Friday, April 30, 2010

Psalm 100

Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful singing. Know that the Lord Himself is God; it is He who made us, His we are; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations.

This is true for every Christian.

'"God doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called." If you are His, then you are called. Not because of who you are or what you can do, but because God can and will do His work through you.
God wants to work in you to accomplish His will and bring Him glory in powerful ways. He wants you to stop fighting Him on this and be willing to speak for Him so others can know the same healing and hope that you know. He wants to bring beauty up from the ashes of brokenness all around you.


Father,  I am so humbled that you would call me to anything. You have all the power needed for every job, yet you ask me to join you. Thank you, Lord. Please make my heart willing to say yes to everything you want me to do. 
In Jesus' Name, Amen."


Read 2 Corinthians 5:11-21


-Gwen Smith

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Good job Chris Lazo!

Qs:
- Do we live with such an untamed desire to see Jesus that our most valuable pleasures in life seem to lose their luster by comparison? (Philippians 3:8)


- Are we so wildly influenced by Jesus that our thoughts, our decisions, our free time, and even our unspectacular routines thoughout the day are unable to operate independantly of him? (Acts 17:28)


- Do we live with a nail-biting tension because we want Him to be here in person? (Philippians 1:21)


- Do we find ourselves daydreaming about how perfect, amiable, and pleasant He is? (Philippians 4:8)


- Are we obsessed with Him? (Acts 4:20)


- Could we describe our relationship with Jesus as "inexpressible joy"? (1 Peter 1:8)

Joy and longing

C.S. Lewis' Reflections on the Psalms:
"These poets knew far less reason than we for loving God. They did not know that He offered them eternal joy; still less that He would die to win it for them. Yet they expressed a longing for Him, for His mere presence, which comes only to the best Christians or to Christians in their best moments. They long to live all their days in the Temple so that they may constantly see "the fair beauty of the Lord" (Ps. 27:4). Their longing to go up to Jerusalem and "appear before the presence of God" is like a physical thirst (42). From Jerusalem His presence flashes out "in perfect beauty" (50:2). Lacking that encounter with Him, their souls are parched like a waterless countryside (63:2). They crave to be "satisfied with the pleasures" of His house (65:4). Only there can they be at ease, like a bird in the nest (84:3). One day of those "pleasures" is better than a lifetime spent elsewhere (10)."


Brothers and sisters, we are in the "year of the Lord's favor" (Is. 61:2). The Temple, the very presence of God, dwells within us!!! How much more must we long for His presence with every moment of our living? How much more must we pray that He purify us and burn away anything that dwells in this temple that is crowding His space? Feed that longing. Press into God, don't ignore it. Remove the obstacles (Is 57:14) that are disrupting the "Way of Holiness" (Is. 35:8). He calls us to "prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God" (Is. 40:3-5),(Is. 43:16). We are His sons and daughters! He made us to act for His glory! We are part of the story. As we follow the way He has prepared and act according to what He says, He takes care of the rest and He is with us every step of the way (Is. 41:18), (Is. 43:2). He is to be trusted. He is to be praised!


I highly recommend reading [Psalm 63, Isaiah 40-45].

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

I am so blessed to know a truck load of people like this!

Some people have a knack for making me hungry to know God. 
 I know a few people who when I’m done talking with them make me want to know and love Him more. 
 I treasure those people. They don’t try to be religious. They don’t attempt to be spiritual. They simply are themselves and in the process radiate the presence of God. 
 Many of them have trekked through dark valleys yet they still carry a hopeful, persistent, passion and love about them.
 To have found God and still to pursue Him is the soul’s paradox of love, scorned indeed by the too-easily-satisfied religionist, but justified in happy experience by the children of the burning heart. 
 St. Bernard stated this holy paradox in a musical quatrain that will be instantly understood by every worshipping soul:

     We taste Thee, O Thou Living Bread,
     And long to feast upon Thee still:
     We drink of Thee, the Fountainhead
     And thirst our souls from Thee to fill.

Come near to the holy men and women of the past and you will soon feel the heat of their desire after God. 

 They mourned for Him, they prayed and wrestled and sought for Him day and night, in season and out, and when they had found Him the finding was all the sweeter for the long seeking.



-A.W. Tozer, Do others feel the heat of my desire for God?

Thank the Lord for Lewis

I just bought "Words to Live By", a huge selection of excerpts from C.S. Lewis' greatest works. I've been opening it randomly throughout the day and I'm rocked every time. 
The first quote is as follows:
"I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare." 

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

understanding

"But it is a spirit in man, And the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding." Job 32:8


understanding n. - "The faculty of the human mind by which it apprehends the real state of things presented to it, or by which it receives or comprehends the ideas which others express and intend to communicate. The understanding is called also the intellectual faculty. It is the faculty by means of which we obtain a great part of our knowledge. Luke 24. Eph. 1." click to see who definition. 


"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable." -Isaiah 40:28
"Friendship is love with understanding"
"A wise man will hear and increase in learning, 
And a man of understanding will acquire wise council." -Proverbs 1:5

The spiritual life is an untamed frontier

Safe? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good.
-C.S. Lewis


"Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight."
-Bruce Cockburn "Lovers in a Dangerous Time"
(super 80's song but great quote)

Sunday, April 25, 2010

woah


1Jn.3:16-18

“By this we know LOVE, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. But if ANYONE has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?  Little Children, let us NOT LOVE in word or talk but in deed and truth”


taken from: Part of the Vine

serious stuff



"The growth of all living green things wonderfully represents the process of receiving & relinquishing, gaining & losing, living & dying. The seed falls into the ground, breaks as the new shoot springs up. There must be a splitting & a breaking in order for a bud to form. The bud "lets go" when the flower forms. The calyx lets go of the flower. The petals must curl up & die in order for the fruit to form. the fruit falls, splits, relinquishes the seed. The seed falls into the ground...
There is no ongoing spiritual life without this process of letting go. At the precise point where we refuse, growth stops. If we hold tightly to anything given to us, unwilling to let it go when the time comes to let it go or unwilling to allow it to be used as the Giver means it to be used, we stunt the growth of the soul.
It is easy to make a mistake here. "If God gave it to me", we say, "it's mine. I can do what I want with it." No. The truth is that it is ours to thank Him for and ours to offer back to Him, ours to relinquish, ours to lose, ours to let go of - if we want to find our true selves, if we want real Life, if our hearts are set on glory."
-Elisabeth Elliot
Passion and Purity p. 163

Friday, April 23, 2010

listen

JOYFULLY
Kari Jobe
(this whole CD is amazing. Kel just gave it to me. thank you!)

Thursday, April 22, 2010

relinquish and receive





"Take my love - my God, I pour at Thy feet its treasure store."
-Francis Ridley Havergal


Ps. 145:16 - You open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing.
"O Christ, HE is the fountain, the deep, sweet well of love..." 

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Apostolic Passion by Floyd McClung

"Apostolic decision-making starts with a passion for God's glory in the nations, then asks, "Where shall I serve You?". Most people do the opposite. They ask the where and when questions without a revelation of His glory in the nations. Is it any wonder they never hear God say "go!". They have not cultivated a passion for the passions of God. All kinds of lesser desires can be holding them captive. They might never realize it.
Present your gifts, vocations, and talents to the Lord. Press into God. Stay there until you long to go out in His Name. Remain there and nurture the longing to see the earth bathed with His praise. Only then will you be able to trust your heart if you hear God say, "stay". Only those who long to broadcast His glory to the nations have the right to stay. If you have apostolic passion, you are one of the most dangerous people on the planet. The world no longer rules your heart. You are no longer seduced by getting and gaining, but devoted to spreading & proclaiming the glory of God in the nations. You live as a pilgrim, unattached to the cares of this world. You are not afraid of loss. You even dare to believe you may be given the privilege of dying to spread His fame in the earth. The Father's passions have become your passions. You find your satisfaction and significance in Him. You believe He is with you always, to the end of life itself. You are sold out to God and you live for the Lamb. Satan fears you, & the angels applaud you. 
Your greatest dream is that His Name will be praised in languages never before heard in heaven. Your reward is the look of pure delight you anticipate seeing in His eyes when you lay at His feet the just reward of His suffering: the worship of the redeemed.
You have apostolic passion!"
-Praying for this passion.

trust


Bishop Leslie Newbigin, in his South India Diary, tells of the union of churches which took place in South India in 1947. It was the culmination of nearly fifty years of prayer and work on the part of Indians and missionaries.
At the second synod a memorable sentence was spoken:
“The demand to know where we are going is one which no Christian has a right to make.”
The bishop writes, “In a very real sense we do not know where we are going, but we are trying to meet day by day the plain requirements of God’s will. This means a constant effort to bring every part of church life and practice to the test of conformity with the Gospel.”
It is not for the flock of sheep to know the pasture the Shepherd has in mind. It is for them simply to follow Him. If they knew that His plans included a valley of deep shadow, they would panic.
Keeping close to the One they have learned to trust is all that is necessary. He will faithfully provide rest, refreshment, correction, and protection as the needs arise. His accompanying presence is guaranteed, all the way—even through the darkest shadows—to the house of the Lord
— Elisabeth Elliot
*everyone should read "Passion and Purity" by Elisabeth Elliot.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Psalm 23

CUTEST VIDEO EVER!!!
(click above)

Hymn

Hymn
Brooke Fraser 
(click above)


If to distant lands I scatter
If I sail to farthest seas
Would you find and firm and gather 'til I only dwell in Thee?
If I flee from greenest pastures
Would you leave to look for me?
Forfeit glory to come after
'Til I only dwell in Thee


If my heart has one ambition
If my soul one goal to seek
This my solitary vision 'til I only dwell in Thee
That I only dwell in Thee
'Til I only dwell in Thee 

Monday, April 19, 2010

Loss


A dear childhood friend, Natasia, passed away this weekend. She was a passenger in a dune buggy that crashed. Please please pray for all her friends and family. (second one from the right)


"I will lead him and restore comfort to him and to his mourners, Creating the praise of the lips. Peace, peace to him who is far and to him who is near," Says the Lord, "and I will heal them." Isaiah 57:18-19


"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." Matthew 5:4

love stop-action

Click here. 

As seen on Woman at the Well. 

Sunday, April 18, 2010

2 Sermons I will go back to many times...

1. Truth-telling without Judging (I)
2. Truth-telling without Judging (II)


My pastor, Britt Merrick, is an amazingly gifted man who is so filled with the Spirit it's crazy.
Soak up the wisdom he imparts. 


1Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion,
2make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.
3Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
4do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
5Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
6who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
8Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
9For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
10so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Phil 2:1-11

Friday, April 16, 2010

MY HEART!!!

Abraham and Issac (click)
Dominic Balli
*Without faith it is impossible to please God. Heb. 11
- "If the Lord leads you into testing or battle He leads you to approve you and to prove Himself strong on your behalf." 
- "You prove your faith in God by your lifestyle." 
- "Our faith in God should always cause us to move, it causes action. Sometimes that action is waiting on the Lord. That is prompt & wholehearted action."
- "For me, more often then not, when the Lord causes me to walk by faith He says, here's what I want you to do, 'I want you to wait'."
- "When God speaks, we've got to move!"
- "To walk by faith unfaithfully is not to walk by faith at all".
- "Often our highest obedience must be a private one". Gen 22:5, sometimes you have to do it alone.
- "When you obey the Lord and you do it in faith, do you known that the Lord sees that as worship? The Lord desires obedience rather than sacrifice." If you love me you'll keep my commandments.
- "God's past record is our future assurance."
- "In the same way you received the Lord Jesus so walk in Him. The Lord doesn't just provide our redemption He provides our sanctification. We received Him by grace, by a free gift. Are you in need today? The Lord will provide for you. Are you bound in chains of sin? The Lord wants to break the chains and give you freedom. Are you weary? The Lord wants to give you rest. Do you feel weak and need power? The Lord will give you His Holy Spirit."

THANK YOU JEN!!!! I needed this...now I'm sharing it.



SOOOO worth the read.
Uncertainty is a difficult thing to bear. We want to know where the provision is going to come from or if we're going to die of this disease or how this child is going to turn out or if our job will still be there next month. 
But as we see in Luke 9:57-58. Jesus makes it clear that his disciples must be able to bear uncertainty if they are to follow him...
...So when an adoring fan announced his desire to follow him anywhere, Jesus deglamorized things a bit by replying, "Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head". (Luke 9:58)


God doesn't tell us how that person responded because what's important is the implied question: can you bear uncertainty? Can you bear not knowing how God is going to provide for your most urgent needs and still trust that He will?
It is a question that Jesus wants all his disciples to wrestle with. There are simply going to be times when we don't know where the provision is going to come from. Circumstances will look precarious, sometimes foreboding and threatening. Plans are going to fall through. People are going to disappoint us. They may reject or misunderstand our mission. If these things happened to Jesus, we should not be surprised when they happen to us. And we are not to become angry when they do. Note that Jesus rebukes James and John for their response. (Luke 9:55)
Jesus does not want us to be governed by fear at such times. He wants us governed by faith. The reason is that the uncertainty is only apparent uncertainty. Our future and our provision and our ultimate triumph are certain to God. He has all the foreknowledge, power, resources, and desire to turn everything for good for those who love him and are called by Him (Romans 8:28)
Apparently uncertain seasons are usually the most powerful God moments we experience. They often put God on display more than other seasons, demonstrating that God exists and rewards those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6)
So if you are in one of those seasons, take heart. You are likely experiencing what is means to have a God  "who acts for those who wait for Him" (Isaiah 64:4)

uhuh

last pic courtesy of Mermaid of Honor

If you don't know how to respond...be thankful

Why?
1. No one likes a party pooper 
2. Because "God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28-yeahyeahyeah...no but seriously, think about it.


3. Thankfulness is a soil in which pride does not easily grow. aint that the troof?


It was said of Matthew Henry that "he was an alert & thankful observer of answered prayer;" his gratitude for God's mercies was constantly "sweetening his spirit, & he would often invite others to join him in giving thanks".  Love this, let's be thankful!
"give thanks in all circumstances"
"always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Eph 5:20
"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thess 5: 16-18 (this is His will)

Intimacy with Jesus



Intimacy with God grows through sharing every realm of experience. I’ve wept bitterly with Him. I’ve screamed in frustration. Sometimes I thought He was going to break my heart in two. But I’ve also laughed out loud with Him. Wept with unspeakable joy. Left the chair and gone to my knees in awe. Squealed with excitement.
I have been to every extreme and back with God. But if I had to define my relationship with Him by one general statement, I would tell you that He is the absolute joy of my life. I don’t just love Him. I love loving Him.


Please hear my heart: the greatest joy in my life is the very thing I have deserved the least. I consider the ability to love Him and enjoy Him an absolute gift of grace...one He will gladly extend to anyone who offers his or her whole heart. –Beth Moore

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

daily prayer

Fill us with Your Spirit and flush out all that is not of You.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Francis Schaeffer, faith working love

“One cannot explain the explosive power of the early church apart from the fact that they practiced two things simultaneously: the orthodoxy of doctrine and orthodoxy of community in the midst of the visible church, a community which the world could see.
By the grace of God, therefore, the church must be known simultaneously for its purity of doctrine and the reality of its community. Our churches have so often been only preaching points with very little emphasis on community. But the exhibition of the love of God in practice is beautiful and must be there.
We have, then, two sets of parallel couplets: (1) the principle of the purity of the visible church, and yet the practice of observable love among all true Christians; and (2) the practice of orthodoxy of doctrine and observable orthodoxy of community in the visible church.
The heart of these sets of principles is to show forth the love of God and the holiness of God simultaneously. If we show either of these without the other, we exhibit not the character, but a caricature of God for the world to see.
If we stress the love of God without the holiness of God, it turns out only to be compromise. But if we stress the holiness of God without the love of God, we practice something that is hard and lacks beauty. And it is important to show forth beauty before a lost world and a lost generation.
All too often people have not been wrong in saying that the church is ugly. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are called upon to show a watching world and to our own young people that the church is something beautiful.
Several years ago I wrestled with the question of what was wrong with much of the church that stood for purity. I came to the conclusion that in the flesh we can stress purity without love or we can stress the love of God without purity, but that in the flesh we cannot stress both simultaneously.
In order to exhibit both simultaneously, we must look moment by moment to the work of Christ, to the work of the Holy Spirit. Spirituality begins to have real meaning in our moment-by-moment lives as we begin to exhibit simultaneously the holiness of God and the love of God.”

Some thoughts

Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.
-1 Peter 1:10-11


Live by this: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6


But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. Peace, I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. -John 14L26-27
GET UP, LET US GO FROM HERE. John 14:31



Thursday, April 8, 2010

Intimacy with Jesus

There is only one thing that is absolutely necessary, to sit at the feet of Jesus and hear His Word. (Luke 10:41-42)
Get on your face and love on Jesus.
When you seek Him you will find Him. 
"I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me." prv. 8:17
"You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart." Jer 29:13


"Whatever your best time of the day is, give that to the Lord!" -Hudson Taylor (quiet time)


"Guard your steps as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know they are doing evil. Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few" Ecclesiastes 5:1-2

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

GOD'S WORD IS BLOWING MY MIND!

I can't get enough of Him and His Word!
Musing on:
1 Cor 7:17- "Only, as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each, in this manner let him walk And so I direct in all the churches." (thank you Kel)
ALL the Psalms!!! 
Isaiah 35 and 57
the Gospels!!!
Proverbs!!! (read a chapter a day w. the date-31 chapters usually 31 days in a month)
Ecclesiastes 


Ps. 116:12-14
What shall I render to the Lord
For all His benefits toward me?
I shall life up the cup of salvation
And shall call upon the name of the Lord.
I shall pay my vows to the Lord,
Oh may it be in the presence of all His people. 

Monday, April 5, 2010

John 17:17

"Sanctify them in the truth; 
Your word is truth."

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Jesus has risen and He is coming again!

"The wedding of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready." -Rev 19:4-8
From Beth Moore's book Breaking, Free chapter 24 "To Be a Bride"
"We will be eternal brides:
We won't just be part of a beautiful ceremony. We will be the bride of Christ. God's Word doesn't imply that we are to make ourselves ready for the wedding, but for the Groom.


Remember, an important part of making ourselves ready is studying and knowing our Groom. Verses 1-12 of Psalm 45 contain intimate descriptions of the Groom:
vs. 11- We can't help but love Him, for He loves us: "The King is enthralled by your beauty; honor Him, for He is your Lord". 
vs. 2- We cannot help but respect Him for His character: "You are the most excellent of men and your lips have been anointed with grace."
vs. 4- We stand in complete awe of Him: "In your majesty ride forth victoriously in behalf of truth, humility, and righteousness; let your right hand display awesome deeds."
vs. 7- We experience complete joy in Him: "You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy."

Christ will be the fullness of splendor and beauty when we see Him. Think of Him coming for His bride. He longs to see her face and hear her voice. The intimacy we will share with Christ is beyond our comprehension. We do not know what form it will take. We simply know that we will experience oneness with Him in complete holiness and purity. 




Behold your Groom. He's the One for whom you're preparing. Make yourself ready!
 "Because He inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call on Him as long as I live". Ps. 116:2
"As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake I shall be satisfied with your likeness." Ps. 17:15
"But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds." Ps. 73:28

Saturday, April 3, 2010

ISAIAH 61:10



I delight greatly in the Lord;
my soul rejoices in my God. 
For He has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head with a garland,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

A Healing Story, just in time


It's a long story but the abridged version is my 83 year old Grandma was misdiagnosed with Bipolar Disorder about 11 years ago but it turns out she actually suffers from panic attacks.  About a month and a half ago she fell at her house in Pasadena and my dad took her to the hospital to be checked out. Once she was home a couple days later we got a call that she had pushed her lifeline button and she was being taken to the hospital in an ambulance because she thought she was having a heart attack. My parents went to visit her when I was at work and they said she wasn't doing very well. She could barely function because her panic attacks were consuming her. She couldn't sleep and she was mean and delusional. She was discharged and we brought her back to our house. She ended up living with us for about 2 weeks. These 2 weeks were some of the roughest times for my parents.  It wasn't as hard for me because sometimes she was so crazy it was laughable and it didn't hit as close to home as it did for my parents. I was also at work most of the day while my mom had to care for her. Although I couldn’t always be present I told my parents that I was their prayer warrior.
Throughout this whole time my family and friends were praying. We prayed with her and asked for God to heal her and restore her. She was nothing like the Grandma I knew. I cannot explain her state but it was like something bad had taken over her. She would say things like "the devil is after me and he's trying to get me but I won't let him. God is fighting for me". Even in her psychologically disturbed state she was still trying to look to God.
At the end of the 2 weeks her doctor finally decided that she needed to come into the hospital. When my parents took her to the hospital he suggested in Glendora, her doctor wasn't there. He was having a family emergency of his own so the people at the hospital were now responsible for her. My parents made up a binder of all her medications and organized the whole week's meds in containers (she was on 11 meds each day, 3 of them were psychotic and she also has diabetes) and gave that binder to the hospital so they could distribute her meds. When my parents took her to this hospital she was very angry and violent. 
My dad talked to her a couple times when she was at this hospital. She was doing even worse than she was at our house. Nothing she said was making sense. She said she was seeing things and hearing voices. At the hospital they gave her a CAT scan and saw that she had the symptoms of a disease known as Pix. It’s a neurological disease similar to Alzheimer’s but the symptoms are misjudgment, changes in personality, and high stress (It deals with the frontal lobes of the brain). No diagnosis was made but the doctor thought that was a disease she might have. After being at the hospital for 5 days the hospital called and said that she would be discharged the next day. We were trying to find either an at home caretaker or an elderly home she could go to but hadn't found one yet. When we got the call that she would be discharged we started praying that we would find a place that day and that it would be exactly where God wanted her. I asked a couple friends to pray too. No more than 2 hours later my dad called and said he went to a place called Alma Villa, 7 min from our house, that a man from his bible study had mentioned. He told them about the situation and they were checking to see if they had any availability. An hour later my dad called back and said they had one room available in the exact caring area my Grandma needed to be! Their funding was high this month so they had decided to waive all entry fees for the month of March…$2,000! On top of that, my Grandma really cares about how she looks and one of her favorite things is getting her hair done. This place has a hair stylist that comes each week to do the lady’s hair. It’s a beautiful place that is faith-based with a little community garden and wonderful staff.
It was a huge answer to prayer, everything fit. When my parents picked my Grandma up from the hospital the nurse told my dad that the doctor had prescribed a specific psychotic drug for her. So he said, “now she has 12 meds?” and the nurse said, “what do you mean?”. It turns out the nurses had not received the information on her drugs and did not take the effort to research what she needed so they had not given her one med the whole week! It was a miracle that her blood glucose stayed level the whole time because she wasn’t even receiving her diabetes meds. My dad had researched the psychotic meds she was on and he thought she was misdiagnosed and taking too many meds that could possibly be interacting wrong. We wanted to get her off all the meds and get her down to the bare minimum. With the psychotic drugs you can either slowly wean off them or you can do a pill free week where you basically detox. This is what happened to my grandma during her stay at the hospital. It was a prayer answered because it had to be done and although it was really hard it brought so much fruit. It was good for me to see all this. I now know that elderly people are commonly overmedicated and when I'm a nurse (hopefully) it will be super important for me to check out what's going on and be aware of that. There were so many errors by the doctors and nurses that led to my Grandma being at a worse state. But guess what? God turned every single bad thing that happened into good. Prayer after prayer was answered! Even the prayer for my Grandma’s healing!
My Grandma has been at Alma Villa for about a week now and my dad said he has never seen her happier in her whole life! She seems like she’s 10 years younger. Everything she says makes sense and she’s incredibly positive. She no longer has any symptoms of Pix. She can’t stop smiling. I know this sounds unbelievable but I’m not exaggerating. I feel like I’m not doing this whole story justice. It’s like she has this new life. She’s so at peace now. She doesn’t suffer from panic attacks anymore and she has made it her mission to care for all the other elderly people she lives with. There’s a woman, Linda, who had a stroke and now wanders around (she just walks all day, she can’t sit). My Grandma befriended her and now Linda talks! She had not been able to talk before. 
When my Grandma was home she rarely got out except for Buko games at friends' houses and hair appts. Now that my Grandma is close we can see her more often and she can come to church with us.  Everything is just better. 
I had breakfast with my Grandma on Thurs and she told me that she thinks God has her there for a reason. I told her I totally agree and that she’s a light there. She really is. She just gleams. Because of her “new life” she has made up a nickname for herself. Her name is Janet and her new name is now Jancy. Haha. She’s hilarious. She has a really quick wit and she just says what’s on her mind. Her presence in our family has gone from this oppression that we had to constantly war against, to this presence of joy and laughter. The experience has strengthened my family even more. Thanks for reading if you got this far. I just wanted to share that when we cry out to God, He will answer. He heals. He renews. He makes beauty from ashes. He does the impossible. Prayers my parents have been praying for years have been answered in this last month. I have experienced James 1:2-7. I believe and I consider it pure joy!

Thank you Jesus

Hebrews 12:1-3
"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down [signifying that "it is finished" (John 19:30)] at the right hand of the throne of God. 
For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."
*tonight Dominic Balli (pastor and worship leader at Reality) said that the joy set before Him was us! You and me! That makes me cry.

Colossians 1:13-23 The Incomparable Christ
For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities- all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. 
And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach-(more on this tomorrow) if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation and under heaven,"
AMEN!