His Kingdom Come

So a lot is happening.

I've been thinking a lot about healing and deliverance in the past few months. Thinking about how I grew up believing that such occurences are still possible today...how I have prayed and been prayed over for such things...how I haven't heard so much about it, or have been leary of hearing about it in the past few years.

I sat and had a conversation with friends over shrimp and chicken a couple of weeks ago. We were discussing healing. I shared my grandpa's testimony...how he had been healed and delivered after practically laying in bed for months dependent on tranquilizers. The funny thing is...he was Baptist...he wasn't supposed to believe in healing. Yeah, he ended up losing his whole church...but he gained the truth of Jesus Christ, and he went on to bring healing and deliverance to hundreds maybe thousands of others who were in need of wholeness. Well, I got some looks that's for sure. I could feel tension in the room. Was it me? Was it the message? Even among Christians? My one friend was trying desperately to cut into her piece of chicken with a butterknife as we talked...it wasn't really working. Someone noticed and handed her a pointedly sharp steak knife from the drawer. We laughed at the difference it made. For some reason the moment stuck out to me. The Bible says that the word of God is a powerful and effective sword, rightly dividing the truth, dividing even to the joints and marrow. I sat and wondered how often we use a duller portion of the Word to live our lives. I wondered how much we water down what is really true about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. How much more effective would our lives be, if we would only grab for the sharp steak knife instead?

I went to a new church this past weekend. Not because I want to church hop, but because I have a cry in my heart for more. I am hungry for God. I want to see His power at work in my life. I want to see healing and deliverance. I want to hear His heart towards the people on this earth. I want to experience what Jesus Christ died on the cross for. Life. Hope. Healing. Victory over darkness. The list goes on. So I heard about this quiet little church...I had been there last summer for a concert...and I decided to go. They used to be Baptists...they used to not believe in healing, in the fact that the Holy Spirit still moves like in the days of the New Testament. But then, God began to move. I walked into this church and found a congregation who participated in the service. The congregation was praying for one another. The congregation shared testimonies during the sermon. It was not a sit back and be entertained sort of place. It was a place of peace and reflection. A place of listening and encouragement. A place to hear from the Lord, and speak healing and life to those around us. It was church, like I haven't seen it in so long. They were not watching the clock. They were allowing the Holy Spirit to run the service. And it was not confusing or hyped up. It was not weird or wacky or off the wall. There was order and peace and understanding.

Tonight I went again to hear Bill Johnson speak about the miracles that are taking place in his church in Redding, CA. Well, through the people in his church...they are praying for people in malls, and stores and public places...and the dead are coming back to life, miracles of healing are taking place, people are being delivered, he even told a story of food being multiplied on a trip to Africa (they were literally handing out loaves of bread to a large crowd and their bags did not empty out...no matter how much they handed out, the bags stayed full!) The thing is, he is training up an army. He does not take credit for the healing ministry. Tonight, he had us pray for those who needed healing. The congregation of over 500 people prayed for one another. I prayed for a woman with plates in her arm and knee...God moved in her body and she was healed. Her arm straightened out...her knee became better. Others around the church were healed. One woman was even able to take her footbrace off.

My friend Kim called me this week. She is coming at the end of the month for a healing conference. The thing is, she didn't exactly believe in all of this healing, deliverance, Holy Spirit stuff until this past year. I haven't talked to her in about a year. It was incredible to hear of what God was doing throughout her church, which is also of a different denomination. I am absolutely amazed and excited to hear how God has changed her heart and is continuing to use her.

From every corner...God is speaking healing. I had two friends call me on the same day this week..one with kidney failure...another with bad news about breast cancer. And the thing is...I was not afraid. I wasn't even sad. I was compassionate towards how they were feeling, but I was also sure of the fact that God wanted to move. I was sure that healing was possible. All around me, there are opporutinities for God to heal. My prayer....is that I would have the courage to step out in faith...that I would not be afraid to ask God for the impossible. My prayer is that healing would begin to take place through my own life and hands and prayers....just like in the days of Jesus. He could do nothing apart from the Father. Let me see what you are doing Lord..let me hear what You are saying...let me walk in your ways and be a conduit of heaven changing earth.