A few weeks ago, during the sermon at church, I could feel cool air blowing on my right hip. At first it didn’t bother me, but then my hip started to get stiff and sore. I tried to cover it with my lightweight jacket, but that didn’t help. By the time the sermon ended, the hip was getting painful.
Then the pastor did something different. He asked us to stand up and agree with God’s Word in Isaiah 53 that says by Christ’s stripes we are healed. He told us to place our hands anywhere on our body that needed healing. And then he led us in a beautiful praise and proclamation of Scriptural truth. With excitement he asked, “Did anyone receive a healing?” One lady raised her hand excitedly, and with tears of joy, gave a testimony of being healed.
Then the pastor asked, “Did anyone feel improvement of any kind?” My hip felt less stiff and less sore, so I raised my hand. He asked every person who felt some kind of improvement to step forward, even if it was only a little bit better. We did, and he told us to claim God’s promise of healing in Scripture and walk around. And as I did the pain in my hip disappeared and all stiffness vanished!
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The month of March was wonderfully exciting, but extremely hectic. Three events, outside of my normal busy schedule, took place, and all of them required hours of preparation. By the time they were over, I was physically exhausted. Even though I rested on Sunday, the three days that followed it required a slower pace and resting in-between activities.
When Wednesday evening arrived, I didn’t even set the alarm clock. I had reasoned that my body would need more sleep. But God had different plans. Early Thursday morning, I woke up feeling the gentle peace of Jesus Christ in the room. HE placed an image in my mind of two interlocking rings that represented HIM living in me and me living in HIM. Then HE invited me to ponder on this mystery. As I thought about it, I could sense the sweetness of HIS Love. So I got up, went into the other room, drew two interlocking rings and wrote down what came to mind. It was a beautiful way to start the day by dwelling on Christ and then resting in the knowledge of HIM being near.
Later that day, I realized a miracle had happened. All the exhaustion that had plagued my body was gone! And I was able to attend a special event that evening – a Seder Dinner and Passover Celebration. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for healing my weary body.
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For several months, my knees ached during the night if I slept in one position too long. I would feel the pain in my sleep and then roll over. One morning, the left knee felt particularly odd. I had no problem walking across the floor. But when I placed my weight on the leg to go down the steps, it hurt like crazy, and attempting to come back up the steps was even more painful. This was a problem because most days I go up and down the steps frequently, from the kitchen to the upstairs bathroom, and from my computer and work area downstairs to the supplies stored upstairs.
I praised the Lord, because HE had work for me to do and because my work required using my knees, and then tried to go through the daily routine. But it soon became clear that the knee needed no pressure on it from tackling the steps. So I sat, stood or walked gently as much as possible.
The knee slowly improved over the next few days, but still gave me problems on Sunday. So after the church service ended, I approached the prayer team. Two wonderful ladies prayed not only for the sore knee, but also for both knees and against the bone spurs that showed up on an x-ray of a sprained ankle a year earlier. One of the ladies said she saw an image of me leaping for joy! How exciting! My bones would be rejoicing in Jesus!
Over the next two days, the Lord healed my sore knee completely, and also enabled me to sleep with no ache in the knees during the night. Alleluia! Praise Jesus Christ! By HIS strips we are healed.
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Taking a class in paper collage opened a new door for me. At first, I found it fascinating, but wasn’t happy with the piece of art I created. So at home, I experimented with making different effects from small pieces of paper that I tore out of magazine photos. Transitioning one set of colors into another became fun, and the more I played with the paper and glue, the more I saw the potential for this technique to become a fun workshop to share with others. So in January I offered a “Growing your Faith through Art” workshop using torn paper.
One of the local galleries was offering a paper competition in March. It was a juried show, and I wondered if I would have time to create a piece of art before the deadline. My schedule was too tight, so I asked the Holy Spirit to help me create something beautiful during the workshop that I would be teaching in January. The workshop started, and I showed the attendees various ways to work with torn paper. They dove into the project with eagerness. Then I started making a piece of art, along with them. After they finished their art and went home, I was surprised at the way my picture was turning out, and decided to continue working on it – refining it, redoing sections, and adding new things.
After it dried, I showed it to my husband, and he liked it. Different people who stopped by the house also made positive comments about it. So I decided to enter it into the paper competition. Two weeks later, I received an email saying it was accepted! Thank you, Holy Spirit, for enabling me to come up with an acceptable piece of art during the only time slot that I had to work on it. To me, this was a miracle!
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Three wonderful, unexpected people stopped by our house. We offered them something to eat and drink, and a lively discussion began between two of them. The third person felt left out. She looked like she was getting ready to leave. I invited everyone to stay and listen to my husband, Paul Lloyd, read from his novel, “Fulfillment.” He is a professional author and speaker, so I knew our friends would enjoy his reading.
We migrated from the kitchen to the family room, and Paul began to read part of the first chapter in front of the fireplace, where a nice fire was warming up the room. Immediately, the guests noticed that Paul knew when to place emotion into the story and how to emphasize sentences that tickled the listener’s ears. Peace and joy descended upon the room as Paul read his unusual and delightful scenario of how a teenage girl might respond, when Mary encountered the angel in the Christmas story.
When he finished, an interesting dialogue ensued. Everyone shared their thoughts, which then led to further discussions. Soon, our company realized they had a lot in common not only with us, but also with each other. We had a marvelous evening together, and no one was in any hurry to leave.
Thank you, Holy Spirit, for the miracle of being united in Christ’s love, as Paul shared the love of God in his novel. Thank you for bringing people together who thought they had nothing in common, only to discover they shared the same deep concerns, and experienced some of the same trials. Thank you for expanding circles of friends, and the joy that emerged when we honored your name.
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It was exciting to have the opportunity to do a piece of prophetic art at church the Sunday before Christmas. Three other artists would also be painting in various sections of the large sanctuary. And since I would be off to the side and near the front, my painting needed to be big enough to be seen from across the room. Although I had done prophetic worship art before, it was my first time painting at Living Stone Christian Church.
God is faithful when we trust Him, so when I sought the Lord for wisdom, direction, and what image Jesus wanted me to paint, the Holy Spirit placed a wonderful idea in my head. As I sketched it out, it became apparent that the 24" x 36" painting needed to be worked on ahead of time, so I could finish it during the 45-minute worship and drama time.
When Sunday morning arrived, I made sure I was at church early enough to set things up. As the music began, I picked up the paintbrush and started to fill in the sections that needed to be completed. With joy and enthusiasm, I painted in an atmosphere of lively worship, letting images of dancing trees emerge from the background. This was such a fun way to worship Christ, using the art talent HE had given me.
Then the drama started, and that’s when something unexpected happened. The lights went out. I waited for them to come back on again, only to discover that a spotlight would be used to highlight the actors, while the rest of the sanctuary remained dark. It was then that I remembered something about the drama director mentioning that I should bring a light. Why hadn’t I paid more attention to her words?
It was too late to find a light to paint by, so I asked the Holy Spirit for help. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I noticed that the white spots on the canvas, where the holly leaves needed to be filled in, were slightly visible. Since the palette of green paint was already in one hand, the paintbrush in the other, I aimed for the white spots, trusting the Lord to guide my hand. When the lights came back on, all the holly leaves were finished. I quickly rinsed the brush, added more yellow ochre to the rock, threw golden glitter on it, and quietly slipped out of the sanctuary.
As I was washing out the paintbrushes, my heart was filled with joy because of what the Holy Spirit had done. HE gave me the idea, guided me along the way, and prompted me ahead of time to outline the holly leaves, knowing that the lights would go out, and then HE enabling me to paint in the dark. All honor, glory, and praise to the Lord God Most High! Thank you, Jesus Christ, for this opportunity to see your Hand at work and to paint for You.
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While getting ready to do a workshop for a group of women, the Lord impressed upon me the importance of letting participants know that HE loves them unconditionally. So I wrote down the thoughts that came into my heart: “You are My child, and I, the Lord God Almighty, love you. I love you simply because you are My child. I created you and I love you, and nothing in this world can keep me from loving you.
“I love you when you wake up. I love you when you get dressed. I love you as you go through each day’s activities. I love you when you sit down. I love you when you stand up. I love you when you sleep at night.
“My thoughts towards you are always filled with loving kindness. And I think about you all the time. For My Heart’s desire is to bless you -- to bless you when you are awake and to bless you when you sleep. To bless you when you eat, and to bless you when you speak.
“Look at ME, the Lord God Most High, and let ME bless you. For My thoughts towards you are always good. They are always filled with loving kindness.”
And as I basked in these words, a deep peace permeated my entire being. I felt loved by the Creator of the Universe, and it was beautiful beyond description.
But the biggest surprise came later, when I was confronted by an angry person. Usually darts of anger thrown at me cause pain. But this time, the negative words did not penetrate the shield of God’s protective love. I felt so encompassed by HIS goodness and grace, that for the first time in my life, I was able to look at the angry person and not only have compassion for him, but also bless him. And that was a miracle!
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