 50 and finding myself facing my seventh decade is a bit sobering.

Recently we heard a story about a man who came to visit a place he used to work.  He drove up and got out of his car, a little unsteady on his feet.  He walked around inside the place he had worked in the 50's and reminisced about his life then.  People gathered to hear his story.  Someone offered to walk him back to his car, thinking this 80 plus year old guy may like having someone to lean on.  He said he would like the company and then shared how old he was.  He was 102 years old!  Still on the move! (And still driving?)

When I turned 60 it was a big deal for us.  Truth be told, not many people believed I would live to be 60.  Lyme was sucking the life right out of me.  And then healing came.  Joel keeps telling me we are going to live another 30 years.  I am not so sure I want to, but don't tell him that!  He has great plans for a long life, and we should have plans and dreams.  That is what keeps us going.  How old was Moses when he did his best work for God?  Over 80 I believe.  Yeah.......

I remember when I lost a college friend.  I had roomed with her our first year, and lived with her a couple weeks while working in Minneapolis.  Shortly after that she was killed in a car accident.  The same thing happened with another woman we knew from Bible college.  And another friend died in her early 30's from severe diabetes.  Cancer claimed a few others over the years.  So, I guess what I am saying is how blessed I am to celebrate 70.  Nearly 3 decades of Lyme, and three different kinds of cancer have not ended my life.  I. am. still. here.  So are you!  Life is worth celebrating!  Every minute of it.  So on the first day of Spring I will be dancing a happy dance and rejoicing at 70!

Sometimes it is hard to hang on to that when storms come into our lives.  Just like the snow storm we had yesterday, the winds blow, visibility is low, and there is nothing we can do but stay safe in our homes.  A storm of sickness, disease, or tragedy can do the same.......and we find there is nothing we can do but stay safe and secure in our Father's arms.   I found a wonderful image yesterday that gave me pause and helped remind me that when the enemy comes against us, and he will.......we need to remind him that we not only can stand strong in the storm with Jesus but that we ARE the storm!

Seventy is going to be an awesome year!  I'm so grateful to be here to celebrate and live it.  And if Satan whispers lies to me,  I will remind him that this soon-to-be-70 year old woman is the storm. Celebrate your life today.  You may be walking in divine health, you may be battling disease, or like so many laid up with a nasty winter virus that won't let go.  Wherever you find yourself, celebrate!  Sometimes life comes like this March ~ as a storm....but then the Lamb comes and we remember with Jesus we are the storm!  So grateful. 

What Is Normal?

About 4 weeks after my first eye shot for a vessel leaking in the left eye, my vision went "wonky".  Reading was difficult because with that eye the sentences were wavy....and vertical lines were too.  Also, looking with my left eye, faces were distorted and vision was low. My right eye was having trouble tracking with this change.

Can I just say, this was so not okay?!  I was trying to stay in peace but was tossed about on a sea of emotions. I called the eye specialist on Monday morning and saw the retina doctor yesterday afternoon.  Side note:  When did doctors start looking like they are 12 years old to me??

After I was examined, I was told everything looked "normal".  No bleeding, no real swelling.  Probably just fluid from the leaking vessel that moved and caused these problems.  "Normal".  Seriously? He wanted me to accept that this is normal?  Maybe in his world, but not in mine.  It is difficult enough to be the youngest by far of anyone waiting to take their turns with tests, exams, and injections.  Younger most likely because of the damage from that $#%&@ Lyme.  I get that, and there was some relief to hear that even though symptoms are worse, damage isn't, but I don't think I will ever accept that this is normal. 

I don't like this one bit, and refuse to partner with the word, "normal" when dealing with this condition, but I am grateful right now for the medical help. I never forget, though, that my true Helper goes by the title Papa.....Daddy.....Father. When I was talking to God about it all, He blessed me via Facebook, with words from Brian Simmons of The Passion Translation.  Words that fit so well, I tucked them into my heart along with the promises God has placed on my life.

"What you call delay, God call's preparation.  Many times God is at work behind the scenes, yet you cannot discern it.  God is preparing others so that your destiny may be fulfilled and God is preparing you even as He prepared Joseph for his season of promotion.  Never judge God's works by what your eyes see but by the promises He has made to you.  He will fulfill His word, and your eyes will see the miracles of His hand."

Here is what I consider normal.......bringing your needs to God.  Speaking to your "mountains" with the authority Jesus has given us.  Letting Holy Spirit guide us in all areas of our lives.  God is so good to grace us with just what we need.  And He is so good to remind us of His promises.  His Word sets the normal setting for us in life. 

Miracles ahead!  I look forward to miracles being the norm.   We won't need them in Heaven, everything is perfect there, but when His Kingdom comes on earth as it is in Heaven?  When we do as he commanded...."Heal the sick....cast out demons....." ?  When miracles and healing are part of our churches, homes, communities?  Yeah......I look forward to that kind of normal.  Meanwhile, I stand on His promises and rejoice in the miracles we do see. I don't know how a person lives without our Papa God to depend on.  So grateful. 

A New Day In a New Year

I have been pretty excited this year to celebrate Joel's early morning wake up miracle.  I am not sure why, except that it is still over the top amazing for me to think about.  In our research on healing through prayer, about 1/3 of the people who are healed have it happen instantly.  The other 2/3 of the people heal through a process.  We have described Joel's healing as a microwave healing, where as mine was and continues to be more of a slow cooker type.  :)

Joel prayed for the Lyme, Bartonella, and Babesia to die.............and it did.............but along with that His body had a complete overhaul when other conditions I mentioned also left his body.  He did not have to slowly build up energy....it was just there.  Bam!  Before his healing, he could not ride his bike at all....but after his healing he could ride 10 miles and rides 20 miles at a time now.  His muscles healed immediately too.  We just cannot give enough thanks to God for this.  Joel spoke to his mountain just like Jesus tells us to in scripture, and the mountain fell right into "the sea".  The impossible made possible because Jesus paid the price on the cross.

It is hard to wrap our brains around, isn't it.  I can remember when Joel shared his story with a few colleagues and then a few months later ran into one who asked him...."Are you still in remission?  Are you still feeling better?"  Joel's reply?  "NO I am not in remission.  I am healed and I feel great!"

Joel and I have done a great deal of research on healing since this journey began.  We have talked with and observed people healed immediately or some getting better. pain leaving, energy returning.  A great thing to be a part of.  We have had disappointment too, but we cannot let negative experiences sway us now from what we believe to be true.

Our book shelves hold around 40 books on healing and Holy Spirit.  We have watched endless teachings and conferences and we have spent many hours in scripture and prayer on the subject because we have so much to learn.  We know that God placed us on this journey and we want to keep moving forward, being open to all He has for us.

So today is the first day into yet another new year of new beginnings.  Our lives have been defined  by B/H and A/H.  Before healing and After healing.  Ok, I admit, that is a bit drastic, but we know we can never go back to what our life was before God showed us His healing power and the gifts of Holy Spirit.  We stepped into a spiritual realm that only makes us seek more of Him and His love.  We are so grateful.  So grateful.

Six Years Of Celebrating

Six years.  It has been six years since Joel woke up at 4 am, sat up in bed and said, "I am healed."  A miracle had manifest itself in every part of his body.  He was healed of Lyme Disease, and the co-infections Bartonella and Babesia.  He was healed of Sleep Apnea, Thyroid Disease, Recurrent Corneal Erosion, Arthritis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Gluten Intolerance, and something our doctor called Pre-Parkinson's.  God did a complete overhaul of Joel's body.  And the confirmation of his healing was something he never expected.....he spoke in tongues.

Joel went to bed on January 23rd and prayed in a way he never had before.  He spoke to the sicknesses, commanding them to be gone.  He addressed the Lyme and co-infections and told them that they had no authority to be in his body, they needed to die and leave his body immediately.  Then he lay down and went to sleep.  He woke at 4 am healed.

After being on disability for 3 years, spending 9 hours a night sleeping and and 4 hrs a day napping, unable to physically exert himself nor work full time, he was able to work, go back to regular sleeping hours, walk an hour at a time, and ride his bike again.  It was an amazing over the top miracle that could have only come through God.

He went to his eye doctor and was told that what a doctor had called his "80" year old eyes (from an eye disease) were now the eyes of a "50 year old"!  Our Lyme doctor tested and examined him and could find nothing of Lyme or other diseases and conditions left in his body.  Even the arthritis bumps on his joints were all gone.  He was healed.

He has told his testimony as often as he feels led to do so.  Why?  Because only God could do this.  It was His miracle and we need to give him the glory.  Because Joel (and I)  believes that God wants us all well and he is one example of what God does.  We celebrate every year, the reminder of God's goodness for His children.  It is a reminder to us of the healing we have seen in Joel and myself and it brings hope for the healing that is to come.

The past six years have been quite a journey for us with healing and Holy Spirit.  We are so grateful.

If God Said It!

If God said it, then that settles it.  Reading these words in the book, "Stronger Than The Battle" by Havilah Cunnington, affirmed what God had been patiently reminding me yet again about His promises for healing.

Let me explain here.  Most of you have followed my health journey with breast cancer.  The surgery, radiation, and recovery from the latter took a long time.  Our move to Arizona was put on hold to be re-evaluated.  The cataract surgeries added to the mix.  The next year were two surgeries for malignant melanoma followed a few months later by a diagnosis of Lichen Sclerosis.  Honestly, it brought me to my knees.  Then in December my vision suddenly became distorted, and a quickly scheduled trip to a retina specialist had me going through a battery of tests to get a diagnosis of wet Maculer Degeneration.  I had my first eye shot on December 29th.  This last medical earthquake literally put me under the covers in bed, weeping.  Just being honest here.

In that moment in time I came to the end of my ability to keep fighting.   Exhausted and weary I fell asleep on December 26th asking God to somehow let me know that what we believed about healing was His truth.  Did you really say "by His stripes you are healed?"  Did you really promise to "give me back my health and heal my wounds?  Havilah explained my doubts with God very well in her book when she said,

"The enemy will always try to change 

God's periods into question marks"

Havilah Cunnington

I fell asleep that night and did not have my usual chaotic, intense dreams that have plagued me for years.  I had a dream that I was in a house in Redding CA.  Brian Johnson, musician and son to Bethel's father of the house, Pastor Bill Johnson, was laying on a sofa sleeping.  I went over and put a blanket on him just as a mom would.  Then Bill Johnson came up beside me and said, "Let's go walk together."

We then went outside and walked the city streets for a very long time, as he chatted to me and I mostly listened.  I woke up at 4 am from this vivid dream and knew that God was speaking to me.  Pastor Bill Johnson believes "by His stripes we are healed." I thanked him for answering my prayers so quickly, and for reminding me that what we believe about healing is the truth found in God's Word.  My experiences do not change the truth that God wants us well.  

A week later while I was reading Havilah's book I read, "If God said it, that settles it."  She went on to write about how exhausted we become when we fight our battles from a defensive position.  In a defensive mode our goal to is protect ourselves.  It is a place where we fight is response to fear.  Well, I certainly have responded in fear to what has been going on in my body and our world.  Reacting is not wrong, it is the way we were created, but if we continually respond and live on high alert, it is damaging to our bodies.  She explained that it is so much better to respond to our struggles from what she describes as a discovery mode.  A discovery mode means that we resist the enemy  but we do so from a place of knowing that if God said it, that settles it.  We have an assurance that we have all we need inside of us ~ that same power that raised Jesus from the dead who gives us the victory.  We have already won our battles because if God said it, that settles it.  We do not respond from a place of fear, because we know we are called to a place of victory.

Throughout all the medical garbage I have gone through, the 27 years of Lyme, the three diagnoses with cancer, the eyes, the skin.  Through it all I have never walked alone.  God has always been there for me.  I get that.  In the past nearly 6 years Joel and I have learned there is so much more that God wants to give us.  So much more of Him, of His purpose, of His healing.  My dream about Bill Johnson, who believes as we believe, was a gift from God to affirm that no matter my experiences, this is the journey we are on.  This is the truth He wants us to share.  Healing is from God, and it is available to all who believe and use the authority given to us by Holy Spirit who lives in us.  God's Word speaks of healing, Jesus healed ALL who came to Him, and He told us to go out and "Heal the sick, cast our demons, cleanse the lepers and raise the dead."  (Matt. 10)

It is coming up on the 6th anniversary of Joel's miraculous 4 am healing, so my writings will focus on that amazing time in our lives.  My words I am focusing on this year are "so grateful", so with that in mind I am grateful today for the healing that has taken place in my body and Joel's.   I am so grateful for the Word that teaches us about healing and salvation. I am so grateful for the close relationship Papa God wants with us.   I am so grateful for the dream He gave me.  I am so grateful for Havilah Cunnington's words written in her book that have affirmed for me............"If God said it, that settles it!"  No matter my experiences, no matter the battles I face, we all face, God's Word and His promises hold the answers for us.  If God said it?  That settles it!

Prisoners of Hope

God has been sending this verse my way the past week........first in Katie Davis Majors book, "Daring To Hope", then Chris Gore's book, "Walking in Supernatural Healing Power", and then through devotionals. I have a tendency to read more than one book at a time, and so picking up both these books in one day and finding myself "coincidentally" reading chapters with the same title ~ Prisoners of Hope~ ?  Hello God!

Prisoners of hope. It is where we need to position ourselves as stated in 2 Chronicles.  "Position yourself, stand firm, and let God fight for you".  Yeah. This verse in Zechariah is a promise I am holding tight to.

Last night we received a phone call from a long time friend, Vic.  We went to The Lutheran Bible Institute together.  His wife  Arlene and I were roommates our first year along with two others......four of us sharing a big dorm room, and she was my personal attendant at our wedding.  We have a history.  They called to tell us that another man we went to college with was having brain surgery today after fighting a spreading malignant melanoma for 2 years.  They had found 2 tumors in his brain.  The last time we saw this man and his wife was at Luther Seminary in 1974, where he was taking classes.  We went to visit them there and came away from the weekend with the desire to get an "early out" from the Air Force and head to the Sem.  God had other plans, though, and we went to the Philippines for 2 years.  A move by God and the Air Force that completely changed and blessed our lives.

After a brief visit with Vic on the phone, we hung up, looked at each other, and prayed.  There is so much sickness in our broken world.  At our age, you hear more and more about others who are in need of prayers, and we needed to position ourselves in prayer.

Another man, a retired pastor and good friend, sent us a group email a few days ago, letting us know that his wife did well with the radiation she has needed to battle an aggressive cancer that returned after one year.  She will have surgery early in November to remove the tumor in her belly, and may not need the scheduled chemo after.  He asked for continued prayers as they can see the results of those prayers.

Prisoners of hope.  That is where we position ourselves as followers of Jesus.  That is where we stand firm ~ in the promises of God's Word.  There are times we fight hard, there are times we rest, and there times we let God fight for us.   But in the midst of any difficulty, we remember all God has done for us.  We remember all He promises, and we declare we are prisoners of hope.  Held captive by Love manifest.  Held captive by Jesus and the assurance that He wants to restore us double portions. Double for our trouble.....and there is this troubled world we live in.

As I have stated often, we believe fully that God wants us well.  That Jesus died for our salvation....wholeness from sin and sickness that He paid the price for over 2,000 years ago.  It is finished.  With Holy Spirit in us we have the authority and power to pray, and it is from that position that we do pray.  Prayer is a powerful weapon of God.  It moves mountains. 

Our friends have mountains in their lives right now.  Because we live in a broken world, the enemy uses sickness and disease to kill, steal, and destroy.  God uses prayer, the medical and natural world, and His Son to heal, build up, and restore.  We say, "Come Lord Jesus."  Because God loves us and never comes to kill, steal, or destroy,  we remain prisoners of hope.  And in that hope, THE HOPE, we embrace His promises and we pray.

Use It For Something Good

This past week the Harvey Weinstein story has exploded onto the front page of every source of media.  As it should.  It has been a long time coming and it blows my mind that he got away with doing the same thing over and over again to young and often vulnerable women ~ for decades.  The number of women affected by his behavior seems to be endless.

The "Me Too" movement that came from this is the "rest of the story"!  The movement actually originated several years ago with a young woman named Tara Burke who was a survivor of abuse and wanted to call attention to the fact of how limited the resources were to heal in underprivileged communities.  Alyssa Milano re-ignited it when she used the "Me Too" hashtag to give women a way to speak out after the Weinstein story broke.  For those willing to share on public media that they too endured sexual harassment and/or assault, bless your courage.  For those who have silently proclaimed their own "me too", bless your courage, too.  Not everyone has to speak out.

If you read my blog often, you know I am part of the millions who have gone through sexual misconduct.  I was abused as a young child by two different males at different times.  I also was sexually harassed verbally and physically by a peer for throughout middle school, and at 16 WAS molested in an elevator at a Lutheran youth convention, no less.  Unfortunately, my story runs parallel to so many others.

For me going through Sozo inner healing ministry to have Holy Spirit led counseling has released me from the trauma and the fears that were the result of the abuse.  Together Jesus and I walked through facing the fears, forgiving those involved, and receiving the healing needed. It was not always easy, but it was powerful.  That is the "rest of my story".  Jesus wants us whole and healthy ~ body, soul and spirit.

I expect that the many many women speaking out are making an impact on our world.  It is certainly my prayer.  As they speak out against the predators they are taking back their power, and giving courage to future generations to stand against such behaviors. 

Once a woman reader of my blog asked me "where was God" when I was being abused..........I told that I believed Jesus was with me, tears flowing down His loving face mixing with my own.  I have asked Him to use those experiences, just like the diseases I have battled, for something good.  Work all things out for good, Papa.  It is never His plan for His children to suffer, but we have been given a free will and at times that free will listens to the dark side and bad things happen to innocent people.  In this "Me Too" time of speaking out, use it for something good, Papa God. Be a part of "the rest of their story".  Use it for something good!

Fine Tuning Our Focus

For the last several months we have driven down a busy street in our "micropolitan" city, passing by a confederate flag flying high on a flag pole in the front yard of a small house.  It seems out of place up here in the upper Midwest.  We don't know who lives in the house, and are not curious to find out.  Sometimes we pray for whoever lives there....other times we pass by in silence.  Just kitty-corner across the street is a church.  An apostolic church where many of the faces inside on Sunday morning are not white.  These are black Christians who would deeply feel the historic significance of this banner waving their way.  Sobering.  Especially after the past couple of weeks.  Sobering.

This week a good friend of our oldest and her family grieves the loss of two fellow police officers in his department in Florida.  I watched a TV video yesterday of this man washing and sweeping the blood off the street where the police officers were ambushed.  Washing the blood of his good friend off the street.  A symbol of deep compassion, solidarity and respect.  A family of blue coming together to grieve the loss of two of their own who were called to serve and protect.  Our son in blue has experienced this kind of loss just last year in the department he works for.  It is all so sad.   Sobering.

Just a couple of days ago I was reading author and speaker Ann Voskamp's blog where she shared that she is in the midst of recovering from what was a minor surgery and quickly evolved into the beginning of heart failure. A shocking "suddenly" that turned their world upside down.  Sobering.

Ann's story brought me to that of my sister's.  A little over three weeks ago she had a heart attack and ended up having 6 bypasses.  She is a walking miracle.  We just went up to spend a day and night with her as the siblings take turns keeping her company this week. The doctor said she will experience 1% improvement a day ......6 months will bring full recovery.   She is doing so well, but the scars are vivid reminders of all she has gone through.  It is all sobering.

When life throws such circumstances our way it is so very hard not to focus on the hate....or the horror.....the shock...or the trauma.  So darn hard to walk through the valley of the shadow, but we never walk alone.  Never.  It is important to keep our focus on the truth the Word holds for us.  We don't deny what is going on, but we don't empower it either.  We need to fine tune our focus.  We choose to empower what we know about our Lord, what He promises. The sobering events may leave us wounded and in pain, but God is still with us.  God is still faithful in our broken world.  He weeps with us, He walks with us, He listens, He reminds us Who He is.  The Lord who provides........protects.........sees.........heals.............fights for us. Yeah, that is who God is.

"He gives us beauty for ashes

the oil of joy for mourning

the garment of praise 

for the spirit of heaviness."

Isaiah 61:3

Defining Normal

Joel and I are reading aloud the book, "The Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind" by Pastor Bill Johnson.  It has given us a new perspective on the definition of "normal Christianity".  Always love the way God opens our eyes to more of Him.

I remember when we told a friend about our adventure in healing and speaking in tongues.  My friend's hubby replied...'Well, that is just a little to the right of crazy, isn't it."  It was just not normal in his mind.  We had a good chuckle over that and have used the term ourselves....cuz we have observed things that made us feel that same way.   What is normal to one is not necessarily normal to another!

Have you heard of the book, "Hillbilly Eulogy"  by J.D. Vance? I had to be put on a waiting list to get the book from our local library.  As I read into the book, I found it  not to my liking so I did not finish it.  I did think about Vance growing up in a hillbilly culture, though, and how our environment defines what is normal and familiar for us, at least until we observe something different.

Normal:  it used to describe a setting on our clothes dryers .........until computers and sensors made our washer and dryers into amazing machines.  Remember when it was normal to have a phone attached to the wall, when you had to get up to turn the TV channel?  Back in the day,  no one could comprehend soaring through the air.  I am sure that many thought the Wright brothers were just a little to the right of crazy!  And maybe they were.  Stepping out of the box moves us forward!

Lets look at our bodies.  When I was so very ill, walking across the room or up the stairs was exhausting for me.  My body adjusted and pretty much was comfortable with being so sick.  Then I was healed of Lyme and I started to walk....5 minutes...  10 minutes was a major milestone for me. The body had to be coaxed back to life.  Exercising then became normal to the point where if I don't walk daily I feel sluggish and out of sorts.   My body's perspective of normal has shifted.  It is still a work in progress, but walking is normal now.  Thank God.

So all this to contemplate that what Jesus commands in the Bible..........GO preach the gospel, heal the sick, cast out demons, raise the dead, speak in new tongues................I am thinking that these commands from Jesus are to be followed and defined as normal Christianity.  The supernatural power of God for us is normal.  It is food for thought.  Bringing the kingdom to earth....."They kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven".  Yeah.  On earth.  Wouldn't it be amazing if we saw the works of Jesus come through us..........remember He lives IN us..........remember He said we would do greater things than He did with Holy Spirit in us.....Normal Christianity.  Wow.  Just sayin'