Sometimes surgery is needed for healing!

Join me today at Laced with Grace where I will be talking about surgery!

I'm still here......

Thank you all for sweet comments and emails. Life has been crazy this fall. I wrote about what has been going on and how quickly life takes a turn here.

My father-in-law is back in Intensive Care. He aspirated last Thursday and is again battling for his life. Today is a critical day because doctors will need to take him off of the ventilator.

I am coming to you, my prayer warriors to boldly come to His Throne, crying out to Heaven on our behalf! Please pray:

That LES WILL CONTINUE BREATHING ON HIS OWN! He was up to 50% last night.....please pray that he will be able to completely breathe on his own. Pray for his lungs. Pray they would be strong.

PRAY FOR HIS KIDNEYS. He had so much poison running through his body that his kidneys shut down. They are working so much better, but need to improve even more. He has about half of the toxins out of his body. Pray for this poison to be removed.

PRAY FOR HIS STRENGTH AND HIS FAITH. Pray that he puts all of his trust in God right now.

Those(Les) who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings as eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They walk and not grow faint.

Pray Psalm 46, 91, 121 over him.

Les is more than an overcomer in Christ Jesus (and he is! He loves the Lord). No weapon formed against Les shall prosper. He that is in Les is greater than he that is in the world.

Please pray the blood of Jesus over Les. Remember, "by His stripes, Les has been healed."

Please pray for his wife, Barb, and the five boys and their families. We NEED your prayers.

God is so good. The week before this happened with Les, Brian and I had gone to New Mexico. Brian had a work conference to attend and I was able to go. It was such a time to be with the Lord, experiencing His beauty and creativity, glory and awesomeness through nature. We breathed in His glory as we sat by the Rio Grande and at the foot of a mountain. The resort specialized in relaxation and I have never felt so rested. Looking back, it was like God was preparing us and strengthening Brian and I for the road up ahead. Thank You, Lord!

Here are some pics:

The Way Things Are???????

I was going through some of my older posts and found this. Oh, how I needed to hear it again. I hope you will be blessed by it. It is from October, 2007



Praise You, God! You were so AWESOME, POWERFUL, AND BIG at the Ladies' Retreat where I spoke over the weekend. Praise You! God confirmed time and again how He wants to set us free! He does not want to see His dearly Beloved children in bondage, living under the yoke of Satan's deception! Hallelujah!

This morning, one example stands out in my mind.

A dear woman at the retreat had shared with me what she is going through at home- a terrible situation. Her husband is in bondage to a terrible sin. We prayed together, and I especially prayed that she would feel God's loving arms around her. I prayed that He would comfort her, pour out His wisdom on her, and shower His love upon her. The next morning she shared with me how powerfully God had spoken to her through His Word. God led her to Isaiah where it talked about how He was going to come in to crush bondage and pride and that He is a source of strength. This passage spoke to her personally. It touched her exactly the way she needed. God had put His arms around her through His Word. God's Word is alive and active and personally speaks to each one of us! Praise God!

I was thinking how often we can sometimes "roll over and play dead." We start believing that THIS is all there is, or this is just how it is. We forget to fight- to stand firm and put on His armor. We forget to be strong in the Lord and His mighty power and to take our stand against the enemy's evil schemes. We just accept our circumstances as "the way things are." (Did you ever see the movie, Babe, about a pig who refused to accept that things were just the way things are?) We just sigh, and say, "This must be God's Will, His plan." And sometimes it is! There are times that He is refining us or our circumstances are a result of sin or our choices- but that is a whole other blog!!!

God reminded me of an example of this that happened not too long ago. I was NOT feeling well- I had a "bug" of some kind. But, I had so much to do. My "to do"list was FULL. While I was praying with my mentor and prayer partner, I had a "woe is me" attitude and was just kind of giving up. "I am sick today, I won't be able to do all things I need to do. Oh well." I even said, "God must be slowing down." (And He, does do that, too- but that, too, is a whole other blog!!!!!)

She began to pray for healing. She began to take our authority in who we are in Jesus and what He has already done for us. I, of course, didn't want to hear these things! I wanted to her to feel sorry for me- I was sick! I wanted to "wallow!" But, as we prayed, my faith began to rise. I knew it was God's will for me to get up and accomplish the things He had called me to do that day.

We talked about the time when Jesus healed Peter's mother from a fever and she got up to serve them. (Matthew 8:14) Immediately after we prayed I felt better. I still had my cold, but my attitude had completely changed. I had energy to get up and do the things I needed to do. Once I finished, I felt God say, "Rest now." I felt so much better!!!! I rested without worries of my tasks. I was so thankful and praised Him over and over!

This morning, as I pondered all of this, I opened my Bible. The Spirit led me to the story of the woman being healed in Mark 5:21-34. The crowds were huge. The Bible says, "A large crowd followed and pressed around Him." Have you been somewhere where the crowd was huge and people bump into you and you bump into them? Somewhere where you have to hold hands with the people you are with for fear of being separated? I picture the crowd like that around Jesus. The people are crowding Him, trying to get near Him.

The Bible says, "And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse." Whew! There is so much just in that short passage! In Bible times blood issues were taken seriously. If this woman had a blood disease, she would have been considered "unclean." People probably avoided touching her or getting too near her- for twelve YEARS. Can you imagine the pain and the loneliness of this suffering for so long? In fact, Scripture says she had "suffered a great deal." Can you relate?

Have you suffered a great deal?

She spent all she had. She spent everything she had to get well. She sought out many doctors. She was using everything available. Yet, she was not healed. In fact, the Bible says "she grew worse." Have your circumstances ever grown worse, even when you have given everything you have to change them?

But, she knew where to go! She knows that Jesus can heal her. She thinks, "If I just touch His clothes, I will be healed." She knows the power of the her Savior. She knows it just takes a touch of his cloak. She doesn't even need to touch Him, just His clothes. So, she comes up behind Him, without saying a word, reaches out, and touches His cloak."IMMEDIATELY her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering." God wants to free us from our suffering!

Notice a few things. She goes to Jesus. She has great faith- she knows she just needs a touch from Jesus. She reaches out and touches Him. "At once Jesus realizes that power had gone out from Him." Wow! She reaches out, touches Him in her need, and power goes out from Him to heal her. Now, Jesus knows who touched Him. He is God. He is all knowing. All through the New Testament Jesus knew the thoughts of those around Him. So, He knows already knows who touched Him, but He asks, "Who touched my clothes?" Now the disciples are surprised by this question. EVERYONE was touching Him! A better question might have been who is NOT touching me???? They say, "You see the people crowding against You, and yet You ask, 'Who touched me?' "

Jesus looks for her in the crowd. She knows she's "caught." She falls at His feet, trembling with fear and tells Him the whole truth.

Jesus calls her "Daughter." He says, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."

Hallelujah! Jesus FREES us! He frees us from our suffering! Jesus came to "set the captives free." She has been healed already, now He wants to free her and bring restoration! In front of the whole crowd, all the people she was trying to avoid, Jesus restores her and validates her. He calls her daughter!

One other HUGE point- there were LOTS of people touching Jesus, many of which probably needed healing. Why didn't Jesus' power go out from Him when they touched Him?

She believed!

Jesus said "her faith healed her." So many of us may touch Jesus, but do we believe? Do we have faith in Who is and What He can do?

Thank You, God that You bring healing and freedom! Thank You for Your restoration!

Jesus Heals!

Reading from the Gospels this morning, God led me to Scriptures on healing.

I have been praying for Charlie who has received an incredible healing recently. The past couple of weeks have been so hard for him and his family. Charlie has heart problems. After having an angioplasty, he suffered a stroke. Somehow he drove himself to the hospital (I am sure there were angels surrounding that car!). The doctors did not give the family hope. He was on blood thinners because of the critical condition of his arteries. The doctors said he had to be taken off of them immediately or he would suffer another stroke. The heart doctor said if they took him off the blood thinners, he would suffer a heart attack, probably killing him. The family had to make the decision of what to do. We began praying! These were prayers that resembled childbirth- crying out for a life. (Thank you all who were praying!) We knew despite what the doctors were saying, "With God, all things are possible!" Thankfully, Charlie survived being taken off of the blood thinners and we were praising God for sparing his life. Then, the next test came as Charlie's insurance was ending. Being self-employed, he was on Cobra which was going to end within days. Here he was, not able to walk, blind in one eye, facing the possibility of having to go home without any care. Again, we hit our knees, crying out for God's mercy and favor and help. Again, when doctors said it was impossible, and all "looked" hopeless, God did the impossible, (and hours of paperwork later), Charlie was able to stay in the hospital. He is recovering when doctors did not give hope that he would live!

But, the enemy is right there trying to turn victory into defeat. Charlie is suffering from depression, especially about the medical bills beginning to mount up and the possibility of paying them, feeling desperate. In a short week, praise has turned to fear. The devil is right there to steal our victory. He wants us to question and doubt and ultimately give up. He wants to steal our joy and our faith. He wants to turn our gladness to mourning........ He tries to make us doubt our miracles, question God, question our faith........ Charlie, please don't give up! Please keep your eyes on Jesus! Please continue to believe.

So many times when we see God work, when we have experienced His presence, when we experience His miracles, we walk through a trial of faith. Will we believe what we have just seen of God? We will continue to be steadfast in our faith? I am reminded of the "Transfiguration" when Peter, James, and John had their "mountain top experience." They saw Jesus in His glory! We would think their faith would be soaring! But, it is in the next chapter that they are not able drive out a demon from a boy and Jesus rebukes them for having "little faith." We don't live on the mountain top. And, we walk through the valleys. Please pray for Charlie as he continues to heal and recover. Pray especially for his faith and trust in the Great Physician. Pray that he is filled with joy, despite his circumstances. Pray that in this time as he recovers, he will fall head over heals in love with Jesus Christ.

So, as I was reading about Jesus' healings, asking God to really teach me and show me about this, He led me to the healing of Bartimaeus. This story can be found in Matthew 20, Luke 18, and Mark 10. I figured this story has to be pretty important if it is in the Gospels three times. Father, give us deep insight into Your Word today. Open our eyes to see what You want to reveal to us. Give us a Spirit of wisdom and revelation. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Bartimaeus was a blind beggar who sat outside of Jericho. Jericho- where his ancestors had experienced great miracles! Jericho- where the walls came crumbling down by the power of God's hands and the Israelites were able to defeat their enemies. Growing up, I am sure Bartimaeus had heard these stories of Jericho's walls crashing down and how great his God was and is. He knew God was powerful and able. So, when he hears Jesus is coming through town, he knows he has his chance to be healed.

As I was studying these passages, and other ones on people being healed, a few things jumped out at me about this one. First, the people following Jesus are telling Bart to be quiet when he calls out for Jesus. They don't seem to care about him being healed. This is so different from several others where FRIENDS bring someone in need of healing to Jesus. In Mark 8 another man receives healing from blindness, but his friends bring him to Jesus. But, the people in this passage don't seem to think Jesus will heal Bart. Maybe they had seen Bart so often by the side of the road, they didn't think much about him. (hmmmmmm, how many times do I see someone in need, but just pass by because I've seen him/her so often?) Maybe they didn't think Bart was worthy enough to be healed. (am I ever judgemental- questioning if a person should receive God's mercy?????) Anyway, Bart "shouts out all the more," crying for Jesus' mercy. This is why I love reading the Gospels- we get a window into the heart of Jesus. He is so loving, so merciful, so compassionate. He heals the needy, cries with Mary and Martha when Lazarus dies, touches the repulsive......... He is LOVE.

Jesus stops walking. Even though he had somewhere to go (to Jerusalem to die by the way!), he takes the time to stop. In Matthew, it says he has compassion for Bart. In Mark, Jesus, asks, "what do you want me to do?" Think about that for a moment....... You know that Jesus KNOWS what Bart wants him to do. So, why does he have Bart tell him? Because there are power in our words, my friend! Sometimes it is not enough to believe in our hearts, minds, but we need to speak it out in our words! Jesus heals him, and says, "your faith has healed you." Jesus does not always say those words when He heals. So, when He does, I take special note of it. No matter what this man had lived through, no matter the obstacles, no matter the crowds shushing him and rebuking him, he was going to look to Jesus! He was going to call out to Him! Bart had called these words, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" Wow! He calls Jesus "Son of David", believing He is the Messiah, and crying out for His mercy. What is Jesus' response? First, He encourages the man's faith by having him speak what he wants Jesus to do, then He heals him!

Now, what I really love about this story is that Bart FOLLOWS Jesus. Not all of the healed do that! Some go back to their homes, to their families, praising God. But, Bart follows Jesus. Jesus is going to Jerusalem to die on the cross. I wonder if the man witnessed all of the incredible events of the next week? In Luke's account, the man follows Jesus, praising Him, and all the people saw it, also praising God. Our miracles can cause others to praise and follow Jesus!

"...I will make you (Jesus) to be a covenant for the people and a light to the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness."- Isaiah 42:6-7

Father God, bless Your Name! Praise You! You teach us so much in Your Word! Lord, help me to be compassionate to others needing healing. I don't want to ever rebuke anyone for seeking Your mercy! Lord, forgive me for times I have been judgemental to others. Lord, I want to be filled with faith and belief, crying out for Your healing. Let me always confess with my words Who You are and what You can do! Help me always to remember to praise You and follow You and lead others to You! In Jesus' Name we pray! Amen!

In the Pit! Psalm 107 part 3

Continuing with Psalm 107.....

The next group of people praising God were “fools.” Not that the they are silly, or even so much that they are unwise, but that they are rebellious toward God. Verse 17 says, “Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.” Again, I am reminded of Proverbs, especially chapters 1-10, which compares wisdom to foolishness, or rebellion against God. Proverbs 1:7- “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.” Listen to what God speaks to us in verses 1:23, 24- “If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you, (Don’t you want God to pour out His heart to you?????) and made my thoughts known to you. (I want God to make His thoughts known to me!!!) But the fool “ignores God’s advice and does not accept God’s rebuke.” The following chapters declare all of the blessings (long life, riches and honor, peace, good reputation before God and man, confidence, just to name a few!) of following wisdom and not rebelling against God. “Trust in God, but don’t lean upon your own understanding (fool), then God will direct your steps. Do not be wise in your own eyes, shun evil, and this will bring health to your body.”

This brings me back to Psalm 107 because the foolish (or rebellious people) in these verses are sick due to their sin. “They loathed all food (Amplified says “ill”) and drew near the gates of death." Now, not all people who are sick are so because they have sinned or because of their rebellion. But, the people in this psalm are! Their sin has made them deathly ill. And, I can relate- I have made myself sick- upset stomach, headache, feeling “down”, feeling of complete unrest because of my stubbornness and resisting obedience to something God has laid on my heart. (Psalm 38- “because of my sin…I am bowed down, going around mourning all day… there is no health in my body.”) Unforgiveness is such a poisonous sin to our bodies in particular. I have a close friend who was betrayed horribly. She suffered serious colon problems. God had been telling her to forgive this person, but she refused. It was when she did forgive that she experienced immediate healing! (Again, we live in a fallen world where there is sickness and disease. NOT ALL PEOPLE WHO ARE SICK ARE SO BECAUSE OF THEIR REBELLION!)

“THEN they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress.” God is so good, so forgiving, so faithful, pure love and mercy! “He sent forth His word and healed them; He rescued them from the grave.” I love the Amplified bible so much better here. It uses PRESENT TENSE instead of past tense, “He RESCUES, He SENDS forth His word…” That does so much more for me! He is still doing it today!!!! He still rescues, He still sends forth His Word. And, instead of “grave” the Amplified says, “He rescues them from the pit (ever been in a pit??????) and destruction." How self-destructive I can be at times, but hallelujah- God rescues me!!!!!

And, this is precious! Look at how He rescues us- “He sends forth His Word and heals them.” Who is the “Word?” John tells us, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Jesus is the Word! God sends forth Jesus to heal us! And, as we look at Jesus all through the New Testament, He walks among the people, healing them, rescuing them from the pit and destruction. Glory!

Watch their reaction. “Let them give thanks to the LORD for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for men. Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of His works with songs of joy.” When we experience healing from the Lord, we react with songs of joy! When Jesus reaches into that pit of destruction and scoops us out, healing us, forgiving us, we are filled with joy. God comforts all who mourn, bestows on them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of despair. (Isaiah 61:3)

Thank you Lord for loving me so much! Your love won’t allow me to remain in a pit of despair. Your love won’t allow me to remain in sin, sin that spreads disease through my body. Thank you for the forgiveness that is given to me through the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Thank you, Father that you sent forth the Word, Jesus, to rescue me from my own destruction! I do proclaim your works with songs of joy! Hallelujah! Praise God! Help me Lord to always be humble before you. I do NOT want to be a rebellious fool. Search my heart, O God, and show me any rebellion that may be there. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Jesus for your blood that covers every sin and cleanses me from all unrighteousness. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen!

Praise You, God! You were so AWESOME, POWERFUL, AND BIG at the Ladies' Retreat where I spoke over the weekend. Praise You! God confirmed time and again how He wants to set us free! He does not want to see His dearly Beloved children in bondage, living under the yoke of Satan's deception! Hallelujah! This morning, one example stands out in my mind. A dear woman shared with me what she is going through at home- a terrible situation. Her husband is in bondage to a terrible sin. We prayed together, and I especially prayed that she would feel God's loving arms around her. I prayed that He would comfort her, pour out His wisdom on her, and shower His love upon her.

The next morning she shared with me how powerfully God had spoken to her through His Word.God led her to Isaiah where it talked about how He was going to come in to crush bondage and pride and that He is a source of strength. This passage spoke to her personally. It touched her exactly the way she needed. God had put His arms around her through His Word. God's Word is alive and active and personally speaks to each one of us! Praise God!

I was thinking how often we can sometimes "roll over and play dead." We start believing that THIS is all there is, or this is just how it is. We forget to fight- to stand firm and put on His armor. We forget to be strong in the Lord and His mighty power and to take our stand against the enemy's evil schemes. We just accept our circumstances as "the way things are." (Did you ever see the movie, Babe, about a pig who refused to accept that things were just the way things are?) We just sigh, and say, "This must be God's Will, His plan." (And sometimes it is! There are times that He is refining us or our circumstances are a result of sin or our choices- but that is a whole other blog!!!)

God reminded me of an example of this that happened not too long ago. I was NOT feeling well- I had a "bug" of some kind. But, I had so much to do. While I was praying with my mentor and prayer partner, I had a "woe is me" attitude and just kind of giving up. I am sick today, I won't be able to do all things I need to do. Oh well. I even said, "God must be slowing down." (And He, does do that, too- but that, too, is a whole other blog!!!!!) She began to pray for healing. We began to take our authority in who we are in Jesus and what He has already done for us. I of course, didn't want to hear these things! I wanted to her to feel sorry for me- I was sick! I wanted to "wallow!" But, as we prayed, my faith began to rise. I knew it was God's will for me to get up and accomplish the things He had called me to do that day. We talked about the time when Jesus healed Peter's mother from a fever and she got up to serve them. Immediately after we prayed I felt better. I still had my cold, but my attitude had completely changed. I had energy to get up and do the things I needed to do. Once I finished, I felt God say, "Rest now." I felt so much better!!!! I rested without worries of my tasks. I was so thankful and praised Him over and over!

This morning, as I pondered all of this, I opened my Bible. The Spirit led me to the story of the woman being healed in Mark 5:21-34. The crowds were huge. The Bible says, "A large crowd followed and pressed around Him." Have you been somewhere where the crowd was huge and people bump into you and you bump into them? Somewhere where you have to hold hands with the people you are with for fear of being separated? I picture the crowd like that around Jesus. The people are crowding Him, trying to get near Him.

The Bible says, "And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse." Whew! There is so much just in that short passage! In Bible times blood issues were taken seriously. If this woman had a blood disease, she would have been considered "unclean." People probably avoided touching her or getting too near her- for twelve YEARS. Can you imagine? The pain, the lonliness of this suffering for so long? In fact, Scripture says she had "suffered a great deal." Can you relate? Have you suffered a great deal? She spent all she had. She spent everything she had to get well. She sought out many doctors. She was using everything available. Yet, she was not healed. In fact, the Bible says "she grew worse." Have your circumstances ever grown worse, even when you have given everything you have to change them?

But, she knew where to go! She knows that Jesus can heal her. She thinks, "If I just touch His clothes, I will be healed." She knows the power of the her Savior. She knows it just takes a touch of his cloak. She doesn't even need to touch Him, just His clothes. So, she comes up behind Him, without saying a word, reaches out, and touches His cloak."IMMEDIATELY her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering." God wants to free us from our suffering!

Notice a few things. She goes to Jesus. She has great faith- she knows she just needs a touch from Jesus. She reaches out and touches Him. "At once Jesus realizes that power had gone out from Him." Wow! She reaches out, touches Him in her need, and power goes out from Him to heal her. Now, Jesus knows who touched Him. He is God. He is all knowing. All through the New Testament Jesus knew the thoughts of those around Him. So, He knows already knows who touched Him, but He asks, "Who touched my clothes?" Now the disciples are surprised by this question. EVERYONE was touching Him! A better question might have been who is NOT touching me???? They say, "You see the people crowding against You, and yet You ask, 'Who touched me?' " Jesus looks for her in the crowd. She knows she's "caught." She falls at His feet, trembling with fear and tells Him the whole truth.

Jesus calls her "Daughter." He says, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." Hallalujah! Jesus FREES us! He frees us from our suffering! Jesus came to "set the captives free." She has been healed already, now He wants to free her and bring restoration! In front of the whole crowd, all the people she was trying to avoid, Jesus restores her and validates her. He calls her daughter!

One other HUGE point- there were LOTS of people touching Jesus, many of which probably needed healing. Why didn't Jesus' power go out from Him when they touched Him? She believed! Jesus said "her faith healed her." So many of us may touch Jesus, but do we believe? Do we have faith in Who is and What He can do?

Thank You, God that You bring healing and freedom! Thank You for Your restoration!