365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 189

I was very much taken with this message within our sermon yesterday: “God’s main goal in this life is to bring wholeness.” One of the main points in my studies on temperament theory is how we are triune beings with a body, soul and spirit and we were designed to be in relationship with God. Our pastor made a good point in saying that many people hearing this message today will think it a slap in the face because they have been praying for healing for themselves or another and it hasn’t happened or didn’t happen and died. The ways and plans of God are beyond our understanding but I thought it was great that our pastor took the risk stating the truth. We are not just made up of our physical bodies. If our soul and spirit are not healthy and aligned with God, than we are sick. Jesus came to heal the sick not just physically but especially spiritually. People will often put all their focus on the physical and not on the soul or spirit. It is important to feed your spirit and bring wisdom to your soul if you want to be in balance and whole.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 69

I know a young lady at my work who is suffering from chronic migraines. She told me she has had them since she was 12 years old. They have gotten worse in the last month and it seems almost anything she eats triggers one. She’s been to doctors and tried acupuncture but so far nothing is helping. As I talked with her about this I wanted her to know that despite the pain she is loved by an awesome God. God lead me to the story of the woman who has been bleeding for many years who came up to him in a crowd just wanting to touch any part of him. She touched the edge of his cloak and was healed. The pain and troubles we go through in life are used by God to mold us, change us and lead us to Him. If it is God’s will my young friend will be healed but in the meantime I have to let God use me to guide her towards him. So, I pray for the fruits of the Spirit to be filled up within me that the hope that is in Christ will be shown to her.

Mark 5:25-34 A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” You see the people crowding against you, his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’” But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and trembling with fear told him the whold truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 53

This verse in Luke had me imagining all the angels and people that have gone to Heaven up there just cheering super loud and enthusiastically like the Broncos at a football game. The Broncos go nuts when a touchdown happens. Heaven is rejoicing in the biggest way possible every time a lost soul is redeemed. I just smile when I think that they were up there cheering mightily the day I sought forgiveness for my secret sins and accepted that I truly needed God. The truth is we all need God but like I was blind to the truth, others are having that same struggle with their need for God that they probably don’t even realize is there and their desire to do it themselves. I was this way last evening going through my mind what possible solution can I come up with to do my new task at work without it creating pain in my shoulder which is slowing the progress of healing. I finally sought refuge with my one and only who will help me. “Okay stop analyzing it to death and give it to the Lord”, I told myself. I asked the Lord to figure this out for me and than I went peacefully off to sleep. Just because I am a believer in Jesus Christ does not stop the evil one from using whatever he can to keep me from the Lord, including my own God-given temperament. I am an analyzer which has kept me awake on many nights. It can be a weakness in my temperament when I let it keep me from going to God. But the truth set me free again. I don’t know that the cheering in Heaven is as loud as when I first acknowledge Jesus as my savior but I am sure that God was smiling.

Luke 15:7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 320

Lord, I am singing your praises today for the miracle you have given us in the healing of Navah. This 4-year-old girl has been suffering with tumors up and down her spine for the last year or so. I recently got news that the cancer came back and even worse and that they didn’t think she had long to live. Yesterday, my co-worker who is friends with Navah’s family came rushing into see me at my desk saying “I just want to hug you”. She gave me the news that all of the tumors are gone! Lord we thank you for this miracle with this little girl. We pray that she will continue to live and thrive and that her story will be a testimony to how mighty you are.

1Corinthians 6:14 And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.

 

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 298

I didn't sleep so well last night. May be partly hormonal but is also because my shoulders and a pain in my ankle towards the top of my foot woke me up too. I have been researching the possiblity of arthritis being what is happening to me. My joints have been recently cracking and popping a lot so I started researching and determined its either osteoarthritis or rhematoid arthritis. I am going to keep a log of all my symptoms for two week and see what that may tell and of course will pray for the Lord's healing and guidance. I don't think they mentioned arthritis at my shoulder doctor, just tendonitis but I do know I have some osteoarthritis from my sternal-cavical joint seperation when I fell back in 2009. It has recently been acting up as well? It's a mystery! I do love to try solving mysteries and am resourceful but working with a not-so-great night sleep has effected my brain this morning. So, let me just praise God for waking up to a new day and pray this new day will bring all that I with the Lord's help can bring it.

Jeremiah 17:14 Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 267

We had an unfortunate accident in kitchen last night involving my daughter. I was busy cutting up the grilled meat so my hubbie was helping my daughter with her Top Ramen, a staple of a picky eater. My back was turned so I didn't see it happen but felt and heard it. Somehow as he was attempting to pour out some of the hot water from the Top Ramen into the sink the accident happened and hot water came out unexpectedly and poured on my daughter's hand and stomach. I immediately turned, ascertained what happend, grabbed her hand and put it under cold running water. Thankfully her shirt protected her stomach from the brunt of it but she did have a Texas-sized redness on her tummy. I applied a cold wash cloth to it to bring out the heat. She was crying and crying and crying and although it didn't appear to need to be an emergency room visit, I knew I was going to have to get her mind off it so I served her ice cream for dinner and asked my hubbie to find something to watch on TV to distract her. With some ice on her hand, the ice cream and watching the new Hotel Hell with Gordon Ramsey she finally calmed down. It was still stinging when we put her to bed so she ended up in my bed and dad got booted out to the guest room. We prayed our nightly bedtime prayers and I especially prayed for healing of her hand overnight as she slept. At around 5:30am she woke briefly and said "my hand feels better" and I replied simply "Thank you God". It could have been so much worse I had told her as I was consoling her the night before. It could have been on your face. "Oh yeah that would be a lot worse" she said. The Texas-sized redness on her tummy came down to a Hawaii-sized redness within an hour and we had fun joking about. Dad said maybe it should have gone down to Oklahoma-sized first but Faith liked the Hawaii size. I am praising God for just giving me the guidance on what to do without even having to stop to ask. Thank you Lord for healing up her hand and tummy.

John 15:7 “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 228

Unfortunately my shoulders have gone from bad to worse so I am going to have to make this short and sweet. Despite the pain, sorrows and sadness that life will bring us is the joy of the little things like a child's laugh. They said on the radio yesterday that laughter was said to be the thing that helped people live longer lives. I think we have to intentionally go out and seek laughter. It can be as simple as being a coach potato and watching a good sit-com or going out on the town and hitting a comedy club. Being with people seems to be a major key to laughter. Play games, go on adventures and keep searching for the fun of life.

Proverbs 17:22

 A cheerful heart is good medicine,
but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.

**Check out this to learn more about laughter and healing.  http://www.faithandhealthconnection.org/laughter-and-having-fun-is-good-for-our-health-weekly-health-scripture-proverbs-1722/

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 63

It's funny how my praise come back to the same thing again and again. People. This time I am praising God for those people in our lives that are there to help us like our dentist and doctors. These are people that do care about keeping you health or getting you back to being healthy. I felt that yesterday at the dentist. It's like your mom or dad is there but you don't take the advise as nagging like you did with mom. So, while I am not ready to go out and buy an expensive electric toothbrush as suggested, I do think I can beef up my toothbrushing skills and time. So thank you God for those people that you put into our lives that provide the right kind of advise at the right moment that will get you motivated to change something for the better and bring the healing that you may need.
Proverbs 12:18 Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 37

My shoulder is feeling like 80% better! I have been praying for healing and guidance on what to do about it. I was going to go to my acunpunturist but when I was doing my research on surgery options I found that there may be natural options that need more exploring. In this research, I saw the word MSM which is a natural substance that I have used before when I had the injury to my sternal-clavical joint in Oct 2010. I stopped taking it because I was doing the powder form and it can taste extremely nasty and my shoulder issue back than had healed. So I took a quick trip to the healthfood store and picked it up in pill form because thanks to a networking buddy of mine I have learned how to swallow pills without the gag reflex issue. I was feeling about 45% better yesterday with just taking the one pill and after a full days worth of it, I actually turned on my left side early this morning in bed and it didn't start throbbing as usual! So, I am so thanking and praising God for this miracle of mine. It may not be a big thing like raising someone from the dead but when you have a low tolerance for pain like me, it's HUGE! So, I am praying it continues to feel better and will give all the glory to God.
Proverbs 15:30 A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones.