Saturday, July 14, 2007

The past week has been an incredible week of revival and miracles. I want to record these events so that I can review the works of God and also compose some thoughts that will likely contain questions that one day may have an answer.

On Sunday, our worship leader, Byron Purdy, was competing in the upcountry rodeo as his family has done for 56 years. In one event, something went wrong and a steer fell on his chest and then stomped on him a few times. By the time the ambulance got him loaded up to go to the hospital he was passed out from pain. The fear was of internal injuries along with or as a result of broken ribs. His eyes were rolling back in his head and from his head to his waist he was in bad condition. When they arrived at the hospital Byron's wife, Uilani, called and we prayed over the phone for him. Suddenly, as we were praying, he came to and the pain began to leave. They did the scans and tests to determine the extent of the injuries and gave him a clean bill of health. No internal injuries, no broken ribs, no reason to stay at the hospital. They had cut his clothes off of him so his wife went and got him a change of clothes from the car. He dressed and walked out of the hospital less than two hrs after he arrived. I helped him move heavy furniture this week.

Last week Wed there was a lovely Catholic lady who had diabetes for 30 years who requested prayer. Her left leg was swollen terribly and had been for quite some time and she was in great pain. As we prayed,,,,nothing happened. At least not that we could see. When she arrived home, the swelling was completely gone as was the pain. She went back to the doctor and received a report that she no longer has diabetes. Our study on Wed was on the last part of Mark 4 and the message was on the release of the Kingdom of heaven within you over the storms around you. Various prophecies and words went out and it was a good time.

At the close of the meeting, I felt that we needed to go down the hill and attend the revival taking place at the Pukalani Church of the Nazarene. Puka Naz (as it's called locally) is pastored by a dear friend and brother of mine, Pastor Dale. He had let us know that they were going to be setting up a tent and having an old fashioned revival meeting. What we didn't know was that the night before, the speaker had preached on the Holy Spirit and what resulted was a regular Acts 2 outpouring. A dozen of us from Grace showed up there after our meeting on Wed night and as we took our seats in the crowded tent, the speaker began his message. It was on Mark 4 and the message was on the release of the Kingdom of heaven within you over the storms around you. I was stunned. The Bible is a big book. This was not coincidence. Pastor Dale noticed that I had arrived and invited me to come and share. In 60 seconds I shared that we had just studied the same thing at our meeting a half hour earlier. The associate Pastor of Waipuna Chapel, a church two miles away from us, came up the aisle and said, "God wants to heal somebody right here." The altars opened and many people were healed and came to Jesus Christ. The revival was extended to Friday night.

In an unusual occurrence, an elder from a well established denominational church came forward on Thursday night responding to a call for repentance. He was tensed up and wound tight. This Christian man said he needed to be free from something dark inside of him. Pastor Dale (Nazarene) began to intercede for him. I can't even describe what happened after this but he was delivered from whatever demon was keeping him bound. Last night (Friday) he stood up and testified that he hadn't believed that a Christian could have anything like that but because of this belief he wasn't careful of what he gave a place in his life. He testified that he had opened his life up to anger by dwelling on people who had hurt him. He had also opened the door to a spirit of lust by dwelling on images and thoughts that he believed, as a Christian, would have no affect on him. He then testified that he now realized that even as a believer in Jesus Christ that it was ignorant to believe that he could give a place to darkness in his life and remain unaffected.

Whatever you have come to believe about healing, demons, deliverance, miracles, and signs that make you wonder, here's what I have come to. These are all like exit signs that point to the door of a greater reality like a map that leads you to the treasure of the presence of the Spirit of God. The miracles are meant to renew your mind to come to that place of supernatural faith in the God for whom nothing is impossible. The wonderful works of His hands are meant to lead to the richness of knowing the ways of His heart. While we have experienced miracles and healings in others this week, however, Traci and I have both been physically less than 100%. We have prayed and have not experienced the breakthrough in our bodies but internally we're both revived and soaking in the presence of God and the wonder of His love. The post below has taken on a deep meaning and challenge for me, to focus on what He is doing and not what He isn't doing. I can't let what I don't understand create means where I walk in offense toward God for what He hasn't done. Maybe you're in the same boat. Here's our challenge once again. If you focus on what He is doing, then you may become the answer for what He hasn't done yet. His power is still real and His grace is still sufficient.

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