Tuesday, March 29, 2011
MEDAL OF HONOR
MEDAL OF HONOR For most of the year 2010 Steve experienced the valley of the shadow of death spoken of in the 23rd Psalm. Even though it was a shadow of death, it planned to eventually bring death to his body. He related to me that during his long hospital stay after the two serious operations that there was a point where he had to choose life rather than yield to death. He won that battle by his own choice and that's the reason he is alive and vibrant today. Then another long battle ensued with the strong, strong chemotherapy necessary to kill the remaining rare cancer cells in his body. That was a different kind of battle, just as emotional, just as painful, just as debilitating. During those six rounds of strong chemotherapy Steve forced himself to eat when his body rejected food, he took advantage of every strange medicinal aid that was available to calm his raging nausea, he continually spoke faith filled words when he felt emaciated and weak, and he prayed constantly in the Holy Spirit, determined not to let the cancer win the war. It was a constant battle for most of that year, but he emerged cancer free, free indeed. He won the war like a hero, and I've never been more proud to be his wife. I give him my own personal Medal of Honor for his determination, his steadfast faith and his positive attitude during that war with its many, many battles. No Purple Heart medal for Steve. He deserves the Medal of Honor from all of his family and friends. We are all so proud of him.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
CONFIRMING IMAGES
CONFIRMING IMAGES
God is such a great Father. He always gives us something on which to base our faith. The Bible, our Instruction Book, says in Matthew 18:15 that when something is confirmed by two or three witnesses that it is established.
In court trials when two or three witnesses tell the same story on the witness stand, a jury will believe their story much more readily than if just one witness has testified to something he alone witnessed.
The Instruction Book also says that God will show us things to come. He does that by giving us mental images in our minds of things in the future that seem only remotely possible of becoming reality. Those images are put in our minds by the Holy Spirit and they are called prophesy.
My sister Mary and her prayer partner Karen have been very loyal to us in praying for us every week when they meet together for intercessory prayers. They both were determined to pray until Steve had a good report at the end of the chemotherapy.
We had received wonderful encouragement from family members and friends and we had received some distinct words from God that gave us faith for Steve's complete healing. Then one day Mary let us know that when she and Karen were praying that Karen saw an image in her mind of two years in the future in which Steve will be a healthy man teaching some children to swim. She had surely seen "things to come," which is what Jesus said that the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of Truth would provide. That testimony gave both of us an image in our own minds on which to hold, imagining Steve healed in the future instead of thinking of him as sickly, exhausted, nauseous, weak and in pain. We were able to change the channels in our minds from current negative reality to future positive results.
I suddenly realized one day that that is the reason why it is necessary to have faith boosted by two or three witnesses, because the positive image becomes established in our minds and we can have unwavering faith. God uses spiritual gifts from other people to make our faith firm, just like the word confirm says, con-firm. The new image become firm, unwavering and established.
When God sends his confirming message through two or three witnesses, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is going to do what He has said he will do, in this instance heal Steve completely.
We know that Steve will be completely healed. We also know that he will be teaching children to swim in some way. I wonder if he will actually be teaching children to swim, or maybe the wonderful testimony of his complete healing will encourage people to swim in the Living Waters of God which bring the abundant life to all who are eager to experience being baptized in them.
We're believing for both because God always does unbelievable things, and that's why they need to be confirmed by two or three witnesses. Our little human minds cannot believe for unbelievable things unless He tells us two or three times through two or three witnesses that He is trustworthy to do what He says he will do.
Either way, God's promise to Steve through Karen is firm and established because she was willing to open herself up to God's vision and then she was willing to confirm the "things to come" which she had seen spiritually.
Her encouraging image gave us the necessary faith to do what another chapter in the Instruction Book says to do, which is to speak the things that are not as though they were.
Karen did it and her obedience established unmovable faith in us.
Bring on the Living Waters!
God is such a great Father. He always gives us something on which to base our faith. The Bible, our Instruction Book, says in Matthew 18:15 that when something is confirmed by two or three witnesses that it is established.
In court trials when two or three witnesses tell the same story on the witness stand, a jury will believe their story much more readily than if just one witness has testified to something he alone witnessed.
The Instruction Book also says that God will show us things to come. He does that by giving us mental images in our minds of things in the future that seem only remotely possible of becoming reality. Those images are put in our minds by the Holy Spirit and they are called prophesy.
My sister Mary and her prayer partner Karen have been very loyal to us in praying for us every week when they meet together for intercessory prayers. They both were determined to pray until Steve had a good report at the end of the chemotherapy.
We had received wonderful encouragement from family members and friends and we had received some distinct words from God that gave us faith for Steve's complete healing. Then one day Mary let us know that when she and Karen were praying that Karen saw an image in her mind of two years in the future in which Steve will be a healthy man teaching some children to swim. She had surely seen "things to come," which is what Jesus said that the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of Truth would provide. That testimony gave both of us an image in our own minds on which to hold, imagining Steve healed in the future instead of thinking of him as sickly, exhausted, nauseous, weak and in pain. We were able to change the channels in our minds from current negative reality to future positive results.
I suddenly realized one day that that is the reason why it is necessary to have faith boosted by two or three witnesses, because the positive image becomes established in our minds and we can have unwavering faith. God uses spiritual gifts from other people to make our faith firm, just like the word confirm says, con-firm. The new image become firm, unwavering and established.
When God sends his confirming message through two or three witnesses, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is going to do what He has said he will do, in this instance heal Steve completely.
We know that Steve will be completely healed. We also know that he will be teaching children to swim in some way. I wonder if he will actually be teaching children to swim, or maybe the wonderful testimony of his complete healing will encourage people to swim in the Living Waters of God which bring the abundant life to all who are eager to experience being baptized in them.
We're believing for both because God always does unbelievable things, and that's why they need to be confirmed by two or three witnesses. Our little human minds cannot believe for unbelievable things unless He tells us two or three times through two or three witnesses that He is trustworthy to do what He says he will do.
Either way, God's promise to Steve through Karen is firm and established because she was willing to open herself up to God's vision and then she was willing to confirm the "things to come" which she had seen spiritually.
Her encouraging image gave us the necessary faith to do what another chapter in the Instruction Book says to do, which is to speak the things that are not as though they were.
Karen did it and her obedience established unmovable faith in us.
Bring on the Living Waters!
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