LIVING WITH DISABLITY AND PAIN, My Prayer

Gracious God and Yahshua my Lord, in whom I live and move and have my being, as I learn to live with this chronic pain and disability, it is my desire to  be open to your presence and mercy. God of Mercy, grant me eyes to see and ears to hear, that I may recognize your presence   Christ the Messiah through every hard passage, as I live with this illness. In the deep distress of living with this pain, may I know that You behold every moment of my pain and fear. May I know that You are with me. Surely, you behold  my trouble and misery.You see it and take it into your own hand.Lord as I live with a body that is full of pain and stiffness ,my ability to walk and do daily, what needs to be done is becoming harder and harder to do.I have discovered that my need of others and my need of knowing You and Your presence in my life grows more and more each day. But I know somehow that there is a  gift in all this as I  discover this need, though it may be completely disconcerting, I know that you are in this with me each moment of every day and I will bless You LORD at all times; and Your praise shall ever be in my mouth.This day, I ask Your blessing on those who live with the pain,disease and  illness  .I ask Your blessing on the researchers who create medicines and treatments that allow all of us  to live with pain ,disease and illness. And remember especially those who have no access to medical care Lord keep them in Your love and mercy and grace. 

Gracious God of Life and Mercy, grant me the awareness of others who live with illness ,pain and disabilities too, help me remember to lift them up in prayer when sleep evades me, when pain and discomfort awakens me in the wee hours of the night ,help me use this time to bless others in their need. Teach me to pray for those who care and tend the sick. And may my prayers bless You as well. In all this I have come to realize the brevity of human life and the awesome gift that you have given me in this very life I now have.I realize from the perspective of eternity, from the eternal now , our lives here are all to brief. But you Lord have given me the medicine of remembering that my life is short and uncertain, contingent and interdependent , living with this pain is helping me to  remember those truths.

Gentle Messiah, you brought me into being and sustain my earthly life.   I know that my days are numbered and that they are sustained by Your love and I will be received into Your arms of mercy at my end. Thank you Lord for the wisdom, insight and common sense that You have  awakened in me as a result of living with this condition and illness.Lord I thank you for the knowledge ,that I have a sacred personhood in You, Christ my Messiah, and may all Your dear ones who now are living with illness and pain, who, knowing that death may be very close, may all of them come to  know that they too have a sacred personhood in You as well.  I give You thanks, most gracious God, for those who have helped me along the way.   And I give You thanks for leading me to see the varieties of life I have known through this illness.
Ever gentle Christ, my heart is sore and heavy with all that this illness has brought into my life. Be with me in my daily life; And Lord be with all who live with pain,disabilities and chronic illness. My God and Lord , in You alone my soul  waits. Christ help me remember and realize that You dwell  in me and I dwell in  You . Grant me, gracious God,  in this moment to rest in You, to know your presence in silence and in pain and to know your love that makes me, keeps me and receives me. Lord I desire to dwell in   steadfast love of  Your own house, to seek shelter under Your gentle wing of mercy. Merciful and loving Christ, help me to know You as You are. Grant me a sure sense of Your presence and guidance, that as I walk with this illness, I may know that Your love is steadfast. In this pain and in my life I choose to  take refuge in You.Thank You Gracious Lord   my Savior for my earth angel ,My Husband Mike, for in and through him I see Your love in action for me and I am so grateful for You in him , so in closing, I lift Mike up to You ,may he see You in me, may he realize your presence, my he come to know You in a sure way , Lord have mercy on him and heal him of the pain he has been going through. Lord in all honesty we both need You in a big way in our lives, May You become a living presence in both of us. Thank You for Your gift of life and the forgiveness of our sins, thank You  for Your sacrifice ,love and mercy Amen.





 

H1N1 AND A COLD KNOW THE DIFFERENCE

H1N1 flu is about to be upon us and we need to be on top of information regarding it. Here is a comparison to the normal cold symptoms.


Know the Difference between Cold and H1N1 Flu Symptoms
Symptom
Cold
H1N1 Flu

Fever

Fever is rare with a cold.

Fever is usually present with the flu in up to 80% of all flu cases. A temperature of 100°F or higher for 3 to 4 days is associated with the flu.
Coughing

A hacking, productive (mucus- producing) cough is often present with a cold.

A non-productive (non-mucus producing) cough is usually present with the flu (sometimes referred to as dry cough).

Aches

Slight body aches and pains can be part of a cold.

Severe aches and pains are common with the flu.

Stuffy Nose

Stuffy nose is commonly present with a cold and typically resolves spontaneously within a week.

Stuffy nose is not commonly present with the flu.

Chills

Chills are uncommon with a cold.

60% of people who have the flu experience chills.

Tiredness

Tiredness is fairly mild with a cold.

Tiredness is moderate to severe with the flu.

Sneezing

Sneezing is commonly present with a cold.

Sneezing is not common with the flu.

Sudden Symptoms

Cold symptoms tend to develop over a few days.

The flu has a rapid onset within 3-6 hours. The flu hits hard and includes sudden symptoms like high fever, aches and pains.

Headache

A headache is fairly uncommon with a cold.

A headache is very common with the flu, present in 80% of flu cases.

Sore Throat

Sore throat is commonly present with a cold.

Sore throat is not commonly present with the flu.


Chest Discomfort

Chest discomfort is mild to moderate with a cold.

Chest discomfort is often severe with the flu.

LEARN TO PRAY/FLIGHT OF THE WILD GOOSE

Picture taken of geese in the skies near Denver Co.in winter of 08
The following articles really helped me, and I would like to share them with you they come from an awesome website:http:www.hcna.us/articles.htm

Flight of the Wild Goose

by
Bill Tenny-Brittian

One of the most delightful things I experienced at the National House Church Conference in Denver was a taste of Celtic Christianity. The Celtic Christians, led by St. Patrick, stood in stark contrast to their Roman Catholic counterparts (although Celtic Christianity was a part of Roman Catholicism, their ways were significantly different. For one, the Celtic Christians were more a “Do as I do” tribe rather than a “Do as I teach” group. This meant that those outside of the Christian faith saw the Celtic Christians living the Christian life and were both amazed and interested in becoming a part of the faith. Conversely, when you think of Christians you know, which of their lives is so attractive that you just can’t stand to not be like them?
Where is that kind of life?
Which brings me to the wild goose. The Celts looked at nature and saw God revealed in all His glory and they understood God best when they took symbols from what they experienced. The Holy Spirit was symbolized by the wild goose. Doves were docile and delicate, but the wild goose was untamable, free, and unpredictable. Instead of a soft coo, the wild goose was noisy and raucous. And it seemed always to be on the move—on a pilgrimage ordained by the Lord Himself.
Jesus said that those Christians who were led by the Spirit were like the wind—you don’t know where it comes from and you don’t know where it’s going. A Christian who follows the wild goose is wild and free themselves. They have lives that are less than predictable. They live life to the full (John 10:10). They are wild and free, untamable either by society that would bind them with lies or by religion that would chain them with duty and obligation.
A life following in the tailwind of the wild goose. That’s the kind of life that calls to our innermost being and awakens the lethargic longings within. The problem is, we know few—if any—Christians who have discovered the flight path.
I wish I could tell you that there were seven simple steps to achieving that life, but the truth is, that isn’t so. Learning to fly with the Holy Spirit is to learn a different kind of life. It’s learning faith and trust and how to let go. It’s letting God explore the nooks and crannies of your heart—not with a candle, but with a miner’s light so He can crawl down into those hidden caverns beneath our shame to excavate and alleviate the wounds. It’s healing those hidden wounds and realizing they’re not shameful, but that they’re scars worthy of a Purple Heart, because we got those wounds doing battle for our soul. They’re only shameful in the dark. In the light of day they are what make us strong.
There is much to learn and much to experience before we can fly with the wild goose. However, doing nothing is the guarantee that we’ll never even leave the ground—like so many Christians we know. To get a running start, here are a few things I’ve learned that may help.
1.Learn to pray. Most of us don’t know how, so it becomes either something we avoid and try not to think about, or else something we do from a sense of duty and obligation. Prayer creates the fronts that drive the wind, but the wind won’t fill our sails or lift our wings if we don’t take the time on our knees.

2.Learn to listen in prayer. Even fewer of us know how to do this. Mostly we’re taught to pray some litany of requests and a few thank-yous, and then we’re finished. But how can we follow the wild goose if we don’t listen to where the Spirit is going? How can we learn Jesus’ will and wishes for our lives if we can’t hear? I think it’s incredibly sad that so many Christians admit they’ve never heard Jesus speak to them. He does speak and, if you’ve tuned in your heart to the Spirit’s frequency, you too can hear.

3.Commit to obey what you hear. Here’s the rub. We don’t fly with the wild goose because all too often we refuse to flap our heart’s wings and go where He’s going. Jesus said, “These signs will follow those who are my disciples.” He didn’t say they would precede us—the signs don’t show up until after we do. That means taking a risk, opening our mouths, turning our footsteps, and following in faith.

4.Discover the desires of your heart. When I was young I struggled with the notion of being a Christian minister because I was sure God would tell me I had to go to Africa. Now I look back and wonder why I had such a terrible impression about my God? The Lord has yet to ask me to invest my life in anything that hasn’t brought me unspeakable joy. The Scriptures say that the Lord wants to give us the desires of our hearts, but we so often find ourselves desiring false-wants. Instead of wanting the true desires, we find ourselves “settling” for something less or something counterfeit. It may take some praying (see #1 and #2) to discern what your heart really wants, but when you find that…there is nothing more freeing and more invigorating than chasing that desire.

I could go on, but that’s a start. If you really want to live life to its fullest—to live a life that follows the wild goose, I’d invite you to begin talking about this very thing in your House Churches. Share your desires. Learn to pray and to listen together. And commit to following wherever the wild goose flies.

This next section excerpt comes from:
Five Things I Wish Every House Church Pastor Knew

(and did something about!)
by Bill Tenny-Brittian

....We read in the Scriptures that prayer:


•Enables or incites God to raise up and send workers for the harvest (Luke 10:2).

•Is a conduit for the power of God in healing and deliverance (Mark 9:29; James 5:15-16)).

•Bolsters the strength and resolve of those we pray for (Luke 22:32).

•Enables or incites God to demonstrate His power (Acts 4:31-32).

•Releases the Holy Spirit upon those being prayed for (Acts 8:15-17).

•Consecrates what we pray for, setting it apart for holy use (1 Timothy 4:4-5).

In each of these cases, the inverse seems also to be true. If we don’t pray, we shouldn’t expect God to act. I don’t know how it works, I only know that prayer does work and that when we pray we should expect to see incredible results.

 Prayer, for whatever reason, becomes more effective and more powerful when praying people join together in agreement to pray. Not just bowing their heads and marking time, but really offering their own personal “spark” to the prayer time in earnest. When that happens, the power of the Lord rolls in like a mighty, mighty wave.

FAITH AND UNBELIEF

A COUNTRY ROAD IN SOUTH CENTRAL MO.

I had written about faith in healing and salvation, I am convinced that the Scriptures teach that it is for today, but yet I know deep down I still have my doubts , and so still walk in unbelief on many key issues. So what am I to do?

What exactly is Biblical Faith? Is  faith something that is  limited in both knowledge and power, and does faith lie  in the region of non-absolute certainty and control? Is faith something we blindly accept as true without evidence?
Lets see what the Bible says Faith is:

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (Heb 11:1 NIV)

I like the way the Amplified Bible puts it:
"Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title-deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality--faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses."(Heb 11:1 Amplified)

The proof of what we don't see? The conviction of that reality? Perceiving as real fact? This doesn't sound like something in the region of non-absolute certainty! In fact, a better definition of faith would be ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY.
What sight is to the blind, faith is to the unbeliever. Before they receive it, its foolishness and nonsense, no matter how well its explained. But after they receive, it needs no explanation!
Does your ability to see depend on your understanding of sight? Once true faith in God comes, naturalistic or philosophical explanations, although interesting, are certainly not necessary. We've been trying to get people to "see" God or the Bible through explanations and archaeological or historical evidences,it simply won't work, you can not argue people into God's Kingdom. The Holy Spirit is the only one who can heal people of their spiritual blindness, and it is only through Him that true faith comes.
Biblical faith, is not philosophy or guesswork or wishful thinking, it is a continual, increasing revelation of and relationship with the Creator and King of the universe!Faith from God is literally seeing into the eternal things of God, and it is precisely this "sight " that is the solid rock foundation upon which we build our lives.Only those who have true  Biblical faith, will be doers of the word and not just hearers only, because they are absolutely certain that the words are true and trustworthy.

I have to say that I am not at the level of Biblical Faith that I desire, I have many doubts and unbelief in many areas. But you know I really did not understand that my unbelief was a sin, did you know that it was? I did not.But unbelief is listed with all the other terrible sins that will keep one out of the Kingdom of God.
The sin of unbelief will appear to be extremely heinous when we remember that it is the parent of every other iniquity,unbelief is the root cause of other sins.Unbelief not only begets, but fosters sin. Unbelief is the sin which keeps the power of the gospel from working in the saint and the sinner: Unbelief disables a person for the performance of any good work. "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin," is a great truth in more sense than one. "Without faith it is impossible to please God."Virtues without faith are whitewashed sins. Obedience without faith, if it is possible, is a gilded disobedience. Not to believe, nullifies everything.Faith fosters every virtue; unbelief murders every one. Thousands of prayers have been strangled in their infancy by unbelief. You do  know that unbelief kept of all people,  Moses  out of Canaan the Promise land? He could only view it from the other side, how sad, with all that they had done , in the end he missed what he had worked so hard to achieve and all because of unbelief. You know ,that to this day the Jew and all unbelievers are cut off from the promises of God, as a branch is cut from a vine; and why? Because of unbelief.


But hear this, it is not until the Holy Spirit strikes that unbelief out—it is not until the Holy Spirit rends away that unbelief and takes it altogether down, that we can find the saint and the sinner coming to put his trust in Jesus.I am reminded in the Word that all the promises of God are obtained by faith. No faith, no promise! So once the will of the Lord is understood in a matter, you must then pray in faith to receive what was promised. This is where I run into a snag! The Word of the Lord says:

I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him...(Mark 11:23 NIV)
So in order to receive what you pray for, you must believe AND you must not doubt in your heart! So the question is, how can you avoid having doubt in your heart? Once I understood that God wanted me to have something, it seemed impossible to not doubt. I am by nature a skeptical person and doubts come very easily to me and it seemed to me, the harder I 'tried' to have faith, the more doubts seemed to rise up in my mind. Then came the revelation; repent of unbelief. Of course, that's the answer! If we're supposed to repent when we have doubts, then unbelief is a sin:

"See to it, brothers (and sisters), that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. "(Heb 3:12 NIV)
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8,9 NIV)
Notice that the verse says to confess our sins, and not to stop sinning, which because we are not perfect we will still have the problem of sin in our lives. But Praise God we have the forgiveness we seek,when we continue to confess our sins to God.Which is admitting that we can't handle it on our own, that we're completely powerless against sin, and we are in desperate need to have His blood and His power free us from its bondage and purify our hearts. To confess our sins before God is itself an act of faith. You're not telling God something He doesn't already know. Rather, you're getting rid of your sin by trusting in the power of God and the righteousness of Jesus!
If you find doubt in your heart, instead of trying to have faith like I have been doing most of my life and then being condemned over it when I fail,which I have done time and time again, confess it before the Lord and allow the Holy Spirit to get rid of it for you! If the same doubt keeps coming up, keep confessing it! Don't give up until its gone. The Lord rewards patience and persistence, so put your faith in His Word and keep trusting Him to strengthen you.

So decide for yourselves, what have you become convinced of? Are you doubting any truth that you know is clearly taught in the Word? If so, repent of unbelief and free yourself from the spirit of doubt! Are there certain truths that you're not sure whether or not to believe? Then ask the Lord to reveal this to you in His Word. Keep seeking Him on this issue until you are fully persuaded, one way or the other. You can always trust what is revealed to you, as long as you're basing your truth on the Word of God and NOT on your own (or someone else's) experiences.

Heavenly Father, forgive me for my unbelief!! Lord send your Spirit and teach me what I need to know, and give me the faith to believe it! amen

Shalom


Mark 9:24 NIV • Read this chapter
Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"

John 7:45 NIV • Read this chapter
[ Unbelief of the Jewish Leaders ] Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why didn't you bring him in?"

John 10:22 NIV • Read this chapter
[ The Unbelief of the Jews ] Then came the Feast of Dedication [ That is, Hanukkah] at Jerusalem. It was winter,

John 12:37 NIV • Read this chapter
[ The Jews Continue in Their Unbelief ] Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him.

Romans 4:20 NIV • Read this chapter
Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,

Romans 9:30 NIV • Read this chapter
[ Israel's Unbelief ] What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;

Romans 11:20 NIV • Read this chapter
Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid.

Romans 11:23 NIV • Read this chapter
And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.

1 Timothy 1:13 NIV • Read this chapter
Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.

Hebrews 3:7 NIV • Read this chapter
[ Warning Against Unbelief ] So, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you hear his voice,

Hebrews 3:19 NIV • Read this chapter
So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.