Author: ravished_by_God

Saved

I wrote this poem to express how I feel about my salvation experience:

There once was a time when death’s horrific name,
Caused a harvest of tearful shame,
Because I knew that when it came,
I would not be able to remove its blame.

For sin’s dark grip entangled my mind,
And towards Hell’s flame did drag me,
There was no way to bind,
The thoughts of fear that did find me.

Try as I might I could not be free,
From those dark hands that entangled me,
I kicked and kicked, but to no avail,
All I did was fail, fail, fail.

Then a light, a glimmer of hope,
O, can it be,
That Jesus would die,
Just to save me.

I trust and believe,
My fears relieved,
My doubts no more,
Broken on faith’s shore.

Jesus Christ is the name,
That brought an end unto my shame,
He washed away my sinful pride,
And dried the tears that I had cried.

And now death your fearful name,
Has no power to place on me blame,
For through Christ’s blood  I am spotless and white,
And now only do I walk in the light.

Death your weeping has become laughter,
Your howls have turned to shouts,
For I know what happens after,
When I win my final bout.

The rush of your fear has become but a breeze,
And your stormy seas like calm,
I now pass through with ease,
Because of Biblical truth’s sweet balm.

By Patrick Lapp

The Ultimate Call

As I watched the ranchers rounding up their cattle into another field this morning, a queer desire rose up in me to do the same. And why not? Working under the blue sky and brilliant sun. The breeze in your face. The smell of hay and manure. The grunts and moos of cattle traipsing away. Such a simple, routine task for the rancher, this mission of moving cattle to a better place.

But within moments my thoughts ran a whole new direction. Why would I want to spend my life moving a bunch of cows around? What would I really be fulfilling, aside from providing beef for someone’s dinner?

I do have another mission, though. This, too, revolves working under the Son.  Here, the breeze is not only pleasant, but crucial, as it is the wind of the Spirit. The fragrance of joy and peace abounds where obedience abides. And the wonder and delight that’s voiced as souls journey to green pastures make the gathering worth it all.

Redeemer Father, thank you for giving your children a calling worth living for. Grant us the grace and strength to round-up the lost ones around us—for Your glory! You alone are worthy!

By Jessica Yoder

Holy Spirit Heals Hernia

Last night I walked to the parking garage where my rental car was. On the way, I walked past a gas station. Holy Spirit prompted me to stop at the gas station. I resisted and kept walking. He prompted me again. This time I obeyed. I walked back to the gas station and bought myself a sandwich, looking around to see if there was somebody I should talk to. As I signed my credit card receipt, the guy next to me said, “Does anyone know what I could do for a hernia?”

“I know,” I said, “I could pray for you. I was just at a signs and wonders conference.”

He was dubious. He didn’t think that would help. I was more hopeful. (I had just come from a service where over 700 people reported being healed, 80% of better, of pain or restricted body movement or other sicknesses where you can know you are healed.)

“You won’t have anything to lose,” I said.

He consented to prayer. I prayed, releasing the kingdom of God and commanding his hernia to be healed. In astonishment, he told me the pain was gone. He left the gas station, saying something about how powerful I was.

I ran up to him in the parking lot. “It wasn’t me,” I said. “It was Jesus.”

I shared the gospel with him. Convinced that Jesus is real, he accepted Christ.

I was touched by the whole thing. I can’t heal anyone. Only Holy Spirit can. I was touched that He would heal a lost sheep to show him that God is real. I was also surprised by how natural and easy it was to share Christ. It is a great privilege to have a wise God living in us and empowering us for the work of ministry through the Holy Spirit.

By John Allan

Yahweh Rapha

Tonight I watched several young ladies praying for an older man whose one leg was shorter than the other. He had one shoe that was maybe 2 inches taller than the other. The ladies praying were laughing and enjoying themselves even as they prayed. As they prayed, the man’s leg grew out and became longer. I had seen him walk with this shoe before. Earlier he could walk normally with the shoe. Now this shoe made him limp.

“This is expensive,” I quipped, “now you have to buy new shoes!”

“I’ll make them pray for the shoes,” he joked, referring to the ones hosting the meeting.

Yahweh Rapha, thank you for smiling at us.

By John Allan

God’s Hand Is Bigger

“Your hand is in his. Guess which is bigger?”

Scrawled on a paper on the wall of a worship room, the beauty of this graffiti is neither the art nor the penmanship but the profundity of the words. It’s fitting that such a tribute to God be a scrawl, for the best we do for God often seems little more than a scribble–and yet, it does not matter, for the smallness of our hands shows the strength and size of his.

Here’s to the God who is bigger!

John Allan

Predestined to the Image of His Son

Thank you, God, for the stories that surround this work of art: stories of You pursuing my real dreams, when I had given them up and started pursuing “cool” dreams—good and wonderful dreams, dreams I had begun to think were from You, but not the best for me. Thank you for asking no less than surrender—and for the surprises on the other side of surrender: the way I discover You hard at work making me into an authentic, original witness, when I had hoped only to be like others I admired.

Thank You, also, that You do not force surrender—Your gentle way with me lures me, solidly, toward a deeper, more settled, surrender. I am deeply touched that you do not see the journey as wasted time–on so many different levels…

  1. There are no walls between us when I am not trying to “make” surrender happen.
  2. You’re crazy over me and can’t help but respect my personal choice like no one on earth because You value me so much and know all about me and care so much.
  3. You think that surrender that is not fear and flesh based is well worth the wait, and You can easily tell the difference.
  4. The process is our secret story, the history of You working in my life, which would be sad to miss. Thank you for cherishing me in this way! Your love is driving fear out, and I am honored to be Yours!

By Rosa Mary Nisly