Updates

So, I'm 15 days post operation and I'm happy to report, the difference is night and day. I'm still healing - the doctors made 4 small incisions in my midsection - but I feel really good. The digestive issues I'd been dealing with for ages are virtually gone.

The Crayola colored urine was a sign of impaired liver function due to the gallstone. That's also back to normal.  I can eat again (and I actually feel like eating now) but I'm being vigilant about what and how much I eat.

I am so thankful everything worked out as it did. Outwardly, my wounds are healing nicely and I believe inwardly it's the same.    God is so good!

As a bonus, I've already lost a little weight and I believe losing weight in general will be easier now. So I'm excited about that too. No dancing or crunches until late January, but I'm taking the time to let my body fully heal. ☺

God is in Control

Whenever we may doubt, God lets us know He is in control. The latest example in my life happened just this weekend. On Friday, I was fine. I was excited to head to the retreat for the dance ministry. We laughed, we talked, ate dinner, and watched a movie. By the next day, I was hunched over on pain and later vomiting andd nauseous.

I felt better on Sunday, even danced during praise and worship. I felt God and dancing was easy. No pain at all. I ate and by that night, I was in a lot of pain, which only got worse. By early Monday morning, I was at the hospital. By later that morning, it was confirmed I had gall stones and by  the afternoon, the stone was gone.

Later today, my gall bladder will be removed. Yes, God is in control. But He is also good, all the time. The whole time, I was just crying, "Jesus help!" I was promising I'd fast more and eat less (this is before I knew about my gall bladder) if He'd just take the pain away. LOL. Well, without my gall bladder, my diet will need to change anyway and I intend to make good on my word.

I initially didn't want to come to the hospital, I thought I needed more faith for healing. I thought if I just waited, He'd do it. Don't get me wrong, God is a healer. There's no way I should have been dancing at church! However, He also gives us common sense. My husband said, "Come on, let's go to the emergency room." Crayola colored urine is a sign stuff isn't functioning properly!

I am so thankful I came to the hospital and God's grace has been apparent even down to the people providing my care. I am blessed. God's got it, and I have been reminded in those moments I got scared and cried. So, I leave you  with this - trust God, have faith, and pay attention to your body/ situation.

Intercession and Watching

Over the past week or so, I've been studying on watching and being a watchman in Christ and I've delved more into that as it relates to prayer and intercession.

Here is the scripture I've been meditating on since last night , specifically verse 11:

10 But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests, which minister unto the Lord , are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their business:  11 And they burn unto the Lord every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense: the shewbread also set they in order upon the pure table; and the candlestick of gold with the lamps thereof, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of the Lord our God; but ye have forsaken him.  12 And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight ye not against the Lord God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper.
2 Chronicles 13:10-12 KJV
http://bible.com/1/2ch.13.10-12.KJV

In the Hebrew, sacrifice means to ascend (there's more to the definition, but no notes and I want to share it properly) and incense means what we think, a sweet smell, as of spices, but the root word means fumigation, as to drive out of a close space.

What I got from that is when we give the morning and evening sacrifices (prayer, see Ps. 5:3) we 1)ascend or go up into God's presence and when send everything that doesn't look like Him running, like fumigating for insects or rodents, we drive them out. Conversely, by not praying, we remain earthbound and those insects and rodents in our lives and around us (anger, bitterness, covetousness, dissatisfaction, lust, demonic oppression, etc.) have an opportunity to fester.

Also, verse 12 is the encouragement to intercessors (the trumpets speak to the prophetic) - God Himself is our captain!

So, as I am being convicted to go back to the old, good way (See Jer 6:16-17), l encourage you also to press in prayer.

Keep Your Eyes on the Vision

Habakkuk 2

 1  I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. note note note

 2  And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.

 3  For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

This is one of my favorite scriptures of all, probably due to the exciting revelation God gave me about this passage [See my blog from 7/11/12] - Jesus is the vision! There is software out there that will allow you to translate it into the Hebrew. When you read, you'll see the vision is a "he"!

I read Habakkuk again like this and if i wasn't on this train, I would have probably shouted:

 1  I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he [God] will say unto me [in me], and what I shall answer when I am reproved [argued with].

 2  And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision [Jesus], and make it [him]plain upon tables, that he [us, Christians, disciples] may run that readeth it.

 3  For the vision [Jesus] is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it[He] shall speak, and not lie: though it [He] tarry, wait for it[Him]; because it [He] will surely come, it [He] will not tarry.

Yes! I haven't studied it out to tell you how many years Habakkuk was from Jesus, but we do know that Jesus' coming interrupted time and history as it was known. He was and is the change in the priesthood. Awesome! So today, don't lose sight of the vision! Jesus WILL surely come!

Prioritizing Time with God

On Sunday at church, I heard a word that hit hard - our time is about to interrupted. We can either voluntarily interrupt it and make time spent in prayer, fasting, and overall time spent with God a priority or we can wait for God to do it violently. I had been saying for weeks, yes, I'm really going to make time with God a priority again. I had gotten so busy - with work, the associated commute, keeping house and being a wife, doing photography, writing, dance, etc. I even set a time aside on my calendar for reading/studying/prayer. But I can't tell you how many times I missed my appointed time. To be fair, at least twice in the week, I was actually in church during the time, but that's corporate time and realistically, God wants to speak with each of us individually.

Well, I was definitely convicted. What I, what we must realize is that God won't let those other things go undone. He IS the balance. He gives us the energy to push through everything else we have on oir plates. So, my first step was taking Facebook off my phone altogether. That was a huge distraction and I was starting my day with Facebook and not with my mind and heart on Christ.

My schedule has changed so that I work from home more, so, that "extra" time isn't mine to sleep in. It's His time.

I felt like I didn't have time, but truth is, we all do. We just may not like where we find it! ☺

So, that's me being transparent and I hope it is also encouragement to anyone reading. God loves us and He desires quality time with us.