Open Heaven

One of the amazing things about God is how He chooses to use us over and over...even when we make so many mistakes. He uses us even when our faith is so small that He's begging us to even have the faith the size of a mustard seed. Despite our weaknesses and lack of trust in Him on a consistent basis...He still uses me!! I am blown away and honored that God desires to use me and trusts me with His power and all Glory and Honor goes to Him.

I want to share a story that happened in our backyard two weeks ago today. I had just had my alone time with God while exercising (for some reason I hear Him more clearly while exercising??) and had come home still cooling off. It had been a great time with the Lord sharing emotions of joy, mystery, and wonder with God and how He doest things. I walked out straight to the backyard as the family is out there playing on the fort (Marcie was watching...ha). The boys come to hug me (I'll enjoy that while I can) and Isaac jumps off the fort down the metal pole only to land very awkwardly. Isaac lets out a scream that we hadn't heard since he broke his arm several years ago. Marcie and I run straight to him and his right knee is already very swollen and his right leg is turned unnaturally to the right. Immediately God poured out a Spirit of boldness and urgency on me and while Marcie had already started praying, I started praying very boldly for healing in the name of Jesus while cradling his knee in my hands.

For some reason I didn't doubt, didn't question whether He would do it, and didn't have any spirit of fear. That isn't always the case when I pray for healing for someone or our children. God's Spirit was overwhelming at this point and then something happened...while I was holding his leg and rebuking the Spirit of infirmity and commanding the joints and knee to straighten...his leg straightened out right in my hands! My eyes get big and I look over at Marcie in wonderment and awe of God and then look back at Isaac's leg and immediately the swelling just vanishes in front of my eyes. At this point Isaac stops screaming and is looking at us wondering what just happened. The boldness continued and we prayed for 100% healing and for the pain to be gone 100%. We told Isaac to get up and walk on it and he hesitantly pulled himself up off the ground and started walking pain free!! I just started laughing and looking up at the sky as heaven had just opened and poured itself out on our little 7 year old. Humility an awe overcame us and we started rejoicing as a family and celebrated with what else...Popsicles?!

After the Popsicle and thanking God for what He had done, Isaac was pumped and wanted to play baseball in the backyard. In a span of no more than 10 minutes my son is screaming with a very swollen knee and crooked leg; to jumping up in the air catching baseballs with no pain and a HUGE grin on his face. God is amazing...God is a mystery.

What do you do with something like this?? I am choosing to focus on God's love He has for us and how He still works in mighty ways today. I'm not going to focus on the times things don't turn out as planned or prayers that aren't answered as quickly as we may like them to be answered. Focusing on those will steal the seed planted in my heart two weeks ago. Heaven opened in a mighty way in our backyard and I stand in awe at the mighty power of God and simply thank Him and realize how blessed we are that He chooses to love us and let us experience a taste of heaven. I am so unworthy...yet He makes me worthy. I am so ill-equipped at this parenting thing...yet He equips me with His Spirit. At times I am timid and fearful in this world of sin...yet He gives me courage and faith to stand strong and walk it out.

God, you truly are amazing and do more than we ever ask or imagined according to your power that is at work within us. May we not be afraid to ask and when things don't get answered immediately may I not fall back to unbelief and fear. He who is in me is greater than he who is in this world...Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever and He lives inside of me. May my boys experience Him through me and God please cover all of the flesh they see in me! You have come that we may have life...and life to the full. Reveal to us what prohibits us from experiencing that fullness at times and give us the courage to overcome it...you are the Redeemer!

In conclusion, the next night at church I had already planned on sharing how much Jesus loves us...if there is any reasoning to hold onto as to why He healed Isaac's leg it's just that...He loves us. I felt convicted to share the testimony of Isaac's healing and the star running back came to me right before class started and asked if I could pray healing over his knee after class was over. He had just hurt it in practice that day. I asked him if it was his right knee and he said yes...I told him the testimony was for him and to come to me after class. God's Spirit moved that night and Courtney came up to me right after class and I see this big black guy with tears in his eyes and he simply said it didn't hurt anymore. We rejoiced together and still went and prayed thanking God and the tears flowed from his eyes. I share that to let you know why I share this on the blog. There is power in testimony as I consider the cardboard testimonies they just did in Springfield at East Sunshine. I pray what you just read increases your faith and awe of God and that you feel loved more fully by Jesus Christ. READ PSALM 91 in the NLT and Be blessed!

Todd