Do you ever read the bible and see the miracles Jesus did throughout the Old Testament? Isn't it amazing? I am constantly humbled and awed by the ways which He was moved by compassion or someone's faith and they would receiving healing in their bodies. If you asked me a year ago if I believe it can still happen today I would still have said yes, but I didn't see it in my everyday life.
Last week, Paul and I went to grab a bite to eat after our marriage class and were talking about how growing up we didn't see people healed or radically changed on a consistent basis. We both even admitted that when we used to pray for people we would be a little surprised if anything happened or changed in their physical bodies- sad! I know.... We talked about how we want Puffin (our un-named baby) to grow up seeing the Lord move as a normal part of life.
All this discussion stems from the kind of culture we are living in out here. Many people we have met or who are in our Revival Groups have had physical and emotional healing in their bodies that is completely verifiable. They don't have to take medications anymore because the Lord restores them 100%. We know friends who have been changed in an instant from a life of drug addiction to one of freedom. There was a girl in class the first week who couldn't touch her toes because of a back injury and she stood up to receive prayer. Three minutes later she was touching her toes with tears streaming down her face! She was literally sitting in the row behind us- we saw her! Yesterday in church Pastor Bill told us how (50 ish?) people had had metal (such as plates or screws) disappear from their bodies completely!
When we pray for people now, we are not surprised when they sense a change. When we receive prayer, we are growing more confident in the identity we have as children of the King and we ask of our Father with confidence and expectation. This doesn't mean that every time we see someone prayed for they receive instant change, but it is significant for us because we take God as His word and have levels of faith we didn't before (and it's only been 2 weeks of school! haha!).
Personally, the changes in my own life have been emotional (just as important as physical). I can see that Jesus is setting me free from fear and showing both Paul and I a lot of lies we have believed that keep us from living out of HIS love. It is absolutely overwhelming- it's like Rapunzel in the movie "Tangled" and how her evil step mom tries to keep her from realizing that SHE is the princess. In the same way, the enemy tries to prevent us from understanding who we are once we place Jesus at the center of our lives... don't we know who we are?! We are CHILDREN OF THE KING (thanks Mom-who read us that Max Lucado children's book while growing up!)
All this to say, we are on an exciting journey. A lot of what I have written is still in process and we have by no means "arrived," but I really have felt like the Lord wants us to document our story and say that there is more and we are willing to be stretched or uncomfortable in order to have all that He has for us... anything less is disservice to ourselves, our families, and the places we are called to live...
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