In the Midst of It

God, you are an amazing God, whom I love and adore more than anything else on the face of the earth. As I write this prayer to You oh Lord, I'm hearing the music from the song, "How Great Thou Art" my soul sings out to You Father, and I praise You for sending Your Son to die on that cross to take away all my sins. Lord You have done wonders in my life. So many times I have complained about all the hard times that have come across my path. But I instead want to praise You for the trials, I thank You for bringing me through them. WIthout the trials and sufferings my faith would not have been strengthened the way that it has. Father, I'm sorry when I have been negative, Lord I want to 'take captive of all my thoughts and make them obedient to Christ,' as it is written in Your Word. Lord as I begin this blog and share the things You have done may it be Your words coming through me, and give You all the glory. In Jesus' precious Name, Amen

It has been a few weeks since my major surgery. It has been a painful recovery, but I am getting better. I am planning on heading back to San Diego later this week. I want to thank everybody from the bottom of my heart for your prayers, words of encouragement, and for being wonderful influences in my life. You all mean more to me, than you'll ever know, and I praise God for the amazing people He has placed in my life.

In my recovery time I've been taking it pretty easy. I can do a little more each day, and feel like I'm getting closer to my normal self. Yes the recovery has been more painful than the ones I've had in the past. In the midst of the suffering, God has had His healing hand upon me. I've felt the power of prayer in so many ways. God has been my strength when I didn't have any. Right after surgery my strength was pretty much gone. I couldn't even walk or stand on my own for a while. Now I have most of my strength back. As I've been thinking about it though, God is my ultimate strength. Spiritually, without Him, I wouldn't be able to walk. I couldn't walk forward and be all He wants me to be. As I walk on my journey of faith I need to remind myself that it is God who is my guide, He is my strength and shield. No matter where He calls me, He promises that He will walk by my side, and always be with me. No matter how much suffering the journey will involve, I can hold on to the hope, and salvation, knowing my Savior is there with me. He hears me, and He is my healer. The walk on earth does involve pain, it will have sorrow, but the time here is like a blink of an eye, compared to the eternal glory that awaits for me in eternity.

Yes times hurt, yes it can downright feel as if it is one battle after the other, but you know, I will keep running on the race for my King, the race that will have the finish line of a prize far greater than what the world can give me... it's the crown of eternal glory. I will glorify my Lord, and I will suffer for His glory. I will keep running the race with perseverance. I will not be doing it alone. God will go with me, and He will go before me. He is all around me wherever I go.

Thank you all for reading. God bless each of your abundantly and His grace is upon you. I close with this verse.

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Word of God Speak

In the rush of everyday life it can be very challenging to take time to sit still and listen to the voice of God. God has so much He wants to tell His children and often times daily activities can get in the way of listening to His voice. What about in times when we are forced to be slow because of the circumstances we find ourselves in?
As you all know, I have had a major surgery that has put me down physically. My physical strength has been knocked down big time, which has made me be still, and God has been using that. During these past couple of weeks, I have had those little nudges and tugs in my heart, whispers in my ears, and even odd dreams while I'm asleep. I know that it is not my imagination, it is not some random thoughts and it isn't anyone physical. It is the Holy Spirit. I feel God leading me again in directions that I honestly feel a little uneasy about, because again it is about that step, the step into the unknowns, and the steps in total faith. Over and over again God comes to me, puts these thoughts into my mind, and I just can't stop thinking about it. I have felt myself wrestling a little bit with it because it gets so intense, but I can't let it go because the nudges keep getting stronger.
I say to myself, "what am I supposed to do? I don't feel qualified for the job, how am I supposed to do something that seems so radical?" I have dealt with these thoughts and challenges many times through my walk, and everytime God has done incredible work in me, and has shown Himself faithful all throughout my life's journey.
A week ago, on Sunday morning I was at home. I couldn't go out to church yet because I wasn't up to it. So I pluggled my computer into the TV, and watched a live broadcast from the church I've been attending in San Diego. To make a long story short the sermon was about radical faith. An amazing service where I felt very strong nudges from God telling me "this is what I want you to have, you are going to need it for the work I have planned for you to do. You cannot walk life with Me and please Me without having faith in Me. So take all your fears and hand them over, for I will take care of you."
I know what I have to do. I have to continue to listen to the call. A call that is so strong on my heart, one that God has reminded me over and over again. It is one that makes my knees shake a little, but that's ok. God will be with me, and that is all I need.