12 Gifts From God Gift 12

Gift Number 12: Eternal Life

The 12th and final gift from God is eternal life. God promises us eternal life if we accept His son Jesus as our Saviour. This gift is so important; it gives us security in what happens after we die. We are not condemned to hell to live in continual torture but we are given the gift of eternal life. We will live with God and there will be no more sickness, no more tears, no more sorrow, instead we can look forward to having eternal happiness. God gives us this gift of eternity because He loves us and wants us to be with Him for eternity so that is why Jesus was sent to earth to die for us so that we can go to heaven for all eternity. John 3:14-16) 14”And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (KJV) Thank you Lord for this love and gift that ensures our eternal life.

As we have looked at before, we have sinned and our penalty is death, but Jesus paid this penalty for us with His death and when we accept Him as our Saviour then we can have eternal life. Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (KJV) It is so simple all we have to do is believe in Christ and ask for forgiveness and eternal life for us is guaranteed. 1 John 5:11-12 11 “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”(KJV) It is just that simple if we have Christ we have eternal life and will live forever in heaven with Him. What better gift can there be than the assurance of eternal live.

In John 14:1-3 it tells us that Christ has gone to heaven to make our room ready for when we join him. John 14:1-31 “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”(KJV) God not only made a way for us to have eternal life through His son but Christ is preparing a place for us and is waiting for us to join Him so that we can be with him Hallelujah what a wonderful thing to look forward to. When I think of these verses I picture a parent and younger siblings who get the room ready for a returning child from college. They clean and arrange things just so and they are so excited on waiting for that child to get home. This is how God and Jesus are they are excited about us coming home to be with them in heaven and they are getting everything ready for us to come home. We can be assured of our place in heaven by asking Jesus into our hearts as our Lord and Saviour and asking God to forgive us. The minute we do this then we have our place in heaven ready and waiting for us to spend eternity there. Thank you Jesus.

These are the 12 gifts of God that we have looked at. So at Christmas this year I hope if you haven’t received these gifts that you will. I pray that if you have been born again that you will think about all these gifts and more that God has given us. Be thankful and tell God thank you for His gifts and especially the gift of His Son and the gift through His son of eternal life. Next time you hear the song “12 Days of Christmas” think about the 12 gifts of God. Merry Christmas and God Bless You.

12 Gifts From God Gift Number 11

Gift Number 11: Comfort/Comforter

What comes to your mind when you think of comfort and comforter? One of the first things I think of is when my kids and grand kids were little and one of them would bump their heads or trip and fall then I or my husband would go and make sure they were alright. We would hug them and tell them they were alright so we were comforting them and being their comforter. Or how about when someone is sad or grieving and you are there for them to talk to or be the shoulder for them to cry on then you are a comfort to them or their comforter. This is true about God too. God gives us the gift of comfort and is our comforter. When we seem to struggle and fall, when we are hurt, when we are lost, and when we are grieving God gives us comfort and is our comforter. It says in
2 Corinthians 4:8-10 8 “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; 10Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.” KJVThank you Lord he comforts us as it says in these verses through anything that comes our way. He is there and wraps his loving arms around us.
God also gives us the gift of comfort when we are facing death. Even Christians can be afraid when it is their time to die but they have a strength and comfort that people who don’t believe in Christ don’t have. It says in Psalm 23:4 “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” KJVPraise the Lord even in death he sends comfort and is with us. For Christians God waits with open arms to welcome us home to heaven. What a comfort that God and Jesus is our welcoming committee when we go home to heaven. God also comforts those we love who are left behind it says in Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.”KJV This is a definite not a maybe thing he states those who mourn will be comforted all we need to do is turn to God and call on his name and he will comfort us and give us strength.
Last we have the comfort or promise of comfort that we never have to be without God’s comfort when Jesus tells his disciples before he ascends into heaven that he goes but God is sending another comforter to them John 14:16,18 16 “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 18I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.”KJV He promises not to leave us comfortless but that another comforter will come to be with us and the other comforter he is talking about is the Holy Spirit. What a wonderful promise that we will never be without a comforter or the comfort of God. This gift from God is so important and free. I know with all my illnesses that without God and his comfort I don’t know how we could make it. My husband and I say all the time that we don’t know how people without God in their lives make it through life. This gift and all the others from God are given to us out of God’s love for us and I thank him everyday for them. I pray that I can share his gifts to others and be a person God can use to show them his gift of comfort too. I thank him for his loving arms that he holds us in and his comfort throughout our lives. Thank you Lord.

12 Gifts From God Gift Number 10

Gift Number 10: Mercy

When I think of mercy I think of a criminal asking a judge for mercy not to give him the maximum penalty for a crime he has committed. We, like that criminal, have sinned against God and even though we don’t deserve it he has shown us mercy by giving his son to pay our penalty for our sins which is death. Rom. 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”.KJV If we got what we deserved then we would get death and hell, but God loved us and had mercy on us and that is why Christ suffered and was crucified for us. Oh what a gift this is from God to give mercy to the ones who have sinned against him. God didn’t have to do this he could of just given us what we deserved, but thanks be to God for having given us love and mercy so that we didn’t have to suffer the punishment for our sins, Christ did this for us and when we accept Christ as our Saviour then we receive the gift of mercy from God and our penalty is paid and we are free. As it says in 1 Chronicles 16:24 “O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.”KJV we should continually give thanks to God for his gift of mercy to us.
When I think of mercy from God I also think of compassion. Because of the compassion of God we have his mercy. God shows compassion when he provides for us and keeps us in his loving arms and each time he forgives us he is showing mercy through his compassion for us. Daily we sin because we are human and not perfect. Christ is the only perfect man to ever have lived so daily we have to ask God to forgive us. God daily shows compassion and mercy because when we ask him to forgive us he does. Praise God. He also shows us mercy when he gives us strength to face trials and tribulations. God could surely turn his back on us, but instead his mercy is shown and he wraps his arms around us and gives us the strength and love and a way to make it through. Phil. 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”KJVSo God’s gift of mercy is given to us daily, it is a gift that we receive first when he sent Christ to die for us because he loved us and took compassion and mercy on us and second the gift of mercy is given everyday by forgiving us our sins daily and giving us strength. I don’t know how I could go through ever day without this mercy and strength. So remember to thank God for his gift of mercy that is ours through Christ daily. Praise God for all he gives us and especially for his gift of mercy through Christ Jesus. Thank you Lord.

12 Gifts From God Gift Number 9

GIFT NUMBER 9: GRACE

Gift number 9 is grace that I want to look at. What is grace? To me grace is the undeserved, favor from God or gift from God of the goodness he has shown man even to saving him from his sins when he didn’t deserve it. In Romans 3:23-24 it says we have all sinned but God freely by grace redeems through his son Jesus so that we are able to be saved from our sins. Grace or favor is given to us by God even though we did nothing to deserve it. Rom. 3:23-24 23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:” KJVGod gives this gift of grace to all who will accept Christ. We don’t receive God’s favor or grace by how good we are or how much work we do for others. You can’t receive it for just going to church or giving to the poor. Works are good and we should take care of those around us, but with out the grace of God through our receiving Christ in our lives the works are worth nothing.
Ephesians 2:8-9 8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast.” KJVWe can’t do enough or be just good enough to get in to heaven, but the grace of God through acceptance of Christ will get us into heaven. Christ’s death on the cross took the blame and penalty for our sins and in doing so this was God’s grace being shown and given to us even though we were sinners and as it says in Titus 3:7 we then by grace are made heirs to the throne of God which makes heaven our home when we die. Thank you Lord
Titus 3:7 “That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” KJVThe gift of grace as it says in Eph. 4:7 is given to everyone by the gift of Christ so this means no matter who we are or how bad we have been we are given the gift of grace by Christ’s death for us, all we have to do is ask for forgiveness and ask God into our hearts and it is all ours. Eph 4:7 “But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.”KJV Next time you think or hear someone say surely he will get into heaven he is such a good person then remember the gift of grace is not given to you for just being good but it is given by accepting the gift of Christ as your Saviour. Neither can you think you or anyone else can not receive the gift of grace because you have done too many bad things or are a really bad person because when you accept Christ and ask for forgiveness then the gift of grace is freely given. That is the wonderful thing about the gift of grace from God he wants to give it to you so all you have to do is accept it just like the other gifts. You don’t have to get good enough first but you are washed clean by the blood of Christ when you ask for forgiveness by God’s grace. Hallelujah Thank you Lord. So remember that everyone has a soul and all of the gifts from God are for everyone of us so lets, while we are giving Christmas gifts out this year, remember to share the love of God and his gift of grace as well as all the other gifts of God.

12 Gifts From God Gift Number 8

GIFT NUMBER 8: JOY

Joy is the 8th Gift from God I want to explore. Joy to me is great delight and happiness, but the joy of the Lord goes beyond just feelings. It is delight, happiness, strength, contentment, pure love: it is the feeling and knowledge of being whole and complete. It is being content and happy when you have trials and tribulations and not only joy, but as it says joy unspeakable. 1 Peter 1:7-97 “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 8Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: 9Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.:”KJV It is knowing that your faith in Christ is precious and that at the end you will be with him in heaven, it’s a feeling of satisfaction. Have you ever been so happy that you can’t find the right words to say to express that happiness that’s what joy unspeakable is like and it’s all the time for all the children of God. Now that doesn’t mean that you will never be sad or grieved or angry, but it means deep inside yourself you still have the joy of the Lord. When you are grieved or sad or angry you can draw on the joy of the Lord and find strength to keep going like it says in
Neh. 8:10b “for the joy of the LORD is your strength”KJV When I got sick at first they couldn’t tell me what was wrong which is very frustrating and a little scary really, but even though those feelings were there I also knew deep in my heart that God cared and was taking care of me and I still was joyful and I drew on that joy I find in God to have the strength to overcome those other feelings and to not give up. Even now as I keep adding other diseases to the list I have I continue to be able to be joyful and feel complete and satisfied because I know the joy from God which is always there and it really does give me strength. I always remember that even though it seems things are mounting up against me that like David says in
Psalm 30:5b “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” KJVwhat a wonderful promise that all we have to do is hold on because joy comes in the morning. People ask me all the time how can you be so upbeat and happy all the time with all that is wrong with you and my answer is I know that I am in God’s loving arms and I have joy in my heart from God because I know its all part of the job God has for me to do. It doesn’t matter if I am sick because I know that eventually I will get the ultimate healing when I go to be with God in heaven. So my faith and the Joy of the Lord sustain me for now in my walk with God and in my job I have to do. This gift of joy is for everyone, all you have to do is to accept Christ and the joy is given to you. Christ is our Joy and at this time of year when everyone is singing about Joy in the World remember the true Joy comes from God. Next time you are faced with troubles then remember the Joy of the Lord is there to sustain you and give you strength. I hope and pray that everyone will draw on this gift of Joy and find strength, delight, happiness, contentment, and completeness that this gift will provide. Thank you God for all you do and for this gift of joy you give to sustain us through this life.

12 Gifts From God Gift Number 7

GIFT NUMBER 7: PEACE

Gift number 7 from God I want to look at is Peace. Peace to me is a calm assurance. When I was a kid I went sleigh riding down a hill that had just a very small path down the middle of nothing but trees. Well I started down, hit a rut, and went headlong into one of the trees. I was hurt and scared and they took me to the hospital but I didn’t calm down and feel better till my Dad got there and once he got there I knew he would make everything alright and I calmed down and was at peace because he was there. The Peace that God gives is a calm assurance that he loves us and has everything in control. This peace is brought to us by his Son Jesus who gave his life for us so that we can have the assurance of God’s love and our home in heaven. In Romans 5:1 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”KJV this is the promise and gift from God that because we believe and accept Jesus as our Lord then we are guaranteed peace from God for our lives.

When in 2000, after being sick for awhile, I finally was diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis I didn’t fall apart or get angry or upset. I prayed about it and then I had the peace from God that I was where he wanted me to be for now. I felt thankful because he trusted me to use me in this way. Myasthenia Gravis is a neuromuscular disease where your body sees the receptors, that is how the nerves talk to the muscles, and blocks or destroys them because they are seen as being a foreign body and they need to be destroyed. It causes muscle weakness in the voluntary muscles like eyes, eyelids, face, swallowing, talking, chewing, breathing, limbs, neck and back muscles. You can get into a crisis and choke or not be able to breath so it can be very dangerous and life threatening in a crisis otherwise for me I have some trouble with breathing and swallowing at times and it just limits what I can do and I went from being very active to not being able to do a lot and being in a wheel chair when out. I tell you this because I want you to understand I wasn’t afraid even though this is a serious disease and just one of many I have but because of my faith in God and having Jesus as my Saviour that I have the gift of peace even in my time of trouble. John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid”KJV This verse tells us that peace is given to us and we don’t have to be afraid. That is why I can have peace even in sickness and not be afraid of what could happen.

Peace or calm assurance that we are loved by God and are in God’s master plan even as it says in John 16:33 “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”KJV though we have troubles and tribulation in the world we can be calm and at peace because Jesus has overcome the world and as a believer in him we can overcome too,therefore we have the gift of Peace. It is also a peace because we know our final outcome will be in heaven with God for ever more. So remember that even in this world when things are up or down we have the gift of peace from God to hold on too. Phil 4:7 “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”KJV Pass this gift of peace on to others by sharing your faith and telling them how to receive the gift of peace from God. Thank you Lord for your peace and calm assurance that you have given to each of your children.

12 Gifts From God Gift Number 6

Gift Number 6: Hope

The 6th Gift from God I want to look at is Hope. In Webster’s dictionary it says hope means “to expect with confidence”. Well the gift of hope from God is to know with confidence that 1. God is always with you; 2.God loves you, and 3. that there is something more when we die than just death. This hope then is knowing and having confidence in God and his promises. I had a very good friend that found out she had lung cancer and when they told her they said it was the worst kind and that there wasn’t any hope for her to beat the cancer. She was strong in her faith in God and she just laughed and told them I have trusted, obeyed and relied on God this far and I am not going to stop now. She was telling them that she had hope even if she had cancer because her hope was not in things here on earth but hope in God and the knowledge that even if she died she was assured a place in heaven. Jeremiah 17:7 “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is”.KJV The hope I am talking about isn’t in material things. We all have had hope that maybe we would get that job we wanted or maybe a good grade on a test but these things are just material and can’t give us anything that is forever but the hope I am talking about is hope that leads us to living in heaven with God. When we accept Christ as our Saviour then we are assured of a place in heaven when we die. so then we have hope in things to come. Because of the gift of hope from God we have victory over death as it says in I Cor. 15:54-57 54“So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”.KJV Praise God.
The gift of hope from God gives our lives meaning and the assurance that no matter what we are going through we have someone going through it with us in the Lord Jesus Christ. It doesn’t mean that nothing will ever go wrong but it means that we have the confidence or hope that God has a perfect plan and that we can get through anything because he loves us and is always with us. Phil. 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me”.KJV No longer do we need to feel hopeless because our hope is in the Lord. Trials and Tribulations may come our way but our strength comes in the knowledge and assurance or hope that God has it all in control and while we live we are in Gods loving arms living for him and if we die then we gain living with him in heaven. Phil. 1:21 “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”KJV So our hope is in the Lord and we can live a full happy abundant life because of this hope. When you feel hopeless or know someone who is feeling hopeless remember that when you have Christ in your heart then you have hope as God has promised you. Thanks be to God

12 Gifts From God Gift Number 5

GIFT NUMBER 5: SALVATION

Salvation is the 5th gift from God I want to look at. All the gifts we have looked at so far have been connected and Salvation fits right in with the rest of them. First God gives us life and love and forgiveness and sends his Son Jesus. He sent his son so that he could make a way for us to be with Him or to give us salvation from our sins. This is seen in 1 Thes. 5:9 “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ”KJVSalvation is necessary because we have done things that keep us from God. It is like when we were kids our parents loved us and provided for us and set rules that were good for us to keep us safe, but as kids we always had to try things anyway and our parents had to step in and help us or save us from ourselves. It is the same with God, he gives us everything we need and loves us, but we still stray and sin as it says in Rom. 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” God loved us enough to save us though by sending his son. John 3: 16-1716 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.KJV”Praise the Lord for his gift of Salvation so that we are saved from our sins. All we have to do is accept this gift from God just like the other gifts. In Romans 10:9-10 it tells us how we can receive the gift of Salvation from God it says Rom. 10:9-10 9 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”KJV It is just that simple we have to believe and confess our belief in Christ and ask to be forgiven and we shall have salvation. That’s all it takes for us to receive the gift of Salvation that God has for us. It's just as easy as receiving a Christmas gift from someone you just have to reach out and take it.
This gift of salvation from God is for everyone and at this Christmas time my prayer is that many will receive this gift from God. Once we have received the first 5 gifts I have been looking at from God, life, Jesus, love, forgiveness and salvation then the rest of the gifts I will be looking at come along with these 5 gifts. These gifts are a packaged deal that you don’t want to miss out on. Thank you Lord. God is so good and as David says in Ps 145:3 “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable”.KJV And this God is just waiting to hear from you to accept you into his family and to lovingly give you all the gifts he has for you.

12 Gifts From God Gift 4

GIFT NUMBER 4: FORGIVENESS

Forgiveness is something we all seek at one time or another. Have you ever said or done something that has upset or hurt someone else and then have to ask them to forgive you? When my kids were little one would hit the other or call them a name or yell at them and I would finally have enough of the bickering and fighting and name calling so I would tell them to stop and say I’m sorry. Of course the I’m sorry yelled at each other wasn’t what I was looking for so then I would tell them to hold hands, smile, and say I am sorry like they meant it. This got a quick response because they didn’t want to do that so they would hurry and say it the way I wanted so they would be able to stop holding hands. They may not have meant it then any more than the first time they said it but at least they were talking nice and acting nice for the moment and I a think they probably didn’t think anymore about it till the next time they were fighting. The lesson I was trying to teach them was that we shouldn’t do things to hurt each other, but if we do we should say I am sorry and seek their forgiveness. The same is true with God. We do things we shouldn’t and things that grieve God and if we ask him he will forgive us so the 4th Gift from God I think is Forgiveness. In 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” and in 1 John 2:1-2 “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world”. KJVGod doesn’t want us to sin but knows we will sin because we are human, so the key is if we ask to be forgiven he will forgive us. He provided this forgiveness through the sacrifice of his son Jesus Christ for us. All children do things that are wrong even though we as parents would like for them not to. We don’t stop loving them because of it but we forgive them because we love them. That is the same with God, it grieves him for us to sin and do wrong but just like a parent he still loves us and wants us to have forgiveness all we need to do is like I made my kids do say we are sorry and mean it and ask him to forgive us and he will, done deal, He will forgive us and continue to love us. So the 4th gift is Forgiveness given to us from God for our wrong doing because he loves us. Thanks be to God for being a loving forgiving God. This is a wonderful gift that we get daily if we ask for it. Remember to pass this gift on to others also so that they know they are forgiven too.

12 Gifts From God Gift 3

GIFT NUMBER 3: LOVE

The third gift from God I want to talk about is the gift of Love. God loves and wants what is best for us. An example of God’s love is in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”.KJV God loved us so much that He wanted to make a way for us to have abundant life here and life with him in heaven and to do that He sent his Son to save us. He sent Jesus even though we didn’t deserve this love as shown in Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”.KJV We hadn’t done anything to make God love us, but just the opposite. God loved us so much though that He loved us in spite of ourselves. What do I mean just this, we turn away from God and do things that are wrong and hurtful to God. We don’t live with God as the center of our lives, but even when we are sinful God still loves us and has given us away to be forgiven and to live with him. He didn’t have to do this, but it was his love for us that brought about his gift of Jesus dying for our sins. What a great love that is. It’s an unconditional love one we didn’t deserve but was freely given to us anyway. God loves us period, we don't have to be good enough, or do anything to get this love it is freely given and is and will be there always. He loves us because we are his and nothing changes that. What a comfort, to know we have God's love no matter what!
God’s gift of love to us is an enduring, and unwavering love that we can have confidence in being there always. Rom 8:35-39 35“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”KJV Praise the Lord He tells us right here when we become one of his children by accepting Jesus as our Savior that his love is there for always, what a wonderful gift. So next time you are feeling all alone and maybe unloved remember God loves us always and we never have to be alone or feel unloved. Thank you Jesus. This gift alone is life changing when you think about it. If all those who think they need love and look in wrong places for love and acceptance could know God and understand about his love look at how much the world could be changed. This gift of God’s love is so important for all. We should all try to share this knowledge of God’s love with everyone we meet.

12 Gifts From God Gift 2

GIFT NUMBER 2: JESUS

The second gift from God is his son Jesus. Luke 2:11 “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord”. He sent Jesus here to earth as a baby, made him human to live here on earth and he was born specifically to die for us. He was made human to know the pains and hurts suffered by humans and then he went to the cross to die for us. This is such an important gift from God to all of us. Jesus was sent here to save us and to be our Savior. John 3:17 “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved”.

Jesus lived among the people and knew what it was to be hurt, loved, hungry, thirsty, to lose someone and to be tempted by the devil. Jesus and God know exactly how we feel when we have these things happen to us too and that can be such a comfort. It should make us feel better when we are going through a loss or sickness or a time of trouble and tribulation or the next time we are tempted by the devil, to know that God has felt these things by sending Jesus to earth. So not only did God send his Son to be our Savior but He insured by this act that we can have confidence that God knows our feelings because He has felt them also. This is another way that Jesus was a gift from God to us.
In sending his Son Jesus it makes all the other gifts we are going to look at possible too. Jesus is the key to all in our lives here on earth and Eternal life. So Jesus is the most important gift from God first because He is our Savior and second because He came to as it says in John 10:10 “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” to give us abundant life. This makes the gift of Jesus the most important part of our lives and all we have to do is except the gift of Jesus from God to have abundant life and all the other gifts too.We should continue to thank God daily for this gift of his Son and most importantly to accept this gift. So with the gift of Jesus we also get within this gift 1. A Savior 2. Abundant life and 3. Understanding. So thank you Lord for your wonderful gift of Jesus.

12 Gifts From God

I wrote this devotion back in 2008 and thought I would repost it now. God has given each of us so many things but I have chosen these 12 for this devotion.

12 GIFTS FROM GOD
written by Deb Forbes
Copyright pending

At this time of year we all think about what we can get to give to others or what we would like to get for Christmas. The Christmas music is playing and decorations are everywhere. The other day I was thinking about the Christmas song the “12 Days of Christmas” and how on each day they get some different item or gift and that made me think that God has given us gifts and why not go through at least twelve of them each day till Christmas so these are the 12 gifts of God that I have decided to look at. The thing about these gifts is that they are life changing and they are for ever and not something you will only have for a short time or till the next Christmas.

1. Life
2. Jesus
3. Love
4. Forgiveness
5. Salvation
6. Hope
7. Peace
8. Joy
9. Grace
10. Mercy
11. Comfort and the Comforter
12. Eternal Life
GIFT NUMBER 1: LIFE

The first Gift of God is the ultimate gift and that is the gift of Life. Now you might think why would I choose this as a gift but it definitely is because if God hadn’t spoke us and everything else into existence we wouldn’t be here now. In Gen. 1 it tells us how God created the heavens and the earth, sun and moon, water, animals, vegetation, and man and woman. Gen 1: 27 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them”. So the first gift has to be the gift of life to all things including us humans. Then he also gave us our lives. You might ask what do I mean by this that God gave us our lives. The answer would be that I believe that God made each one of us unique and for a special purpose. It says that God knows each hair on our heads Matt. 10:30 “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered” and if He knows us intimately enough to count the hairs on our head then He took great care and time in making each and everyone of us. Therefore if He would take that much time when He was making each of us wouldn’t He then, don’t you think, have a specific purpose and plan for us and make us just right to fit into that plan? So literally God gave each of us our lives and not only our lives but a life with a purpose Praise God. Next time you think your life is going no where then remember that you have a gift given to you by God and that gift is Life and not only life but a life with a purpose straight from God himself. So Life is the first gift of God and we should remember to thank him for this wonderful gift each and everyday and strive to live fulfilling the purpose God has for us.

And In This Corner The Battle With Our Past

Have you ever felt like you were in a boxing match with your past? I can hear the announcer now "and in this corner weighing in with all the past hurts and mistakes is the one and only vicious PAST. And in this corner there is little old ME." "PAST comes out swinging with all its might first with a hurt to the heart, then a mistake to the gut doubling ME over and right back with two more hits to the heart and ME is down for the count." "I believe its over for ME this time with hits like that ME won't recover." That's how it feels when your past hurts and mistakes try to defeat you. It is like you have been thrown in a ring to take a beating from the heavy weight champion, but it doesn't have to be this way. Once we give Jesus our hearts and life and he has forgiven us our sins, then the past is just that the past. It's like a tag team match, we just have to take the hand of Jesus and he goes in and defeats the past in our place.

When we become Christ followers we don't have to be hurt by our past mistakes and we don't have to let the old hurts hurt us, but even the strongest in faith will have times that the past will cause them pain. It doesn't mean our faith isn't as strong, it just means that is when we need to reach out to Jesus and remember that we are forgiven and a changed person. We aren't that person we were when those things occurred. We are a new creation in Christ, a new person. 2 Corinthians 5:17"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."(KJV)
In the past couple of days I have had to remind myself that the past is past and that my Heavenly Father loves me unconditionally. The things of my past don't have power to hurt me anymore because I am a child of God, a co-heir with Jesus, loved by my Heavenly Father and forgiven. We all can think of something that we wish we hadn't done, or think of things that have been said or done that has hurt us and if we let it, it can and will beat us up. If we give our past power it will hurt us, but we don't have to give it that power. We take its power away by turning it over to Christ Jesus and then leaving it there.

Recently my past mistakes were thrown at me by someone close to me. It is easy for me to let it get me down. In fact I was very hurt by them bringing it up. The blow from my past knocked me to the ground but didn't knock me out. I called out to Jesus and he helped me back up off the mat and got me back into the fight only this time I let him take control. Jesus gave me the power over my past.

The apostle Paul had a past of persecuting the Christians, but once he gave his life to Christ and became one of the believers, he went on to tell others about Christ. He had a past that he didn't like, but he used it to remind people that Christ took all that with him to the cross and totally forgave him. He couldn't change what he had done, but he could change who he was then and that is exactly what he did when he asked forgiveness and became a follower of Christ. No longer was he that man that persecuted believers, he was a man who gave his life trying to encourage believers and show sinners the way to Christ.


Christ wipes our sins away when we ask forgiveness and remembers them no more.
Ps 103:12 " as far as the east is from the west,so far has he removed our transgressions from us"(NIV) That doesn't mean that He can't use our past to help others. He can use that to help us witness and tell others what he has done for us. Paul reminded others of his past so that they can see how far he had come from that past and how much Christ had done for him. So our past doesn't have to have power over us and hurt us anymore. Just remember we are forgiven and we are not the person we were in that past because of Jesus. PTL

KO the PAST in Jesus name. Ask forgiveness and it is done. Ask Jesus in your heart and you are a new person. Let God change you into that new creature in Christ. Then the PAST no longer has power to hurt but can be a powerful tool to help. Thank you Jesus for your love, mercy and forgiveness and for this new person in you.

Written by
Deb Forbes
Aug. 20, 2010

When you need a friend

We all at times feel lonely and wish we had someone to talk to. I saw a teen and young person the other day say that everyone makes fun of them and that no one understands. This is not true there is always one who cares, who understands, who never puts us down or makes fun of us and most importantly is always there with us. This friend is Jesus and he loves us and stands with us. He made each of us the way he wanted us to be and loves us just the way we are. I know that when you truly come to know Jesus and have a personal relationship with him that you will know what a true friend is. I decided to repost this blog from last year with the poem I wrote last year.

A FRIEND


I’m there to hold your hand
When you desperately need a friend
I’m there with open arms
To keep you from all life’s harms
My arms are opened wide
So in them you can abide
I watch over you both day and night
Making sure that you are alright.
In times of sorrow and grief
I am there for you to call on so you see
You are never alone for I am always with you
I know where you are and all that you do
I am your friend and on me you can call
I am there to catch you when you fall
My love I give to you
I am always there to give help to you too
I know you and you know me
So I know what it is you need.
I call you mine now and for all eternity
You are so important and special to me
I am your Savior and I am your Lord
A friend to you I am for now and forever more

By Deb Forbes
July 21, 2009


I was talking to someone the other day and they said they really didn't have any friends. They just didn't have anyone they could count on and that they could trust. I was thinking that is kind of sad but I understood what they meant. People can come and go and sometimes you don't feel like you have anyone you can turn to or count on when you really need a friend. I told them that they could always have one friend they could count on that would always be there and they could always trust. The best friend you really can have is Jesus. Heb 13:5b "for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."(KJV) Jesus never leaves us and will always be right there for us. He understands what we need and what we are going through. It says in Rom. 8:38-39 that nothing can separate us from him Rom.8:38-39
38 "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."(KJV)What better friend could you ask for than one that understands, stands by you, and never leaves you. Jesus wants to be your friend and all you have to do is ask him in to forgive you and to live in you and you will always have a friend. Jesus loves each and everyone of us and we can talk to him any time any where and about any thing. What better friend could there be. Last he gave his life for us and that is someone who loves us and cares about us. He is interested in every part of our life so next time you think you don't have a friend or know someone that thinks this remind them of your friend JESUS.

What A Difference A Year Makes/Dash Between The Years

I have been slow about putting anything down in my blogs but today I want to change that and get back to blogging regularly. A year ago at the end of June I had my first heart attack. In July I was still dying and going down fast. At the end of Aug. I had another heart attack but this was when God decided to change things and to heal the damage in my heart so I could live. Then on Sept 28, 2010, after years of being in a wheelchair and having to be waited on, God prompted me to walk and on faith I stood up out of my chair and started walking. My muscles from the first step were back and I have been walking ever since. Not only walking but walking 20 min miles, which for someone who wasn't walking and now is, I don't think is too bad. I am once again able to do housework and cooking and my favorite thing baking. So this last year a lot of things have changed some, like these, for the better and others that aren't better. The one thing I do know is this, that God can take the bad things and make good out of them, as long as we trust Him and that is what we do every day.

Last year at this time I wrote a blog about how I want to be remembered when my life is over. I am reposting it, but not because I am dying, but because I am living and in so doing wanting to honor God and show God's love to all I meet. So things in life change some for the better and what isn't for the better God will make good when we walk each day with him.

Thursday, July 16, 2009
Dash between the years

I heard more than once from our pastor friend that on our headstone there will be the year we are born, then a dash, and then the year we die. That small dash between the years represents our life. It is such a small thing that represents all that we are and have done. This got me to thinking what will that dash represent for me? What will I have accomplished and how will I be remembered.

I want to be remembered for being a good wife, mother, grandmother, sister, daughter, mother in law, and friend. But most of all I want to be remembered for being kind, compassionate,loving, and above all else as an obedient, loving, follower of Jesus. I don't want to be remembered for the things I have or for being famous, but for being a person that loved God and my family and did good for others. What really is a better legacy than to leave with the people you love the knowledge of your love for God and your love for them.

I want to live life where I can serve God and others. I want to give love to as many people as I can and make their lives better. I want to tell all I meet about my God. I want, in every part of my life, to glorify God. I want to share and spend time with my husband and family and make good memories with them.

At church, Westside Family Church, our new series is on Treasure Hunt and what treasure do we hunt for, is it stuff or God. I want my life to be a hunt for the treasures of God and heaven and not stuff. The verses we studied were Matt.6:19-20 (19)Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. (20)But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.(NIV)I want, when people think of me, to know that I was on a hunt for heavenly treasures through out my life, treasures I willing shared with all.

Here are some of my quotes I have made into bookmarks:

MEMORIES TAKE A MOMENT TO CREATE AND A LIFE TIME TO ENJOY

REMEMBER WHEN ONLY HAPPENS WHEN YOU SPEND TIME WITH EACH OTHER

WHAT IS A LEGACY? SOMETHING THAT MAKES YOU RICH AND FAMOUS OR SOMETHING I CAN LEAVE TO YOU TO REMEMBER THAT I WAS HERE AND I LOVED YOU

GO THROUGH LIFE MAKING SURE YOU TOUCH THOSE AROUND YOU IN A POSITIVE WAY

STRIVE TO BE KNOWN NOT JUST FOR HOW YOU LIVE BUT ALSO FOR HOW YOU GIVE

MAKE SURE WHEN PEOPLE SEE YOU THEY SEE CHRIST

Let us all take time to make that dash between the years stand for a life well lived loving, giving, and sharing but most of all serving and glorifying GOD!

Failure or Adventurer

I Dreamed a dream and let it go
Afraid to follow through.
I wonder now what could have been
If my dream I had bravely pursued?
by Deb Forbes 2010

What is one of your biggest fears? Think about it a minute. What makes you quake or causes you to want to hide somewhere? Is it doing something or trying something new, or how about having a dream and going for it. Maybe it is meeting new people or maybe it is just the unknown and not being in control. All of these have a couple of things that make them fearful for us and that is the fear of rejection and the fear of being a failure. What then is a failure is it trying and not succeeding or is it being afraid to try at all?

We so many times have a dream that we really want or something we really want to do, but we are held back from even trying because of our fear of becoming a failure. You see we think that just because something we try doesn't work that we become a failure instead of thinking that the idea or thing we tried failed to work. So you say you don't see the difference? The difference is this, you have not become a failure just because you tried something and it didn't succeed, you just found that you need to try or retry this idea or dream in another way or try another idea or dream altogether. The key is not to give up and moan and groan about what a failure you are and never try again,just chalk it up to experience and move on. We worry so much about what people will think of us if we fail at what we try that we beat ourselves up and start believing we are failures and can't do anything. This then leads to not trying. The not trying then leads to us feeling more like failures because we never do anything. Do you see the vicious circle we have just put ourselves in? We need to get break out of this circle and start believing that we can do and try and dream.

Failing is inevitable in life because we are all human. What would have happened if after the debacle of Roanoke VA the English gave up coming to the new world? Did Roanoke fail yes, but that didn't stop the English from trying again and Jamestown after several rough times and problems was established. Then there is the inventions that never would have happened if after the first attempt that failed they stopped trying. Inventions like the light bulb, though it is not sure exactly how many times Edison failed it is certain he didn't get it right the first time. Then there is Henry Ford who failed and went bankrupt more than once before his car caught on and became successful. How about Bill Gates who dropped out of Harvard and his first company failed, or how about Abraham Lincoln who failed in public elections and several businesses but later became one of our best presidents. There is Fred Astaire who at his first testing was told he couldn't sing, act or dance. The list goes on and on but what do all these people have in common, they didn't stop at the first failing but kept going until the succeeded. They didn't sit around talking about how they were failures but got up dusted themselves off and tried and tried again.

The key is this TRY, fail maybe, and TRY TRY TRY again. Never give up and never stop trying. Pray about your dreams and wants, God wants you to tell him about them. Ask God to show you what he wants you to do and then go do it. Never be held back because you are afraid of failing and people seeing you has a failure. We should worry more about what God thinks of us than what people do and God loves us. We don't have to be successful to have God's love and we don't have to worry about being failures and losing God's love either. God loves us period! Rom 5:8 "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." KJV So then why worry about being failures if God loves us no matter what. Doesn't that give you some strength and courage to try your dreams and try to do what God wants you to do? Rom 8:31 "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" KJV

Get out there and be an adventure following and trying your dreams. God has something or somewhere he wants you to do or go so don't be afraid step out in faith and go. YOU ARE NOT A FAILURE! YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD, A CO-HEIR WITH JESUS SO GET OUT THERE AND ACT LIKE IT!!!

Rom.8:16-18 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. NIV

4 months of walking

On Jan. 28,2010 it has been 4 months since I started walking again and I haven't
slowed down yet. We walk all the time and do things we haven't done for years like hiking and we are even planning a camping trip with the grandkids and going canoeing. God is giving us ideas of ways we can serve him also and have really enjoyed being able to get more involved. We are noticing and finding joy in everything. It is funny how the little things can set grown people to giggling, smiling and bring such joy. The other day we were waiting in a rather long line at the checkout, this can be frustrating, but Mike just leaned into me and said this is nice because for a change we could stand there together leaning on each other, the little things. Parking at the very back of the parking lot and walking instead of having to park in the handicap up front, or just holding hands strolling through the store, or how about him being able to put his arm around me when we sit in church. These are things that you do and don't give it a second thought, but these are also the little things until I started walking again we couldn't do. So if you see two grown adults break out into smiles or laughs it might just be Mike and I finding joy in the little things we can do again. Appreciate and be thankful for everything you do and have because they are a gift from God.

I never asked God to heal me and make it so I can walk but that he would just use me how ever he wanted to. I was so surprised when my season of life changed again and He has me walking. I know that it is God who is making a way for me to walk because of all that is and has happened since that day. First from the moment I stepped out when God said walk and I took that first step my leg muscles were there. They were defined and my grandson was amazed at how defined my calf muscles are just like I had been walking or running all this time, God did this my muscles should have to gradually come back but they were just there. Then there is the fact that I still have Myasthenia Gravis my neuromuscular disease along with osteoarthritis and osteopenia in my back along with some other things that cause problems with the nerves so I should not be able to stand let alone walk again only by God.

In this last 4 months I have seen just how awesome God is and how it is all him that makes it possible for me to walk. The least little illness sets my autoimmune diseases off and my autoimmune system into overdrive. I have had my back go out which should have stopped me from walking but it didn't. I was slower and bent over but still up and going with God's help. Then my knee slid out of place and though very painful I could at least get it back in easier and was able to walk on it sooner because of having muscles to help this time and so I continued to walk. These are just a few of the things that have happened in the last 4 months that anyone of them should have put me down sick for weeks and still I walked on Praise The Lord!

So a last thought is this, My strength comes from the Lord who has given me back my ability to walk inspite of all the odds against me and in so doing shows his power by my being able to walk, full circle. My prayer is that I will continue to glorify him in all that I do and to always be thankful. So if you see Mike and I acting like teenagers again and laughing at the little things just know its the joy of the Lord and all he does for us.PS 27:1 1The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Do you know who this is?

I am sure many of you have had this phone call and conversation. Your phone rings and the caller id is unknown so you answer it and the voice on the other end says "Hello do you know who this is?" Immediately that voice recognition software in your brain starts trying to figure out if you know that voice, but you finally say "no who is it." The voice then laughs and says " you should know who it is because you know me." Okay now your brain goes into overdrive trying to think about every person you know and if this voice on the other end, that is by this time irritating you, is anyone you know. Finally you say "I don't know who it is so you are going to have to tell me" and they laugh and tell you who it is and sure enough you know them but you didn't recognize their voice. There are many reasons that you might not have recognized the voice. 1. You might not have recognized them because it had been a long time since you had seen or talked to them. 2. You might not have recognized them because you really weren't that close so you didn't talk much. 3. Maybe you didn't recognize them because even though you know them you just didn't know there voice because really when you talk you really don't pay attention to them. I had just this sort of call the other day and I could not think who they were and really didn't recognize the voice at all. They finally told me who they were and I had not talked to them since a mutual friend had died. We really had not talked much at all before so I was surprised she called first of all and there was no way I ever would of thought of her when asked do you know who this is.

I say all this because sometimes when God "calls" or talks to us we don't recognize or know him. We don't hear him because we don't know his voice. So why don't we know his voice could it be like the reasons above, when we don't recognize the caller,1. We don't know his voice because it has been a long time since we talked to him or maybe 2. We didn't know his voice because even though we know God we really aren't that close to him, we lack a truly personal relationship with him. Or 3. Maybe we do pray and talk to God but when it is our turn to listen we don't so it is hard to know God's voice if you never listen to him. You see God speaks to us and he answers us but we have to be able to recognize his voice and listen.

So in order to recognize Gods voice we need to know God. I don't mean just be acquainted with God but really know him. This woman that called me I was acquainted with her but she was a friend of my friend so even though I knew her I just was acquainted with her and didn't know her voice.

We need also to not do all the talking when we talk to God but talk and then be still and listen to what he wants us to hear. In a relationship if one person does all the talking and never listens to the other person then that can lead to unhappiness nd misunderstandings. You miss out on so much when you never listen and really interact with the other person and it is the same with God. Yes he wants to listen to us and wants us to talk to him all the time but and this is a big but, a one way conversation doesn't accomplish much. You miss out on God's answer to what ever you are praying about if you don't give him a chance to talk.

So make sure that you are familiar with God's voice so when he speaks you will know it is him. Get familiar by talking and listening to God. Make sure to get close and know God so that you will know Gods voice.

"Hello, Do you know who this is?"

Follow the Prompts

I am no different then any of you about not liking the calls where you get a recording and then you are told to follow the prompts, press 1 for billing, press 2 for technical and so on. They are so frustrating most the time. This is not the prompts I am talking about. The prompts I have in mind are the ones from the Holy Spirit. These prompts are the little nudge or the little voice that tells you to do something like praying for someone, or helping someone or like me to follow through on something God wants me to do. I have learned through my walk in faith to listen and follow the Holy Spirit prompts.

One of the first times it really dawned on me just how important it was to listen and follow God's prompting was many years ago when a missionary friend of mine was very sick and close to dying. I didn't know it at the time that she was sick, but in the night God woke me up and prompted me to pray for her. I got up and spent the night in prayer and the next day found out how close she was to dying and that she was so weak and tired she couldn't pray anymore so she asked God to wake someone up to pray for her. God answered her prayer and why he chose to wake me up I don't know but just think if I had ignored his prompting and just went back to sleep what could have happened. She recovered and is still in the mission field today. I don't tell you this to pat myself on the back, but to share with you the importance of following the prompting of the Spirit.


More recently the prompting was for me about me. In June 2009 I had a heart attack at church where I quit breathing, so they tell me because I was out and have no memory of what went on, and I was taken to the hospital by ambulance. They did the tests and I was told that my heart had damage, but they thought this was part of my autoimmune diseases attacking my heart and killing it. I already knew that it was only because of God that I was still alive, but this time it was different, I also knew I was dying. I continued to get weaker and worse. The chest pains were more frequent and it was harder and harder to breath, but I knew that God had a plan and I was at peace with what ever God had in store for me. Jesus is my everything and I knew everything was okay. Take everything away including my life and I am still ok because of Jesus. I never once questioned why this was happening but just asked God to continue to use me and if I could just touch one person that was worth all I was going through. All through this time I was at peace and full of joy. God was holding me and there is no greater place to be than in God's arms.


In July God started prompting me to get my funeral arrangements taken care of. I have learned that if God prompts then you need to follow that prompting and so I wrote down what I wanted for my funeral and I figured that was the end of it, I had done what God asked. It didn't end there though. I was then prompted and given the words to write a poem to be read at my funeral, so I wrote the poem, and then I again was prompted to give all of this to my Pastor Brad Mann. Now taking all this to Brad and then talking to Jimmy Nickelsen asking him if he would sing the songs I wanted at the funeral seemed like the final step and God was telling me to do it so I did. I knew my time was getting short but I had so much peace and joy because I knew God was in control and his plan for me was a perfect one. I obeyed and followed the prompting and prayed thanking God for trusting me enough to use me this way. I prayed to touch someones life through my illness and God answered that prayer for me more than once.


Aug 26, 2009, at the end of the Group Leaders training at church, I had another heart attack and was dying right there in the door of the church. All I remember at first is the pain and then I had such peace and I just in my thoughts started Praising and Thanking God. Mike later told me his prayer was she is in your hands Lord. Pastor Dan Chaverin was praying and I remember coming around and then the ambulance came and I once again was off to the hospital. The doctor said they were going to do a cardiac cath on me and I really didn't want to do that but I was prompted to say okay because they needed the proof. For me to have the cath was dangerous because of my MG which made it more of a risk. They did the cath and the doctor kept saying to the nurse I can't find the damage that was there and finally I said to him I know why God took care of it. The only thing that is wrong with my heart now is the auto immune is attacking the nerves and so I have to take medicine to keep it in rhythm. God had healed my heart and the proof was in the cath results. The damage that was there before and had been seen was gone and I was taken off my nitro and have been pain free since.


I went home from the hospital and already was feeling stronger. As the time went on my lungs got better too. When I went to the doctor for a follow up from the hospital I found that I could for the first time in 12 years take a deep breath. Another healing and I praised God for that. I found because of the lungs being better that I could lay flat again which I hadn't done since I had gotten sick. I felt stronger everyday and feeling so much better.


Sept 28, 2009 Mike and I went to Shawnee Mission Park to go on one of our walk and rolls. Mike was at the back of the van getting my wheel chair out and once again the Holy Spirit prompted me and said one word which was walk and I walked down to the back of the van and said to Mike I'm going to walk and took off. I walked only about 100 yards that day but for someone in a wheelchair for all those years that was a big step. I walked by myself down the path and back up the hill to the street that the van was parked on. When I reached the top of the hill I raised my hands, like Sylvester Stallone did in Rocky, and shouted yes, yes, yes thank you Lord. I then walked back to the van. This is a picture of that first walk.
I had never in all those years of being sick and in the wheelchair asked God to heal me or let me walk again so I was surprised when I was prompted to walk. If I had not listened to that prompting though and then followed that one word WALK I would of missed out on a healing and blessing. It would have been easy for me to ignore that prompting or think that it couldn't be done because I can't walk I am in a wheelchair, but I followed the prompt and God blessed me for my obedience. My muscles in my legs were there at that moment I took my first step which is all God after 12 years of my neuromuscular disease and my wheelchair. The next walk a couple of days later was for 1/4 of a mile, then the next a mile and soon I was able to go hiking off the paved trail for over a mile.
Each day brings new firsts and I continue to Walk with God both spiritually and physically.


The last thought here is this, I am not perfect and have not always followed the Holy Spirits prompting. It is all part of growing in my walk with Christ. The one thing I do know in order to recognize the prompts you have to have a personal relationship with God so that you know and recognize his voice or prompting when it comes.

Last it is easy to ignore the prompts of the Holy Spirit out of fear, or not listening, or not following through but remember God is using you or has something important for you to do so don't ignore those prompts. It would have been easy when God prompted me to wake up and pray to just lay back down and go back to sleep, or to not get my arrangements together and give them to the Pastor because that was an uncomfortable thing to do and think about, or to deny I could do what I was being asked to do when I was told to walk, that would have been the easy thing to do. God never said our walk with him would be smooth sailing and easy all the time he just said we didn't have to go through it alone he is there guiding, leading and carrying us along the way. So remember to listen for and follow the prompts of the Holy Spirit.