Revelation 12:11 says that "They overcame [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony." Testimony is so important. Its like food for our spirit. A tangible meal for our hearts to dine on. Where there is a gap between our reality and God's promise for our lives, testimony bridges that gap. The testimony of God's past provision, miraculous work, and providence is a prophetic declaration of what he is to do in the future. The miracles that God does for my friends, family, and people I have never met, are miracles that he can do for me. Through God coming through time and time again, he continually gets all the glory and praise as provider, healer, and overcomer.
Here is another testimony of God working this past week! Thanks God for being so awesome!
Driving home from the airport the other day I passed a wreck on the road. As I drove by I noticed that the cops and ambulance had not even arrived on the scene yet. I felt that same feeling in my gut I always feel when I passed the wreck. I was thankful it wasn't me. As I drove further from the scene I prayed for the people in the wreck. While praying I thought about myself and the identity that Jesus gave me when I became a believer. I thought about the authority that he had given me and how because of Jesus I could partner with God to be a vessel of peace and healing to a scene like that.
So I turned the car around and drove back to the scene. Parking my car in a nearby driveway I walked up to a man on the scene who told me that his wife was a nurse. She had seen the wreck and had been assessing the teenage girl who had been driving the car that slammed into the back of a mini-van, which an elderly woman had been driving. Walking closer to the scene I felt out of place and could feel the panic of the situation. Kierra, the young teenage girl was there crying. Looking shocked and confused she was pacing back and forth holding her wrist awkwardly. In that moment I had a chance to walk up to her and tell her that everything was going to be ok. I told her that I was praying for her. Allowing the nurse who has showed up on the scene to do her job I stepped back a little bit and began to pray. I prayed that peace would fall over the the entire scene and the two women involved. I asked God to send his angels to the scene to heal. comfort, and make God's name known. Then an ambulance and the fire department showed up. After praying for a little while longer I left the scene feeling confident that God was at work. I began to thank God for allowing me to pass by this scene shortly after it happened so that I could pray over it. Thanks God for being so good to us! Thanks God for giving us the authority to bring your presence into a situation. Thanks for moving through us when we take risks and get out of comfort zone! God you are awesome!
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
God in the Ordinary and Extraordinary
God loves to move in miraculous ways. Jesus, who was fully God and fully man, made the miraculous a main focus of his life. Consequently, the miraculous should be a focus of our lives. Here are some testimonies of God moving powerfully and miraculously.
Last week while driving home from work I got a chance to pray for a couple of homeless guys camped out along the highway. Both of them, looking for a hotel room for the night, were collecting money for a night's stay. Passing by them I heard Holy Spirit tell me to stop, talk with them, pray for them, and give them some money. This was amazing! One guy, named Jimmy, had pain in his left hip. I got a chance to pray for healing for his hip. He said that he didn't feel any pain go away right then but that he was very thankful. The other man, named Drew, also let me pray for him. While praying for him I got a chance to declare truth over him and Holy Spirit began to work. Drew actually began to shake while I was praying for him. I'm not exactly sure what God was doing but it was very evident that he was present and cared for these men so much.
This past week I also got to intercede for Megan's RAs and the dormitory she works in. Megan shared that while she was praying with her RAs in the residence hall God began to give each section of the hall a name that would represent what God would do in it this year. Wow God! You're amazing!
Here's another awesome miracle, this one is from awhile ago. One time when I was in Kingdom Building Ministry's discipleship program I got a chance to pray for a woman who had cancer. Although she was not present I prayed that she would be healed of cancer. I got a call one week later that she had been completely healed! She went to the doctor that week and he told her there was no more cancer in her body! Praise God!
God is a God of the miraculous. Looking to God, asking for the impossible, and stepping into the authority that he has given us helps us access the miraculous. Yay Jesus! Thank you for how amazing you are!
Last week while driving home from work I got a chance to pray for a couple of homeless guys camped out along the highway. Both of them, looking for a hotel room for the night, were collecting money for a night's stay. Passing by them I heard Holy Spirit tell me to stop, talk with them, pray for them, and give them some money. This was amazing! One guy, named Jimmy, had pain in his left hip. I got a chance to pray for healing for his hip. He said that he didn't feel any pain go away right then but that he was very thankful. The other man, named Drew, also let me pray for him. While praying for him I got a chance to declare truth over him and Holy Spirit began to work. Drew actually began to shake while I was praying for him. I'm not exactly sure what God was doing but it was very evident that he was present and cared for these men so much.
This past week I also got to intercede for Megan's RAs and the dormitory she works in. Megan shared that while she was praying with her RAs in the residence hall God began to give each section of the hall a name that would represent what God would do in it this year. Wow God! You're amazing!
Here's another awesome miracle, this one is from awhile ago. One time when I was in Kingdom Building Ministry's discipleship program I got a chance to pray for a woman who had cancer. Although she was not present I prayed that she would be healed of cancer. I got a call one week later that she had been completely healed! She went to the doctor that week and he told her there was no more cancer in her body! Praise God!
God is a God of the miraculous. Looking to God, asking for the impossible, and stepping into the authority that he has given us helps us access the miraculous. Yay Jesus! Thank you for how amazing you are!
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
A few testimonies from this summer
This morning I was reading about the importance of our testimony. I was reminded by God that our testimony is a weapon that we use to overcome Satan. Revelation 12:11 says that "They overcame [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony." So here are some testimonies of what God did this summer.
Well for one, I got engaged to Megan! This was amazing and is still amazing and is an awesome testimony of God answering prayer. For years I hoped and prayed for a wife. Ever since being a child having a wife and family was near and dear to my heart. In 2012 I began to pray very intentionally for a wife and began to pray that God would form me into the man that I needed to be for her, and for our family. Then on August 9, 2013, in an interview for Anderson University, I met her! As soon as I walked into the room I heard Holy Spirit say "this is the woman that for years you have been praying for, this is the woman you are going to marry." When I first heard this I thought to myself "this is crazy, this can't be the voice of God. Focus you're in an interview." But God soon showed me that indeed I was to pursue and marry Megan. Thank you God that us being together was YOUR plan that we joined in on, not our plan that we initiated ourselves.
God also got me a job at Starbucks, which has been ironically restful. Who knew that a job could be restful?! God actually spoke to to Megan telling her that I was to get a job at a coffee shop but directed her not to tell me this. Then soon after this I randomly spoke to an old friend who worked at Starbucks, who was able to get me an interview. Upon praying about this and speaking to Megan we quickly realized that me being in this position for this particular season had God's fingerprints all over it. Praise be to God!
This summer there have been multiple times where Drew Welch and I have gone swimming together. One day after swimming he told me that his back hurt him. At the dock on the lake we prayed that God would bring healing to his back and take the pain away. Drew told me that the next morning he woke up and the pain in his back was gone! Glory to God!
Thank you God for all you have done!
Well for one, I got engaged to Megan! This was amazing and is still amazing and is an awesome testimony of God answering prayer. For years I hoped and prayed for a wife. Ever since being a child having a wife and family was near and dear to my heart. In 2012 I began to pray very intentionally for a wife and began to pray that God would form me into the man that I needed to be for her, and for our family. Then on August 9, 2013, in an interview for Anderson University, I met her! As soon as I walked into the room I heard Holy Spirit say "this is the woman that for years you have been praying for, this is the woman you are going to marry." When I first heard this I thought to myself "this is crazy, this can't be the voice of God. Focus you're in an interview." But God soon showed me that indeed I was to pursue and marry Megan. Thank you God that us being together was YOUR plan that we joined in on, not our plan that we initiated ourselves.
God also got me a job at Starbucks, which has been ironically restful. Who knew that a job could be restful?! God actually spoke to to Megan telling her that I was to get a job at a coffee shop but directed her not to tell me this. Then soon after this I randomly spoke to an old friend who worked at Starbucks, who was able to get me an interview. Upon praying about this and speaking to Megan we quickly realized that me being in this position for this particular season had God's fingerprints all over it. Praise be to God!
This summer there have been multiple times where Drew Welch and I have gone swimming together. One day after swimming he told me that his back hurt him. At the dock on the lake we prayed that God would bring healing to his back and take the pain away. Drew told me that the next morning he woke up and the pain in his back was gone! Glory to God!
Thank you God for all you have done!
Friday, August 23, 2013
In the beginning
So you know how as kids nothing really seemed to matter and the hardest decision was trying to decide which piece of candy you wanted at the grocery store? A simpler time. I stole some Skittles once, my mom made me put them back though. You know how it is, where she walks you back into the store like you've just gotten the death penalty. You have to explain to the lady named Beatrice, or some old person name like that, why you're coming back into the store with tears in your eyes and terror on your face. Those were the days.
Along with stealing Skittles, I also built rocket ships out of Legos that flew past the speed of sound and into my father's lap. I wanted to be an astronaut, well come to think of it, I still want to be an astronaut. NASA clearly doesn't know what they're missing. If they knew that I was ready to pilot their missions to the moon they certainly wouldn't have closed down. But alas the economy. It got to you too NASA. You will be missed.
There were other days when I would pretend to be a professional basketball player and a professional soccer player. Life was grand and the summer days were long. I would play in the backyard on our playground, attempting to dismount the swings in a manly fashion. I wanted to be an Olympic gymnast, and would practice jumping off the swings all day long. I planned on going to the Olympics in the parallel and the horizontal bars. As a child I decided I would choose to leave the rings event to my friends. They would of course get the silver and bronze medal while I would get the gold. Me and my wife (who would also be a professional athlete) would change the world, have kids, and make it a better place.
The past is a curious thing. Hindsight is always 20-20 they say. But as clear as the past can be, a lot of times it looks like the present. I'm pretty sure I can put down a bet that I won't be a professional athlete, but just like in the past I still desire to change the world. And I still desire a family. That hasn't changed. Perhaps hindsight is 20-20 because what drove us to dream as kids still drives us to dream today. The possibility of eternal impact transcends all ages. If we think about it we all still have a piece of a childhood dream that still is a possibility. Who says we have to stop dreaming because we're old now?
So here I am, sitting in my kitchen, lifting my drink to the ceiling, toasting the future. "Here's to dreaming, here's to hindsight." May the ambition that drove us to be kids in the past, drive us to dream like kids in the future.
Along with stealing Skittles, I also built rocket ships out of Legos that flew past the speed of sound and into my father's lap. I wanted to be an astronaut, well come to think of it, I still want to be an astronaut. NASA clearly doesn't know what they're missing. If they knew that I was ready to pilot their missions to the moon they certainly wouldn't have closed down. But alas the economy. It got to you too NASA. You will be missed.
There were other days when I would pretend to be a professional basketball player and a professional soccer player. Life was grand and the summer days were long. I would play in the backyard on our playground, attempting to dismount the swings in a manly fashion. I wanted to be an Olympic gymnast, and would practice jumping off the swings all day long. I planned on going to the Olympics in the parallel and the horizontal bars. As a child I decided I would choose to leave the rings event to my friends. They would of course get the silver and bronze medal while I would get the gold. Me and my wife (who would also be a professional athlete) would change the world, have kids, and make it a better place.
The past is a curious thing. Hindsight is always 20-20 they say. But as clear as the past can be, a lot of times it looks like the present. I'm pretty sure I can put down a bet that I won't be a professional athlete, but just like in the past I still desire to change the world. And I still desire a family. That hasn't changed. Perhaps hindsight is 20-20 because what drove us to dream as kids still drives us to dream today. The possibility of eternal impact transcends all ages. If we think about it we all still have a piece of a childhood dream that still is a possibility. Who says we have to stop dreaming because we're old now?
So here I am, sitting in my kitchen, lifting my drink to the ceiling, toasting the future. "Here's to dreaming, here's to hindsight." May the ambition that drove us to be kids in the past, drive us to dream like kids in the future.
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