YouTube
— Read on m.youtube.com/watch
The truth about supernatural healing. Our unbelief built out of our experiences instead of truth in Gods Word creating the right doctrine on the POWER available to children of God. Watch and be challenged in your thinking. And really look for Gods will
Boy if we even think we have touched the tip of understanding Who God is and really what He’s about, we need to stop and consider why we call God God. If God is God should He not do things beyond our comprehension; wonders that are mind blowing, such as healing the sick, breaking bondages in peoples lives? Do things that we can’t possibly explain? If so, why don’t we see more of this everyday? The last few months have been eye-opening to me as I’m learning about these truly glorious facets of God that only express themselves when a person is really searching in faith. I feel like I’ve been blown away. All these years after Bible College and enormous amounts of Bible study on my own and in group settings I feel like I’ve just scratched the surface. To be honest I think sometimes we try to simplify the Bible enough or pick it apart to understand it that we can really take the wonder right out of it.
I was filled with the Holy Spirit in January and during that prayer I felt a warmth on the lower portion of my back. Which God later revealed during that prayer He had touched my hips and healed them.
Tuesday night of the following week we had a meeting before the addiction ministry at church for table leaders to ask the counseling Pastor for help with any questions we might have in leading our tables. The room was totally full that night. The first question that was asked had to do with helping the people around their table get passed losing someone to death because of substance abuse. Others offered answers and the Pastor did too. I felt the Holy Spirit nudge me to interject by mentioning we needed to bring Him into that ministry. I told Him that He needed to speak thru me if this was something I needed to say. I put my faith Him and when I opened my mouth I could literally feel the Spirit. It felt like if you were sitting in front of me you would’ve seen Him jumping out of my chest. The power that came out of my mouth when I spoke was unexplainable. From my point of view it was beautiful like music. It was like God was breathing out of my mouth speaking HIS words. I said, ‘we have no need to watch these people die. If we are filled with the Holy Spirit we have power to cast demons out, raise the dead, break these people free from their addictions.’ Everyone in the room had their eyes intently fixed on me. They were listening as I spoke but I am afraid most of them missed what God was saying through me. Except I noticed the Pastor was watching and by the look on his face I sensed he saw something different. I don’t know what he saw because we never spoke after but I hope he heard God speak. A guy approached me afterwords and said he agreed with everything I said. We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and bring that teaching into the addiction ministry.
At Saturday night service later that week I was given an opportunity to sing in the worship band at church. This was the second time I actually had both a microphone and ears to hear with. I went in prior to this feeling like I was missing the secret presence of God that I’d obtained at that Tuesday night meeting earlier in the week. And I really couldn’t figure out why. But I was prayed up before I went to practice before service. After practice I felt as if I had been snubbed by one or two people in the band. Whether or not I was or if it was just my inability to perform well I do not know. But I felt compelled to go by myself after practice and get in one knee and ask wthe Holy Spirit for help.
We got back on stage for worship service and I began to sing with the band. Really I didn’t feel prepared and I continued to ask the Holy Spirit to help me worship. Well He did. Right in the middle of one of the songs the Pastor jumps out on stage and began to talk. The ear piece to hear everything the band was doing was in my better ear. It had been hard to get it in so I wasn’t taking it out. I’d felt like God also told me to leave the ear piece in so I couldn’t hear.With my weaker ear I tried my hardest to listen to what he spoke.
I heard, ‘there was a girl who made some bad choices… one day she was driving in a car and came to an intersection where she couldn’t see. She went and a semi hit her car and pushed them. (This was when I covered my face, realizing he was speaking of me and I turned it to the side and started weeping). This girl was injured. She couldn’t walk, or talk. She had to relearn. And he pointed to me. Well now here she is singing.’ That’s a shortened version of what he said but about only what I heard.
The applause came and the only thing I thought to do was lift my arm up and point upwards to make it clear that ALL GLORY AND PRAISE BE TO GOD. That was when God said in my spirit ‘keep doing this for ME.’
I can’t understand the Holy Spirit. He is SUPERNATURAL in His workings . But by faith I can accept what I do understand. I have to receive the filling of the Holy Spirit, separately from my salvation. Luke 11 says ‘To ask, seek after and knock for more of God’s Spirit to be poured into our lives. The answer God gives according to Scripture is that He is a good Father and to those who continue to plead for more of the Spirit, to them more will be given.’ In the original text it was written that this plea comes from a person who sees themselves of a lessor position as compared to God. This is key to really grasping this truth. Everyday that I ask for the filling of the Holy Spirit with faith I receive a SUPERNATURAL power that is beyond my comprehension.
I am waiting. God is not through with my story. I am waiting for HIM to do something through me that is only explained by HIS POWER. That’s the answer. I can’t understand but just believe so that I can receive. Be available. And remember it’s my FAITH that fuels HIM to do the impossible in my life and to those lives He uses me in.
God revealed to me sometime after the prayer in January to receive the filling of the Holy Spirit, that 17 years ago I craved God’s Presence with such a desire that it lead me to get on my knees and plead for more. It took place in the dark on my bedroom floor. I lifted up my hands up to the ceiling and received something coming down. It went into my mouth and satisfied me. I immediately jumped into bed and in the morning, because of my lack of short-term memory, I did not remember and therefore I told no one what had happened the night before.
All these years later I connect the dots to see how the Spiritual gifts God had given me since that night have been expressed over the years and when my heart was right I have been given the privilege to use them for His glory. Such as to sharing my story in front of hundreds of people. Along with teaching, writing, mentoring, and singing. Without even understanding why my fervency for God has at times been so passionate, now I understand. It’s not me. Never has been. Never will be. It’s the Presence of God through the Holy Spirit expressing Himself in and through me as I submit to Him. As I seek God with all my heart.
I have seen God come through in my life so many times and it’s only when I put all my faith in HIM and Him alone. I’ve prayed over our cars. I’ve prayed for healing for sickness. I’ve prayed fervently about lost jobs. I’ve prayed for salvation of many and had the privilege to lead some of those to the Lord. I prayed and prayed and prayed to write my book. And in 2013 it was published. Entitled A Life Redone: My Journey to a Life if Freedom. It wasn’t me. I cannot boast. Just putting my faith in God has done those impossible things.
Learn about it. Put your faith out there to get more of God’s Spirit and see what happens. Look for a deeper revelation of WHO GOD IS and what HE wants to reveal to you in your searching.
I spent a few hours at my moms house in March after that prayer that took place in January. Mike dropped me off so he could meet with a friend. It was snowy out so he had the truck to use. I’d prayed that God would help me to speak in that conversation. That afternoon was one of the sweetest days of conversing I have ever had with mom and Keith. I shared with them my experience since being filled with the Holy Spirit and the heart revelation that God gave me. As I spoke I could feel it was the power of the Holy Spirit speaking though me. My mom and Keith also said they sensed that as well. I think they received what I said. After I finished sharing my revelation Keith spoke up and said, ‘you could write another book on just what you shared.’
One night later that week Mike and I had dinner out. I shared with him about the Holy Spirit revelation I had. After I finished he also said I could write a second book on what I’d just shared with him what happened. Shortly after that I prayed for Mike to receive the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. I felt led when we got upstairs to our bedroom to pray over him again. I felt it was a more sincere prayer and I could feel power in it.
Shortly after I began thinking that maybe this revelation was something I needed to pass onto my Pastor. I figured I’d pray and wait. Later that week I started thinking that again. That morning talking to Mike on the phone he said he’d read Mark 13 and said we needed to read it together. Verse 11 said, ‘don’t worry about what you’ll say. For it will not be you speaking but the Holy Spirit.’ It struck me as I read the passage aloud to Mike. When we got to the end of the reading we talked about it and I spoke of another verse that had spoken to me. Not mentioning verse 11. Then I prayed silently if this was Holy Spirit speaking He would tell me again. As soon as I was done praying Mike spoke up and said what about verse 11? I’m like, ok God. Ok. I’ll go.
I can’t understand the Holy Spirit. He is SUPERNATURAL in His workings . But by faith I can accept what I do understand. That is this: I receive POWER by faith. Asking for help that is beyond me. I now understand that I need to ask for a fresh filling of the SUPERNATURAL power of the Holy Spirit daily. It is beyond my comprehension. I have to receive it like a child by faith.
I am waiting. God is not through with my story. I am waiting for HIM to do something through me that is only explained by HIS POWER. That’s the answer. I can’t understand but just believe and be available to receive.
I want to challenge you to go deeper in your understanding of who God is. Ask Him to reveal Himself to you in new ways. All the different parts of Him. See if your relationship with Him gets stronger. And be ready to have your understanding of God blown up and allow Him to teach you greater things. Isaiah 55 says, ‘God’s ways are higher than our ways. His the thoughts higher than our thoughts’. Allow Him to teach you that there’s so much more to discover about Him. He waits for you to search for Him intently with all your heart to reveal more of Himself to you (Jer 29:13). Go after it like nothing else. You won’t be disappointed. You will find the ultimate satisfaction that you long for in your inner man.
Therefore let us go on and get past the elementary stage in the teachings and doctrine of Christ (the Messiah), advancing steadily toward the completeness and perfection that belong to spiritual maturity. Let us not again be laying the foundation of repentance and abandonment of dead works (dead formalism) and of the faith [by which you turned] to God, With teachings about purifying, the laying on of hands, the resurrection from the dead, and eternal judgment and punishment. [These are all matters of which you should have been fully aware long, long ago.] If indeed God permits, we will [now] proceed [to advanced teaching]. (Heb 6:1-3)
A Life Redone: My Journey to a Life of Freedom. https://www.authorhouse.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-000651360
Special guest Laura Harding, author of
— Read on waterford.viebit.com/player.php
An interview on a local station sharing a bit of my story from my book A Life Redone: My Journey to a Life of Freedom.
My Help Comes From the Lord (Isa 41:10 & Psalm 121:1-2 NIV) – from Labyrinth by David Baloche – YouTube
— Read on m.youtube.com/watch
Such great music to pour into your heart. Scripture out to music. This is my favorite song from this album. Take a listen
But blessed are those whose hope is in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat and worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit (Jer 17:8).
Spiritually speaking if we are like trees firmly planted along the riverbank of God, and we have roots that reach deeply into the water, how can we be a mediocre Christian? Wouldn’t, if we were flourishing, be sold out for Christ? Wouldn’t we order our lives around Him instead of Him around our lives. Would we not make decisions and speak purposely and thoughtfully so we wouldn’t dishonor God? How would our lives be so drastically different if we were to do those things such as learning to love God with our lives, first and foremost? Would we see life through a clearer lens? Would not our perspectives on life change? We would not be full of dread or fear or anger but instead peace and harmony because we’d see that God is on our side. That no matter what we face we can do all things in the power of Christ.
It’s much easier said then done so how do we plant ourselves deep within Gods presence? I think it’s a work the of Holy Spirit. But we have to cooperate. Meaning we have to do our part. Opening Gods Word daily has to be apart of our life. Asking Him to speak directly to our hearts and being receptive to what we read. Listening for that still small voice of the Holy Spirit as we walk through our day and bring obedient to those promptings.
In a flourishing Christians life there is no room for half-heartedness. So go after it. Otherwise, how are you stewarding your life and is it fulfilling or are you unsatisfied? Are you producing spiritual fruit or are you dry, withered, worn and weary? Where do you want to be in the next year? Do you want to look back at the end of the year and see you’ve grown and changed or be disheartened that you’re still the same person you’ve always been? You want to celebrate climbing mountains or remain in the valley? The choice is yours. Where do you abide?
I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.
(John 15:5)
The fruit of the [uncompromisingly] righteous is a tree of life and he who is wise captures human lives [for God, as a fisher of men – he gathers and receives them for eternity] (Pro 11:30).
I have always loved this verse. It’s a lofty bit of Wisdom Solomon penned long ago for us to live up to. The wisest calling and most important function for believers, both men and women, is to live with that on the forefront of their minds; gathering men and women to bring with them into eternity to bask in the presence of Jesus. Now that’s an awesome purpose!
Are you one of those people? Now you may not be someone who’s constantly looking for opportunities to share Christ with everyone. But do you see those obvious opportunities you’re given and take advantage of them when presented with them? The most important task for the believer in this life, is to bring people into the family of Christ.
Lets face it. We are just not built to last. If we take care of our bodies we may get 80+ years out of them before crossing into eternity. While some get more. Others get less. There’s one of two places to end up. Heaven or hell. Who have you got to look forward to seeing in Heaven? Are there any people who have passed on before you that you know you will never see again? Does that thought not frighten you? It does me. I can think of at least a hand full of people that have died early in life that I know I’ll never see again. Sometimes thoughts of those people can haunt me and make me regret my past even more. Living out of the will of God for half of my lifetime, I was a stumbling block to many coming to Christ. But praise God I am now a new creation, who’s intentionally living to see others come to the saving knowledge and reach out for the grace of God that I now know. I am someone who genuinely looks for those opportunities to weave God into a conversation. It’s on the forefront of my mind, always.
Who’s around you everyday that you can plant seeds of truth from Gods Word in their path? The most important calling in life is to gather people to bring into Heaven. Look for those opportunities because they’re everywhere around you. Perk up. Listen intently for Gods direction and be prepared for His Spirit to speak through you. For who knows when you’re last breath will be or even the person next to you? We represent Christ to a dying world. A good friend taught me this principle early in my walk. I am so grateful. Get busy doing what’s most important. Planting living trees of truth and gathering souls for heaven.
I think somehow we as believers get our purpose mixed up quite often. And to be honest as I’m the one writing this blog I should be the first to admit this can be true for me. You might get convicted as well. Don’t let that conviction hold you down. Repent. Learn from it. And move on.
How often do we get our spiritual calling confused with our identities and somehow our gifts either make or break us? And another question. What if our gifts or talents God entrusts us with aren’t about us at all? Consider, what if we each didn’t have any of the gifts to preach or teach or sing or encourage if God never granted them to us? Would we still seek to honor God with what we had? And even if we are gifted at some skill do we hoard it or do we claim that as a talent of our own that should: “of course be used”? Would we still use whatever gift He gave for Him? Would we still search out how to excel at using that gift for His glory?
This weekend I connected the dots and I’m about to show you how God spoke directly to me. I have to admit that quite often I have felt during this season in my life that God is silent more then He speaks. And so for this lesson I am grateful.
Over the weekend my husband and I took a trip up north. On our way home we came upon a message from my pastor that somehow ended up on my MP3 player in my car. I’m really not even sure how it got on there because I don’t recall burning it but whatever. So we’re driving, listening to music one minute and the next thing I knew there was Pastor Jim giving a message. I have to admit that it was some much needed truths to be reminded of.
Take you back earlier that day I had caught myself randomly thinking about a guy at my church who I’ve heard promotes his business at the Church. I don’t know his motive, if it’s to help someone get a job or for his benefit, using the church, but for a long time I’ve looked at him and made my own judgements. Unfair I know. I was thinking recently what is so different about my promoting my book or selling it at the church? Not that I do so often but when given an opportunity to share about it in church or outside of it I do.
Getting back to the message playing in the car which came from the passage that we often quote from the Bible about Jesus clearing the people out of the temple who were making money selling in the temple wasn’t actually about the money. Jesus wasn’t angry that buying and selling was happening in His house. He was angry at the exclusivity that was happening inside His house. How often do we single people out in our minds and think negatively about them and sort of uninclude them because of our own judgments or because they aren’t like us?
I opened up a Max Lucado book Sunday evening called “The Cure for the Common Life,” and He wrote that we need to stop promoting ourselves using our gifts and talents and look to really promote God using our gifts and talents. How satisfying that is to ones soul and how often does God truly bless someone who’s using their gifts for His glory instead of their own. I mean really how many stupid battles would we avoid if we chose to promote God instead of ourselves? And it also would help us to get over that exclusive mindset that if they don’t fit the pattern I don’t want them in my church or my group.
Lift God up with your life. And don’t covet others’ gifts. Use yours only for God’s glory. His edification instead of your own. How many of us would beat that battle in our minds if only we lived that mindset?
In my heart of hearts that’s how I live. But in my mind I have to admit that somehow I can lose that battle. I wonder so often if I just am not in the right so-called click or group of people to move forward in my plans for my life with my right motives. There something wrong with that statement, isn’t there?
I am about to celebrate seventeen years of freedom from bondage. In fact, today is the day. God broke my chains of slavery to addictions of narcotics, and entangling myself with things way to early in life that really could have sunk my ship for good, early in my life, if not for the grace of God.
The point of my saying all this is that with all my heart I want to share the Good News of freedom in Jesus with whoever will let me. I can give a personal testimony of the awesome undeserved grace of God that is available to any and all that seek to grab ahold of it. Or those who yearn to experience this in their lives. I so want to be used to share an awesome testimony of how God pulled me out of my pit to set my feet on a firm foundation of Rock, that is Jesus Christ.
At this point in my journey I have to continually give this battle to God. The one that rages within me to do things with skill I could all those years ago. Such as singing for Gods glory and not my own. If I am blessed with an opportunity to sing again well I’ll praise God for that. But if I never gain back what I lost, really I have been blessed with more then I deserve.
Grace.. It’s quite a word. Quite a miraculous work of God.
A Life Redone 