INTRODUCTION

When we walk with God, he will ask us to do things for him. He never makes us, but gently asks us. And when we obey, we often become the hand of God to bless people. Today, I had one of those experiences.

BEING THE HAND OF GOD

Today, July 19, I was on my way to work. In my car CD player, I had a message from Jerry Savelle playing whose topic was “Hunting down the Blessing Blockers.” He was discussing the things that get in the way of receiving God’s blessing and strongly urging us to repent from them to keep the flow from God open. One of these blessing blockers is disobedience. When we are walking in disobedience to God, we are sinning against him and our blessings are blocked by own actions. Good message that I was very much enjoying.

In the middle of this message, after I had given a rousing AMEN to what brother Jerry was sharing about being obedient, I noticed a man walking down the highway on the other side of the road. Immediately, God told me to go and pick the man up because he needed help. Well, I was on my way to work and furthermore, I was listening to some very good teaching on the word of God. I didn’t have time to do something outside of my plan for the day. And I was certain that God must have known that. Then, as God has planned this on purpose, brother Jerry said “Jesus said why call me Lord if you do not what I tell you too.” The funny thing is that until that moment I had not realized that I was striving against the will of God. I saw it as I just had a plan and that I needed to complete it. However, God had another plan, and that one needed to be completed.

I turned the car around, which took several minutes as I was not in a good place to turn around and the highways in Texas all have medians. But I got the car around and went looking for the man. As I began to return to where I saw him, God told me that the man ran out of gas. So, what did I do? I exited the highway and looked at the gas stations and the man was not there. At this point, I said to God, “I guess this was just an obedience thing and I was not supposed to actually pick up the man since I can’t find him.” God responded, “I didn’t tell you to exit the highway, I just told you he ran out of gas.” You see I put on that if the man had run out of gas then he must be at a gas station, but that is not what God told me or what he told me to do. He then added, “Now get back on the highway and go pick up that man.” I repented and did just what God told me to do.

As I pulled up to the man, I startled him. I am not sure if he thought I might maybe was going to hit him or he was just not expecting someone to stop, but I did startle him. I asked him if he wanted a ride and he immediately accepted. I learned the man’s name was Andrew and I told him about the fact that God told me to come and pick him up. Andrew then informed me that he had been praying to God for help when I stopped to pick him up. I found out that he ran out of gas, as I already knew, and that he was on the way to help out a friend when he did. He asked me if I could bring him to the friend’s house where he would wait, because the friend had to go one without him when they discovered that he ran out of gas. So, I headed down the road to bring him where he asked me to drop him off.

As I was driving, God told me that I needed to get him gas and take him back to his car. Well, I didn’t have a problem with bringing him back, but I did have a problem with the potential money part. You see money has been real tight and I was not even sure if I would have enough to make it until my next paycheck. But I knew that obedience was more important and that God did promise in his word to supply ever need. I brought the topic up with Andrew and he agreed that we could stop and get gas. The only problem was that neither of us had a gas can and therefore we would have to get one.

We pulled up to the gas station with a convenience store attached. We walked in and found a gas can that, I would learn later, was more money they he had on him. However, God told me to get the gas and I told Andrew that I was going to buy the gas can and the gas for the car. He thanked me and we did just that.

On the car ride back to his car, I learned more about this man. He had been in prison and there he really got connected with Jesus. However, he was not where he wanted to be with God at this time. He only had a few dollars in his pocket and was in need of the Lord to help him. I knew that this was a divine appointment without any doubt when I began to help and minister to Andrew as we drove back to his car.

This is where God was really cool. We got to the car, which was off the highway on a side street off of one of the exits very hidden from plain sight. As we began to put the gas in the car, a police officer pulled up behind my car. Andrew became a bit nervous. I walked over to the police officer who asked me if Andrew had run out of gas. I informed him that was the case and that I was instructed by God to help Andrew. I further told him that we were going to finish with the gas and that I was going to pray with Andrew and we would be on our way. The officer smiled big and thanked me for helping out and then radioed into the office that he didn’t need a tow-truck. So, if I had not listened when God told me to get Andrew gas his car would have been towed.

The police officer left and Andrew told me that ever since prison, he gets really nervous around police officers. I told him that I had nothing to fear because the favor of God walked with me. Andrew smiled and calmed down. We finished with the gas and I prayed over Andrew.

God spoke to me again telling me to give him some money, which I did. Andrew looked shocked and at first told me that I didn’t have to give him anything more then I did. However, I told him that this is what God wanted to do for him and he accepted the money.

After I finished with Andrew I drove off knowing that I had done the will of God and been his hand in being a blessing to a man who will not soon forget how God reached down and touched him. Praise God.

SCRIPTURE

This verse is sobering and perhaps even sounds harsh or mean. However, God is love and this verse is meant to be a blessing to us. Because when we listen and obey, God fills us and blesses us in abundance. And who doesn’t want to be filled with God’s love, God’s blessings, and God’s presence. Follow what he tells you to do today.

CONCLUSION

God never asks us to do anything that is not meant to advance his kingdom. In fact, all he asks us to do is to be blessings to people so that they can see the love of God in us and want what we have. Be a blessing to someone today.

Until Next Time,

I want to thank the great guys over at My Life Ministries (http://mylifeministries.org/) for encouraging me and hosting this blog. If you haven’t done so yet, hop over to http://mylifeministries.org/ and take a look around. Join the forums and become part of the family.

Also, if you have a testimony, email it to me at testify {at} fireknights {dot} net. I would love to hear it and I may just post it here on the blog.

INTRODUCTION

One of the worst experiences as a parent is to see something bad happen to one of your children. Recently, I had this happen as my oldest had gotten injured and God showed up in power.

THE POWER OF PRAYER

Friday night, July 6, my family and I were heading out to our car to go out to rent a movie to watch that evening. As we got to the car, I had taken a bag of garbage over to the dumpster and was on my way back to my family when I heard a scream. Not just any scream, but that blood curling scream of a child who was in pain. Worse, the scream of my eldest daughter who was in pain.

Immediately, I raced to the car to find out what had happened. James, my youngest, was playing, at least in his mind, with Katie, my oldest, and had closed the car door on Katie before she could get in. Unknown to James was that Katie’s hand was in the door jam and was caught in the door when James slammed it shut. This accounts for the scream of pain that I had heard.

When I arrived on the scene, I immediately looked at my daughter’s hand. The door had caught her pinky finger between the two knuckles that allow the finger to bend. To make it even worse, I could see that Katie’s finger was broken as the finger bent a good at about a good forty-five degree angle between these two knuckles where there is nothing but a straight bone except Katie’s was no longer straight.

Immediately our plans changed. I was bringing my daughter to a medical clinic place as our doctor’s office was closed and the emergency room had a large wait. However, all the doctor’s and clinics in Texas seem to be equipped with x-ray and the tools to handle broken bones that an emergency room visit is just not necessary.

We pulled up to the clinic and parked. Before we went inside, I told Katie that we were going to pray and believe on God for healing. We prayed together the Scriptures for healing (Psalm 107:20, Psalm 103:3, Isaiah 53:5) as well as the ones that declare we can ask for anything in Jesus name and receive it (John 15:7, John 14:14, Mark 11:24). We did not see a change in her finger, but we believed and went inside the clinic.

I signed Katie in and sat down to fill out the paperwork. Just as I was finishing, Katie turned to me and said, “Dad look.” She was holding up her finger, which now was whole. It was not bent, it was not broken, it was nothing but whole. Katie added as I looked at her finger, “And it doesn’t hurt anymore.” Somewhere between signing Katie in and finishing filling out the paperwork unseen by either of our eyes, God fixed and healed Katie’s finger.

Well, I was ready to go home at this point, but as it happened this was the exact moment that we got called. So, I did what any born again word of faith Bible believing Christian would have done. I went back into the room and told everyone who came in to see Katie that God had healed her. It amazed me how many people did not believe us. They still took x-rays and as we already knew discovered that she had nothing wrong with her. Eventually, the doctor came in and told us to keep an eye on it. At that point, I just smiled and nodded because they didn’t believe me anyway.

We returned home to great joy had by all the family especially James who was happy that God healed her and she was no longer hurt. PRAISE GOD!

SCRIPTURE

God promises healing and promises to answer prayers if we believe and do not doubt. Well, Katie and I did not doubt and we saw God move to heal her finger and show himself strong to my daughter whom I am sure will not soon forget what God did.

CONCLUSION

If you are sick and suffering, pray to God and believe for healing. If he doesn’t do anything, you have lost nothing. But should he show up and heal you, you will have a powerful testimony to His love and grace.

Until Next Time,

I want to thank the great guys over at My Life Ministries (http://mylifeministries.org/) for encouraging me and hosting this blog. If you haven’t done so yet, hop over to http://mylifeministries.org/ and take a look around. Join the forums and become part of the family.

Also, if you have a testimony, email it to me at testify {at} fireknights {dot} net. I would love to hear it and I may just post it here on the blog.

INTRODUCTION

What if God told you to buy a lottery ticket? What if God told you that he was going to ensure that you won the lottery? What if you were or are a Christian and know what the Bible says about Gambling, would you do it? Well, that is exactly what happened to me and here is what happened.

GOD AND THE LOTTERY

On Wednesday June 20th, 2007, while driving home, I saw a billboard for the Texas Lottery and it jumped off of the sign and glowed and just screamed at me. Well, I knew that there was no way that God wanted me to play the lottery so I rebuked that in Jesus name. However, it would not leave my thoughts. It kept constantly coming back up in my mind and pushing itself to the front. The strange thing was that it had the same sense and feeling of when I receive something that I know is from God, but I knew it couldn’t be and kept rebuking it. It got so strong at one point that I enlisted my wife to pray with me against this obvious thing from the devil. My wife had an interesting comment in her prayer after I had rebuked the devil and told him to flee and get that lottery thought out of my mind. She said in prayer, “God, if somehow this is from you, forgive us and clearly give us the numbers.”

Well, I was a bit shocked, but often my wife is wiser then I am and I agreed with her certain in my mind that God did not want me to play the lottery. That very night in prayer, as I prayed before me in large numbers that glowed, I saw six numbers. The numbers were given in a specific order. Immediately, I remembered what my wife had prayed even though I was still convinced that it must not be from God. In fact, I was so convinced that somehow the enemy had gotten intermixed with my attempts to pray that I opened my eyes to not see the numbers. But every time I closed my eyes to focus in on prayer, the numbers were there. After a bit of going back and forth, I just told God that if this was him, then he would have to make it clear, and he did. The numbers glowed brighter and resonated in my spirit. I wrote them down and decided that I had better play the lottery still unsure of what that meant.

The next morning was Friday. I mention this because I woke up with an overwhelming sense that I had to buy the lottery ticket today. I was not really sure why because the lottery was drawn on Saturday, but I could not shake it and decided that God knew better what he was doing then I was. So, I went into a convenience store and bought the ticket. At this point, I am still feeling uneasy about this because I was having a hard time wrapping my mind around the concept that God wanted me to buy a lottery ticket. But I bought the ticket.

I get out in the car, and I get an overwhelming sense that something is wrong. To be clear, I did not get a sense that buying the ticket was wrong, but that I had the wrong ticket. This was supported by two facts. First, the Texas Lottery is not dependant on the order of the numbers because you color in the six blocks on one game panel and I knew that the order was important. Second, the billboard for the lottery had a specific number on it as to what the jackpot was and this ticket’s listed jackpot did not match that number. I would have shaken this off, but it was clear and strong that this was the wrong ticket.

To determine what was wrong, I decided to drive to work in a manner that would have me pass the very same billboard. When I did, I had my wife read it (because it was facing the other side of traffic) and discovered to my surprise that there were two Texas Lotteries (actually there are more, I just thought that there was one). As my wife read off which lottery it was, I realized that I had bought the wrong ticket as God was telling me.

So, I found another convenience store. When I got to the lottery station, I pulled out the appropriate ticket. This lottery was one of those that had you pick five of the six numbers and then select the special number for your last pick. Since God had already told me that the order was important, I then selected my numbers placing the last number given as the special number.

Here is where things really start to get interesting. As I looked at the card, the remaining six numbers filled in and made a pattern that was the number seven. I took this as an odd occurrence and possible sign that I was doing what God really wanted me to do because it still seemed odd to me. Furthermore, the original ticket I bought was to be drawn on Saturday as I understood the lottery to be, but this one was to be drawn Friday night. In other words, if I had waited until Saturday like I thought I had the time to do, I would have missed this drawing. This is why God impressed upon me that it was important that I buy the ticket on Friday.

I bought the right ticket and went back to the car. My wife was quick to point out that God must really want to do something with us because the enemy attacked and made us buy the wrong ticket to begin with. I agreed, but still had an issue with the concept that God wanted me to buy a lottery ticket. But I did it and I was obedient and I prayed to God that if somehow I was missing this, that he forgive me.

Now, during this time, I had been listening to a series on CD by Kenneth and Gloria Copeland about the power of Faith (Victory Campaign 2003). I am a Word of Faith Holy Spirit filled believer, but I have not walked in great victory because I had not believed and cut off the Holy Spirit from sending it to me. I knew the scriptures, but it was still something I was struggling with. Well, during this series, they were speaking about believing God and having your faith out there for God to perform his word and prosper you. I knew that God was speaking to me and I went to him in repentance and prayer. During this prayer, God clearly showed me (and to be honest he had showed me the night before, but I had not believed it) that I had to believe that I was going to win the lottery because God was going to make it happen. All I had to do was believe.

Well, I struggled all day long and the enemy did his share to keep me having to press into God. I was praying almost all day that God would prosper me, bless me, fill me, give me to the overflow and every other scripture that I knew about prosperity. I was pressing in with all that I had and still had to struggle against the unbelief that kept trying to find its way back into me. My wife joined me in this prayer and believed with me. Actually, it was easier for her to believe then for me, but then that is why I have a great wife.

Now, before I tell you what happened, I need to explain a misconception that I had. I had put my faith in God having me win the lottery, but I had inadvertently believed the lottery to be my source. I saw God as the one that was going to have me win, and then saw the lottery as the way I was going to get out of debt. This was not right and I had to get myself correct in my thinking. That came from another gift from the Copeland’s in the “From Faith to Faith” daily devotional. As God would have it, the subject for that day was that we should give and expect a harvest a concept that I believed in. But one of the points they made was that God was our source and that we should always look to him. It was then that I realized my mistake about seeing the lottery as my source and repented and felt the presence of God come over me. And he spoke to me, but before I tell you what he told me, let me tell you the outcome of the lottery.

When I checked the numbers of the lottery, I discovered that I did not win the jackpot prize. I was bummed. I felt like a failure because I knew that God was well able to have me win the lottery and I really thought I heard him tell me that I would win. This then did not connect with my understanding of scripture and that God could carry out his promises. Because remember, I believed that God told me that I would win the lottery and I did not win the jackpot. This was not that I asked to win the lottery at least not before God told me that I would win and that I had to believe on him that he would make me win. He told me first. So, I was struggling as I looked to the book I mentioned earlier by the Copelands. That is when I received revelation.

Now, I did in fact win the lottery. As it happens, on this particular lottery game, if you match the special number, you win a prize. I did match the special number and won four times the cost of the ticket as a prize. I didn’t win the jackpot, but God never promised me that I would. However, God did have me win the lottery just as he told me I would.

Back to my revelation about God being my source. When I got that and prayed to him, he spoke to me. What he said is powerful. He told me the following. “I had you buy the ticket and win the lottery so that I could show you that just as I had you win the lottery I can and will prosper you. Just believe in me and I will see to you.”

I now know that God will always provide for me and will prosper me as his word declares because he loves me.

SCRIPTURE

I am God’s, Jesus’ and the Holy Spirit’s. I am not my own but am Christ’s. I am one of his sheep and I hear his voice and I follow what he tells me to do even if it does not make sense to me.

Jesus told me to pray and ask for the lottery to be mine and I did. This was because I was in Jesus and standing on his word that was in me and therefore I saw what I asked for happen.

God is my source and I am his. My life is his, and he is my source for all things. Furthermore, if I remain in him, I can ask for whatever I want and he will give it to me. This is what God was teaching me and I am grateful for it.

CONCLUSION

God’s ways are not our ways, but he does have a plan and a purpose for each of us because he loves us and wants to bless us, prosper us, heal us and grow us into maturity. Follow him when he speaks to you and do not doubt no matter how odd it may sound.

Until Next Time,

I want to thank the great guys over at My Life Ministries (http://mylifeministries.org/) for encouraging me and hosting this blog. If you haven’t done so yet, hop over to http://mylifeministries.org/ and take a look around. Join the forums and become part of the family.

Also, if you have a testimony, email it to me at testify {at} fireknights {dot} net. I would love to hear it and I may just post it here on the blog.