God is a good God!
I grew up in the church and attended service every Sunday with my family. I’m thankful that my parents introduced me to God!
They kept my brother, and I busy in the choir, youth group, youth camps and thus out of trouble. Through my time growing up in church though, I don’t recall specific lessons on the goodness of God.
I do remember hearing that if it’s God’s will, it will be done. We recited the Lord’s prayer and the Apostle’s Creed weekly. I remember listening to prayers that said things on the line of ‘Lord, we’re asking for healing of brother so and so and if it’s your will, may it be done.’ I wasn’t taught any other way to pray. And so, if brother so and so died from his ailment, then I was taught it was the will of God. That God gives us life and takes away our life. That’s just how I was taught, and I didn’t know differently. But also, I didn’t spend time reading the Bible or I would have seen that this is not truth. Hosea 4:6 says, “my people perish for lack of knowledge.” See, I would memorize my Bible verses for the week but not spend any more time, turning the pages and reading in between the lines. I didn’t invest in God.
It wasn’t until I faced my own struggle of a breast cancer diagnosis that I began to dig deeper into what the Bible says. I listened to teachings from Andrew Wommack’s, “God Wants You Well” series and teachings from Gary Keesee on wellness and prosperity and teachings from the late John Osteen on the Holy Spirit and healing. That’s when my eyes became opened to all that I had missed through the teaching of religion over the years.
Once I realized that I already had access to healing and prosperity and all that I needed to do was to tap into the Kingdom of God and believe it, then it was mine. Wow! I took off running and was healed of breast cancer, saw our son healed of a lifelong disease and became prosperous, having my prayers answered. Amazing results from the power of God’s promises in His Word!
So, how did it all begin for me? I realized that I needed to change my priorities. That began with setting time aside daily to read the Bible. I would set my alarm a little bit earlier and spend that time with God, reading the Bible. I bought a Bible that had a daily reading plan and that helped me to structure my reading each day. In reality, I spent 15 minutes each day reading the daily plan.
When I first began reading the Bible, there were times my mind would drift, and I wouldn’t even remember what I had read. There were times when I just couldn’t even understand what I had just read and would have to re-read it again. The funny thing is that the more time I spent with God drawing close to Him, the closer He came to me! (James 4:8) My heart became sensitive to His Word and my thinking became transformed to His way of thinking! For example in Isaiah 53:4-5 “Surely he took our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our inqiuities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” This scripture was prophesied by Isaiah before Jesus was even born. He spoke it in the past tense! God spoke through Isaiah for him to share this prophesy. Then in 1 Peter 2:24 it says, “He himself bore our sins, in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” Again, the past tense is used. When I read the words heal-ed in both scriptures, it hit me like “WHAM” it’s a done deal. That’s when it sunk in that Jesus already healed us when He went to the cross.
So for my journey, I disconnected from the world so to speak. Instead of sitting down to watch television, I pulled up sermons on healing and sermons on prosperity. My focus was on the late John Osteen, Andrew Wommack and Gary Keesee because they based their teachings on scripture. They would explain it so clearly. I would sit with a notepad and take notes and write the scriptures down that they shared and go back to my Bible as if to verify what they said was true. What I found out was God’s Word is truth! The more I kept what God said before my eyes, speaking it, the more I believed it. I spent time studying scriptures and realized that when I kept my eyes focused on what God says and not what man says, my circumstances began to change.
If I got a bad report, I only spoke what God says over that situation. I would not allow fear to come in and take control over the situation. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “that God does not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and of sound mind.” So, I kept that scripture in my pocket, on my desk, on my refrigerator, my mirror, wherever I could see it and be reminded that fear is not from Him. I began doing that with other scriptures too on healing, on prosperity. The more I spoke what God said, the more my heart began to change.
I want to encourage you today, if you are going through a storm season in your life, take that time and disconnect from the world. Stay off of social media. Stay off television. No news, no reality tv shows, nothing. Give yourself 21 days (just 3 weeks) to commit to reading your Bible, studying the Word of God and listening to teachings. I promise your life will be transformed in those few days! You will begin seeing everything through Heaven’s eyes.
I’ve heard it said that it takes 21 days to form a habit. That was my goal initially. I was like, yeah, I can do this for 3 weeks. Then, when I saw the changes taking place, I continued.
It is God’s will for us to be in health and walk in prosperity. We are to help grow His kingdom. (3 John 2)
You may ask, well how do I know if it’s God’s will? If He says it in his Word, then it’s His will for you!
Spend time meditating on His word. After reading a scripture, write it down and ask the Lord to open your heart to the meaning of it. You’ll begin connecting dots to other scriptures and revelations that He places on your heart. Your life will be forever changed because of Him!
I’m excited for you to take this 21-day journey. You have nothing to lose but EVERYTHING to gain! Go ahead and give God a try!
Forever changed and blessed beyond measure,
Stephanie 💕
