Stories of a good God

Posts tagged ‘Psalm 34:8’

How will they know to ask if you do not show them Whose you are?

I was leaving kindy drop off on 15th August when a sweet girl I have spoken of before (click here for story) stopped me and asked for a moment of my time …

It was freezing cold but the look in her eyes told me of the importance of her request and so I stopped and listened.

She started hesitatingly, telling the story of why she was stopping me …

Her daughter had taken an ambulance ride, she said, and so I heard how her young two-year old had collapsed, had a fit and had been rushed by ambulance to hospital.  A scan was done, and an irregularity discovered in her brain … “epilepsy” was announced as the possible diagnosis … and more tests were advised …

My friend was obviously and understandably shaken, and started to sleep with her daughter, frightened she will fit again …

She told me the story … and shared her fears and as she did I knew she was reaching out to me, not as a friend, but because she knew I prayed … because in the recent past she had been healed by a loving God of a chest infection, she had felt His peace as I had prayed and she knew that God was a possible solution … and so she stepped out and asked … without asking, if I would pray …

I did pray. 

I placed my hand on her daughter’s head and commanded any irregularity to leave, for her daughter to be healed of any issues, and I told her of another friend whose daughter had been scanned and irregularities had been found in the nerves of her back … a possible diagnosis of “multiple sclerosis” had been announced … I told her how the daughter still had symptoms, but how further scans had been done, or rather, re-done, and the scan had come back completely “all clear.”  The doctors continue to search for a diagnosis and explanation for the other symptoms presenting, but the original report showing the nerve damage in the spine, was replaced with a further scan report that had come back all clear …

I told my friend this story … nerve damage identified in one scan … prayer … nerve damage all gone in the next scan … I spoke to her of God’s goodness and she shared some further fears and concerns with me … and as she did I offered her Jesus … I offered her an opportunity to ask Him into her heart … but told her to only do so if it was right for her now …

It was … she was ready … it felt right to her …

So, on the nature strip my friend quietly asked Jesus into her heart and for the Holy Spirit to fill her … she felt it … as did I …

The story is short, sweet and simple … it will be sweeter again with a report that all is well with her daughter, but for now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been released … the Kingdom of Peace, Joy, Health, Love … onto her daughter … and onto and into her mum, my friend …

I ask … unless we ask them if we can pray for them, unless we let them know we believe in a good God and believe He will heal and answer our prayers … how will they know to come to us in crisis and seek help from a loving God?

I dare you to show your Christian colours and reveal a good God … reveal a God that cares … about the big and the little … a God that heals… a God that died for all …

Do you dare … ?

If you do both, we and they will see that …

God is Good!

Category:

As you go, Christian, epilepsy, God is good, multiple sclerosis, praise report, prayer, salvation

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A Psalm 34:8 healing – she tasted and she saw that God is Good!

A couple of weeks ago I was at my son’s kindy and saw one of the mums standing outside in the cold, looking miserable with a snuffly, red-nose.  She was clearly full of an infection. 

I stopped and asked how she was doing.  She said she was standing outside so as not to infect anyone inside with her cold… so she was standing in the drizzle, in the cold wind, out of concern for others …

This girl is one of those beautiful people … a heart of service and kindness, caring for others as well as caring for her two young children … always with great patience and love …

She went on to explain that she did not seem to be able to shake a string of infections that kept on hitting her chest …

I empathised, and told her my story of continuous illnesses for over more than two years, illnesses that just kept coming.  I went on to tell her of one woman, one special friend, who started to pray for me daily and the infections immediately stopped (“the prayers of a righteous person are powerful and effective” – James 5:16) …  

As I told my testimony I felt the familiar prompting, and offered to pray. 

She agreed. 

I asked if I could pop my hand onto her chest … over the point of infection. 

She agreed.

I laid my hand on her chest as she snuffled and I invited the Holy Spirit to come.  I commanded all sickness to leave in the name of Jesus, and I commanded her chest to be clear of all infection …

I said to her that I was going to ask for “pay back”, and I did … I asked for a seven-fold pay back on all the illnesses I had suffered from and then I commanded any spirit of sickness to leave, releasing the Kingdom of Heaven as I did and asking for the Holy Spirit to fill her with His healing Presence and oil …

Feeling a little embarrassed, I said “let me know how you get on”

She responded that she felt better already, that she felt like something had lifted off her chest … I smiled and said something like … “well God wants you well, there is no sickness in Heaven so it does not belong in you”… and I went into the kindy to collect my son …

A couple of days later I saw my friend.  She looked at me over the sea of heads at kindy pick up and she said she felt sooo much better …

That was a few weeks ago …

I have seen her regularly since and this morning I again asked how she was.  She responded that she was great … all healthy …

It is a simple little story, but this encounter showed my friend the love of Jesus for her …

He cared that she kept getting sick, and He wanted her well … and so … a loving God reached out, touched her life and healed her …

She tasted and saw that …

God is Good!  (Psalm 34:8)

Category:

God is good, healing, Healing of chest infections, James 5:16, praise report, Psalm 34:8

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Will the real Body of Christ please stand up? Being the Body, blesses the Body because…God is Good

So often we are encouraged to step into all that we are called to be, to be all we are designed to be, not only so that the world may “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8) … but also so that the rest of the Body can walk into its identity as Beloved Sons and Daughters and function in fullness …

This is a story of one part of the Body, blessing another part of the Body … by just listening, obeying and going … taking the time to stop for another, in love.

We host a night in our home on a fortnightly basis where we invite God to come.  It is a safe environment for those that have been impacted by God on the streets to come and explore What, or rather, Who they encountered.  Some are new Christians, others have been Christians in traditional environments but are hungry for more, and still others are not yet Christians but want to know more.

One of our group, a beautiful woman who has been exploring a new Christian life, has been walking in miraculous synchronicity with her loving God.  She has been on a rapid journey of discovery, and she has desired to really step into who she is in Christ…wanting to hear, obey, and respond to Him.  In the midst of this time a person special, and close to her died.  Naturally, she has been sad.

Unbeknownst to us she had started to wonder whether she was “good enough” … we have all been there … and while we know we can never be good enough the doubts about who we are can erode the truth and shake us to the core.  This can be especially so when we are vulnerable, such as at times of loss.

At about the same time, on Monday morning, I saw another friend from our group who said she was heading off to buy this first friend a bunch of flowers.  She had a “God assignment” and she was off to do as called …

We found out on Tuesday evening, that this second friend had visited four florists.  She had known she was to buy the first friend a bunch of roses and that the roses had to be pink … but it took four florists to find just the right shade of pink …

She dropped them off, knocking on the door and giving them to the first friend, who then recounted on Tuesday night that the roses were the exact shade of pink … a bluey  pink … that she had just days before cast upon her uncle’s body at his funeral, prior to him being buried …

It was also the exact shade of pink of a rainbow she had seen another time te morning after she stepped out for the first time, doing as God had bidden her do… 

As she told the story, I could feel God’s love for her and I said: “what do you think God was trying to say to you through these roses being just the right shade of pink?” … and she looked at me and said

“… He loves me …”

And so it dawned on her that she was truly loved … just because … not because she was “good enough” … but, just because …

So I will ask, will the real Body of Christ please stand up …?

When we reach out to one another in love …

When we reach out to the world in love …

I believe the that the world truly does … taste, and see that …

God IS Good!

Category:

As you go, Body of Christ, Christmas, God is good, God's love, Identity, Love, Obedience, Psalm 34:8, Rainbows, Uncategorized

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Pedicures and the Father’s Blessing…God is Good!

While away a friend gave me a voucher for a pedicure as a gift … a pedicure that I booked in for last Friday morning. 

I woke on Friday, not feeling the best, and thought about calling to cancel … but I then thought that the appointment may be a “God appointment” and so I took a deep breath, and went regardless, knowing I would enjoy the pedicure in any event … and the effect of fine feet afterwards …

As soon as I got to my appointment the feeling of being unwell lifted and I happily chatted to the gorgeous girl who had been assigned to me about colour …

As I sat and had my feet scrubbed I sensed that this was a God appointment and I felt that I was to pray, a little later, for this girl with whom I had struck up an immediate rapport. 

She is a mum of a four-year-old boy, and a step-mum to two teenage girls.  She lives in a large country town, not far from Melbourne, and the girls live in a Melbourne suburb, not far from where I live.  As we chatted I also discovered that her mum was a mid-wife, at the hospital where I had my two children, and as we talked even further, we worked out that her mum had helped me deliver my first child … on reflection (after the God encounter) I realised that this too was no coincidence … this appointment had been set up … way back in 2003!

As the pedicure came to an end I said “I would love to pray for you”.

She said “sure” and her eyes immediately filled with tears … the Holy Spirit was physically tangible around us.

I stood and took her hand in mine and invited the Holy Spirit to come (even though He was already there) and her eyes overflowed with tears as the anointing came even more powerfully …

I prayed as I felt led … I declared her destiny open, I declared open doors over her life, I blessed her and released favour.

I then felt to pray a Father’s Blessing over her and as I did, with my hand on her head she openly wept … and I gently kissed her on the forehead.

I asked her if she had asked Jesus into her heart – she responded “we’re Catholics, of course” so I said “just ask Holy Spirit to fill you up”. And she did … with tears running down her face.

I kissed her on the cheek and held her for a very long time as she cried, and I told her gently that she was beautiful, that God delighted in her, that she no longer had to do it on her own, and that although her natural father had not been there for her, God was, and it was time for her to go to Him … I said how she had been so very strong for so very long, but that now, it was time for her to go to Him and allow Him to take the load and, to hold her …

I briefly talked to her about going to where God was for her (her “God space“) and explained (aware of the time) that where that was would always feel safe, it would feel for her like she had felt as I had prayed … surrounded and filled with love – she nodded with me saying it had felt very safe and full of love.

I sat in the waiting room as she got me a tea and I asked if she ever came up to Melbourne on Tuesday nights … She said her partner visited his girls on a Tuesday night.  I explained I held a group on a Tuesday night for people to discover more of God … the timing another coincidence that she pointed out to me and … I gave her my details and said she would be welcome to come if she wanted … or she could just call …

Whether she calls or not, or comes or not, she has had an encounter with the Creator of the universe … she has had an encounter with God … she has had an encounter with a Father, with a loving Father, a God who is a Father who “so loved the world that He gave His one and only son … ” (John 3:16 – emphasis added) … she tasted and saw that God is Good (Psalm 34:8)…

I hope she chooses to call or email … I hope she chooses to come to our nights … where that will lead I do not know, but I do know that if she chooses to go on her journey with God, as her loving Father, as her Loving Saviour, as her Loving Friend … she will  see that …

God is Good!

Category:

As you go, blessing, Christian, declarations, faith, God is good, God Space, God's love, John 3:16, Love, Obedience, open destinies, praise report, prayer, Prophecy, Psalm 34:8, random act of kindness, Stopping for the one, the Father's blessing, Uncategorized

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Healing of a headache is just part of the journey…praise report…God is Good!

Yesterday (3rd December 2011) we had an all day commitment for the kids … rehearsals … the build up to the annual ballet concert.

Last year we were “newbies” … and we were shell-shocked … this year has been far better … and the organisation has been far more civilised …

I was at the rehearsals yesterday, helping monitor the kids and while there I helped to make a number of “scrunchy” hair pieces.  As I did I chatted to a mum, who mentioned briefly that she was very tired and was suffering from a head ache that was leaving her “fuzzy” headed.

I felt that familiar nudging of the Holy Spirit and so I offered to pray. She agreed, and so I placed my hands on either side of her head, invited the Holy Spirit to come and told the head ache to leave … I prayed for peace … for the “Shalom” of God to come … in the name of Jesus …

We kept chatting, but I left my hand on her back sensing a very gentle anointing …

I asked her how she felt … she responded that she did not feel as “fuzzy” and I recounted a testimony about praying for a girl with two broken legs this time last year, telling her that the girl had stood the following day … the girl had walked unaided in under two weeks, and had joined the cadets within 6 weeks of receiving prayer … which was about the time that the girl was in fact due to get out of the wheel chair … healing can happen in stages …

I then placed my hand back onto her forehead saying I would pray again and as I did another woman turned and asked if it was helping … my friend said it was …

The anointing was not immediate, instant, or “strong” (as I felt it in any case) but I stood in faith that what I was doing would have power … I just  felt a gentle “presence” which could be best described as “peaceful” but even that was barely perceivable … she commented that she had “goose bumps” …

I finished praying sensing that it was “enough” and we got on with the “mummy stuff” that we had to do.

Later, as she was preparing to go home I asked her about the head …

She looked and said “you know what? Its gone! The headache and the fuzziness have gone” and she motioned to a picture across the room and said “earlier today that picture was all fuzzy … now I can see it clearly … that fuzzy feeling has lifted” …

I smiled and said, “yes, sometimes it does ‘lift’ off us like that .. I’m really glad you feel better” … and I retold a story of another mum I had prayed for a couple of years ago that had the same thing happen – the headache and fuzziness had lifted and the night after the prayer the mum had slept really really well … I laughed as I told the story saying that I thought that the good night’s sleep was God showing off … as we spoke she looked at me and said she was getting goose bumps again … I said that she was feeling God, that He loves being talked about, a bit like Tigger, that as we speak about Him He draws close …

And so, I left it at that, her rubbing her “goose bumps” on her arms, and I wished her a lovely night …

A simple story it may be … but it so reflects God’s heart …

I believe a seed has been sown … she has tasted and seen that the Lord is good (Ps 34:8) … she has received His goodness, and she has felt His presence … it was very real for her.

A seed has been planted.  I will enjoy watching as God waters that seed.  It will grow … it will grow into something magnificent, something glorious, something good.  I have seen God at work like this before, giving a taste here, touching a person there, loving them on purpose, drawing Him with His loving kindness … and it is such a privilege to watch Him at work like this because …

God is Good!

Category:

Christian, God is good, God's love, head ache, healing, Love, praise report, prayer, Psalm 34:8, Stopping for the one, Uncategorized

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