While fasting recently, I was overwhelmingly convicted of God's goodness in
my life. I was reminded I was healed of a brain tumor when I was seven years
old. Others weren't healed of that. I survived a heart attack 10 years ago.
Others haven't. My heart stopped three days after the heart attack while taking
a heart test. They jumped my heart back to beat again. My neighbor, younger than
I, died of a heart attack years ago and He loved God too. I just don't
understand why I am still here and others aren't. I owe everything to Him. Why
He loves me I can't understand. It makes me weep. Sensing his daily constant
goodness is leading me to a life of repentance and being merciful to
others.
How Many Of You Are Glad To Be Anywhere?
If it had not been for the Lord on my side where would I be? When I stand
up to minister I ask a question that never fails to release an atmospheric
anointing of thankfrulness into people's hearts. "How many of you are glad to be
anywhere?" They laugh, but the annointing of thanksgiving has already begun to
fall upon them to start counting their endless blessings. Then I tell them, "I
am just glad to be." Since the attack against my heart I now have a ministry of
full-time breathing! Breathing qualifies us to worship! Looking back on my
trials and life threatening events I know now that I could have been thanking
the Lord in them instead of afterwards. "In everything give thanks for this is
the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." (1 Thessalonians 5:18) When we
stop thanking Him, we take ourselves out of His perfect will.
I am learning what God wants to hear from us when we are in the fiery flame with
no strings attached. In our sufferings we often attach strings to our prayers,
like: 'if you heal me or let me live.' I learned quickly in that emergency room
what He is after. "Father, I love you!" That's it..period! And when it's from
our hearts, I can imagine all of heaven stopping as He says to the angels, "Stay
up here, I have a personal house call. I'm going down for the nine count
rescue!"
Have you wondered how saints of old and present could give thanks, breaking into
worship, when facing a firing squad or being burned at stake? Could it
be they were not praising God to move Him to do anything more? They were
praising Him for what He had already done in their lives, the past miracles and
deliverances and for the fact that they were still here. Each day of their lives
was a precious gift and so was this one. Eternity beat in their hearts. They
knew they were always one heart beat away from seeing the bigger picture of
God's perfect plan for their
lives. Their present fiery trial, stoning, or pointed gun was a reminder...
"Absent from the body - present with the Lord." (2 Corinthians 5:8) They were
fully convinced God was able to deliver but if He didn't, they would go out in a
blaze of glory. "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb
and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their
life even when faced with death ..." Rev.12"11
DL Moody once said, "The day will come when you will read in the obituary that D
L Moody has died. Don't you believe it. It is a lie. I will be more alive at
that moment than I have ever been on earth." And so will we who put our trust in
Jesus Christ. We will be alive when the stars fall from their sockets and this
earth is no more. For His goodness and mercy endures forever.
Blessings,
Bill Yount
