Oct 05
servantStories Canada, giving thanks, healing, health, trust
I just saw my wife already shared this, but I have to share it too because, although it hasn’t impacted me as much as it has her, it has still had a profound impact on our life and family.
Back in July, my wife was diagnosed with an auto-immune connective tissue disease. This could have been one of a half-dozen things, rheumatoid arthritis among others I can’t pronounce, much less spell. She had a painful lump on her wrist, and blood work from the doctor indicated it was most definitely a connective tissue disease and that the specialist would tell us which one, and what we needed to do. Of course, this was shocking and terrible news… health is a vital concern, and it hit all of us quite hard.
The specialist appointment was made for October 4th, so we had a long time to wait. That time could either be spent in dread of the news to come, or in proactive prayer and proclamation of the goodness of God. We chose the latter, and the first Tuesday we could after we found out, we were at the church prayer service to have her prayed over. Within two days, the painful lump on her wrist was gone. Over the next few months, she was prayed over at the ladies group, and responded to an altar call for healing at the church evening service this last Sunday. We were digging in as deep as we could!
Yesterday we went to the specialist. She was in the office for 20 minutes. When she came out, I had no idea if we were coming back for more tests or whatnot, but she came out glowing! She said the doctor looked at her like she was crazy as he poked and prodded at her finger joints and her wrist. He then told her that her wrist was perfect, that she most definitely did not have a connective tissue disease, and that he would likely never see her again.
Praise God, He did a wonderful thing for our family! I don’t know if her disease was healed after that first Tuesday prayer, if it was sometime in between, or if it was last Sunday. And it doesn’t even matter when it was, all that matters is she is healed, God is faithful, and His tender mercies have touched us.
You know, other answers to prayer can sometimes lead to doubt. If you pray for a job and then get one, is it because you prayed or because you put out a few hundred resumes and applications? Sometimes we rationalize away the great thing God has given to us. But with healing, especially for a disease, you can’t rationalize it away. It is a miracle. There is no science involved. God got involved because we asked Him to, and He was faithful to hear, and merciful to heal. Thank You Jesus, so very much, for this beautiful gift you have given to us. I pray that we never forget it, never belittle it, and use it to share Your love with others that need it and to be drawn even closer to You. We owed you EVERYTHING before this, and now You have beggared us yet again by giving us even more. Thank You!
Oct 05
servantStories Canada, giving thanks, healing, health
I was diagnosed in July with Connective Tissue Disease because of a large bump on my wrist. It scared me, but I could not get into the specialist for 2 and 1/2 months. So my family was praying, my church was praying, I had everyone I could think of put me on their prayer list. When I went into see the specialist yesterday, the doctor said not only did I not have Connective Tissue Disease but that my wrist was perfect! That was the word he used! Praise God, thank you Lord that you are bigger then everything!!
Jun 15
servantGod Thoughts giving thanks, holiness, obedience, praise, prayer, relationship, worship
“‘Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever. Amen.’” (Rev 6:12, NKJV)
“Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!’ And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: ‘Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sites on the throne, and to the Lamb forever and ever!’” (Rev 5:12, NKJV)
Can you imagine the glory, the praise, the continual worship, the adoration and love and gratitude and blessing poured upon Almighty God and His Son Jesus Christ, in heaven? I can’t. This world is such a shadow, such a dim thing compared to what eternity will be like. And even here on earth, with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the absolute abandonment and joy we can receive when we worship our Lord Jesus in spirit and truth, that anointing and blessing that comes from God the Father… I honestly believe it pales in comparison to what heaven will be like, despite how absolutely beautiful and fantastic it is.
Last night at church, as we were worshipping, I felt such an impression of “worthy, worthy, worthy”… it was so heavy, like it had weight, an importance behind it. It bubbled out of me like a desperate cry… God, You are so infinitely worthy! Worthy of my love, my time, my attention, my energy, my hopes, my dreams. You are worth more than I could possibly ever offer You!
And after such a wonderful encounter with God, and an awesome message, the reality hit me.
If He is so worthy (and He is) why aren’t we giving Him our best?
I mean, we sing songs about how worthy He is, how He sent His Son to die for us, how we owe Him everything. We sing songs about living lives pure and holy before Him, about inviting Him in, about becoming living sacrifices. And yeah, singing those songs are great and there can be a real heartfelt passion there, but… if He is so worthy, why aren’t we giving Him our best. I mean our absolute best?
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Jun 13
servantStories conversion, drugs, Edmonton, event, faith, giving thanks, Holy Spirit, homeless, hope, obedience, poverty, relationship
“For He will deliver the needy when He cries,
The poor also, and him who has no helper.
He will spare the poor and needy,
And will save the souls of the needy.
He will redeem their life from oppression and violence;
And precious shall be their blood in His sight.” (Ps 72:12-14, NKJV)
The above was part of my Bible reading guide this morning and it spoke volumes due to what we had done yesterday. Yesterday, we had put on a BBQ in probably the roughest neighbourhood in our inner city, a free BBQ to feed the homeless, helpless, and the less fortunate. Why did we do this? Because we love God, and we know He loves these people and street people are of value as well (which the above verse definitely indicates!), and they deserve to be shown the same dignity and respect that we are all accustomed to.
This is the third year this event has been put on, and preparation for it began months ago. There were preparations in the natural, of course, soliciting donations for the event, but there were also preparations in the spiritual realm. Twice we had done prayer walks around the field, just praying that God would do what He does best: meet with people, transform people, that His Spirit would be there in a very real way. As organizers, we had prayed together and individually for this thing for weeks beforehand.
Yesterday morning I was up at six in the morning, preparing to be down at the site for eight in the morning to begin setup. That morning I was reading from the book of Acts, and the works of the early church inspired me for the day. What powerful things the early church had done! What beautiful adoration to God, to His Word, to His divine purpose! What a humbling thing to try and recreate by the work we were doing!
The BBQ was an absolute success. Despite little technical setbacks early on that, in the grand scheme of things, really amounted to nothing, we had an opportunity to feed at least 500-700 people. Local media was out, so we got a few seconds of exposure on the local TV stations (keep reading to see the clips) and there should be an article in the local newspaper regarding it as well. It was a hot day, up to 24C and many of us got sun burnt. We gave away so much, a thousand hot dogs and a thousand hamburgers, brand-new clothes that were donated, pillows, donuts, fruit, chips, pop, bottles of water. Thank you to the many companies that supported us and gave freely to the event, and thank you to the many volunteers that helped. God bless you all!
Now that the natural results have been described, I need to describe the spiritual. And this is what made this day so exciting, so powerful, and so exhausting. As I said, we were praying for weeks before the event and even driving down, the music in the car was off, and I was praying for the BBQ, for the volunteers, for the food, for the people that were coming to the event. And God moved in an absolutely powerful way! Thank You God that You listen to the heart-felt prayers of Your people who are striving to be obedient and do Your will! There is so much to describe, so it may be a bit disjointed — please bear with me.
First and foremost, there was such a sense of joy among the volunteers. There were no arguments, no one complained about having to do more than others, or do something they didn’t like. We were united in one purpose. There were smiles everywhere, people were so welcoming to those coming through the line to be fed, there was a genuine servanthood evident. There was such complete _peace_ in that place. You need to understand that these are people who are accustomed to a life of strife and fighting, that literally fight over scraps of food. Yet it was so peaceful in the field. There was no striving for places in line. They were patient, despite the heat, and they were grateful for the food. They were polite, thankful. To put this in perspective, I drove off-site around 2:30 in order to get some coffee. Not even a block away I saw two men yelling at each other and fighting. When we were loading the left over supplies into the church at 6:00 there were young men and women, right before the doors of the church (which is also right in the middle of downtown) fighting and swearing and arguing. But in that place, at that time, there was complete and utter peace. No fighting, no arguing, no dissension.
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May 12
servantGod Thoughts Christ, giving thanks, obedience, praise, prayer, relationship
We have prayer meetings every Tuesday night at the church I go to, and as I was at prayer last night I kept thinking about “Holy, holy, holy, the whole earth is full of His glory” and then I had a crystal clear thought come to me that I had to write down. We’ve been talking a lot about holiness and righteousness at church, so this really settled into my spirit, and I thank God that He saw fit to share this with me.
“And one cried to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!’” (Isaiah 6:3, NKJV)
The whole earth is full of His glory. Who is in the earth? We are. So I think there is a call for us to be glorious before God, so we can fill the earth with His glory.
But how do we “fill the earth with His glory”? How do we become glorious before God?
I believe we display the glory of the Lord by leading lives of holiness and righteousness. Lives without compromise. I believe that God makes us glorious as we humble ourselves, and as we submit to Him, leading lives that are wholly holy (the dictionary defines wholly as “entirely” and “fully”), and righteous (right-living) before God.
I believe that if we are 100% wholly sold out to Jesus Christ — uncompromised, unapologetic (to the world), complete and utter love slaves to our Saviour and Redeemer, that we glorify God with our lives. I’m not saying we become glorified — we don’t. To say that we are glorious is to tread dangerous New Age thinking. No, we are not glorified. The whole earth isn’t full of our glory, but we were called to fill the earth (“Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28, NKJV)), and we need to start filling it with His glory. I believe we were called to more than just dominion over the fish and animals — we were called to fill the earth with His glory! We become vessels of honour as we are filled with the Holy Spirit and live righteous, holy, pleasing lives before Him.
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Mar 29
servantStories Africa, giving thanks, poverty, USA
Monica had worked in my house in Africa for a few years, but I had never had the opportunity to see her home. At the news of her brother’s and father’s deaths, I went to offer my comfort.
As I entered the 10-by-12 foot room that housed the fifteen family members, I greeted Monica¹s mother. In the dim light, I noticed that the room had little furniture to offer – two chairs and a bench. I was shown to one of the chairs. Monica’s mother was sitting on a grass mat.
The only window was a slit six inches wide and 12 inches tall. As my eyes adjusted, I could see the room had a fresh coat of paint and well-swept floor. There was no ventilation to cool the room. The sweat dripped from my face and arms. How could they stand to live in this place?
I didn¹t know what to say. I told Monica’s mother I was sorry for her loss. Over the next 30 minutes she proceeded to overwhelm me with gratitude. “If it were not for you hiring my daughter, we would not have paint on the walls. Thank you for the paint. If it were not for you, we would still have our leaky roof. But you helped to fix it and we remain dry at night. If it were not for you, we would be fighting mosquitoes throughout the night. But you helped us get a screen door and screen for the window.” The list went on and on. I had no idea! I thought Monica had used her salary for food.
I had gone to minister to this woman, to share of the hope we have in Christ. I went away ministered to and convicted of my own ungratefulness. Have I ever thanked God for the paint on my walls?
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