Life more abundantly...

    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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