Daughter of the King

Yesterday was the last day that Doug Stanton was in town. We started in the morning with a session. He does a week long School of the Spirit and he did a little bit of that Saturday morning. He talked a lot about new self versus old self which was awesome because God had been speaking to me so much on that lately. 

Doug has really inspired me to step out more in my faith. God has just recently opened my eyes to the things of the spirit, but Doug has helped me to realize that there's so much more that even I could be walking in. I want to prophesy over people and see people healed because of God working through me. So that was really on my heart going into the meetings yesterday.

We had one last revival meeting at night, and man! It was good! The worship was powerful, more so than it had been the other nights. The spirit was moving through the place and resting heavily in the sanctuary. 

Doug went on with his message as usual. But afterwards, he started healing and praying for people. He just kept going and going, people kept coming to him asking him for prayer. He prayed for people with back problems or heart issues and other problems as well. I watched him heal a little boy of asthma. It was awesome. The presence of God through the Holy Spirit was so present in that place. When Doug would pray for people, the Spirit would come upon them and people were going down all over the place.

Then Doug prayed over a friend of mine that wanted to be baptized in the spirit. Doug prayed over him and then my friend went down too. My spirit could feel the anointing of God spilling onto him. It was awesome. When my friend got up, Doug took him around to other people and had him pray over others. When my friend went and prayed for other people, the spirit came on them too and they went down as well.

To top the night off, Doug came over to me again. "The anointing is all over this one," he said to me. He laid hands on me and then he began to prophesy over me. He talked about how I was a daughter of the king and my belonging in his Kingdom. He also talked about the power of God that I would take on and begin to move in. Doug prophesied over me that I would begin to do the things that God had called me to do that only I could do. I think he mentioned something about me beginning to step out and experiencing the power of God in new ways I hadn't before as well. 

When he had finished prophesying over me, I felt the power of the spirit come into and I fell backwards for the second time that week. As I laid on the ground, I reflected on the word Doug had just given me. I felt a sort of heavy peace upon me. I just rested in the Spirit and soaked up the presence of God for a while. 

I was so blessed by these past five meetings with Doug Stanton. God used it to bring forth a revival in me. It was a great opening to the summer of 2013.

Freedom

Dough Stanton, a revivalist, has been doing a four day series of preaching and ministry at a local church. Tonight was the second night of it. 

Prior to tonight, I had really been struggling with what it meant to be a "new creation." My old creation comes out a lot, and I am often haunted by memories of behaviors of my old creation. I had really been struggling with this in the sense of addictions as well. I had been struggling with a couple different types of addictions that was also a part of my old creation and not the new. It doesn't matter what the addictions were, it only matters that they were taking away from my relationship with God.

During worship tonight I was talking to God about this. And he was reminding me that I am a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come. I was overwhelmed with his love for me and the way he has forgiven me. I realized that I am his, but I am not God's only because this is something I've chosen to do. I am God's because he has chosen me in spite of me! Wow! In spite of all my dirt and sin, God still wanted me! He still loved me enough to pick me and use me for his glory. How good it is to serve a God that redeems. Throughout the rest of the night, God continued to remind me that he loves me and I am forgiven and have the righteousness of God because of Jesus' death on the cross.

At the end of the night, Doug called everyone to the front of the church to be prayed over. He saw me in the crowd, and the Spirit must have shown him that I needed prayer, because I didn't even have to ask for prayer, Doug just laid hands on me and began to pray for me. I don't remember what all he said, but I felt the power of the Holy Spirit come into me and started to feel faint and I fell backwards into the hands of other church members. "Freedom!" I heard a man saying as I went down.

As I was lying on the ground, I used my time to try and shut out what was going on around me and just let God talk to me. "Freedom." The word kept bouncing around in my mind. "Meet me in this place," I said to God. And sure enough, he began speaking to heart. 

God spoke something like these words to me, "When you are tempted, reach out for my voice and my love instead. Hear my voice calling out to you instead of your own. I love you. I see what you've done and it's already been forgiven. I'm going to get you through this. I am going to get you out of this, because I love you." 

Immeasurably More

God seems to have different themes, or lessons, per semester or year that he’s been teaching me here at college. Last fall semester the theme was balance. Last spring the theme was forgiveness. And this year, my second (and now completed) year of college, the theme was provision. That theme is better summed up in Ephesians 3:20, “God is able to immeasurably more than we could ever think or imagine.”

God started this school year off by sending me to Costa Rica in the summer. I didn’t know where I was going to get the money for the next fall, but I stepped out in faith and followed God because I knew that was his will. God rewarded my obedience in amazing ways! He literally blew me away! I got a scholarship that basically pays for half of school and I have other scholarships that covered a majority of the cost. That was a huge blessing, I knew God would provide, I didn’t realize he’d provide so much.

Then God put my faith to the test in the spring. I had run quite low on money and, due to some circumstances, school was going to be a bit of a stretch to pay for. I didn’t know where the money was going to come from. I had applied multiple places and hadn’t managed to get a job anywhere. I was beginning to try and figure out how to make $20 last a whole semester.

That’s when I got an e-mail from the local Child Evangelism Fellowship office here in town. They were in need of someone to work part time with them doing both office work and teaching kids in some after school clubs. I applied and got the job. It wasn’t a lot of money, but it was enough to get me through the semester and pay school off. I never heard from any of the places I applied to, who knows if I ever would have found an outside job. This job was given to me with first priority because I had worked with CEF before.

I was blown away by God’s goodness. That’s when I realized that God was preparing to provide for me now ever since I first started working with CEF, five years ago. I was so hesitant to work with CEF, I was scared out of my mind! But I did it because I knew it was God’s will for my life. And little did I know then, that God was going to use CEF to provide for me now. 

Aside from financial provision, God has done more than I ever imagined in spiritual ways too. I have grown so much this year! God has revealed himself to me in brand new ways.  He has showed me the way he moves and works in ways that I never thought even existed anymore!

God has done immeasurably more than I ever thought or imagined in my life this year.