Tag: healing

Praise Report

On By vickleaIn praise, Scripture, testimony6 Comments

I have such a wonderful testimony of God’s grace and power to share today! I went to see my orthopedist on Tuesday, the doctor who told me that in all likelihood, my foot fracture would never heal because of various other health conditions. He came jubilantly into the room yesterday after viewing my new x-rays and told me and my husband that my foot is healing…on its own, without surgery. It is growing new bone!

That, my friends, I will count as a miracle and an answer to prayer! He said it will take about a year to heal completely, but I can transition out of the boot and start wearing my regular shoes all the time in about a month. Just so everyone knows, I give all the glory to God and thank all of you who prayed for me. God is good…all the time!

The Benefits of Being a Christian

On By vickleaIn promises, Scripture, testimonyLeave a comment

Whenever one looks for a new job, they go through the interview process and are asked a lot of probing questions about their experience and suitability for the position. Having moved so many times and being a teacher, I went through interviews each time. And although I did not say it aloud, I was thinking to myself, “What are the benefits of this job for me?” I was thinking of perks, health insurance, vacation days, bonuses, etc.

When I became a Christian over five decades ago, I heard about Jesus, read about all He had done for me in the book of John and accepted Him as my Lord and Savior. There was no interview in which the Holy Spirit asked me what I was bringing to the table. Nor did I wonder what were the benefits of this new relationship. I just knew that God had sent His Son to die for me so that I could be reunited with Him, freed from sin and shame and a new child of the King.

In today’s devotional, the verse was from Isaiah 53, probably a verse familiar to those of you who regularly read and study the scriptures.

As I meditated on this verse, I saw the suffering Jesus, the One who did no wrong and yet paid the ultimate price for mankind. But I also saw the benefits I have as a Christian. My transgressions and iniquities are gone, no longer a part of what God sees as He looks at me. The peace that I need daily to face the challenges of life is mine as long as I press into my Savior and depend on Him. Finally, I am healed. Most people would ask, “How can you say that? You still have asthma, a compromised lung and one kidney that is failing?” All true. But the healing from the Lord is not just physical. I am healed emotionally from a childhood that was less than perfect, I am healed mentally from always feeling “less than” and, most importantly, I am healed spiritually. I have been made whole. All of my physical infirmities are part of being in an imperfect body in an imperfect world. God can and does heal physically, as I well know since I am a stroke survivor. But He doesn’t always heal the physical because His emphasis is on our spiritual well-being. Part of being close to God is having physical problems that persist, even when we are Christians. I think of Paul who had an unknown “thorn in the flesh” that we don’t even know what he suffered from. We just know that he had asked God repeatedly to “take it from him.” So, I count my life as a blessed one and I am healed in all the ways that matter. Yes, I have aches and pains, all part of the aging process. But I am thankful for life, even with all of the physical limitations that I have. God is always God and life with Him is filled with blessings and benefits!

Our Source of Strength

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App4 Comments

Sometimes, I reach out to the lamp next to me to turn it on and it doesn’t work. Why not? It isn’t plugged into the outlet so it has so source of power. That’s how we are when we decide to operate all on our own, making choices without praying and consulting the Lord. We move away from our source and lose our ability to make a wise choice. The source of all of our strength, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, is our close relationship with Jesus. He wants to be our source all the time so that when the waves and storms rage against us, we are accustomed to running to our source and plugging into His omnipotent strength to help us through the situation.

I have been challenged lately with health issues that seem never ending. At my follow up appointment yesterday, the doctor pronounced that after more than a week of strong antibiotics, I still have bronchitis. No surprise for me to hear since I am still using my rescue inhaler several times a day! So, next week, I go to see a specialist to see if my vocal cords were badly affected by the medication that I reacted to. Then she wants me to see a pulmonologist. She couldn’t believe that I have reached my age (72), had asthma my entire life and never seen a lung specialist. Well, whatever. I will go where they tell me to go, pray about doing what they tell me to do and trust the Lord to be my source of strength and healer. I was talking with my husband yesterday and told him that I cannot imagine what it will be like in heaven to draw a breath and feel the air completely since I have never, not once in my life, had that experience. I know my body will be different and resurrected, but I am so looking forward to being truly healed and whole. In the meantime, I walk the earth, take the breaths God has given me and am thankful that I can live each day and see the wonders He has created. Do I feel strong? No. But I feel strengthened by the power of His love and might and know that He is working on me for His purposes. I want to end my days yoked to the One who knows and loves me best and who has cared for me all of these years. May everyone who reads these words know the real source of strength in your lives and come to know Jesus as the only support you really need.

When You Need Support

Everyone carries burdens, and the things we go through shape the way we view the world, and ourselves. But we weren’t meant to carry our burdens alone.  

In fact, Jesus says to the people following Him—

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. … For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30 NLT

A yoke is a heavy wooden beam that lies across a pair of oxen, evenly distributing the weight of the loads they carry. But the term was also used by Jewish Rabbis. “The yoke of the law” symbolized complete submission to God’s law, and Rabbis taught that becoming yoked to it would free the Jews from enslavement to the world.

Jesus is using a phrase that His Jewish followers would have easily understood, but then He flips the illustration. He tells the crowd that they must yoke themselves to Him—because He is the fulfillment of their law. 

When they do this, the burdens they carry won’t be heavy at all—because He will bear the weight of their burdens.
 
Paul references this teaching in his letter to the Galatian Christians:  

“Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.”   
Galatians 6:2 NLT 

The law of Christ is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love others as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40). But the only way we can fulfill the law of Christ is if we bind ourselves to Him. When we are yoked to Jesus, He becomes our source of strength. 

He helps us endure hard situations and enables us to walk away from poor decisions. He fills us up with His love so that we can pour His love out onto others. He gives us the capacity to support other Christ-followers just like He supports us.   

Just as Jesus bore our sins and suffering, we are called to bear the suffering of others. In this way, we show them the love of Christ and guide them toward Jesus.

Right now, spend a few minutes talking to God about the burdens you need help carrying, and then allow Him to show you the people in your life He wants you to support.

Response to Hardship

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App1 Comment

www.bible.com/reading-plans/44512/day/1

Many of us respond to hard times by crying out to God, but for me, and probably for a lot of you who are reading this, asking God for help was a “last resort” kind of response. What do I mean by that? Let’s say you have a serious illness. First, you call the doctor, go to the doctor, get tests, see specialists, get more tests, even undergo some kind of treatment. Then, when you have done all that you can via human means, you remember that you should be praying and you cry out to God for help. I confess that I am guilty of playing out that very scenario for years. I am learning (progressive tense because God is still working with me on this) that if I pray first, the other things that I have to do suddenly lose their threat of overwhelming me. It’s all about in whom you place your trust. I have a mantra that I have even told to the doctors…you are treating me for this sickness, but God is healing me. Doctors practice medicine, but the Lord who created me truly knows exactly what I need to be well. I am not saying don’t go to see doctors, but I am saying to depend on and trust God first and foremost. When I go to see physicians, I pray for God to give them the wisdom they need to properly treat me. Our circumstances in life and how we approach hard times depends on our reliance on God.

God’s Purposes are Greater

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion AppLeave a comment

This is a particularly poignant message for me today because I am sick…again. I have bad allergies and this is allergy season, so no surprise when I started with the usual symptoms of drainage and a sore throat. Then, last night, I had to use my inhaler. This morning, I am getting ready to use my nebulizer. Thus is the progression of things when I start getting click. Others want me to just “Name it and claim it.” They think that if I confess that I am healed, the miracle will follow. Well, I am healed and I am being healed but it may not manifest itself here on earth. I believe that God gave me the breath of life to begin with and even when I am struggling to breathe, He is right there, giving me each breath that I take. Would I like to be completely well? Yes, but I am willing to wait for God’s timing because His plan is the perfect one. I am not doubting God’s power, love or ability. I am just taking life one breath at a time, knowing that God is working on my lungs so that one day they will be as whole as they are meant to be. I don’t know when that one day will come, but I know it’s coming!

Where Doubt Meets Belief

In Mark 9, we read the story of a father who loved his son. He loved his son so much that, when his son was possessed by a spirit, the father brought him to Jesus, believing that Jesus could heal him and drive out the spirit. ”If you can do anything,” the boy’s father said, “take pity on us and help him.”

The boy’s father believed Jesus could drive out this spirit. But he didn’t know it for sure. He brought him to Jesus, but he still doubted—after all, no one else had been able to heal his son.

Have you ever felt torn between that same belief and doubt? The boy’s father shares a struggle many of us have—the struggle to hold onto faith during life’s trials.

Yet Jesus doesn’t shame this father. Instead, He responds in faith: “‘If you can’? Everything is possible for one who believes.”

Jesus invites this father to a decisive choice. To trust either in Jesus’ authority, or to doubt.

In this story, Jesus did drive out the spirit through prayer, while his disciples could not (Mark 9:26-28). However, we must also realize that Jesus’ response does not promise us that faith guarantees our every desire will be realized. Faith isn’t a license for wish fulfillment. Instead, it challenges us to recognize God’s supreme power and ability to fulfill His will, His way (Mark 1:40–42). True faith always comes under the authority of God’s sovereignty.

Faith, in its truest form, trusts that God’s purposes are greater than our understanding.

God: Devoted Doctor and Loving Parent

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App1 Comment

www.bible.com/reading-plans/13952/day/4

I think we can all agree that our society is broken, headed in the wrong direction. The author of this devotional hits the nail on the head when it says it’s a heart and head problem. I would add that it is also a problem of idol worship, the idols being social media and all of the technology that has a corner on the market of minds today. It is not a coincidence that Satan is called the “prince of the power of the air.” I am grateful that God is a doctor who is totally devoted to healing His people as well as a loving Father who disciplines, corrects our way and shows us the right way. How many times have you sat in a restaurant lately and watched a couple have a meal together but never really communicate with each other? Both are absorbed in whatever is on the little screen that they hold in their hands. My husband and I found ourselves doing that a while back and determined that when we go out, our dining table is a no-device zone. The restaurants aren’t always compatible with our philosophy since some have QR codes to read the menu and then to pay at the end. But, we persist in trying to establish a conversation with each other instead of with random strangers online. How many times have we turned to social media for advice or solace when the best advice we can get is from God’s Word and the best solace is from His Holy Spirit? Yes, we are a broken people, but the good news is that God is a devoted doctor and a loving father, and He doesn’t give up on diagnosing the problem and coming up with a solution. He will find a way to get our attention!

Pray, Believe, Receive

On By vickleaIn Scripture2 Comments

Anyone who has followed me on my blog for a while knows that I have a few health problems. Well, actually, maybe more than a few. But I am totally blessed that God has taken care of me and is continuing to watch over me. My attitude of gratitude did not come easily as I spent much time angry about my health conditions and my inability to change them as well as God’s silence on the matters. Then, in 2015, my stroke happened. It was a bad one, or so I was told. If it had not happened at school where I was closer to the hospital and where the school nurse could immediately diagnose me and get help, I would likely not have survived. Coincidence? No…God watching over me.

At the time of my stroke, I could not move any limbs on my right side and could barely stutter out an intelligible word. But what I could do is pray and pray, I did! In the ambulance, I was praying silently to the Lord. The paramedic asked me if I needed something because it seemed I was trying to speak. Well, I did need something (healing) but I wasn’t telling the paramedic. I was talking to God. My husband was late arriving at the hospital because the school nurse had trouble getting him to answer the phone, so I was all alone for a little while. And I prayed, as multiple health workers did their jobs all around me, buzzing about the fact that I was probably having a stroke. The end result was that my husband arrived, I had the option to get a clot-busting shot that could kill me (30% chance) or save my life. My husband called our daughter Hope and together we prayed that the shot would work. It did…but I’m here to tell you that the medication was injected into my body but the Lord did the healing.

I have just been through a series of medical tests and the doctors could not find anything seriously wrong with me except for a reaction to my medication. I feel in my heart and soul that I was healed…God used my symptoms of fainting, vision loss and dizziness to built my faith in Him as I trekked to one specialist after another. In the end, He spoke quietly to me that He had healed me because of His great love for me. Once again, God reached down and touched me, not because of who I am or what I have done but because of Who He is.

My response to God’s grace and mercy is praise and thanksgiving. I am thankful for each day that I get to spend here on earth with my family and friends. God is wonderful to me and abounds in blessings for me. Today, I get to travel again, this time to see my sister who had to move to NC because of her health conditions. If you knew me well, you would know that I dislike traveling. I like the comforts and familiarity of home and would never go anywhere if we did not have family at a distance. Nevertheless, I am blessed to be healthy enough to travel and to get to see my sister who celebrated her birthday this week.

Every day is a miracle. The sights I see around me are evidence of God’s working on the earth. Birds singing, rain falling, squirrels scampering around the bird feeders…all are wonderful signs of God’s creation that He cares for so well. And the best thing is that He has shared it with me to enjoy…and with you! Look around you. You may not see or be aware of God’s miracles, but they are everywhere. Every breath we take is a gift from God. Everything we see is a gift from God. All that we are able to hear is a gift from God. Thus, I have learned and I’m still learning to pray, believe and receive…then to be thankful that I am able to do all of these because of a great and marvelous God who loves me beyond all that I can imagine.

Pray and Give Thanks

On By vickleaIn Scripture, Song, Video6 Comments

I think that this verse has been a theme in my life for the last three or four months. Undergoing one medical test after another, I must say that anxiety fluttered within me and tried to take hold. I kept repeating verses to myself about casting my burdens on the Lord and that He was with me no matter what I faced.

My last medical test was on Monday, an MRA, which I was told means Magnetic Resonance Angiograpy. In other words, they were taking pictures of the blood vessels inside my brain to see if anything was amiss there. (This followed an episode with blurred vision and severe vertigo.) Anyway, I would be lying if I did not confess my anxiety that hit strongly as my husband drove me to the hospital for the test. He prayed for me, I went in and tried to read as I waited to be called. The test itself wasn’t so bad, just a helmet like thing fit over my head and face and into the tight quarters of the MRI machine I went. I prayed while I was in there, and I gave thanks for all of the good reports so far. None of the multitude of tests had shown anything significant, so I was very grateful that all kinds of medical issues had been ruled out.

I got the results sent to me via message from the hospital later that evening. Of course, I couldn’t understand the medical terms but I did notice that the MRA picked up on the fact that part of my brain doesn’t get blood anymore. That would be where I had my stroke, of course. So, I waited for my neurologist to call to interpret the results. He called after I was in bed (he is one of the hardest working, most dedicated doctors I know, working long after office hours) and left the message with my husband.

“The results are normal!” That was the doctor’s pronouncement.

My husband let me know once he got off the phone and I was exultant that God came through for me again. As I prayed, I asked God why so many tests and then normal results. Now, don’t get me wrong. I didn’t want a bad report. I was just surprised that I had so many symptoms and the test results were all fine. God spoke to my heart and told me that He used the tests to draw me closer to Him and the healing came from Him.

Arising this morning to a new day without any new tests or specialists to see, I immediately turned to praise. As I took my shower, I sang “1000 Hallelujas” quietly to myself. As I read my devotionals, I played Chris Tomlin’s “Holy Forever” over and over again, worshipping the Lord for His power, grace, mercy and love for me.

I accept God’s sovereignty in my life and His magnificent way of getting my full attention. I am thankful that He loves me enough to take the time to work on me.

Holy Forever-Chris Tomlin

Sunday Is Coming!

On By vickleaIn Scripture, SongLeave a comment

Today is Good Friday and we will see crosses everywhere today to commemorate the death of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. But the cross is not a symbol of death; rather, it is a symbol of new life and hope for each of us who has accepted Jesus into our lives as the Son of God.

If the Roman soldiers who mocked, flogged and spat upon Him can then recognize His deity, how can we deny it?

Jesus left His heavenly home and became a man so that He could die for our sins and destroy the power of Satan once and for all. Satan’s last stronghold is death and Jesus took that away from him. Jesus holds the power over death and the grave and by accepting Him and His power, the chokehold of fear that death has in our lives is vanquished. The last enemy of mankind was destroyed on the cross!

Jesus not only paid for each of our transgressions, purifying us once and for all before the Father, but He also was beaten, wounded horribly, so that we can be healed: physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. We are made whole because of His sacrifice!

No one made Jesus go to the cross. As he said, He could have called legions of angels to save Him. But He chose to go to Calvary, to die on that wooden stake of torture so that we could be saved. Jesus was obedient to His Father, even unto death. He trusted that God would do just as He said and He would be raised from the dead. Death is coming for each of us…it’s an inevitable fact of life. It is our choice to die knowing that we will live again with Jesus or to face eternity separated from our Creator. Jesus obeyed the Father because He knew and trusted Him. Can we do any less?

Sunday Is Coming-Phil Wickham