Last summer I was at my daughter, Sarah's home. Her 7 year old son, Jayden had come home from playing at the neighbor's home with very muddy shoes. He was in big trouble! As he and I worked to clean up his shoes, I thought I should get him some rubber boots for his upcoming birthday.
Normally, this would not be a difficult thing to do. However, Jayden wears a mens size 5 shoe. I thought I could go ahead and get a size 6 so it might fit him more that a couple of months. As his birthday was approaching, I went to a local sporting goods mega store. They had all kinds of rubber boots but the only ones in a mens size 6 were over $100. Now, I love my grandson but come on. He will be lucky to wear these for six months before outgrowing them. There was no way I was going to spend that kind of money for some rubber boots. I found the same problem at the only other large sporting goods store in town.
No problem, I thought. I will just order them online. There were a few books that he wanted as well so I ordered the books and the boots in plenty of time for them to arrive via Amazon. I am not an Amazon Prime member so there was no next day delivery. I had plenty of time and even though it said delivery in 8-10 days, orders always came in much sooner than predicted. Even if it took the entire time it would not be a problem to have them before I would be making the 90 mile drive for his birthday party. No worries. One click of the button and my order was off.
I waited and checked on the order. Within a day or two, one book shipped. Finally another book shipped. The boots had not shipped yet. The weekend came. Nothing else shipped. Monday was Labor Day. Tuesday the last book shipped. His birthday was Saturday. I was speaking at a women's conference Saturday morning and then driving straight from there to their home for the party that would already be in progress. I had to have it by Friday night in order to take it with me on Saturday.
I was praying, "Lord, let it come in time!" "Lord, let it ship today!" Every day I was praying and it was not shipping! Why had I not had it shipped to their house? Why had it not shipped yet? I was agonizing over rubber boots! I did not want to go with just the books, even though he had told me exactly which ones he wanted. Let's face it, when you are turning 8 years old, books are just not that exciting!
Finally on Wednesday when I checked the progress of the order it showed that the boots had shipped but it did not show an expected arrival date. Why not? It always gave you an expected arrival date! On Thursday, the last book that had shipped on Tuesday was supposed to arrive. It did not. When I checked on the boots, it just said they had left the originating facility.
Now I was really stressed about this! I did not want Jayden to think I had not planned ahead for his birthday or that I had not thought about him. I had put a lot of thought into these crazy rubber boots but they still weren't here! I kept praying they would make it in time.
On Friday morning, the tracking said it had arrived in Springfield and been sent to USPS for delivery. That is what the book had said the day before but it still had not shown up. Would the boots make it?
I got home from work about 9:00 Friday night. The boots and the last book were there! I got his gift wrapped and ready for the party the next day. Big relief! As I prayed and thanked God, He said to me, "Do you think you love Jayden more than I do?" No, of course I don't! As much as I love all my kids and grand kids, it could never come close to the love that God has for them!
Then God said to me, "Do you think I love you less than I love Jayden?" I knew the answer was another no. In my mind, I know God loves me but I struggle thinking that God has good gifts for me. That He will take care of me and provide for me is hard for me to accept. I don't feel worthy of His love and provision. Then He brought this Scripture to mind:
Matthew 7:11 (New Living Translation)
"So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him."
What a comfort to know that we have a heavenly Father who loves us more than we could ever fathom! He will give good gifts to us. We only have to ask Him!
1 John 3:1 (The Passion Translation)
"Look with wonder at the depth of the Father's marvelous love that He has lavished on us! He has called us and made us His very own beloved children. The reason the world doesn't recognize who we are is that they didn't recognize Him."
My prayer for you is that you do recognize Him and know how great is His love for you!
Oh, and the boots? Jayden patiently waited for everyone to leave, slipped on his boots and ran down the street to his friends house to play in the muddy creek out back.
Monday, September 30, 2019
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Jess
I am not sure where I should start in telling you about Jess. She is an amazing young lady that I met through my part time job at the hospital. She is spunky, smart, and full of life. I absolutely adore her! Even though she no longer works at the hospital, we have stayed in touch.
A couple of months ago she had a seizure. It happened in the middle of the night while she was sleeping. Her mom found her. It was the beginning of a scary journey for Jess. The doctors ordered an MRI. Right after the MRI was done, I found out what was going on. God told me I needed to pray over her.
I picked her up and we went to my dear friend, Marline's home. (Marline knew her from the hospital, too). I put some praise music on, read some Scriptures and we started praying. I anointed Jess with oil and kept praying. Marline, full of the Holy Spirit, burst out into song. I've known Marline for over 30 years and have never heard her do that before. She told me later, it was a first for her!
As we prayed, I just knew Jess had been healed. I dropped her off at the doctors appointment where she would get the results of the MRI that had already been done. I told her to take what the doctors said with a grain of salt because that MRI had been done before we prayed.
The doctors told her that she had brain tumors. It was the beginning of Multiple Sclerosis. The tumor at the front of her brain was causing pressure and they might need to operate. They needed to do another, more detailed MRI.
I kept hoping and praying that her healing was already complete. I had the thought several times, what if she is not healed? Then I became afraid that she would not be healed because I had concerns and doubts. God quickly squelched that for me. He clearly said that He asks us to partner with Him in prayer and to believe but when our faith waivers all we need to do is ask Him to help us in our unbelief. He was not waiting for me to mess up and cancel the healing! I had been obedient in praying for her as He had told me. I quickly said, "Lord, help my unbelief!"
Jess had the next MRI done. A few days later she went for the results. The doctors had no idea what had happened. The tumors were no longer being referred to as tumors. They said they were lesions. Her doctors could not explain it but the lesions were shrinking!
The pictures speak for themselves. The one on the left was before. The right is after. The white spots were the tumors.
Praise God! He still heals today! I just know that if they do another MRI, there will be no lesions at all. Jess was healed because of what Jesus did at the cross. He defeated death and when we believe we too, have that same power! We just have to declare it!
My pastor, Pastor Mac Dalton, preached a wonderful sermon on that this past Sunday (September 22nd). As we walk in His power, we are spreading His Good News! You can hear the sermon here:
https://vimeo.com/radiantspringfield
We are His church! We are the Church Triumphant! It is up to us to declare what He has promised. We cannot ever think that miracles happen because of us. It is all Jesus! But miracles do happen when we respond in obedience to God's voice and partner with Him. When God nudges you to speak up, speak! When He nudges you to pray for someone, pray! Even if it feels awkward, just do it. You will be glad you did! And the Jess's of this world will be glad, too!
My prayer for you is that reading this will increase your faith. We can all be water walkers! The same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you! I reiterate the Apostle Paul's prayer:
Ephesians 1: 19-20 (The Passion Translation)
I pray that you will continually experience the immeasurable greatness of God's power made available to you through faith. Then your lives will be an advertisement of this immense power as it works through you! This is the mighty power that was released when God raised Christ from the dead and exalted him to the place of highest honor and supreme authority in the heavenly realm!
Please say a prayer for Jess and her complete healing then go out and be a walking billboard for the power of God! There are many other Jess' out there who need you!
A couple of months ago she had a seizure. It happened in the middle of the night while she was sleeping. Her mom found her. It was the beginning of a scary journey for Jess. The doctors ordered an MRI. Right after the MRI was done, I found out what was going on. God told me I needed to pray over her.
I picked her up and we went to my dear friend, Marline's home. (Marline knew her from the hospital, too). I put some praise music on, read some Scriptures and we started praying. I anointed Jess with oil and kept praying. Marline, full of the Holy Spirit, burst out into song. I've known Marline for over 30 years and have never heard her do that before. She told me later, it was a first for her!
As we prayed, I just knew Jess had been healed. I dropped her off at the doctors appointment where she would get the results of the MRI that had already been done. I told her to take what the doctors said with a grain of salt because that MRI had been done before we prayed.
The doctors told her that she had brain tumors. It was the beginning of Multiple Sclerosis. The tumor at the front of her brain was causing pressure and they might need to operate. They needed to do another, more detailed MRI.
I kept hoping and praying that her healing was already complete. I had the thought several times, what if she is not healed? Then I became afraid that she would not be healed because I had concerns and doubts. God quickly squelched that for me. He clearly said that He asks us to partner with Him in prayer and to believe but when our faith waivers all we need to do is ask Him to help us in our unbelief. He was not waiting for me to mess up and cancel the healing! I had been obedient in praying for her as He had told me. I quickly said, "Lord, help my unbelief!"
Jess had the next MRI done. A few days later she went for the results. The doctors had no idea what had happened. The tumors were no longer being referred to as tumors. They said they were lesions. Her doctors could not explain it but the lesions were shrinking!
The pictures speak for themselves. The one on the left was before. The right is after. The white spots were the tumors.
Praise God! He still heals today! I just know that if they do another MRI, there will be no lesions at all. Jess was healed because of what Jesus did at the cross. He defeated death and when we believe we too, have that same power! We just have to declare it!
My pastor, Pastor Mac Dalton, preached a wonderful sermon on that this past Sunday (September 22nd). As we walk in His power, we are spreading His Good News! You can hear the sermon here:
https://vimeo.com/radiantspringfield
We are His church! We are the Church Triumphant! It is up to us to declare what He has promised. We cannot ever think that miracles happen because of us. It is all Jesus! But miracles do happen when we respond in obedience to God's voice and partner with Him. When God nudges you to speak up, speak! When He nudges you to pray for someone, pray! Even if it feels awkward, just do it. You will be glad you did! And the Jess's of this world will be glad, too!
My prayer for you is that reading this will increase your faith. We can all be water walkers! The same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you! I reiterate the Apostle Paul's prayer:
Ephesians 1: 19-20 (The Passion Translation)
I pray that you will continually experience the immeasurable greatness of God's power made available to you through faith. Then your lives will be an advertisement of this immense power as it works through you! This is the mighty power that was released when God raised Christ from the dead and exalted him to the place of highest honor and supreme authority in the heavenly realm!
Please say a prayer for Jess and her complete healing then go out and be a walking billboard for the power of God! There are many other Jess' out there who need you!
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