My Miracle of Singing

For most of my life, I couldn't sing but I began to think about the importance of singing last year.  I realized that music was a ministry, angles sing in heaven and worship includes songs.

I wanted to be part of this joyous sound so I prayed to be able to sing for 6 months.  Then one Sunday morning in church I started singing a hymn and noticed I could sing on key, recognized I was doing this and could follow the music.

This was definitely a miracle and recently I sang a solo acappella in church.  I had many complements on my lovely voice.

All the credit goes to the Lord because my voice did not develop from hard work but an answer to prayer.  One minute I couldn't sing and the next minute I could.

But it took me a year to accept this new change and put it to the test.  Even when Jesus changes us for the better, it's hard to let go of the past.

My Birthday Gift

Since it was my spiritual birthday as a Christian, I asked the Lord for a gift.  He gave me five dreams to explain how I am doing.

In my first dream, I learned that I am halfway to being a mature Christian.  I asked how I could improve and He answered me in the next dreams.

The next two dreams showed me how I waste my time trying to rescue pets and people that don't want it or need it.  Then in the fourth dream, I am surround by people at a party that want to hear about Jesus and love Him.

So I ask how I can have this in my life.  In the last dream, I see a body in a tomb and am told that I must die to myself.

What an awesome birthday gift!  Spiritual growth is only a prayer away!

Spiritual Growth

As this year ends, it's important to look back and check for spiritual growth.  Humans are created to grow spiritually, and Christians can recognize this when we become better disciples of Christ.

When we are growing spiritually, it feels awful because it requires us to leave our comfort zone.  In the past year, I've preached and taught more, taken on Christian leadership positions and learned to sing.

The biggest awareness I've had from my experiences is to trust the Lord.  He knows me better than I know myself, always has my best interests at heart and will not let me fail, no matter how unprepared I feel.

This supernatural Teacher is only a prayer away!

Comfort In A Crisis

On October 19, 2014, my daughter had liver failure due to excessive use of Tylenol.  She was air lifted by helicopter to St. Louis University Hospital because of its severity.

 

She has a disability that causes chronic pain and when she ran out of prescription pain medicine, she used Tylenol.  As we later learned, Tylenol should only be used according to the directions because it can build up in a person’s body to a dangerous level.

 

Since lots of people consider off the shelf medicine safe in any dosage, an antidote was available.  She was on life support and unconscious but with a 50% chance of survival because of this antidote.

 

At first, I cried and was scared until I saw her at the hospital.  Then I prayed for help and the Lord reassured me with His presence and said that it would be ok.

 

After canceling my commitments, I contacted everyone for prayers and had her put on church prayer lists.  I was stressed but hopeful because a loving and merciful Father determines our fate.

Singing For God

Humans are created to praise and worship their Loving Creator in music and song.  However, since I was raised in a home without music and song, science said that I would be unable to do this.

After realizing the importance of singing last year, I prayed for six months to have this ability.  Then God began to work on me by bringing a song into my reality that I could even sing acappella.

And the miracle of singing continued until I publicly sang a duet in church last Sunday.  All kinds of spiritual growth are only a prayer away!

My Biggest Miracle

My biggest miracle happened five years ago this month.  After 144 hours of contemplative prayer, I met and began a relationship with the Loving Creator, Savior Jesus and Holy Spirit.

I was forever changed and became such a different person that I did not even recognize myself.  At first, not knowing myself was confusing, but as I learned Jesus' ways, it became easier.

One of the biggest surprises was my guilt, worry and fear disappearing.  In a close personal relationship with the Trinity, I am forgiven of sins, given peace that surpasses all understanding and provided eternal life.

With these burdens lifted, my life is easier, but not stress free.  However, stress relief is only a prayer away.

Spiritual Lessons In Dreams

Since I pray daily for the Holy Spirit to make me more Christ like, He uses all types of supernatural teaching methods.  One of these is dreams.

Some spiritual lessons I have learned from dreams are that I must take direction from God or I will miss out, people are not my enemies but helpers and opportunities, we are in a spiritual battle against evil, I am not alone because lots of people are following Christ, I must tell about my relationship with Christ more and the spiritual journey is not about the adventure but love.  

I once received a song, "Joy Unspeakable," in my dream as an answer to my question of what life would be like if I followed God's will 24/7.

While this made for many restless nights of sleep, my spiritual growth jumped leaps and bounds.  Spiritual lessons are only a prayer away!

Analyze Life

In order to grow spiritually, we must not only pray for this but look carefully at our immediate world.  Our lives not only reflect how God blesses us but most importantly what issues we need to address.

A good way to analyze our lives is to write down everything we do for a week.  How we spend our time reflects our spiritual growth.

Jesus said to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind.  And, just as importantly, He said to love everyone else.

If we really love God and others, then it will show in how we spend our time.  Simple but only possible with supernatural help from prayer.

Praying For Spiritual Growth

Almost everyday I pray for spiritual growth and leave it up to the Lord on the "how."  One day I was in my Tai Chi class when a distraught man interrupted us to exercise.

I felt angry but my teacher welcomed him.  He shared a very sad story and then the class ended, so we left.

As I walked away, I thought how strange this all was and realized I didn't even offer him any help.  So, I went back into the room but he had miraculously disappeared.

This was even stranger, so I prayed that evening for a dream to explain it.  I dreamed God came to me as in a fiery cloud with a booming voice and told me to follow Him.

He took me to these people from a book I had been reading.  They kept asking me what I liked about their book and since I did not know, I finished reading it when I woke up.

Under the signs of selfishness, I learned being inflexible and hating interruptions fit me just perfect.  With this information, I prayed for forgiveness and help to stop this selfish behavior. 

Thank you, Lord!