Ask, and He will do it

beautiful South Pointe Park sunset, Miami Beach

"And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ .. it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment..."

Philippians 1:6,9 (Thank you, Aunt Laura, for these verses)

Writing these words as he was in prison, Paul was overflowing with joy and thankfulness.  He had learned the secret of being content in every situation. 

It proves that Jesus is our only source of joy and satisfaction.  He is ALL we need.  He was all Paul had, and yet he was still serving the Lord with all gladness, encouraging his brothers and sisters in Christ.

To get to this sweet spot with Jesus, we have to die to ourselves.  Crucify our flesh so we can live in His spirit.  We have to be "born again" .. receiving NEW life through the Spirit .. the old life passes away.  He says, "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (Matthew 10:39).  The world constantly sends an opposite message, but God's word is truth and the truth sets us free.  And Jesus is the only way ~ the world says that too, that there are many ways, that you've already found the way .. But through Him only will we find LIFE that is everlasting.

Today's Jesus Calling devotional spoke directly to my healing heart.  The Lord has been revealing new areas with which I should trust Him and obedience has brought instantaneous blessing!  He needed to do some final mending work and I opened it up to Him.  He is our Prince of Peace, our Deliverer, our Friend, Counselor and HEALER.

My encouragement as a result:  Ongoing prayer asking Him to show you your heart, revealing anything that needs His work. Trust Him ~ and watch to see what this perfect Man will do!  Nothing feels better than being freed by the love of Christ!

Below is the devo .... based on the following verses <3

Psalm 103:3 .. Who forgives all your iniquity, Who heals all your diseases...

James 4:2  .. Ye lust, and have not; ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain; ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

2 Corinthians 12:7-9 .. So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.  Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.  But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Matthew 7:7 .. "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."

I AM A GOD WHO HEALS.  I heal broken bodies, broken minds, broken hearts, broken lives, and broken relationships.  My very Presence has immense healing powers.  You cannot live close to Me without experiencing some degree of healing.  However, it is also true that you have not because you ask not.  You receive the healing that flows naturally from My Presence, whether you seek it or not.  But there is more -- much more -- available to those who ask.

The first step in receiving healing is to live ever so close to Me.  The benefits of this practice are too numerous to list.  As you grow more and more intimate with Me, I reveal My will to you more directly.  When the time is right, I prompt you to ask for healing of some brokenness in you or in another person.  The healing may be instantaneous, or it may be a process.  That is up to Me.  Your part is to trust Me fully and to thank Me for the restoration that has begun.

I rarely heal all the brokenness in a person's life.  Even My servant Paul was told, "My grace is sufficient for you," when he sought healing for the thorn in his flesh.  Nonetheless, much healing is available to those whose lives are intimately interwoven with Mine.  Ask, and you will receive.

Jesus Calling, by Sarah Young

***

So what are you waiting for?  Go to Jesus and get busy asking! 
Life is too short to miss out on all that he has in store for you. 
He wants you to know life in Him which is joyful, adventurous, and abundant!
He has a multitude of blessings, an ocean of love, and all the answers you've been seeking - to give you -

when you ask.

God bless you!

hailey <3

With my Love at Islands of Adventure for my bday!

An Anchor for Your Soul

HEAVEN IS BOTH PRESENT AND FUTURE. As you walk along your life-path holding My hand, you are already in touch with the essence of heaven: nearness to Me. You can also find many hints of heaven along your pathway, because the earth is radiantly alive with My Presence. Shimmering sunshine awakens your heart, gently reminding you of My brilliant Light. Birds and flowers, trees and skies, evoke praises to My holy Name. Keep your eyes and ears fully open as you journey with Me.

At the end of your life-path is an entrance to heaven. Only I know when you will reach that destination, but I am preparing you for it each step of the way. The absolute certainty of your heavenly home gives you Peace and Joy, to help you along your journey. You know that you will reach your home in My perfect timing: not one moment too soon or too late. Let the hope of heaven encourage you, as your walk along the path of Life with Me.  (Jesus Calling by Sarah Young)

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.

Hebrews 6:19

Amen...

Oh How He Loves Us!

Nonstop Newness! Healing, Hope, Heaven

Happy New Year!!!!!



I've been sporadic and less frequent with 'inspirations' .. because of traveling, working and celebrating!

This blog has 2 parts:  Recap + Revelation.
 
If you're reading this, I have prayed that God touches your life with His love, truth, mercy and grace ~
blessing you throughout 2011. 

RECAP!

2010 wrapped up with lots of good things in December. A couple of the events and blessings ..

*Tucson ~ I wasn't exactly sure how 4 days of sales presentations and role plays in Arizona would be since it was my first national meeting with my company .. It turned out to be not only informative! but we had some fun on the side ..The last night was a western-themed celebration dinner that took me back to my Tennessee roots as the live country band played some familiar songs .. and I joined my team for a black+white saloon photo ~ have always wanted to do that :).. Betsy & I snapped our own pic:





*Tennessee ~ I spent several days with my sister, Christy, bro n law, Michael, and 3 baby nieces! Marion, Macy, and Meryl -- the princesses :).  We played dress up, hide & seek, danced to Christmas music, sang lots of Dora songs, had tea parties .. the rest of the family and I watched movies, cooked, talked into the wee hours of the morning, sipped hot chocolate, shopped and laughed a lot.  They traded in Michael's 11 y/o college Malibu "Betsy" :'( .. for a new ride.  He also recently started a new job .. it was a blessing to spend Christmas and ring in 2011 with them in their new house in a new city!




the "new christy + hailey"

 

5 mths old already!





As I reflect on 2010, I can see how much things changed in my life.  And I cannot for a second give myself any glory.  I sought to know God more, I had a hunger to understand Him, His Word, and His Son on a newer level.  His Word is true ~ Draw near to me and I will draw near to you.  (James 4:8). What an awesome companion He is!

I moved into a new apartment, started a new job, made new friends, got a new baby niece!, reached a new level with running, traveled a new distance - abroad!

First full marathon - 2500th anniv of original race in Athens

started writing a new book .. and blog...

I greeted new days with sunrises with some of my sisters down here:)

and read some amazing new books - my top three:

The year ended with a new position in my company --  I got a promotion.

Thus, my theme for the year, a pair of verses:

Isaiah 43:19, "See, I am doing a new thing!" + Rev 21:5, "I am making everything new!"

The result of it all over time: a new heart and passion for my Savior - Jesus is the reason for it all.  I couldn't see where I was going or what was next .. I tried to live day by day as things kept changing and stood by faith on:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

**

REVELATION!

My favorite discovery in 2010:  connecting Healing, Hope, and Heaven

HEALING. The story.

It began at age 10 when I broke my right arm in gymnastics, undergoing 2 surgeries, fascinated by the whole experience (other than the initial pain..) -- Spending days in a hospital, making frequent visits to the orthopedic surgeon's office, getting a cast -- something stirred and inspired me.  I vividly remember turning to my mom in the waiting room asking what exactly was my doctor's specialty and when she told me, I confidently declared "that's what I'm going to be someday." 

That passion moved me every time I'd find myself in a hospital thereafter .. I felt at home somehow!  I shadowed physicians throughout high school and college.  I studied science in undergrad and felt as though 3-1/2 years flew by .. After graduating I registered for a Kaplan course which prepped me for three months for the MCAT.  I was ready that fall, moved to Nashville, got a job at a doctors office, and reviewed for the January '05 test.  When the time came for the test registration I couldn't do it.  I prayed, fretted, and waited for an answer on the feeling I had in the pit of my stomach.  I knew after some time it was not the Lord's will for me to go to med school.  I had never considered anything other than being a doctor.  I wondered what in the world I'd do with a biology degree and no career plan. 

Still working at the doctor's office, I considered medical sales and applied to a company that was one of our main vendors.  I sold supplies, medicines, and equipment for 3 years then took time off in 2008 to consider God's will for my life, and found myself relocating to Miami and getting back into the field. 

Eighteen years have passed since that day it all started when I was taken by ambulance to the hospital with a messed up ulna! ~ and what I discovered in 2010 as I spent many hours in the operating room observing surgery and selling devices, and still at times considering my pursuit of becoming a doctor, is: my true passion is for healing. 

When I think back to those days in the hospital + months of physical therapy I remember the cards, care, and comfort I received from family, friends and nurses.  Becoming a christian just the year before, I felt the Lord's presence in a new way during that time of pain and suffering .. this verse below (2 Cor 1:3-10) fits:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God .. It is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer .. this happened so that we may not rely on ourselves but on God .. who will deliver us .. On Him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us ..

I developed patience, endurance and a sense of how to cope with suffering through that experience that since has allowed me to offer comfort to others in their times of need.

It came full circle this year when a miracle happened.  The dots connected!

I had only seen prayer over debilitated people a few times on TV growing up and was skeptical.  Maybe I was scared and didn't understand.  As I sought to know Jesus more last year I studied His life and miracles in depth.  I revisited the stories I had read before and saw that my faith needed a boost.  He healed people - a man with leprosy, Peter's mother-in-law, a paralyzed man, a woman with bleeding, a mute, demon-possessed man, a deaf mute man, a crippled woman, a sick man at the pool of Bethesda, a blind man* .. (references below).  Someone asked at church one Sunday if anyone needed prayer for a medical condition.  I had just left my doctor's office 4 days prior, having my blood drawn to check on a condition I was told I'd have the rest of my life.  I still asked for prayer and in faith believed I was healed.  When I returned to the office 3 days later to get the test results, the staff there were in a panic because no one could find my results - after checking with the lab, they learned my blood samples were lost 'somehow.' The office manager followed by the doctor came to apologize and I told her I was actually happy to have it drawn again.  When I returned the following week I was completely clear.  No trace.  She insisted to take a tissue sample.  I returned the next week to find the same result.  Clear. 

Luke 1:37  ~ For nothing is impossible with God.

Matt 21:22 ~ If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.

Praise God.

I then studied how Jesus healed in other ways ~ emotionally and spiritually.  During His life on earth He restored hope to the lost and broken-hearted, He released the oppressed, He cared for widows, orphans, the poor .. He drove out fear with perfect love, He protected the persecuted, He replaced confusion with peace, He gave strength to the weak and stripped guilt from the shamed.  That only scratches the surface of His 33 years here.  And because He laid His life down for us so that we may be forgiven of our sins and have eternal life in heaven with our Father when we believe in Him, He also offers freedom. 

A new life! New beginnings. When we believe.

I was healed physically, emotionally and spiritually in 2010 as I was reminded and learned more about the Man who I have laid my life down for .. to follow Him.  And now understand the Source of why I've always been drawn to healing. 

As the changes took place, my hope grew.  As I considered what I'm waiting for, I decided more than another trip, accomplishing goals, living out MY dreams, reunions with my family, or a spouse, I am waiting on the return of Christ (Rev 22:20).  I was reminded that what we're waiting for is what we're living for.  And I now connect healing, hope, and heaven ~ because as He healed me, my hope in Him grew, and my true hope is the amazing day when I enter a new life in a new world that is perfect and innocent -- eternity with my Heavenly Father.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son,

that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."

My favorite verse, John 3:16.

***

Cheers!

hailey

(miracles: Matthew 8:2-4, Luke 4:38-39, Mark 2:3-12, Matthew 9:20-22, 32-33, Mark 7:31-37, Luke 13:11-13, John 5:1-9)

If my people, who are called by my name, will
humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn
from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and
forgive their sin and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14

The Day After

Merry Christmas Day After! :)

Watching "The Night in the Toy Store" for the tenth+ time with my baby nieces (3, 2, & 4mths) and trying to help my sister clean before round 4 of family comes through today! I laughed when the oldest, Marion, who I had just dressed up in her new Snow White costume .. stopped in her tracks in front of the TV when she heard them say Christmas is about Santa and gifts.  She shouted "No it's not!!  Christmas is about Jesus!"  (Before they got to the part of the story to correct the toys who were wrong about the reason for the season.. ) :)

It's easy to get distracted with all that the holiday grind entails and I read a couple of books this AM that helped me refocus.  Below are some excerpts from Jennifer Kennedy Dean and Sarah Young. 

Be blessed and enjoy the last six days of 2010!

Your gift comes in such creative wrapping.
Yesterday morning, Christmas day, beautifully wrapped gifts were piled around the Christmas tree.  With some of the gifts, as much thought had been given to the wrapping of the gift as to the selection of gift itself.  Sometimes the wrapping was meant to disguise the gift so the surprise would be all the greater.  A small gift being wrapped and hiding inside a big box.
Yesterday the artistry of the wrappings made the anticipation of the gifts greater.  The wrappings invited us into the gifts.
Today, the wrappings are gone and the gifts are the main focus.
You wrapped Your gift in flesh and blood.  The wrapping was such that it invited us into the Gift.  Had You sent Your Son unwrapped, we could not have seen Him because the brightness of His countenance would have blinded us.  Like the Israelites of old, we would have hidden our faces from Him in fear and shame.
The angels know Him wrapped in eternal glory and royal robes.  They saw Him before He took upon Himself the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men.  The angels saw His triumphant return to the glory He had before the world began, and see Him now in His exalted form.
But we see Him in the flawless beauty of His humanity.  We see the grandeur of His Incarnation, when He demonstrated the enormity of His love for us by wrapping Himself in flesh and blood so that He could destroy that which held us captive.  Seeing Him, we are blinded by His beauty to anything other than Him.
We will someday see Your indescribable Gift as the angels see Him.  I know that sight will be a different beauty than I have ever known.  But I cannot imagine that it will be more breathtakingly beautiful to me than the King of kings wrapped in flesh and blood for my sake.

*Seeing You, I am blinded by Your beauty to anything other than You.*

("Pursuing the Christ")

~ I AM THE GIFT that continuously gives -- bounteously, with no strings attached.  Unconditional Love is such a radical concept that even My most devoted followers fail to grasp it fully.  Absolutely nothing in heaven or on earth can cause Me to stop loving you.  You may feel more loved when you are performing according to your expectations.  But My Love for you is perfect; therefore it is not subject to variation.  What does vary is your awareness of My loving Presence.

When you are dissatisfied with your behavior, you tend to feel unworthy of My Love.  You may unconsciously punish yourself by withdrawing from Me and attributing the distance between us to My displeasure.  Instead of returning to Me and receiving My Love, you attempt to earn my approval by trying harder.  All the while, I am aching to hold you in My everlasting arms, to enfold you in My Love.  When you are feeling unworthy or unloved, come to Me.  Then ask for receptivity of My unfailing Love.

If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.  And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.  God is love.  Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.  In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on judgement day, because in this world we are like Him.  There is no fear in love.  But perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment.  The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
1 John 4:15-18

The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.

Deuteronomy 33:27

But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in Your salvation I will sing to the Lord for He has been good to me.
Psalm 13:5-6

("Jesus Calling")

***

love, hailey

Tucson Sunset

Perfect Timing!

What He Desires Most -- the Heart

Stay ever so close to Me, and you will not deviate from the path I have prepared for you.  This is the most efficient way to stay on track; it is also the most enjoyable way.  Men tend to multiply duties in observance of their religion.  This practices enables them to give Me money, time, and work without yielding up to Me what I desire the most -- their hearts.  Rules can be observed mechanically.  Once they become habitual, they can be followed with minimal effort and almost no thought.  These habit-forming rules provide a false sense of security, lulling the soul into a comatose condition.

What I search for in My children is an awakened soul that thrills to the Joy of My Presence!  I created mankind to glorify Me and enjoy Me forever.  I provide the Joy; your part is to glorify Me by living close to Me.

Love the LORD your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the LORD, not for men.

You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your

Presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.

Deuteronomy 6:5, Colossians 3:23, Psalm 16:11

Jesus Calling, by Sarah Young