Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9
Joshua 1:9
Billie, a pilot, was on his way home when his plane started experiencing difficulties within sight of the airport. As the plane crashed through the trees, he did not believe that he would make it. When he regained consciousness, he was able to find his cell phone and dial 911. After almost an hour, rescue workers were able to cut their way through the dense woods to his plane. He was flown to the hospital where doctors discovered that his head and face had sustained several fractures, one eye was swollen shut, his brain was swelling and his back had been broken in four places. When his daughter arrived, she could tell that her father needed God’s healing. She wanted him to not just be alive, but to be okay and to be able to continue his active lifestyle. He received amazing prayer support from a number of people. When his pastor prayed for his eye to be healed, his eye that was swollen shut, almost immediately opened. When told that he would need surgery performed on his back the next day, he told the doctor that he did not want surgery and that God would heal him. When he asked for a second opinion, his doctor decided to perform an MRI before the surgery. That would be the second opinion he had asked for. That night, eight thousand people joined a Zoom prayer meeting that had been organised for him. When the doctor looked at the results of the MRI the next day, his back was showing signs of healing. The doctor believed that the first results had probably been wrong but Billie emphatically told him that God had healed him. He did not need surgery after all. By the end of the week, the swelling in his brain had subsided and Billie was released to go home to begin physical therapy. Today, Billie is fully healed and back to his active lifestyle. He believes that Satan had plans to kill, steal and destroy the day of the accident but that God had decided that He would instead give him life and life more abundantly. I love the conclusion that Billie comes to at the end of his testimony. Satan had plans to kill, steal and destroy that day. We know that’s the enemy’s agenda but we also know that God has the final say. When you look at the number of miracles God performed for him in almost rapid succession, God certainly seemed to choose to thwart Satan’s efforts every step of the way. Even as you see Billie now in his recovered state, it is hard to imagine that he had ever been in an accident. Billie was confident about what his God could and would do. He realised that the devil had a plan but that God’s purpose for his life prevailed over any plans the enemy had for him. I don’t know what the enemy has tried to steal, kill and destroy in your life but you do. Yet, in spite of the enemy’s efforts, you are still standing - maybe barely - because of what God has done for you. God could have allowed the devil to destroy you but He has not. For some of you, even now, it may feel as if the enemy is going to win, but he will not! God has the final say, not the devil! The reality is that Jesus came so that you might have life, and life more abundantly. Not just a barely able to make it kind of life, but an abundant life in Christ. God wasn’t finished with Billie and God is not finished with you. Your times are still in God’s hands and if you would just trust Him and focus on Him instead of on the situation you can see and feel, you will realise how blessed, how loved, how covered you are by your God. So, be encouraged! If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. The devil will always have a plan and desire to mess things up. But, God’s plan will always have the power and authority to spoil anything the enemy sends your way.
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…if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move and nothing will be impossible for you. (Matthew 17:20 NKJV) Seanna was feeling as if something was wrong. She went to the ER twice but was sent home with medication. Later on in the afternoon, she collapsed. She had suffered a stroke. The entire left side of her body was paralysed. She ended up in a wheelchair with limited mobility. She was told that she would probably see no improvement for the next two years. She became angry not willing to accept what she had been told. In spite of her anger, she held on to a mustard seed of faith. Two months later, she and her family were at church. The pastor was asked to pray for her. During the prayer, her hand which had been clenched, began to open up and she was able to move her fingers. She was even able to come out of her wheelchair. Later on in the service, she was called up to the front. As the pastor explained her experience to the congregation while she stood there, she felt a tingle rise from her feet to the top of her head at which point it became so hot, it felt as if the sun was sitting above her head. When encouraged to move across the stage, she began walking awkwardly at first, but then with confidence. She jumped, she ran, rejoicing over what God had done for her. She admitted that she knew God could do a miracle but she never thought that He would do it for her. She is grateful that God chose her because she does not see herself as worthy. She encourages others to hold on to that tiny mustard seed of faith and God will honour it and do the miraculous. This is Seanna’s story. Every story will not be the same. Some have more faith than Seanna but have not experienced the miracle hoped for. As the pastor acknowledges, God can do the miracle immediately but He could also do it over a period of time. I love the fact that Seanna admits that all she had was a tiny amount of faith, the size of a mustard seed. She knew God could do it but was not sure that He would do it for her. Sometimes when faced with challenges, it can be difficult to trust that God will come through for you. You know He is able but you are not sure if He will do it for you. In Luke 5:12, we read about a leper Jesus met while He was in a town. He bowed before Jesus and said to Him, “Lord if You are willing, You can make me clean.” He realised what Jesus could do but did not seem quite sure that He would be willing to do it for him. That’s how we feel at times. We know what God can do but we are not sure if He will do it for us. Yet, at the end of the day, as Seanna herself acknowledges, God loves us and wants us to be healed. He may not come through in the same way for everyone but He will come through. Sometimes, God may want to “heal” or address other areas of our lives as well - our character, our faith in Him, our relationship with Him, our relationship with others. I believe God is interested in the entire person, not just one particular part of us. I love how she encourages us to hold on to the little seed of faith we may have because God will honour it and do the miraculous. God is not necessarily looking for a mountain of faith. With God, a tiny seed is sufficient because with it you can move mountains, you can experience the impossible. If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. God loves you and wants the best for you. How He chooses to work in your life is up to Him. All you need is a tiny seed of faith and with that, He can do something miraculous, He can do something powerful, He can do the impossible! Richard had been suffering from a pain in his abdomen for two days and believed that he had pulled a stomach muscle. He told his wife, Pam, that he was going to rest. When she checked on him, he was looking pale and was unable to get up. She called 911 and in a short time he was taken to the hospital. Doctors suspected he was having a heart attack and administered blood thinners and prepped him to be moved to another hospital. As they were about to have him transferred, a doctor noticed swelling in his abdomen and realised it was not a heart attack. They suspected it was an aneurism and that he was bleeding from it. After being transferred, he was examined and doctors discovered that he had suffered an abdominal aortic aneurism and that he was bleeding internally. This would require immediate surgery. The mortality rate for individuals with a ruptured aneurism was very high even after undergoing surgery. The doctor contacted his wife at home and gave her an update. She asked the doctor if she could pray for him and was surprised when he agreed. She prayed a short, simple prayer asking God to guide his hands and show him the right thing to do. On her way to the hospital, she prayed. She told God that if it was her husband's time to go be with Jesus she would be okay. However, if He brought him back to her, she would be even more okay. Richard’s surgery was successful. According to the doctor, he had defied the odds. Pam praised God, happy and thankful because God had answered her prayer the way she wanted and she wanted her husband to live. Both Richard and Pam believe that Richard is alive today because of God’s loving care. Richard’s words of advice? Rely on God, trust Him and know that He’s there. Throughout this testimony, I truly see God’s loving care for Richard and his wife. Pam did not enlist help from others. She went to God herself and completely trusted Him. Yes, she wanted her husband healed but she was also ready to allow God’s perfect will to be done. That was surrender. That was between her and her God. The reality is, when we go through tragic situations, it is between us and God. What God allows is not to scare us or even discourage us but to motivate us to draw near to Him, to trust Him when our back is against the wall. Pam admitted that she felt lonely yet, she kept her focus on her God. He was her strength and her support when no one else was around. I think sometimes God brings us to these lonely seasons where it’s just us and Him. He knows that we are not truly alone because He is right there. He just wants us to realise that. Human support can certainly be appreciated but, at the end of the day, God is the One we need to do the miracle, to do the impossible. I believe that there were many people who Jesus healed that felt lonely in their negative situation. The woman with the issue of blood was isolated because she was considered unclean because of her condition (Mark 5:25-34). Yet, out of all the people thronging him, Jesus noticed the lonely woman who had been living a life of rejection and loneliness. The man who lay by the pool of Bethesda for thirty-eight years had no one to help him into the water when the angel came and touched it (John 5:2-9). Yet, out of the many people by that pool waiting to get into that water when the angel touched it, Jesus noticed the one who had no one to help him in. Trials and challenges have a way of ushering us into lonely seasons. The fact is though, we are not alone. God is still our ever-present help in trouble, no matter what that trouble may be. Trials and challenges are not evidence of God’s absence but of His presence!!! If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. No matter what we go through, we are never alone. God has promised to always be there no matter what. He wants us to rely on Him, trust Him and know that He is there. Jason was looking forward to the new season that was opening up for him. He had just begun his new job when one day, he realised that something was on his tongue and that his tongue was swelling and it was affecting his speech. A biopsy revealed that he had stage three cancer in his tongue and it was releasing a chemical that was poisoning him from the inside out. Doctors removed half of his lymph nodes and twenty percent of his tongue in an effort to remove all of the cancer. He was now looking forward to moving on with his life and being the pastor God had called him to be. However, sometime later, the same thing returned on his tongue. Doctors discovered that the cancer, now borderline stage four, had returned and was even more aggressive than the last time. They opted to remove most of his tongue. To reconstruct his tongue, they planned to remove flesh from his arm and to cover his arm they would remove skin from his leg. As a result, he would not be able to use his arm for a while and as a musician that would pose a problem. He would also not be able to talk the same and as a singer and speaker, that too would be a problem. At this point, Jason broke down. The pain he experienced in this season became so unbearable that he searched Google for easy ways to die, easy ways, because he was already experiencing excruciating pain. His wife began to sing over him and he felt peace, like a person, enter the room. This gave him the strength to decide not to give up. Today, Jason has defied the doctors’ expectations. He is speaking and singing again. When he looks back at what he has been through, he concludes that it is about Jesus taking the things in your life that are not okay - those things that represent death, despair, darkness and hopelessness - and redeeming them, taking what was dead and bringing it back to life. As he looks back over his experience, he sees it as a comeback. He acknowledges that Jesus did it, that He gets all the glory and the only thing that he can do is never give up. I am truly inspired by this testimony. It’s the story of persistent battles that seem designed to completely overwhelm and destroy you. It’s a story about trusting God and choosing not to give up against all odds. Jason found it difficult to see the future he believed would be his. The cancer was threatening to wipe it out. Yet, God always has the final say (Proverbs 16:33). God knows the plans He has for us. It’s a plan to prosper us not to harm us, a plan to give us hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11) and there are times when challenges and battles will come designed to prevent us from seeing the good plan and future God has for us. I don’t believe they can wipe out God’s plan because God’s purpose will prevail no matter what comes our way. We just have to believe. Jason had to believe that he would speak and sing again and do what God had called him to do in spite of the battle he was facing. That was difficult and he almost gave up… but God! Maybe you are at the point where you are about to give up or maybe you have already given up because that giant seems too big for you and feels so overwhelming. That may be so, but it’s not bigger or more powerful than your God! God will always be bigger and more powerful than anything that can come your way. You just have to believe …and trust… God can give you the comeback you need even though it seems like it’s over. Against all odds, God can redeem you and is able to bring dead things back to life. It’s God’s job to do the work. It’s your job to trust Him. If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. Life can be tough. We never know what we will meet around the corner but God knows. He is already there with the hope and strength we need to face and to conquer what life sends our way. Sometimes life can seem so unfair. You are doing what you know is right; you are doing your best and yet, bad things happen, unfair things happen. You feel as if you want to give up and not make the effort anymore to be your best and do your best. We can’t always dictate what comes our way but we can choose to hide in our God and trust Him to help us navigate those challenging roads. This is how David probably felt many times. He faced many unfair and challenging situations yet he trusted in his God. In verse 11 of Psalm 27, David seems to be asking God to teach him, to guide him, to direct him. He understands that life is not easy - after all he’s living it - and He covets God’s direction. The interesting thing is that it is not a general prayer for direction. He wants to know God’s way. There is a saying that says: “What would Jesus do?” It’s as if He wants God to teach Him based on what He, God, would do if He were in his shoes. It’s a genuine desire to live his life in a way that would represent God well. Yet, he doesn’t just want to be like his God but he understands that in the face of his adversaries, his enemies, God’s way will certainly be the only way to get through. We, too, would like to successfully navigate those challenges that come our way. Yet, when you think about it, the best way will always be God’s way. I like the saying: “What would Jesus do?” because it should be a reminder to us that Jesus also went through challenges and disappointments and that He is our guide to handling the various situations that come our way. He knows what pain, hurt and suffering are like yet, He responded to those situations at times with patience, at times with forgiveness, at times with firmness, at times in anguish, at times with righteous anger, and the list goes on. At the end of it all, David desired deliverance from every person or situation that was coming against him (v.12). Yet, while waiting for God’s deliverance, he still chose to believe that he would see his God’s goodness while he was alive (v.13). He would not have to die to experience it. This confidence is what gave him hope and the ability to endure whatever trial came his way. Let’s face it, sometimes when we are going through, what we believe is so important. Believing that God is good, believing that He knew all this would happen before it did and that He will work it out are things that help us face each trying day. Believing that God will come through for us, that we are going to make it, can provide that extra strength we need while we wait. What do you believe today? Because what you believe can either make you or break you. In the final verse (v.14), David encourages us to “wait on the Lord…” That word “wait” denotes to expect, to look patiently, to wait for… It also speaks of “trust” because once trust is involved you will wait for something with expectancy. He also advises us to be encouraged while we wait. This tells me that once your hope is in God, you will not be disappointed and this hope will be your comfort and strength. I believe many of us know what it’s like to go through really difficult seasons. We may sometimes wonder if, when or how we are going to make it through. We will have our good days, our hopeful days but then the discouraging, stressful days seem, at times, to outnumber the hopeful ones. I know I have said this more than once, but God is there … always … even when He seems far away. He sees, He knows, He has the answers and will deliver them at the right time. Sometimes, He will deliver quickly, but other times, we have to go through our period of waiting. Yet, our waiting is never in vain because it is during this season that we are strengthened, we learn trust, we learn patience, we learn valuable lessons that we can teach others as they go through their own challenges. God doesn’t waste a thing - good or bad. So, be encouraged that you will see God’s goodness even in the midst of the storm, that His grace will strengthen and keep you and that in turn your story will be a blessing and a source of hope and encouragement to others. Your season is not in vain! If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. God is indeed your present help when you need it. You are never alone in your trials and tests and He always gives the grace, strength and encouragement needed while you wait on Him. He will come through for you. You are going to make it. |
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October 2024
AuthorThis blog provides inspirational nuggets inspired by the Word of God and serves to encourage and motivate Christians in their Christian walk. |