Category: Devotions

Testifying on God's Behalf

 

So, when they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.  Acts 8:25

 

I think its public knowledge that I had a kidney transplant.  But what many people don't know, and what I only found out at my 3 year appointment this year is how it was done.

 

God is amazing, and when He calls you for His own personal use, He will make it crystal clear that you know and cannot doubt it.  So I'm not sure if you know, but I had a transplant January 7, 2009.  Prior to that, I was diagnosed with kidney disease in February of 2006 after God saved me then.  I was scheduled for a routine kidney biopsy that would only require me to stay in the hospital overnight.  Nothing about that morning was normal; see I had never been sick.  But by God, my doctor ordered additional labs only to discover my dangerously low platelet count.  Had he done my biopsy, I would have bled to death.  But God saved me for a reason.

 

Fast forward to right before my transplant.  I didn't have to experience the debilitation of dialysis, which is miraculous in itself.  I was worked up and ready for transplantation within 4 weeks of my education class, which was another miracle.  I did not have to wait years for a kidney like most people do; I had friends and family volunteering to save my life.  All of this overwhelmed me at how fast things happened.  But I decided to pray Gideon's prayer (casting out a fleece, Judges 6:17) that if it was His will for my life, that I have peace and provision to cover me with my surgery. You see, I had only been working for about 2 months, did not have enough leave nor did I have money saved for the expenses that would arise.  I went into my surgery that morning with this indescribable feeling of ease and comfort, as well as 8+ weeks worth of leave to cover my time out for recovery.

 

Fast forward again, (smile) to now.  I have had 3 wonderful years of life and only now did I find out my brother was not a match for me.  Yep, he wasn't!  He got one set of DNA from our parents and I got the other.  Other than being a blood relative and us having the same blood type, it was wrong!  But God saved me!!!  He took my brother's kidney and had it functioning within 30 minutes of being removed and placed in me.  Most kidney transplant recipients go back on dialysis until the transplanted kidney begins to work…didn't have to do that either.  God took an imperfect situation and decided to save my life with something that should not have worked!!  I have had no rejection bouts, no major illnesses, and no other diagnoses related to the surgery.  I've prospered in every area of my life and I still live!  So I have to do my part and testify on His behalf.  I must share with people the awesomeness that is God, Yahweh, Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Rophe, and the list of His names goes on and on.

 

God calls us all to share our testimony.  Yes we have different callings in life, but we are all to share the word of God with someone in need.  You never know what car accident or penny falling from the sky He saved and preserved your life from.  Be willing like the Apostles, to step out in faith and be used by God for something greater than yourself.  When you operate in the boldness and fearlessness that comes with trusting in God, you never know what can happen!  Share your story and bless somebody else!  Love you!

 

If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son.  1 John 5:9 NASB

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"No weapon formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of God and their righteousness is of me," says the Lord.  Isaiah 54:17
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Are You Qualified for a Miracle?

 

She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”  Matthew 15:27 ESV

 

For a long time, I wondered what it was that determines if a person receives what they are praying for.  I thought if I prayed enough, God would give me what I was asking for.  In some cases, it was my prayers that got the return on my investment.  I thought if I sowed enough seeds and paid my tithes regularly that God would give me what I was asking for.  In many cases, I didn't get those things.  I thought if I went to church all the time, God would surely answer my prayers and give me what I wanted…nope that wasn't it either.

 

In the scripture above and the scripture that follows, the one key to receiving her miracle was the woman's faith.  It wasn't her nationality, because for her it was the wrong one–she wasn't a Jew.  It wasn't how much she prayed, because even after doing that, she still pleaded with Jesus to deliver her daughter.  It wasn't begging, church attendance, tithing, nope, it was her faith that caused her miracle to come at that instant.  I now look back at the miracles I have received in my life and I recognize it was my inability to accept that God would not bring forth the thing I was asking for that caused me to get it.  In every single situation that I had a miracle or act of God in a major way, it was because I refused to back down and I stood in faith on the word of God.  It gets hard as I have experienced in some recent situations, to keep standing when what you see does not change.  It gets hard to believe God for that relocation and new job (smile–me, lol) when every interviewer tells you that you are not exactly what they are looking for or that you make too much money.  It gets hard to believe God for that healing when your doctors add new medicines or you get an unexpected diagnosis.  It is hard to believe sometimes, but that's when you pray, you sow, you give, and you fast, as professions of your faith. 

 

But I want you to know that you have to press through anyway.  You are qualified for your miracle simply because you believe in the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.  You are qualified regardless of family history, regardless of what some pessimistic hater says, regardless of your own past performance.  God qualified us, just like the Canaanite woman, to receive a miracle without cause.  The only investment you need is your faith.  Keep believing, keep stretching and exercising your faith because God is sure to perform on your behalf.  The only thing you need watch out for is God's answer to your prayer; God promises to provide a miracle whether you are healed right now, healed later, or healed when He calls you home.

"Then Jesus said to her, "O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed at once."  Matthew 15:28