Do You Believe in Miracles?

Whether you're a skeptic finding yourself in doubt or not, I want to propose a question to you.  Do you believe in miracles?  I can tell you firsthand, yet once again...I was a skeptic and now a believer.  Miracles happen in everyday life.  When you think of a miracle, what do you think of?  A baby's birth...yes, it's a miracle, I believe this.  However, I think there is so much more to miracles than birth.  The whole concept of life is a miracle.  As sinners, we clearly deserve hell, yet by God's great mercy we have been set free by the blood of the Lamb and no one or nothing else.  It's only God and Christ, who came down as an infant.  I honestly think this is part of the reason why birth is such a huge miracle.
All throughout high school and college, I thought miracles were simply the cute little bundles of joy.  Nothing else.  When I heard of physical healings, I thought the people who believed in miracles were crazy.  However, I would see them with my own eyes and not believe it.  I can recall a time when IHOP came to Sioux Falls and put on a presention.  A girl was healed from deafness in her right ear, yet even though I saw it, I did not believe.
I have to say, I am a believer.  Something happened to me, while I was in Peru and that would be God used my hands and my intercession to heal someone.  There is NO way that it was me.  I did not have all my stuff together so I thought there would be no way I would be able to bring healing to a person.  Here's the thing.  God changed my attitude on many things, including healing.  He used me to bring a woman with a crippled hand to freedom.  Okay, so for some of you, lot of you, this sounds crazy, but what was given to me during this time was the gift of faith.  How ridiculous is this, my team and I were praying for a dead man to rise.  Some people heard God saying "This man is not dead, he's only sleeping."  He was our Lazarus, least I mention that as a team we had cried out for the valley of the dry bones to come to life, just like Ezekiel.  Sad to say, he did not come to physical life, but this man is alive.  2 weeks prior he accepted Jesus into his heart and we all know that we will see him in heaven.
Okay, this is not something random that I just wanted to say.  But on Facebook, a friend just posted something about a healing in Alabama.  A woman was able to walk after being paralyzed for 22 years.  Do you believe miracles are possible?  Do you really believe?  Personally, even though I saw this in Peru, I have started to doubt it is possible in the States.  However, after seeing this, I fully believe it is possible.  If you believe, I ask you to stand up for what you believe and run to the Spirit.  We don't need anyone physical person special, we just need the Spirit, which we have received at our salvation.  Live in the Spirit; I urge you too, as this is also a call to myself.

There is Freedom in the Name of Jesus

So, as I told many of you...I would keep you updated as to what happened to me in Peru.  I honestly can say I am a changed person and have only the Lord to thank for that one.  Of course, God used my team of amazing Christians from all over the United States also as they spoke what God was telling them into me.  I am a FREE and NEW person.  Clearly, my name is Rachel.  In the Bible, Rachel was a woman who was beautiful and Jacob, her husband waited 14 years to marry her.  She was an amazing woman who know God to the full, and she also was a mother whose desire was to see her children raised up on the Word of the Lord.  Why do I say this?  Well, here it is.  I fully believe that this is who God has called me to be.  There is a significance to why my name is Rachel.  Until recently, I've realized that this is the call that God has set upon my life.  It means raising youth on the Word of the Lord, whether it's my future kids or children who are longing for Christ.  I know this is what my calling is!  So this is just a little of what is going on within me at this point.

These are just a few things that have happened to change me into a different person.

• Lies have been broken.  I now know the truth.  For so long I was held captive to lies straight from the gates of hell, but throughout this past summer in Peru, God continued to speak into those areas and turned the dark to light.  It's amazing!  How can I not share this with people?  God is amazing!  When someone is asking for truth, I will share it...I don't care what others will say, I need to speak it out.
• Faith!  I have faith!  I have always wanted the gift of faith and God granted it to me this summer.  There were several times when people were healed physically, emotionally, spiritually, etc...  Up to Requena (our second village), I didn't think God would use me to bring healing to people.  Why?-it was a lie I was believing.  However, in Requena, there was a woman who had a crippled hand.  A couple of the teammates and I were praying over her and slowly, finger by finger her hand was restored to the original way hands are supposed to be.  Free to move and bend and work to bring glory to God.  Throughout the trip, I saw many other things come to be.  I am not saying that I am God, but am saying that through faith, anything is possible.  It's so sweet and all you can do is laugh, because God is amazing!
• Joy!  I have found that joy and happiness are completely different things.  I can be happy, but this is dependent upon circumstance.  Joy is not!  Joy is something that is found in your salvation of Christ.  You receive it once you become a Bible-believing Christian, yet you have the choice to live in or live in the dark.
• These are things I just need to share, because they are truth!  So here it goes!
• The joy of the Lord is my strength!  Nehemiah 8:10
• "The more truth you receive, the more joy you will find."-God
• I can either stand in the place of death and let the lies attack and plague me or I can stand in the light and know the truths and meditate on them day and night!
• Truth and joy are hand in hand.  So many times, when people are happy they say they are joyful, yet this is not true.  They are simply happy.  Joy is not a situation to situation type thing.  IT COMES WHEN YOU HAVE RECEIVED THE FREEDOM FROM THE SAVIOR!

So here's just a little of what God did for me this summer!  I have experienced God in so many ways that I can't even think living without him.  I am a changed person and I love life, even when obstacles come in the way.  I will not give up!