January 10th, 2009--Day 6

Just got back from OSL prayer meeting, and WOW! It was awesome. The Lord really showed up! Everyone got prayer, prophesy, and it was just incredible. I think I'm glowing.

1 Samuel 1 and 2: 1-11

The story of Hannah is beautiful. A woman who is barren, long for a child, and provoked by a rival wife. I think of Satan when I read about the rival wife. He's always therer provoking us, trying to keep us focused on what we don't have, or on what we're waiting for, instead of on God and seeking Him.

But Hannah goes to the temple and weeps and prays. She "pours out her heart to God." He hears her and remembers her. She has a son named Samuel, and when he is weaned, she dedicates him to the Lord.

I think it's so important to dedicate our children to God. I remember when both of our girls were born, Bart and I couldn't wait for the church service to do it...so we prayed a prayer of dedication for them as soon as they were born, and then also had them dedicated at church. Our whole family stood up at the altar and prayed as we dedicated our babies to the Lord. Those days mean so much to me. Just look at Samuel...he became a HUGE prophet!! He's the one who found King David!

Dedication in the dictionary means, "a ceremony marking the official opening or completion of something." That's perfect. With ourselves and with children it's both of those things. When we dedicate ourselves to God or our children to God, it is the opening of something NEW and by faith, the completion of that good work.

Lord, I dedicate myself and my family to you, anew today. Use us as you will, for your glory! Amen!

Psalm 5-6

"The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer." ~Psalm 6:9

John 5

I want to say a quick word about John 5 because it's just so awesome! First of all, the beginning story is incredible. There was a pool in Jerusalem called Bethesda where many crippled and lame people would lay around. They did this because once a day, an angel of God would stir the water of the pool, and the first one to jump in would be HEALED!! Isn't that incredible? I mean, these people lived with that knowledge as their reality.

Jesus walked by and saw a man who'd been paralyzed for 38 years! When Jesus saw him he asked him a really important question. He said, "Do you WANT to be WELL?" That might seem like a stupid question, but actually there are a lot of people who really don't want to be WELL...they just want to feel a little better. You know, those people who like self-pity and attention for their infirmity. Anyway, this man asked Jesus to help him get to the pool, but Jesus said, "Take up your mat and walk." And the man did! He was HEALED!

I heard this once...and i think it's fascinating, that Jesus only healed that one man at the pool. We know that there were MANY cripples and lame people laying around the pool. So, why not the others? Well, I once heard an amazing explanation for this. It's because the faith of the surrounding people was for ONE healing. They were used to ONE healing a day. They expected it. So, they had faith for one, but not more than one. And other places in the Bible describe Jesus not doing many miracles in certain places because of their lack of faith.

People, we've got to get on the FAITH-train. We've got to raise our expectations, and start believing BIG! Nothing is impossible with God! Yay!