Hey, Everybody! I was thinking about something early this morning that turned my thoughts toward you. I’d just been going over my memory verses and started reflecting on the whole journey of faith. The ups and downs, the twists and turns. The pain and then sometimes the dullness that scared me twice as much as the pain. Then something would happen and revival would come and back in the saddle I’d go again. His Word would jump back off the page at me and I’d feel fully alive and wonder why I’d doubted. I rewound even further back to the years that I hoped so much that this God I’d been told about was real. I needed Him so badly. I found my heart believing and I deliberately placed my faith in Him. Then I thought about a specific season through which I went from hoping He was real to knowing He was real. Don’t get me wrong. I am still challenged to faith in many other matters and always will be, because “faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen” and “without faith it is impossible to please God.” (Hebrews 11:1,6) But I seldom sit around and wonder if God exists and still speaks and still acts. Like you, I still see as in a mirror darkly and I wonder why some things happen the way they do and how it will all work out and what some things in Scripture really mean. But “I know the One I have believed in.” (2 Timothy 1:12)
We have so many new believers and even a sizable population of seekers in this community. Praise God, we do! We need to question our effectiveness the moment we don’t. So many of them would probably like to ask us how we “know” this God is real. So I ask those of you today to whom this applies to share a season in which you became convinced to the marrow of your bones that this is FOR REAL.
Think it through and be deliberate in your testimony. Please limit your story to one meaty paragraph so that we can read as many as possible. I can hardly wait. Let’s testify, girlfriends.
For many years, I’ve been living what seemed like a hopeless situation. My marriage has been tested thoroughly due to my husband’s drug addiction cycles coupled with my codependency. Though I’ve never doubted God’s existence, 2010 brought a true testing of my belief that He is actively at work in my life–even the darkest, most hopeless times. From January 2010 to the present, God has gently but ever consistently reminded me that He is active and is most definitely at work even now. He did and is doing this by placing the words–wait, abide, believe– everywhere! In my Bible studies, devotionals, conversations, songs, sermons, etc. And practically, He has provided for every need as I have nurtured my three little ones while my husband has been in a Christian rehab for these past 14 months. Provided specifically–even when I had only spoken the need to Him alone. He has carried me through the painful, deep healing process and has begun a redemptive work in my husband. And I sit here now, thankful that I waited, chose to abide. Now I believe! Thankful, too, that He changed my calloused heart toward my marriage to one that is eager for restoration and healing.
Thank you all for sharing your incredible testimonies! He really is for real. I was blessed with the opportunity to speak with my coworker over tea tonight and she asked the same question – how do I know this Christianity thing is for real? So I wanted to share a little bit of our conversation…
Our faith (i.e. belief in Jesus as Savior and Lord) is based on facts. If our faith were based on solely a warm feeling, it would not stand if/when that warm feeling were to go away. If feeling were the basis of faith, we would find ourselves believing one moment when things were going really well, but then in troubled moments we would question our faith. BUT since our faith is based on facts it does not fluctuate with the ups and downs of life. Just to testify, here are some of the *facts* that let me (and others) know that our God is *for real*:
– Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose again and was seen by over 400 witnesses!
– Over 400 Old Testament passages of prophecy were fulfilled in the life of Jesus Christ
– We are still talking about Jesus today when 2000 years ago 11 guys were instructed to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth
– The legitimacy of the Word of God, even confirmed by historians and archaeologists
– The intricacies of creation
– The vastness of the universe
– My personal life change because of the Lord Jesus Christ
– Observed life change in the lives of other believers
– Miracles
I know there are many more, but I pray we are encouraged by looking at some of the facts and the soundness of our faith!
I grew up in church and always remember loving Jesus.
I knew for certain He was my savior, when He saved my life.
I was married for 8 years and my husband was not a christian. It was an abusive relationship. He was verbally abusive as well as physically. It had gotten pretty bad. My husband put a gun to his head then put it in his mouth. I was chasing him but felt something pushing me back which stopped me in my tracks. My then husband pointed the gun towards me. I turned around and thought I was going to be shot in the back. I prayed to God if its time, make it fast. I kept walking into the living room where my 3 yrs old was sleeping, I fell face down in prayer to God. I did not even know what to pray.
The Lord protected me. We ended up getting a divorce. I had a hard time with guilt because of the divorce. Let me tell you, Jesus wants you to live. A man is to love you like he loves the church! Love is patient, kind. Love is not easitly angered. If your husband does not have the love of God nor loves himself, he cannot love you. YOU CAN NOT LOVE A MAN FOR BOTH YOU & HIM!
I have been happily remarried to my wonderful christian husband for almost 4 yrs now. How beautiful that we can hold hands and pray for each other. Ladies there is hope in Jesus!!
I hope my story helps someone.
Shannon
Kissimmee,Fl
Shannon what a beautiful story! I am so glad for you and your Miracle. Cherish your happiness in Christ. God Bless you. Faith is a direct present from Heaven, and it seems that there are some of us that do not deserve it.
Beth, this is the kind of stuff that rocks my world…when God “proves” himself in interesting ways that we cannot fathom.
The Cross in Our Bodies…..This is a pretty neat story and an interesting thing that few of us know. (FROM A DOCTOR). Louie Giglio was talking about how inconceivably BIG our God is… How He spoke the universe into being… Etc. Etc. Then He went on to speak of how this universe-creating God ALSO knitted our human bodies together with amazing detail and wonder. At this point the doctor is LOVING it (fascinating from a medical standpoint, you know.) And he was remembering how he was constantly amazed during medical school as he learned more and more about God’s handiwork. He remember so many times thinking… ‘How can ANYONE deny that a Creator did all of this???’ The God who created all this, also has the power to hold it all together when things seem to be falling apart…how our loving Creator is also our sustainer. And then the doctor lost his breath. It was because he started talking about laminin. He knew about laminin. Here is how Wikipedia describes them: ‘Laminins are a family of proteins that are an integral part of the structural scaffolding of basement membranes in almost every animal tissue’ You see…. Laminins are what hold us together… LITERALLY. They are cell adhesion molecules. They are what holds one cell of our bodies to the next cell. Without them, we would literally fall apart. And he knew all this already. But what he didn’t know is what they LOOKED LIKE…. But now he does. And he has thought about it a thousand times since (already)…. If you look up laminin in any scientific/medical piece of literature, you will see a cross….Now tell me that our God is not the coolest!!! Amazing. The glue that holds us together…. ALL of us….. Is in the shape of the cross.
Immediately Colossians 1:15-17 comes to mind.
“He is before all things, and in him All things HOLD TOGETHER.” Colossians 1:17
Thousands of years before the world knew anything about laminin, Paul penned those words. And now we see that from a very LITERAL standpoint, we are held together… One cell to another…. By the cross. You would never in a quadrillion years convince me that is anything other than the mark of a Creator who knew EXACTLY what laminin ‘glue’ would look like!!
I, too, HAD to look this up in a Google search…amazing what I saw. They cannot deny the structure, it can only be confirmed. They do, however, argue the connection to the creator. BUT we know there is no argument!!
We do serve the COOLEST GOD and creator….wordsmith, yes, I would have to agree, God is a very creative wordsmith. I still get chills when I read this information.
I heard the story about the crosses in our bodies! Thanks for the reminder! Simply amazing! 🙂
WOW! is all I can say.
The Lord has been showing Himself as the Real One just this past week. I have been struggling with a faith issue, and last Wednesday at my church the pastor shared a verse from Hebrews. Well when I got home I tuned in to Life Today and you were talking about the EXACT same verse. I also heard Kaye Arthur talk about this same issue just a few days ago on Family Life Today. Now here you are on the blog bringing up faith again. I hear You Lord and I know You are faithful!
The best scripture I meditate on and can see how the word of God stands straight up is from Proverbs 3:5,6
TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART ,DO NOT LEAN ON TO YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING,
IN ALL THY WAY ACKNOWLEDGE HIM AND HE WILL DIRECT YOUR WAYS.
AMEN
Because I’d be broken if He wasn’t. There has been too much hurt for me to handle,but I’m still standing. Only He could carry me through.
Ann Crystal Springs
Hebrews 4:16 ESV
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
My “know-it-for-sure” came in the 9 months I was pregnant with my second son. I desperately wanted a baby girl, so much so that when his little boy parts appeared on a 13 week ultrasound I sat straight up and said “Oh tell me you can’t already tell what it is!?” And the tech said “Well I can, but I can’t tell you, can you tell?” Literally bawled my eyes out! I wanted a girl so badly! The tech left the room and I didn’t think anything about it. The doctor came back in and said that there were complications with his umbilical cord he was missing an artery (babies are suppose to have 2 not one). So started our 27 week journey with this baby, I was sent to a specialist and not even kidding, every time we went there was a new “condition, issue, problem” something every time I went. When we went in for the umbilical cord issue, we were told that he wasn’t getting enough oxygen to his brain. They said he would likely never walk and would more than likely have severe brain damage. We were also told that same visit that all of the chambers in his heart were not there. So we had to do a fetal electrocardiogram. We went back for the results of that, and were told his heart was fine but that there were issues with his liver. They ran tests on his liver and they came back okay as well. We went in about 30 weeks and were told there was a growth in his kidney that may or may not go away and if it didn’t he would be looking at surgery immediately after birth. From then on, every single time I went it was either I had way too much amniotic fluid or not nearly enough.
I don’t ever remember stressing during any of that. But I distinctly remember praying this prayer “Dear God, I don’t care any longer that he is a boy, matter of fact I don’t even want a girl, I just want this baby to be healthy when he gets here”
On July 11, 2008 Gabriel was born into this world and was perfectly healthy. He has changed everyone’s life, he is nothing at all like we ever expected. He is so full of life and a regular Dennis the Menace. And this mom, wouldn’t trade him for all the girls in the world.I have copies of all the ultrasounds that show the “issues”. And I know without a doubt that God himself is what healed Gabe, there is no other explanation for it.
I am right in the middle of my “knowing.” My husband is a pastor, and we are smack dab in the middle of a situation in which accusations have been thrown, picked up and hurled, then thrown again at him, in the middle of a leadership meeting, from a leader that we infinitely trusted. I mean, it is UGLY with a capital UG. There have been words exchanged between them, and it is a situation that requires much forgiveness asked for and much forgiveness granted. Through all of this, I have been ready to chuck it all and get jobs at Target. But that is not what the Lord has in mind. I have struggled with God, and it is a wonder I still love Jesus after the way “Christians” have treated my husband over the years. But this past Sunday, I had it out with God at the altar. He won, and I walked away with a weird peace that even out of this ugliness, He can make things glorious. So last night, there was a meeting to try to resolve all of this. Our state pastor was there to moderate/mediate. I called a few ladies that I knew I could trust, told them none of the details, just asked them to pray. Pray that God would receive the glory from this. Pray that forgiveness would be received and granted. Just pray. At the end of the night, it seems to be the best possible outcome. There are some things to be dealt with and worked on coming up, and I am not sure what exactly will happen, but through all of this, I know that God showed up last night, and I know that He can make all things glorious. That’s what He does.
Alyson,
i so understand your pain..mine is different in that the accusations are from extended family members…which have turned just about every single family member and friend against me…the hurt caused by those who have spread the lies has been unreal and God has had to console me many times because the ‘dullness'(as Beth describes)is so real that you don’t see a way out…how can people who
are suppose to be family and love you act this way? Especially those who are suppose to love you! how can we continue to love those who hurt us so badly? we can only do that because of HIS very real LOVE in us and because we know that God is so faithful and He also hates to see all that is happening in this world that He created for us…His heart is breaking too. i know that God is working in your situation indeed…Lets keep our Joy in Jesus every second of every day! Also, please pray that God gets all the glory in my family forever and ever! lets pray for one another that the UG in ulgy be healed and transformed into hearts “United in God” and Him alone. Praise God!
wow…just when i was feeling so isolated again Gods amazing love is right here with Beths blog to cheer me up(did i mention i just ‘found’ it last week)…Gods timing is everything! p.s. thank you everyone for sharing!
AMAZING how your stories (Alyson and Rhonda) parallel mine!! And it IS encouraging (…as is common to man), as we feel isolated in our pain. In my case, it is my precious daughter who has been slandered by her almost-ex-husband, to the point that on Christmas Day, of all times, we had a “Jerry Springer moment” on her dad’s driveway when picking up my grandchildren. I so regretted the 2 year old and two 5 year old grandchildren seeing the adults behaving so badly. Also, my daughter and her dad (my ex-husband [what tangled webs we weave]) are estranged now, so the family is torn assunder. All over lies about my daughter!! That hurts so much – to have your own dad believing lies about you, and what hurts my children hurts me. To top things off, my ex-son-in-law is their “golden boy” and can do no wrong in their eyes. I have prayed for my ex and his wife of 10 years, as they are both lost (& their names are inscribed underneath the altar of my church, along with many others who need the Lord). I pray God will enable me to see them, along with my son-in-law, through His loving eyes and resist Satan’s desire to have bitterness consume me. BOTTOM LINE: Jesus knows and sees all and the truth will out eventually; meanwhile, my peace and ability to keep on keeping on come from Him, Who is Very Real.
Dear Siesta sister,
We too went through this, I loved how God’s psalms were so exactly on the point everyday—even to the point of Him being our lawyer. Keep leaning on Him–amazing blessings are coming for your reward.
Oh is my God Real!! I have to share this with my Siestas. The church that I serve in has been praying for a little girl named Ansley for 15 months. She was diagnosed with cancer when she was 22months old. She and her family have been through so much in the last 15 months. They have held tight to the Lord through this whole ordeal. They have been such witnesses for the Lord. Tonight I received and email from her great aunt telling me that after tests and scans that she is free of all of her tumors!! Tomorrow she will be taking her last chemo treatment!!
At times this family was given little hope but remained faithful to God. Today the Blessing has come!!! Oh yes, my God is REAL!!!!
God showed himself to me when my mom was dying of breast cancer. She couldn’t even raise herself up in the bed, much less get out of it. I was laying in a bed beside her on a Sunday afternoon and was napping. I felt someone was close to me and I opened my eyes and my mom was standing over me and putting a blanket on me. It scared me so bad I got up and put her back in the bed. (I’ve regretted that now so many times because I would have liked to have kept my eyes half open and watched her get back in bed.lol) I ask her how she got up and she said “the angels carried me over to you, you looked cold”. Let me tell you, I’ve never doubted, ever..
Example 1: So much historical evidence to affirm it. And, by the flip side of the coin, no one has EVER, EVER, EVER been able to prove Him false–and don’t you know countless numbers have tried!
Example 2: Last summer, while at church camp, I was beginning to feel almost desperate with anxiety that my young daughter had not yet decided to ask Jesus into her heart as her very own personal Savior. As I was praying about it, asking Him to move in a mighty way and DO SOMETHING, I suddenly sensed His very powerful, very real, very personal answer. His Spirit whispered to me–not audibly, but within my soul, “Be Patient.” I immediately felt peace and assurance that she would be saved. Sure enough, 3 days later, she came forward and gave her life to Jesus.
Example 3: Yesterday morning, I didn’t have a clue where to read in Bible. I flipped open to Haggai, and thought, “Nah…” and kept flipping to find something more suitable, so I thought. As I discontentedly made my 2nd pass through, the pages fell open in Haggai again. This time I paid attention and thought, “HAGGAI, Lord?? Really??” So I started reading and before I finished Chapter 1, I knew EXACTLY what He wanted to show me. He couldn’t have made himself more real to me if He had whacked me between the eyes with a two-by-four!
14 years ago My husband and I along with his brother and sisters families moved from California to Georgia with NO jobs or homes. The situation at home in California was horrible and we all needed a new start! We felt that the move was God’s will but we were afraid of the unknown. Did we question God? Absolutely, and we discovered that He is always FAITHFUL AND REAL! Looking back we took a step of faith but as always God reveals Himself to us-Jehovah-jireh, OUR PROVIDER!!
Wow of all places Georgia! I hope you love it here as much as I do. I was born and raised here and can never imagine leaving it 🙂 Welcome
I have detailed accounts of my reasons, but I’ll limit my response to the one paragraph. I’ll just say that after twenty-two years of believing in our God who is so big and mighty, who created the heavens and the earth, I began to see how He cares about the smallest and most intricate details of our lives. It is so easy to believe God for a big miracle, for salvation, for life. How awesome to get to a point where you see Him working at the molecular level! He is a God who cares to show Himself to us in the small everyday whispers, not just in the storms! To me, that is far more miraculous!
Thank you Lydia…I totally needed this affirmation right now:
“How awesome to get to a point where you see Him working at the molecular level!”
I was reading through Numbers with all the sometimes mundane details of how the temple was to be outfitted and the robes detailed… I was skimming as fast as I could!!
Shortly after that I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was certainly reassured as I realized God DOES care about the details, and it gives me peace knowing all the little stuff matters to him!!
Thank you for asking this question Miss Beth, I loved reading through the stories of faith in action. What a book these would be!
When I was 16, I had just broken up with yet another boy, I longed to know that I would, one day be married. I had a very difficult relationship with my father and felt like I was quite unlovable and was told I was difficult often, which was probably true, but left a gaping wound. I felt such intense pain, even though I had made this decision. I had been a Christian for two years, but this was the first time, God cut through my chattering prayer and said, “Kim, stop, you already know him”. I lifted my head and looked around, years later in my Christian Doctrine class this guy that I knew, asked me to coffee. That simple invitation has turned into a 14 year marriage and we have known each other for over half of our lives. God has proven Himself over and over again, not because He has to, but because He wants me, to know Him, too!
I offer this encouragement to pray, but yield once in awhile and ask Him what He might want to say to you.
In 2004, two days after Christmas, my mom was diagnosed of cancer on the very same day her mother died of cancer. Shortly after her diagnosis, my mom was crying out to God and He gave her a vision and told her her faith had healed her. After eight months of treatments, she was and continues to be completed healed. Praise God!!!! And she shares her story. We had lost my brother 2-1/2 years before my mom was diagnosed, and my father has survived cancer, too. I am so grateful to still have both my parents here with me. God has brought us through a lot – sometimes with kicking, screaming, and a lot of tears, and a LOT of patience on His part.
A few years ago a friend was sitting in my living room after getting home from bible study. She said I don’t know what you will think of me after I tell you this but I believe in God but I’m really going through a faith crisis. I let her tell me her story then I looked at her and said I do not feel any different about you and I experienced some of the same thoughts when I went through my faith crisis. Her jaw dropped and she said you had a faith crisis, that can’t be true, your faith is strong. I smiled as I told her that is only because of the work He has done and continues to do in my life. I told her of many of the ways I came to KNOW that He is real. I also told her that I trusted Him enough to know that as she continued to seek Him she would find that to be her truth too. That night was a real turning point for me as I realized that those words I spoke were the absolute truth and I believed them and lived them. The words from 2 Samuel “Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, that you have brought me this far” came to my mind and I couldn’t stop thanking Him.
This past year I read a quote by Ernest Boyer Jr on Ann Voskamps blog that expressed what I felt and says it with better words. I hope it blesses someone as much as it did me. “God is not a belief to which you give your assent. God becomes a reality whom you know intimately, meet everyday, one whose strength becomes your strength, whose love, your love. Live this life of the presence of God long enough and when someone asks you, “Do you believe there is a God?” you may find yourself answering, “No, I do not believe there is a God, I KNOW there is a God.””
Lisa
My darkest moment came exactly 3 years ago on Easter Sunday evening when my husband and My husband and I rushed our lethargic 21 month old daughter to the emergency room. The triage nurse checked us in and then took a blood sugar reading, her sugar was so high it did not register on the meter. My little girl was diagnosed with diabetes. Her blood sugar was 1742. A whirlwind of activity took place and we were rushed by ambulance to the PICU at the children’s hospital. My husband paced through the hospital and I sat next to my little girl trying to calm her and reassure her. My daughter in great distress finally calmed, I began to feel the world closing in around me. I felt pursued by darkness, I began to pray and ask that God would send someone to help me, to bring me into the light. Immediately God spoke to my heart : I am the light. In me there is no darkness. I am here with you. My panic released instantly. I was so grateful that God answered me in that moment.
I have such doubts…I am an old lady now; wife, mother, grandmother and greatgrandmother. I was raised in the Roman Catholic Church, which I left 40 years ago. I have lived a loving prudent life in dedication to my husband and children, my home. I have done heroic acts in my life,which I do not want to mention now. I have dedicated all the times of my life to His Glory and in prayer for Peace and Love in the World. I am trying to read the Bible now, which I never did before. I am going to Bible study at a small United Methodist Church near my house, sharing with a wonderful group of women. We view a CD (Beth Moore’s) and pray, comments and homework, and getting to know each others. I try very hard to participate, but….. they have such faith and I am in turmoil. I do not want to disturb them, I try to draw on their faith. But it is so hard for me when I have this feelings inside. Why Christ only talks about His Father in heaven? Why he never talked about His Mother? Why He treated her like most men treat women? To me so far The Bible is a men written book. A complied bunch of ancient manuscripts all written by men. Poor Eve carrying all that guilt from the begining…. I want to love Christ and His Father, but I love more His Mother and from my woman heart I would not have send my son to die that kind of dead. A father might; honor, glory a war won…. and all that, all man. I want God to be a woman, a loving compasionate mother that will receive us in Heaven with open arms after a long life of turmoil and confusion in this World. That will clear and understand all the confusion of this World. I would loved to read more about His Mother in the bible and to read more about great women, respected and loved; not used. Please, pray for me, because I am not able to reconsile these feelings. Yours in Holy Spirit. Esperanza
Thank you for sharing your heart, and your doubts. The Lord loves you and is pursuing a relationship with you, sweet Esperanza!
DEarest Esperanza,
Your very name means “Hope”…and dearest, “Hope” is the mold for faith. I was moved by your geniune cry for understanding and comfort, and please know you are being prayed for by many loving “siestas” (sisters) in the LORD. Praise God He is able to help you reconcile your “feelings” into faith. Keep going to the Bible Studies and seeking Jesus with all your heart. You will find the pearl of great price, and know of the Father’s love for you. “We though are going to love and be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first.” 1 John 4:19 (The Message Bible)
Esperanza, I will pray for you to find the answers you seek.
Oh, Esperanza…I’m praying that He just drowns you in His love and spoils you to pieces in Who He Is! There are many great women in the Bible that you can read about but Ruth & Esther jumped to the front of my mind. You will see that their strength comes from Him alone and there is no Rock like our God. The whole Siesta community studied Ruth this past summer in a Bible study that opened my eyes to her life in ways that I’d never seen before. I encourage you to search older posts on here & perhaps do the study. I think you’ll enjoy it and God will reveal aspects of His character to you that you may not have seen before. The book was by Kelly Minter.
Praying for you to be satisfied in Him,
Kristen
I am so astounded at your boldness here! I think it’s important to realize we all have had our fears and doubts along the way. I hope you do continue to spend time in the word of God and let him answer all of your questions.
I admire you so much for searching! many people who have known one train of thought for so long would not bother to question it, and it is an amazing thing that you are so open to him.
I know you will find everything you are looking for in the arms of your loving creator!
Dear Esperanza, Try to read the book of Ruth, the book of Esther, Song of Songs in your Bible. There are many references to Jesus healing women in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Healing one of the disciple’s mother suffering from a high fever. Bringing back a young girl from the dead and my favorite story, healing a woman from uncontrolled bleeding she suffered from, by merely touching the fringe of Jesus’ robe. Jesus also saved a woman from stoning because she was caught in the act of adultery and told her to go and sin no more. If you look hard you can see God’s love and Jesus’love for women for anyone seeking. Draw close to God and He will draw close to you. God loves you and so does Jesus and I am sure Jesus loved his mother and she loved him. If I remember correctly, while Jesus was hanging on the cross he gave his mother over to his disciple John and I am sure he did that to make sure his mother would be taken care of for the rest of her life. Don’t give up keep searching, the answers are there if you have an open heart, mind and ears.
Blessings,
Andrea
Dear Hope,
How God honors your honest pursuit and questions. Please feel free to ask us here anything. Why would God allow His only Son to die? Because of His love for us as His creation. He will indeed welcome us with open arms, console our ever hurt and smile into our eyes– as a mother does her beloved children telling them, “it is ok now, I have taken care of everything, come to my embrace beloved”
Keep seeking first Him.
Peace.
I am so excited that you asked us to share about God being REAL in our lives. At my church we are studying Jesus the One and Only (what a great time of year to go through this Bible Study) We just completed week 8. For the last two sessions at the end of the video we have had what I call “weeping sessions”. It has been beyond anything I can even attempt to explain – I can simply say GOD IS WORKING in our small study group and in our church – it’s spreading. On Sunday morning we had a dear lady who is not even in our Bible Study come forward at the Invitation time just weeping because she felt the Spirit of the Lord so real in our worship!! On a personal note God is revealing himself to me just in the last week – I can see him working in my life and I feel him so close to me at this time in my life – sometimes I even get scared because I don’t want this feeling to end!! God is gracious merciful and SO WORTHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I could go on and on and I don’t feel like I have adequately put into words the feelings of my heart, but He can speak even when my words fail.
PRAISE THE LORD AND THANK YOU JESUS FOR DYING FOR ME!!!!
I know God is real because I spent literally “years” on my knees, begging God to heal my Son of his mental illness. I would even reach out (literally) to try to touch His robe, to feel His presence as I begged for help. Then last April, through a series of events, my Son was accepted into a Long Term Care Facility for the Mentally Ill – at that time, he could no longer eat (because of his demons)and we were being told he would have to go to a Nursing Home for the rest of his life. Today, he is functioning, playing basketball and living his life as normally as He can. There were days, that turned into months, that turned into years of tearful begging, but by HIS Grace, He set my Son Free..Oh yes, My God is real, and one day my Son will sit at the Glorious table of the King, healed and surrounded by God’s Angels!
Dear Greta,
Bless you for enduring with hope. This just occurred with our adopted son on Tuesday.
I remember when I first became a Christian………I had been so lonely. My then husband left me for a neighbor down the road, my mother was in a nursing home with Alzheimer disease and my father stated he had enough troubles of his own and didn’t have time for me. Well, a neighbor invited me to church with her and they just happened to be studying the book of 1John. If there was ever a person who needed to be loved it was me.It didn’t take long for me to ask for God’s forgiveness thru Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. I found myself thinking “that’ll teach him (ex-husband), I’m going to heaven and he’s not and he doesn’t deserve too either! The very first time I entered in to a long and lovely time of prayer with Jesus I just felt so warm and loved and accepted. At the end of the prayer I let Jesus know I was so very happy to be a child of God and I knew my life would be ok but there was one little detail I wanted Jesus to take care of for me. My ex-husband joined the Merchant Marines so I took the opportunity to ask Jesus if he could find a way to have my ex stand at the edge of the boat and slip on a banana peel and fall off the boat into the ocean and be out of my life forever. Can you believe it? Well, as clear as I can hear my children talking to me I heard Jesus say, “Teri, I died for him too!”. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God!
I lost everything a year and a half ago; no home, no job, relationship ended, no money, etc….I had no place to live, two teenage boys and the decision one night was, “Do I seek emergency shelter or point my car out of state to live with family?” I had a car full of suitcases, kids, dog, food…..I passed my favorite church and with tears running down my face cried out, “Where are you!” to God.
In an effort to keep this short I’ll leave out the details but, within 24 hours we were in a gorgeous home, a stranger handed me $500 the next week, the bible study ladies gave me gift cards for groceries, I started a business that grew and was just featured in the Denver Business Journal because of it’s rapid growth. God carried me through those dark times until I could stand up myself, with Him by my side, of course…..
It was all God. All God. Nobody will ever convince me otherwise.
YESSSS!!! He is amazing!
AWESOME!!!!!! 🙂
My sister was diagnosed and had surgery for breast cancer this past week. God gave her a song, literally, for her story and the realness of God, seeing through His eyes. It has affected all of us in ways unimaginable! Her results from the surgery are all good as the disease was caught in earliest stage. Most treasured, though, is how God has worked through this. The revelations God has revealed are so precious! I love Him for being so real!
Oh, I can go somewhere with this! Let me just tell you- I should be in a DEEP DARK GUTTER somewhere…but I’m NOT! Glory to God! I grew up in a home where the name of Jesus was mentioned on occasion but no one was actively pursuing or exalting Him. I remember thinking Divorce was simply something you did…I NEVER expected a relationship to last. Living life in what I thought was the fast lane and the cream-of-the-crop, I was neglected, rejected, taken advantage of, mocked, and pressured. My life gave dysfunctional it’s meaning. My mom was/is Catholic and MADE me go on a youth retreat one summer and I kicked and screamed every bit of the way. Yet, little did I know then God was planting a seed. Two years later, I had an encounter that left me undoubtedly confident in the life-saving power of Jesus Christ! Oh, I get chills thinking about it. He delivered me all right. There is NO DOUBT about it. He continues to blow my mind—I’m happily married in a God-centered marriage and blessed with two, if I might say, gorgeous girls!! AMAZING is all I can say. This is how I know dear sisters, HE IS REAL. JESUS CHRIST IS THE REAL DEAL. Now, I’ll live me life proclaiming it EVERY DAY!
Beautiful!
I’ve thought on this one for a while – simply because there are so many. Most recently however, would have to be in the passing of my Grandmother. I was holding on to her so tightly, begging God that she be made well so we could have her longer. I selfishly wanted her to be here forever, couldn’t imagine my life without her. Two days before her death, I was crying out to God (again, selfishly) and expressed to Him just how much I love her and how much I wasn’t ready to let her go. A complete peace fell over me as I heard God say to me “I love her more. Just as I love you.” From that moment, I had perfect peace about the entire situation.
When I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2001 at the tender age of 33, with a husband and two small children, ages 3 and 5 I was terrified of the road ahead of me. I had so many questions, would I be paralyzed, would my vision return, would I have to start wearing Depends, what kind of mom was I going to be, dreams disappearing… so many questions and fears. After the shock wore off a bit, I RAN to Jesus and held on tight, He was my lifeline and still is. After counseling with a Christian counselor, I got a better thought process regarding MS. I am so very blessed and happy and people don’t understand how I can be happy with this chronic illness, but I KNOW it is through my faith in Jesus. I had a dream one night about a very large man sitting in a chair and he beckoned me over and I crawled up into the crook of his arm and snuggled in and he stroked my hair and comforted me. I was at peace and knew without a doubt that this was God, He was comforting me and showing me how much He loves me and I could count on him to be my refuge, my strong tower, my strength. WE would meet MS on the battlefield and WE would overcome everything it would throw our way. After I had that dream and after I was seriously pursuing my faith, I began asking God what he wanted me to do for him to bring him glory through my experience. He helped me write my testimony and then I asked, what next and he said to give it to my pastor, so I did, thinking that was all. However, that was not all, my pastor asked me to read my testimony to the congregation at all 3 services. I was thrilled, because I knew I was going to be able to bring Him glory by sharing my story. For a long time my faith was lukewarm and I am so glad God did not spit me out of his mouth. It took MS to get my faith red hot and I can now, with a full heart, say that MS is a blessing in my life because it helped to confirm my belief in God. God has been with me every step of the way, Amen. This particular verse helps me everyday; ‘Not only so,but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perserverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.’ Rom.5:3-5 Hope what a wonderful gift 🙂
I am going to start this with a run-on of my verses so far this year…
“You have crowned the year with Your bounty, and Your paths drip with fatness. Many O Lord my God are the wonders which you have done and Your thoughts toward us; there is none to compare with You. If I would declare them and speak of them, they would be too numerous to count. Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forever. From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised. Teach me Your way O Lord; and I will walk in Your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your Name. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life, whom shall I dread?”
This year started off with my d-i-l’s father (our dear friend), suffering a torn aorta on 1/2/11 and eventually passing on to heaven on 1/16. Devastated our families!!
I’ve had to step up my care giving in the family. We had already experienced a pay cut (thankful to still have a job!), but tring to make expenses work. My youngest son’s life was SPARED 2 weeks ago when he was in a horrific accident with a semi truck. The only part of his car that wasn’t damaged was the driver door, that he was able to pop open and climb out of! Only a few scratches, bump on the head and bruising on the shoulder, chest and hip from his seat belt!
I KNOW WITHOUT A DOUBT that God is IN CONTROL!!! Our friend did not leave life too soon…God ordains our days, but we just aren’t always ready when it happens to our loved ones. I’m LEARNING to make things work with my schedule and our expenses. And I am thankful that my son is here, healing and realizing that God still has things for him to be doing; as well as myself!! He is faithful to His word…He has crowned this year with HIS BOUNTY, He is to BE PRAISED, He knows my path, HE IS MY SALVATION!! I have NOTHING TO DREAD!!!
In Feb. I got the flu and was just miserable for a week, I just started to feel better and came down with something else. Wow! Lord why did you do that, I was in bed for 3 weeks and suddenly I found myself surrounded by the biggest blackest depression cloud, I have never had a problem with depression, I would wake my husband in the middle of the night to come hold me and let me cry. Finally he said we’re going to the Dr., well it turns out I had gotten both types of Flu going around and my body was just worn out.
Saying all of that to get to this,my husband had called several of our friends from church and they were coming to have a get together with Jesus session beside my bed.WOW WOW WOW!!! now that is great, one special young lady gave me this word from God. You know where the verses in the Bible say “YET” that is telling you that while you are going through this now there is a “YET” on the other side. Now I am looking at all the verses in the Bible that has a “YET” it is just the coolest thing I have ever seen.
I know this is way too long to put on but I do hope you will take time and read it.
Love in Christ, Siesta Glenda
I was raised in church and knew of God since I was a toddler. But my faith became my own in my twenties. I had married my high school sweet heart. My first love and the only man I had ever known intimately. I was head-over-heels in love with him. We were married only 3 years when he announced to me that he didn’t want to be married to me anymore. Grass was greener somewhere else. At only 24 years old, I was a divorced woman with the sad story of a husband who found someone younger and blonder than me! (it makes my 38 year old self chuckle now…) I became really angry with God about the whole deal. Quit talking to Him all together. I started drinking and having all kinds of “friends” over that I had NO BUSINESS entertaining. I grabbed the wheel of my life and drove myself right off the road! My changing moment: all that self-gratification and self-destruction made me feel emptier than the abandoned marriage did. I was trying to put on my makeup for work and couldn’t get my mascara on for the tears that started as a trickle and ended as a downpour- with me face down on my living room floor, ugly crying and all, but praying and pleading for God to hold me and make it right. Words that I had been trying to keep down with men and alcohol were unleashed and the more I cried and prayed the more free I felt-more so than in months! Then, the most amazing thing happened.
HE HUGGED ME!
A heavy warm presence just sort of wrapped itself all around me. I felt like a blanket had been laid on me but one wasn’t there. I realized that I’d been praying…”hold me. hold me…” and I know as well as I know there is oxygen in my lungs right now- God was right there in that room with me and his overwhelming mercy reached out to me and held me. Changed my life forever! FOREVER! I’ve never given God the silence treatment since. I don’t always get Him- but I love Him- and I trust Him.
While I have many, my most recent is going through a divorce, not knowing how I was going to make a house payment and raise two kids on a 30 hour a week job, with very little and sometimes no support from the ex-husband. But my God is real and saw me through financially through family then through a goverment program that helped me get a lower payment. I still scrap month to month but I can make my house payment monthly without worry….Praise God, he answers prayers
When He answers our prayers – like finding a car I could afford, a part-time job with benefits, saving my husband through the Left Behind book, Jeremiah 29:11 for my daughter when she was separated from her husband. Jeremiah is her husband’s name, she was 29 at the time and her birthday is March 11. We claimed that verse for her and they are back together now. Another job that was not my vocation (I am a secretary). I worked for about six months with Home Instead Senior Care which I feel was a special assignment from God because the location was directly across the street from the home I grew up in and the woman I sat with was a minister’s wife and we read the Bible all the way through together. I could go on and on about why I KNOW He is real. I love Him so much.
God is real…when math says that our expenses are more than our income, but we still give back to God, still have plenty to eat and bills are all paid on time~month after month.
…when after a textbook pregnancy, the second one brings bleeding, bed rest and my water breaking with 7 1/2 weeks to go, yet I had peace through the entire thing. God, in His great wisdom, had allowed me to become pregnant 4 weeks before my husband’s vasectomy, so even carrying this precious son was a privilege we hadn’t expected. I knew he was only ours for a time, and God gave us a beautiful, healthy baby boy several weeks early and he’s still going strong leading up to his 7th birthday.
…when we relied heavily on government help for several years through WIC, food stamps and medicaid, then God slowly weaned us off of each one, showing us we can depend wholly on Him.
…when we stepped out of a ministry we loved and reached forward to the one God is calling us to, but have to wait to see where it is and have virtually no income for 6 months, yet God cared for us through family and friends and we never went without food, never paid a bill late and were still able to give back to God from the gifts we were given.
…when we’ve purchased our current house, but haven’t sold our previous one…we know our God is faithful and He is teaching us lessons and sparing us from harm we never knew was out there.
There are many other reasons I know God is real~the way He fills my heart and overwhelms me with Himself (when I ask Him to!) even though the enemy wants to overwhelm me with this world. He is good and He is faithful to Himself, blessing us abundantly along the way.
May you know His love and know He is the real thing!
It’s easy to see God in the miracles of life. How do you know He’s real when He doesn’t show up the way you had hoped? How do you know He’s real when things around you don’t seem to make any sense? How do you know He’s real, when it’s hard?
It’s tough, but those are the times I have to look back and remember His faithfulness in the past and know that He is still reigning on His throne and we are always on His mind. We may never see why some things happen, but I read a wonderful reminder recently that went something like this…God’s compassion’s never fail, but ours do and God allows things to happen in our lives so we can have compassion on others and minister to them in their time of need. May God surround you with His peace that passes all understanding as you continue to seek Him 🙂
Yes, it is easy to know He is real when He is moving and answering even the smallest detail of your prayers. And it is hard when you don’t see Him moving and you need Him to desperately. I have learned when you don’t see Him move – He is trying to teach you something or the timing is not right. In the meantime, we have to just cling to Him with all we have, be obedient and trust Him. I heard someone say one time (Beth, as a matter of fact) “Obedience is victory.” and “Cling to Him because where He goes, there is victory.” Just don’t give up, keep on keeping on, pressing on and pressing through because He is a Prize worth finding.
I would add to my siesta sister’s comments… that God has a perfect will which requires total submission. In light of the sin and the accumulating effects of sin…well, we are a long way from Eden. This is not the world God intended but it is the world we have inherited this far from perfection. Although we can not see the beautiful tapestry He weaves (we now see the backside) one day we will see how He weaved it all together to make it beautiful in the end. As CS Lewis says, for those who arrive in heaven– all actions will end up having been for good. For those who do not end up in heaven as their choice– all actions will have resulted in evil. Hope that makes some sense… (see CS Lewis’ Mere Christianity) (PS I say this having adopted two children who eventually tried to kill us and were later placed in residential care–and yet, He is real, good and in control)
I am ashamed to admit I lack faith. I am also terribly unfaithful to God. I struggle with anxiety,depression and self-hatred. I have made some stupid decisions and am filled with shame over them. I pray for forgiveness and mercy from God. I know he’s forgiven me, but I can’t forgive me and this is a huge stumbling block. I face consequences of my decisions daily which adds to the shame. I cry out to Him. I want to change yet I am just filled with anger towards myself. I figure I got myself into this, God probably won’t help me. It’s totally a ridiculous notion because I know He’s helped me through so many other things. I just feel stuck.
A wise woman once asked the question, “Where in the Bible does God say we must forgive ourselves?” Our part is to accept the forgiveness, as humbling as that is. Our family picked up a saying while my husband and I did the exercise program P90X~ “Do your best and forget the rest.” It is not a Christ-based program, but the slogan applies to our walk with Christ. We do our best and when we fail, ask for forgiveness accept His grace and keep loving Him. Our part after that??? Abide in Him, rest in Him, and His Spirit inside us will do the transforming work and produce the fruit (John 15:1-17). Ezekiel 36:25-27 speaks directly to this: “I (God) will sprinkle you with clean water, and you will be clean and acceptable to me. I will wash away everything that makes you unclean, and I will remove your disgusting idols. I will take away your stubborn heart and give you a new heart and a desire to be faithful. You will have only pure thoughts, because I will put my Spirit in you and make you eager to obey my laws and teachings.” May you be as blessed as I was to know that we aren’t supposed to do this all alone!
love,
Audrey
Kris,
I am amazed that I even saw your post, and felt compelled to respond.
My husband, 37, has been living with self-hatred, shame, anxiety, fear, and depression. A ton of pain was recently surfaced, and he was so broken he thought he was dying. I have had a front row seat the last 3 weeks to God teaching him TRUTH. God has been exposing wounds from his past and messages he received that led to LIES he has believed his whole life. He has been held captive by those LIES and bound up in fear. We have received Godly counsel the past month from a couple, Tim and Rebekah Royal, in Newnan, GA (Royal Life Ministries). We have been reading through Freedom from Fear by Neil Anderson & going thru the Steps to Freedom in Christ at the back of the book. We have been PRAYING GOD’S WORD to demolish strongholds of unbelief, deception, depression, despair, fear, etc. by using Beth Moore’s book “Praying God’s Word.” Forgiveness is a big crucial step to freedom, and the enemy really fights against it & does everything he can to keep it from happening. Last Wednesday, my husband forgave a lot of people for a lot of different things, but then he asked me to give him a mirror… he was full of hatred for himself. He looked at himself and charged himself with a list of offenses longer than you could imagine. He was full of contempt for himself, and had held himself responsible for all of these things and more. I then got to witness a miracle, and felt so privileged to have a front row seat to this… he chose to forgive himself!!! After he got very honest with himself and verbalized everything that God brought to his mind, this is what he said to himself…. “I forgive you ______________. The debt is cancelled, paid in full, satisfied by Christ at the cross and you owe me nothing further. I release you from further payment for these injuries to me. I will no longer try to make you pay for your choices through self-hatred, depression, or performance.”
And this is the prayer that he prayed… “Heavenly Father, I surrender my right to see myself change to what I think I should be or do to be acceptable. I am acceptable because I am in Christ and HE has placed His Spirit in my spirit and declared me acceptable. His identity has become my identity, regardless of my behavior.” Then to yourself “_____________, I now receive and accept you as you are with all of your faults, mistakes, weaknesses, and failures. I receive the pain my choices have brought into my life as God’s plan to bring me to brokenness and intimacy with my Heavenly Father. I now place myself in HIS hands. I am willing to be hurt by myself again. When I fail again, I will be willing to forgive myself again.” The difference in my husband is miraculous! You can be free! You can walk in freedom! You CAN forgive yourself! I will be praying that the Lord will counsel you and teach you in the way which you should go, and lead you to the right counselor or person to talk to. The Lord wants to heal you, rescue you from this pit, and bring you out into a SPACIOUS place! He delights in you, Kris. (Psalm 18:16-19) Jesus LOVES you!!!
Thanks, Jennifer! I almost started crying at my desk at work reading your post. Thank you for your kind and encouraging words.
Also, thanks to you too Diane!!!
Oh Kris…ask Him to help you with your unbelief, ask Him to guide you onto a new path clearly, ask Him to reveal who you are to Him from His view rather than yours, then ask Him to show you daily how to see Him doing these things. He is faithful and will do it!
To add to my fellow siesta sisters…. forgiveness has two parts — the decision and the emotion (see Ev. Worthington’s works). Someone once told me that if I refuse to forgive myself I am saying I know better than God. Believe God knows better. Forgive– He does. As far as the east is from the west. Learn and use it for His glory. Let Him be God.
http://www.integequine.com/blog
My first blog is a testimony that I have been saved.
I KNOW God is real…for I can feel Him deep in my soul! He mended my broken heart more times than I can even remember. And I’ve seen Him literally perform miracles on a baby that was never supposed to be born. He gives me peace that truly passes all understanding. I just know He’s real and I love him so!
I have been a christain for many years and I like you Beth hoped GOD was real. Not until about the last 10 years I started digging deeper into his word, and living through some real life, did I know my redeemer lives. He has saved my neck more times than i want to say. I know in the middle of the night when I am all alone just He and I that he is there and will never leave me. He speaks to me in my everyday life. He is a light unto my path ,a lamp unto my feet. I don’t want to go on if he is not going with me. HE IS ALIVE.
He is real because He has been actively at work in my life since the beginning, when He knit me together in my mother’s womb.
But for a specific time when I knew He was at work in my life. Back in late summer of 2005 it was my yearly check up with the gyn. and I requested a mammogram, even though I had just had one 9 months before. Amazingly I was able to get an appt. in just a couple of days. After this mammogram I was called to come back for further pictures of the left breast. After these further pictures were done the resident told me that I had undefined areas that appeared to be calcium deposits. I told him I wanted them defined and could we do a biopsy today. He assured me that I could wait 6 months come back and more pictures could be taken, I said I’m not waiting. So an appt. was set up to have a biopsy but, that aspiration type biopsy was not able to be done on me, and once again the doctors thought I could wait 6 months and come back to have more pictures taken of that breast. Once again I said I’m not waiting, please set me up with a surgeon for an incisional biopsy. During the incisional biopsy the surgeon removed “by chance” he said, a larger specimen than usual. The pathology report came back that I had cancer and all of these doctors were shocked at the spray as they called it of cancer I had. I actually had several spots of DCIS a pre-cancer. I had a double Mastectomy I felt it was the only choice for me after the surgeon stated the left breast needed to go. When the final pathology report came back no cancer was left, another words the cancer that was there was removed during biopsy.
At each point I was strongly led by the Holy Spirit to make the decisions that were before me, as if a hand was behind my back almost pushing me forward.
At my last appt. with the surgeon she asked me what led me to push for the biopsy, I told her my story that is was the Lord at work in my life and He was leading me every step of the way.
Like so many of my spiritual Ah-Ha moments, knowing God was REAL was most prominent during my journey with breast cancer.
I was diagnosed in late winter at the beginning of our very busy time here on our farm/ranch. We were calving heifers (which need to be checked every 2-3 hours)and getting ready for the rest of the cows to calve, while preparing all the planting equipment to get ready for field work.
We live almost 200 miles from the city where my surgery was to be done, and about that far from my parents who were going to be coming down to watch my 2 year old son. They also ranch, and were also needing to get back home in time for their calving which was a bit later than hours.
Due to all of the goings on at the ranch, not to mention the fear and concern of the stage and agressiveness of the tumor, we just wanted to get the surgery over!!! I talked to my then-93 year old grandma the morning I had my first appointment with the surgeon and she said, “I’m just praying that they can do your surgery as soon as possible. Tomorrow if possible!”
After the initial consult, the nurse ushered us into the waiting room and asked us to stay-put while she went to find a day and time for the surgery. Five minutes became 20 as we waited. Finally she came out and said that she had looked at the schedule from back to front for 3 months out, and there was really only one day open before June. Is there anyway that we could do the surgery tomorrow?
That announcement along with all the ways that God was working behind the scenes to coordinate doctors, and nurses, and child-care; providing scripture verses and encouragement through books I’d read previously but not noticed before; and the overarching presence I felt through the whole process, worked together to give legs to the faith I’d had for many years. God was indeed real and present in my life, in one of the darkest times I’d experienced to that point, and continues to be to this day.
My affirmation of God’s reality came through a story of great pain. When I was two, my mother died of pnuemonia. My dad had two young ones to raise (my brother wasn’t yet one when our mother died). God blessed us with a Mema and Bepa who loved us (and their son) so much that they willing raised us while my dad worked in another town. While visiting an office building on a sales call, my dad met a young woman who would soon become our mother….she even adopted us. So that is a blessing of great love in and of itself. But the reality of God and his love came much later. As my brother and I grew, we naturally became curious about our mother. We visited her parents and asked many questions, but the one that we really wanted to know was how our dad and mom met. My brother finally got the courage to ask when I was around 14 (a girl in the midst of the agnst of wondering what real love is) and our dad told the most beautiful story. He was a sailor, she a tourist. The rode on a bus together in Rome and talked. They were smitten. They agreed to meet a few days later in Venice. They had dinner and rode in a gondola. He asked her to marry him. How my heart ached for the romance of it! But the one thing that would make it complete would be to know what her voice sounded like…when she said “yes” and “I love you.” But seeing the tears roll down his cheek as he recall this poignant memory stopped me short from telling him my one wish. I only shared that wish with God. I revisited it often as I grew up, graduated high school, and college, moved and got married, had children. It was an ache in my heart that I hoped one day would be healed. Then one day a box arrived from my parents. They had moved and my dad realized that all the boxes of souvenirs he had saved from his marriage to my mother should be gone through by my brother (who was coming to visit soon) me. I opened the boxes and saw photo albums, silver serving dishes and utensils, cards, writing….and a box containing a reel-to-reel tape. My breath caught in my throat….could it still be good after 30 years? I called my dad and told him my wish and asked him permission to listen (he told me if he had only known earlier he would have made them available to me – but I knew that something much bigger was happening to here…) I left the tapes out where I could see them and didn’t do anything about them for a few weeks. Then it just got to me, I had to know. So, I promised God if He would provide a way for me to hear the tapes, I would do anything I He asked (yes, I was a Christian young in my walk at the time…) Through many stops and starts and calls, the Lord presented a reel-to-reel tape player at a dear friend’s house. The story spilled from my lips when I spied their player and my friend and I set up a time to listen. I brought my daughters over to play with hers and we ate a bite. Then my dear sweet precious sister in Christ loaded up the tape on the player. She turned off all the lights save one and pushed play. Out rolled my father’s twenty-something voice. I knew that my parents had recorded on one side each, so if this side held Daddy’s voice, the other had to hold my mother’s. So, we fast forwarded the tape, and I sat down again with a box of kleenex and my friend, pushed play. Out came the most beautiful melodious voice I had ever heard. Tears streamed down my face. The whole in my heart was filled….not only by the voice, but by the one who I knew made it all happen, my very REAL God and King. Every time I need a reminder of His real love I only have to go back to that night. Oh, yes God is very real, His love is very real. Hallelujah!
Oh my where do I begin?
Maybe right at the small 5 ROOM House kitchen table. It was when I was just a fairly young bride to a young youth minister of the gospel. Right during my devotions and the sweet pantry was bear. I had hoped it wasn’t wrong for me to be very honest with him. So as I was talking with him that I had a few potatoes, flour a few eggs and milk and other “basics” with nothing in our freezer. I could attempt to stretch for the rest of the month and Thanksgiving just a few short days away. We were not able to go “Home” to Colorado or Illinois where either of our families lived. So after spending time alone with Him; I had written in my journal that ONLY He and I communicated for A.C.T.S. prayers. I had asked with in that time if he would just find a way to provide a way for “a cornish hen” and I could make that stretch for Thanksgiving and through out the rest of the month to make ends meet. I believed he could provide a means.
Well Mid afternoon, I received a knock on the door. It was a young construction working~single mom, who asked if she could come in because the led her there and she needed to talk to me. I was excited to have her over, since she was fairly new to our church. She cut to the chase and said that the Lord had brought her here on purpose. I smiled. She said that she couldn’t stay long but that she had gone to a “sisters’ home” earlier that afternoon but the sister had her family surprise her with an unexpected visit. That is when the Lord ‘spoke’ to her to drive until he revealed where to go. She obeyed and drove to our place when he said for her, “turn here”. She had never known we lived here; so it made her smile when I opened the door. She proceeded to tell me that she had something in the trunk of her car that she needed help with. We walked out to her car. Upon her opening the trunk there were roughly six brown paper sacks and a mid sized cardboard box. She motioned that if I would grab the bags for her she would bring the box to the table. When we were finished unloading the sacks on the table she said, “Ana-Maria, I know this is unusual and we just recently met. I don’t mean anything but to pass this on to you. I had picked these items up and the Lord directed me here. I hope you don’t mind if I help you unpack the sacks.” To my amazement it was groceries. I began to weep. Then she said I have this box for you also. Upon opening it she revealed frozen meats; beef, pork and poultry. Then she said, “Not many people know what this is but . . .” . . . It was my answer to the prayer request I had just penned that very morning. Not one but TWO CORNISH HENS!!!! TWO! I balled like a baby. I had told her, “Tess, I have something to show you.” I quickly ran to my room and grabbed my prayer journal. I didn’t just read it but I showed it to her. Then she smiled the hugest grin and a small tear fell from her face. I knew right then ONLY ABBA FATHER GOD knew my request of my heart that morning. It wasn’t a “feeling”, or anything subjective during our prayer time that morning. It was my Faith and it was about Tess’ New found Faith. I KNEW he would provide the means some how. Like an odd job or something. But little did I know that he would BLESS TWO HOMES with the specifics of a prayer request and an obedient heart and a one hundred fold out pouring. All my request that morning was for A CORNISH HEN. He provided roughly six sacks AND a box full of frozen meats. But the very last thing revealed was the two cornish hens! Those two sweet birds – One that was our Thanksgiving bird and the other a reminder to stretch it out for the rest of the month. Only Daddy! I KNEW he could supply a means and I KNOW He is REAL!
I will NEVER forget what that afternoon did for both Tess and my Faith that November day, for we encountered the realness of God. Our Jehovah Jirah!
I want to hear Him speak like Tess has learned to!! Give me ears, Lord!!
I accepted Christ and was baptized when I was 12 yrs old. I know to this day that my experience was real, but… relationship did not happen until about 7-8 yrs ago. (which was forty yrs. later) My husband and I were at a service and the minister was teaching on Abraham, and he talked about God calling Abraham his friend. He looked ay the congregation and said and God calls you his friend. That was so powerful in my life, and from that moment on my life changed and I have been growing in relationship and know that God is real.
The details of my experiences to prove God is real are too numerous. I just know that I would not be where I am today if it weren’t for his abounding and amazing grace….how sweet the sound.
I’ve always wanted to meet you in person, Beth, so that I could share my testimony with you, and thrill as you share yours with me, privately, for I feel we have so much in common with our testimonies.
But, to narrow it down to the “main thing,” (like you, Beth, I could write books), I will simply say this. I KNOW that my Redeemer is REAL, and that my Redeemer lives, because, one night, nine years ago (almost to the day now), the Lord revealed Himself dying on the Cross … for ME. He showed the real ME to me … in His loving, not judgemental, LIGHT. It brought me to the end of myself, and to the beginning of HIM! A few months later, He “literally” asked me to marry Him, in which I joyously said YES!!! I became His bride, Yeshua/Jesus became my Bridegroom … my Kinsmen Redeemer … and as a wedding gift, our Father in Heaven, immediately healed me of a 30-year crippling disease! GONE! I have NEVER been the same since, nor will I EVER be! I am sooo in love with Him, and I know that He is in love with me! I KNOW that my Redeemer lives … and I KNOW my Redeemer! Thanks for the opportunity to share. May God continue to bless you and your ministry mightily! In the dust of His feet, jean dean XOXO
How has He been real to me lately?
Going through science lessons with my first grader, God reminded me how truly incredible and real He is. I was in awe of the details about the animals and habitats we studied. I have no other explanation for such an amazing, intricate creative design for our earth. INCREDIBLE!
My husband and I took a crazy risk a few months ago, changing his career but not knowing exactly what was ahead. It was very difficult to decide, but we had such peace once the decision was made. God had made it VERY clear we needed to move on (through scripture, wisdom from others, prodding from the Holy Spirit over many months). We didn’t know what was next. We looked very foolish to the outside world. Within a couple months, He provided an amazing new career path that we didn’t even know existed — it’s very challenging but it totally fits my husband’s skill set and gifts. He is able to be what God created him to be and minister to many people in a unique, practical way. I AM SO GRATEFUL TO A GOD WHO WANTS US TO BE WHO HE MADE US TO BE!!
the moment i knew God was real was in college – i had gone through 2 horribly abusive relationships, been kicked out of a church because of false accusations, and after a couple years of solitude (not dating) and running from church, i had a moment. i can still see it: i was sitting on my bed, it was night time, and i was crying and praying – asking God to heal my heart, when i realized my heart was so hardened that it must be broken before it could heal. i then saw a lion (no kidding!) in my peripheral vision and i immediately thought “the Lion of Judah” and he took his paw and touch my chest. (i can still feel a heat sensation on my heart, when i stop and think about it). and then the lion was gone. i honestly know that it wasn’t an actual lion in my bedroom in athens, ga, but i know that the spirit of the Lord touched my heart and broke the hard shell i had wrapped around it to protect it. after that, tears poured like rain for hours and when it stopped, i had peace in my heart about everything. i was able to begin looking for a church to call home again and trust. i didn’t date for a while after that (time for healing), but God healed my heart that night – and prepared me for the man i am married to now – and that is why i know he is real.
the velveteen bunny- how it went from being a stuffy to a “real” bunny- it was Loved. on here not so long ago *melissa i think, wrote a *blog about a horse(thank you), and i didnt comment but it opened a memory in me of a man i knew once whom was adopted by some wild mustangs, he wrote songs for each horse… and this blog of *melissa’s opened up something within me that for 14 years I have ran from. the stories of a man I loved and the mustangs that loved him, and one mare whom I named honey sunshine,aka.leona blona, whom loved me too. and so for the last couple of weeks Ive dug through stuff and found the journals from that time, that only then I could just write down and runaway from, cause it hurt too much to stay and watch him die to himself. he was a minister that had this colorful rainbow fire in his spirit, and was just full of vibrant energy, and he was one whom i loved, very much. but some people in his congregation did not love him for the very reasons that i did love him, and the battle that came there at that time -it just tore me apart inside-and i was striking out at people all the time like this caged tiger but just dying inside, and i loved him so much that i couldnt watch what made him Who he was, die, and then i came to see that it was me that was dying, too… and I just had to just do whatever I had to Just Do, to Just live… and I dont know how it got to be 14 years later, but it did, and i didnt die. but it wasnt easy. it was hard. and there are many things i did and said then that had nothing to do with how i made it seem, because the one thing i couldnt say was that i was afraid, that i felt broken, that i wanted to scream and cry and just Feel my feelings OUT LOUD, but i didnt, I just pretended to act like i could Try to Fix it, but i couldnt, -sometimes we cant “Fix it” ya know, sometimes we just cant, but God can love us Through it, ya know, that’s what He did for me, God just loved me Through It, and He still is, and of course, I can see where I wish I’d of done some stuff different then, but that’s what makes it *real i guess, is because its not something we can go back and do over, but I can try to not repeat the same refrain over and over today in today,- I pray that god will continue to walk with me through it, even today- cause there are Still crevises in me that boil over and out that dont show what I would want there to be in me, -but maybe that in itself is part of what does make me *real maybe, -cause I still have plenty need for God to continue to walk me Through it.. i guess the key now though is that I’m trying not to runaway so much, and really just trying to not live in cliches or in words that try to manipulate what others will think of me or whatever, and a lot of the time, I really just have to just follow and study jesus and follow and study and follow and study, and just not say a whole lot about it alot of the time, until sometimes i do share a little of it with those whom have the heart to listen and to feel the words sometimes more than just hear them, sometimes, ya know… and then sometimes, too, just gotta not talk so much and just go have some Fun together too, ya know… go watch children play and notice them and be little with them sometimes, -one of my best friends right now is between 3 & 4 years old- and she and her mommy just bring Fun into my life, and I am so grateful for them to be there. and that’s *real too, ya know, cause I’m *real now too.
and Thanks beth, cause if you werent “real” with us, then we couldnt be “real” with you.
I’d have to say the time that God has been the most “real” to me is right now. I’ve been on a journey to know Him and love Him with my whole heart and at this moment in my life I KNOW without a doubt that my God is REAL. I’ve seen Him answer prayers, orchestrate circumstances, change lives and rebuild me. He has given me a new heart, one that can love and care. I know who I’ve been and the person I am now is nothing like my old self, I am a miracle. The most recent example of His Hand directing me just happened last week. I’m a Sunday School teacher of a women’s class and it has become the very joy of my heart to stand before my ladies and teach them each week. Some time back I began to have this desire to do more – to teach more women, as in a retreat. I began praying that if that is what God wanted for my life, that He would bring an opportunity to me. I would not go seeking an event, but if I was asked to speak at one, I would do so because I’d know it was from Him. Weeks went by, months went by. Then last Wednesday, one of my class members told me her sister’s church needed a speaker for a women’s event they were having. I hesitated just a moment, and then said “I can do it.” She was glad I’d accepted it and said she’d tell her sister. When I talked to her later, I told her how I’d been praying and this was an answer to prayer. Then she proceeded to tell me how her sister had come to ask for me. She said that when they began to plan the event, my name kept coming to her mind. So finally she called her sister, my class member, and asked her to ask me if I’d speak to them. All along God put my name on her heart while He was placing the desire on my heart. Only He can bring together a situation like that! It’s no coincidence; it’s a Sovereign God working out His plan in our lives. I’m so excited to have this opportunity – this maybe the first of many or the only event I’ll ever do, but either way, I know my God heard my heart’s desire and He answered!