He is Moving

A couple weeks ago, I shared over at RagstoStitches. She is doing great series on how God is moving. It is her {Be Ready, Be Prepared, Be Molded} series. I wanted to share with those of you who didn't make it over there for my post. If you like what I share, or even if you don't, you should head over there and read what others are saying.

"The holy spirit doesn't move like it used to"

"We don't see healings anymore"

"God couldn't use me"

We hear things like this all the time. Luckily, all of these statements are false. I know they are false because my life itself is a testimony to the exact opposite of all three statements.

I have heard the Holy Spirit speak and have been overwhelmed by the presence of His spirit. I have been healed. And little ol me has been used for the good of God.

I never thought I was worthy of any of this. I grew up having no relationship and definitely was not worthy of even walking in God's presence. But to Him, none of that mattered. God has a plan for my life and although I have no clue where He plans to take me, I know I will be used tremendously.

It all started on an altar where I laid weeping and gave my life to the Lord. I was moved by the Holy Spirit that night in a way I can't describe. He is still present.

Only a few short months later my husband, boyfriend at the time, felt a tug on his heart and told me I needed to be prayed over.

You see, for years I had issues with my heart. I had seen a few cardiologists who had diagnosed numerous small problems with my heart but they could not find the root of it all. All we knew is that my ECG's looked like one of a brittle old woman. At 19, this was terrifying.

So, we prayed. Nothing profound seemed to happen. Light did not shine down from the heavens. The earth did not shake. But the next day, in complete faith, I walked into my cardiologist's office and demanded an ECG. To everyone's surprise, except my own, the ECG came back clean. They ran it again and passed it on to other cardiologists. No one could explain it. I knew I was healed. I let them know I was healed. It is a lie that God is not still moving and healing. I have the ECG to prove it.

Until I was 19, I did not walk with God. I never really thought I would. But here I am; a living testimony of His grace and mercy.

So what do we do with the false statements? The false beliefs that I started off with? We prove them wrong. We continue to walk with Him, let Him cover us in truth and we share our story.

God is good. He is here and He is moving.

By His Mercy and Grace

I was not raised a Christian. I mean, my parents told us that we were Christian but we didn't go to church or pray or even speak the name of Jesus Christ. I went to a couple different churches as a teen and even got "saved" a few times. I knew that there was a God and would later see just how much He was actually with me at all times. Hindsight's 20/20, right?

I had a good life and I was a pretty good kid. I was an okay teen. I drank and got into a little bit of trouble. Typical teenage stuff (isn't it sad that these things are typical). I had a boyfriend who my parents forbid me to date. We dated off and on for 6 years. (I can feel my mom's eyes burning into me through the screen right now. I know she is reading this wanting to kick my butt.) Half of it was "love" and half of it was simple rebellion. My parents said not to date him, so of course I wanted to even more.

He was the bad boy at highschool that every girl wanted to date. He chose me though. Oh, what that did for this girl with such low self esteem. He drank, he smoked pot and he slept around. Yes, mom and dad were right, this boy was all kinds of trouble.

I know, I'm talkin' about the ex a lot right now. He is a huge part of my initial testimony though. You see, it was his betrayal...okay maybe his twenty something-th betrayal that pushed me over the edge. I laid in bed crying over my heartbreak one night thinking "There has got to be more to life than this". I heard a voice in my head saying, "there is more than this...there is so much more than this, just follow me". In that moment I chose to change the entire way I was living my life and to seek Him. I mean even if "He" wasn't real, what did I have to lose?

It was only weeks later that Steven messaged me on Myspace, you can read more about that here. He was such a Godsend. I started attending church and instantly handed my life over to the Lord.

One night, during an extremely emotional college group, I laid down on the altar with some of my new friends and wept. I had never been so consumed with anything as I was in the Holy Spirit in that moment. For the first time in my life I felt whole. I felt complete. I felt saved.

I am saved by His grace and His mercy. I now serve an amazingly awesome God.

I cannot wait to share more of my story with you. I cannot wait to show you His hand in my life.

Wake up call

Life happens, I hear the saying all the time. There is so much truth in those words. It is so easy to get distracted or busy. This week I have been reminded of how precious my life is. How God has healed me and protected me.

Now it's not that I have forgotten the miracles He has performed in my life. Because I haven't, not for one second. My life and my children's lives are all miracles. I remember that daily and I am so grateful. What I have forgotten is to live like my life is a miracle.

What on earth does that even mean?

Friends, God has saved me, transformed me and healed me! He is an amazing God. My life is so precious and important to Him, that He continuously stops and makes sure that I am okay. When I am not, He fixes it.

How often do I stop to make sure that He is okay with the way I am living? I do my nightly devotions with hubby, I go to church and bible study and I try to pray often. Is that enough? To many, it is more than enough. I know that I was called to do more than that.

My life is a testimony. I need to live my life like I am the miracle that He provided. If that doesn't make sense to you, that's okay, it doesn't make much sense to me either.

I do know that I will be praying and diving into His word more. I will be working hard on better representing Him and who He is. I also want to share my story with you. I have quite a lengthy testimony because, well, God has done so much in my life.

In the months to follow I want to share a few stories and truths from my own life. I would also love to hear from you all and maybe even share some of your stories and testimonies. I don't want to make a series out of this because I do not want any post to be rushed but spirit lead.

I am so side tracked here. The long in the short of it is this. I WILL be living more for Jesus now than ever because I recognize that He has done so much not only for me but in me.