My sweet brothers and sisters in Christ,
I am so overwhelmed to the point of tears by the encouragement and prayers you have all lifted up on my behalf. Truly, God has revealed to me the reality of His promise to never leave or forsake me and He's manifesting this truth through your love and support.
The past three days I have spent laid out on my bed and couch as it had been too painful to stand or even sit up. I do know some of the infection has left but the abdominal pain hasn't seemed to improve much.
Now, I know it comes as no surprise to you that I'm human. Sometimes I don't accept this. I expect myself to have it all together, to be calm, collective, and confident that I'm going to come out of this.
Yyyeeeeeaa... not so much.
Thursday and Friday I cried to Jesus, pleading if I could "just touch the hem of Your garment" and "Lord, if You will, You can heal me." That's all I wanted. When the antibiotics didn't seem to be working and the pain wasn't improving, fear, sadness, and defeat set in.
I made a few Skype calls home to my sister, parents, and a close friend... and in all the calls, I broke down sobbing. Fear wrapped its cold fingers around me and I just wanted to be embraced by the love of my family and friends at home.
Being human is by no means an excuse to fear. Jesus, our perfect Love, casts out fear. We are more than conquerors in Him. No, I acknowledge my humanness for myself... I opened the door to fear, but if God's grace is enough to send His Son to release the world from fear and disease and death, it's great enough for me.
My friends here have prayed over me, ministered to me, and been there in my need. Really, God is so good. Friday night, tired of being afraid and helpless, I knew I had to renew my mind in the thoughts of the Lord.
Saturday morning I woke up and the peace of the Lord filled my heart. I cannot explain it any other way. I put on worship music and kept it running all day, and refused to hear, believe, or speak any lies of the enemy.
God, my Healer, Jehovah-Rapha, is alive and well.
I looked up verses of God's promises of healing and began praying through them.
"If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptian, for I am the Lord, Your Healer." Exodus 15:26
"You shall serve the Lord your God and He will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you. None shall miscarry or be barren in your land, I will fulfill the number of your days." Exodus 23:25-26
"You shall be blessed above all peoples. There shall be not male or female barren among you or among your livestock. And the Lord will take away from you all sickness, and none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you know, will He inflict on you." Deuteronomy 7:14-15
"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore, choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying His voice and holding fast to Him, for He is your life and length of your days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them." Deuteronomy 30:19-20
"May the Lord give strength to His people! May the Lord bless His people with peace!" Psalm 29:11
"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His Holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagles'" Psalm 103:1-5
"He sent out His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction." Psalm 107:20
"My son, be attentive to my words, incline your ears to my sayings, let them not escape from your sight, keep them within your heart, for they are life to those who find them and healing to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." Proverbs 4:20-23
"A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." Proverbs 17:22
"Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was crushed for our iniquities, upon Him the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed." Isaiah 53:4-5
"Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily, your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard." Isaiah 58:8
"'For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal,' declares the Lord." Jeremiah 30:17
"Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of prosperity and security. I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and rebuild them as they were at first. I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive them all their guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. And this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise, and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear all the good that I do for them. They shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it." Jeremiah 33:6-9
Whew! If that doesn't just pump adrenaline through your veins, I don't know what will!
In my daily readings I've been working through the gospels. Jesus' compassion for the sick and needy saturates the pages. One miraculous healing after another as a power of healing came upon Jesus (Luke 5:17).
If we believe Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, His healing is just as real and powerful now. It's in the Bible for a reason. Jesus even promised that upon His departure to heaven that we would receive the Spirit and do works much greater than these! (John 14:12-14)
Our church has been camping out in 2 Corinthians 2:14, looking at the "triumphant church." Today, we were reminded that Christ ALWAYS LEADS us in triumphal procession... not sometimes or almost always... ALWAYS.
In order to BE triumphant, we have to first win the battle. God is leading us into situations to be triumphant and victorious. And we must resist the enemy and his schemes... with the words "it is written..." (Matthew 4).
Hallelujah!
We don't have to retreat, attack, be on defense, or peacefully coexist with the devil and his lies. It is true that the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but my Savior came that I may have life and have it ABUNDANTLY (John 10:10). I nearly forgot that Jesus saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven, and has given me authority to tread over all the power of the enemy and that nothing shall hurt me (Luke 10:18).
I'm not saying that the devil got me sick. But as our adversary, he prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. How does he do it? By taking the Truth from us.
There is more power in our thoughts than we give credit and I had to renew mine with the Words of My Healer.
I'm not one who likes to draw a whole lot of attention to myself... believe me, I have to fight feelings of being mortified that I've shared this illness with you at all and in asking for prayers for myself... so I am seriously overwhelmed by the amount of people who have read my recent post and are praying. I know your prayers, the prayers of God's righteous ones, have power as they are working.
(I also don't want you to worry! I'm in Good Hands.)
Even though I still haven't been healed completely, I know the promise is mine.
God is faithful.
ALWAYS.
I am so overwhelmed to the point of tears by the encouragement and prayers you have all lifted up on my behalf. Truly, God has revealed to me the reality of His promise to never leave or forsake me and He's manifesting this truth through your love and support.
The past three days I have spent laid out on my bed and couch as it had been too painful to stand or even sit up. I do know some of the infection has left but the abdominal pain hasn't seemed to improve much.
Now, I know it comes as no surprise to you that I'm human. Sometimes I don't accept this. I expect myself to have it all together, to be calm, collective, and confident that I'm going to come out of this.
Yyyeeeeeaa... not so much.
Thursday and Friday I cried to Jesus, pleading if I could "just touch the hem of Your garment" and "Lord, if You will, You can heal me." That's all I wanted. When the antibiotics didn't seem to be working and the pain wasn't improving, fear, sadness, and defeat set in.
I made a few Skype calls home to my sister, parents, and a close friend... and in all the calls, I broke down sobbing. Fear wrapped its cold fingers around me and I just wanted to be embraced by the love of my family and friends at home.
Being human is by no means an excuse to fear. Jesus, our perfect Love, casts out fear. We are more than conquerors in Him. No, I acknowledge my humanness for myself... I opened the door to fear, but if God's grace is enough to send His Son to release the world from fear and disease and death, it's great enough for me.
My friends here have prayed over me, ministered to me, and been there in my need. Really, God is so good. Friday night, tired of being afraid and helpless, I knew I had to renew my mind in the thoughts of the Lord.
Saturday morning I woke up and the peace of the Lord filled my heart. I cannot explain it any other way. I put on worship music and kept it running all day, and refused to hear, believe, or speak any lies of the enemy.
God, my Healer, Jehovah-Rapha, is alive and well.
I looked up verses of God's promises of healing and began praying through them.
"If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptian, for I am the Lord, Your Healer." Exodus 15:26
"You shall serve the Lord your God and He will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you. None shall miscarry or be barren in your land, I will fulfill the number of your days." Exodus 23:25-26
"You shall be blessed above all peoples. There shall be not male or female barren among you or among your livestock. And the Lord will take away from you all sickness, and none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you know, will He inflict on you." Deuteronomy 7:14-15
"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore, choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying His voice and holding fast to Him, for He is your life and length of your days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them." Deuteronomy 30:19-20
"May the Lord give strength to His people! May the Lord bless His people with peace!" Psalm 29:11
"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His Holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagles'" Psalm 103:1-5
"He sent out His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction." Psalm 107:20
"My son, be attentive to my words, incline your ears to my sayings, let them not escape from your sight, keep them within your heart, for they are life to those who find them and healing to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." Proverbs 4:20-23
"A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." Proverbs 17:22
"Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was crushed for our iniquities, upon Him the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed." Isaiah 53:4-5
"Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily, your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard." Isaiah 58:8
"'For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal,' declares the Lord." Jeremiah 30:17
"Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of prosperity and security. I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and rebuild them as they were at first. I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive them all their guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. And this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise, and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear all the good that I do for them. They shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it." Jeremiah 33:6-9
Whew! If that doesn't just pump adrenaline through your veins, I don't know what will!
In my daily readings I've been working through the gospels. Jesus' compassion for the sick and needy saturates the pages. One miraculous healing after another as a power of healing came upon Jesus (Luke 5:17).
If we believe Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, His healing is just as real and powerful now. It's in the Bible for a reason. Jesus even promised that upon His departure to heaven that we would receive the Spirit and do works much greater than these! (John 14:12-14)
Our church has been camping out in 2 Corinthians 2:14, looking at the "triumphant church." Today, we were reminded that Christ ALWAYS LEADS us in triumphal procession... not sometimes or almost always... ALWAYS.
In order to BE triumphant, we have to first win the battle. God is leading us into situations to be triumphant and victorious. And we must resist the enemy and his schemes... with the words "it is written..." (Matthew 4).
Hallelujah!
We don't have to retreat, attack, be on defense, or peacefully coexist with the devil and his lies. It is true that the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but my Savior came that I may have life and have it ABUNDANTLY (John 10:10). I nearly forgot that Jesus saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven, and has given me authority to tread over all the power of the enemy and that nothing shall hurt me (Luke 10:18).
I'm not saying that the devil got me sick. But as our adversary, he prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. How does he do it? By taking the Truth from us.
There is more power in our thoughts than we give credit and I had to renew mine with the Words of My Healer.
I'm not one who likes to draw a whole lot of attention to myself... believe me, I have to fight feelings of being mortified that I've shared this illness with you at all and in asking for prayers for myself... so I am seriously overwhelmed by the amount of people who have read my recent post and are praying. I know your prayers, the prayers of God's righteous ones, have power as they are working.
(I also don't want you to worry! I'm in Good Hands.)
Even though I still haven't been healed completely, I know the promise is mine.
God is faithful.
ALWAYS.
Amen Lauren!!! You are an inspiration to all who read this and a true Godly example! I pray for you to have complete healing in Jesus name! Isaiah 41:10!
ReplyDeleteThank you Bruce and Tami!
DeleteLauren! You have prayers from your sister's church in Tally. I'm SO blessed to know you are working with God in the DR and that you have a faith that stands despite circumstances. When you see God in valleys, you never doubt again that mountaintops aren't the only way to experience joy. YOU ARE LOVED and prayed for!
ReplyDeleteAmen! Thank you, sweet girl! It's incredibly humbling to know God is hearing and answering prayers from all over the place for me. I hope to visit Kathryn at FSU Wesley when I come back!
Delete