for going DEEPER!

Last weekend, I was blessed and honored to give a breakout session for the Legacy, Seasons of Redemption conference in Muskegon.  I had no idea that the process of preparing for the session, and the session itself would lead me to desire a closer and deeper relationship with Jesus Christ.

I'd been praying for the opportunity to speak to ladies and give my testimony to a fresh group of ladies, and here it was - but how could I speak on being redeemed physically when my physical body remains broken and tired?  That is where the Lord stepped in and revealed to me the most wonderful and unexpected revelation in my life this far.  In one night, after weeks of prayer, seeking Him in the scriptures, and recalling the days of my youth when my health was so much worse, the Lord revealed to me how He had, indeed redeemed me, and it was at my lowest point He did so.

How can I have been redeemed when I was at my sickest, most painful and scary time of life?  He gave me the choice.  He promised me in the scriptures that I WAS HEALED...and it was no longer anything I should be waiting for.  I could choose redemption from the diagnosis - and trust in Him for the rest.  It was no longer "My Rheumatoid Arthritis", I would never again claim this terrible disease. After all, I didn't ask for it, I don't want it, so I'm not calling it MINE!

While I was giving my session, there were just a handful of ladies who chose to hear mine (thanks to my church ladies once again, or that room would have seemed pretty empty!).  Those few who didn't know me came to me after and began to tell me about their story, and how their health had been holding them back and they never realized they could be redeemed without physical healing.  The pure joy and hope in their eyes as we parted was worth every moment of pain and suffering I had endured. The idea that through something God allowed me to suffer,  someone else would find redemption was more than I could have ever hoped for.  I want nothing more than to tell each and every person who suffers with a physical disability that they can decide how much of their life they will allow it to hold hostage.  You can choose to leave it at the foot of the cross, and have a wonderfully productive life anyway.  God has a plan for you, just like He did for me.

Physically, I'm feeling better than I have in my entire life.  But spiritually, I am walking on air... still wanting to go DEEPER!  God has birthed in me a desire to release things in my life, so that I can go deeper in Him. This is a new challenge for this "I love my platters big AND full" lady!

So, I've begun to scrape things that are not as important as I once believed, off of my way too big platter...in hopes that once I have gotten enough off of it, I can trade it in for a nice saucer sized plate.

And that will be filled with nothing except time with the Lord!