Who can love you like this?

We just returned our oldest daughter Gretchen to college the other week. It coincided with The Call in DC so we stopped there to show our support of Lew Engle since it was close to our route. It was a marvelous time praying and fasting for our country and our collective futures.

Our next stop overnight was MorningStar Fellowship Church and a room at Heritage Ministries Hotel. We highly recommend this place, the Spirit of the Lord is so thick there you can really feel it, not to mention a decent room is only $60. a night. Don't expect many amenities other than God being all over you though... it's enough for us to feel this is the best bargain in the world at the moment.

So, I told you that to tell you about the latest experience we had while staying there. A few days before we were to leave, I started getting a pain in my right ear. We have a pool so swimmer's ear happens once and awhile around here. I tried my best to ignore it and didn't want to even think about it being possible as I feel I walk in Devine health. Pride! Each day before we left it kept feeling a little worse. By the time we got there for the night it was sore enough that it was hard to lie on.

Sunday morning service was awesome and at the end of the service, Bob Jones himself stood up and called out a word of knowledge. He said, "Someone here has pain in a right ear." I was ready to stand and fill in my family what i'd been keeping to myself and then Bob added, "with some blockage." Nope, wasn't me and it didn't go away so I figured it wasn't meant for me. I wrongly thought that by calling it out I should have felt something already. Well, we stayed for their nightly service since they are still in the revival mode there. During the message Steve Thompson told of a time when he had a busted hand that was never healed right and was really bothering him of late. They had a guest speaker on campus who also walked in the healing gifts. Steve approached him and asked him to pray for his hand. The man turned around and said "Oh yeah, I hear Carpal Tunnel Syndrome" and proceeded to say a few words along the effects of "Be healed in Jesus' name." Steve went on to say how disappointed he was in the man. In fact he was secretly upset at the man. The gall of this guy, first he had the wrong word of knowledge then he couldn't spend anymore time than "Be healed in Jesus' name?" Come on! He went home burning up over it. When he awoke the next morning, it was all healed and he hasn't had a problem with it since.

Now, for some reason I guess this part really didn't sink in because then Robin McMillan stood up afterward and called out "Someone here has a right ear in pain?" Again I was going to claim it and he went on... again, with "and has some hearing loss." Daggum it! Not me again. Still hurting. Well, we still had a wonderful time in the Lord that night anyway, our daughter and her boyfriend were slain in the Spirit for the first time ever and he was changed forever by it. It was pretty sweet in all.

Now on our way out the door afterward, a young girl who is a student at their school, said hello to our kids and as I was walking by she just looked at me and said the strangest thing. "My right ear has been burning for the last few minutes and I don't know why!" She looked right at me as if she knew it was all my fault. Bonnie looked at her ear and agreed with "Yes, it's bright red and looks like it's on fire!" That's when it hit me how God had been trying to get my attention all day to help me out... I just wasn't able to hear the whisper. She asked if she could pray for me after I confessed it was me and everyone in my family just looked at me like, huh? I explained how I was thinking it was opening a door for satan to do his work if I admitted my ear was hurting... Bonnie looked at me with that -Dumb manly pride- look. So she just put her hand on my ear and said a quick prayer, and I heard a popping sound like a knuckle crack, which you can't do with one hand, so I suppose I did have some blockage afterall. Should have listened to Bob Jones to begin with! Pride is one of the biggest roadblocks to being closer to God. He loves me so much, He wasn't going to let me leave without fixing me. Now that is the greatest love of all.

Have a great weekend everybody, and know that He loves each of you every bit as much.

Psalm 103:3- who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.