Where to begin…
These past few weeks have been profound.
I’ve been wrapped up in a plane I didn’t even know existed!
All my life I’ve believed in God. I cannot ever remember a time in my life I didn’t. But it’s only now that I’m truly beginning to believe in His Power. And His Power is Love.
A few weeks ago my husband and I had the profound opportunity to lead our helper to the Lord.
She was battling so many things and in my heart I knew all her answers lay in Jesus.
Usually I’m a fixer. If I see someone going through stuff my first response is to try and fix- but now I’m realising that what about those things that cannot be fixed by human goodwill, intelligence and even genius?
As I’m discovering God’s insane love for me I’m finding that I no longer have the “right” advice, or the “right” solutions because the purest forms of those things lie only in Jesus.
As I watched Father of Lights I was unraveled and totally shocked at how much I didn’t believe in God.
All this time I’d called myself a believer- and yet I had so much unbelief in who God was: Love; so much unbelief in what He was doing; Insane miracles; And so much unbelief in who He had called me to be: Everything He was.
I had heard about what Jesus had said to His disciples- that amazing things would happen through those who believed in Him- even more amazing things than He’d ever done! I’d read those Scriptures myself! I’d heard people testify about incredible miracles they’d experienced and yet as I watched Father of Lights and saw those things caught on camera I could not believe what I was seeing!
I was embarrassed by my gasps of: “No way!”
But: Way! Way! Way! These things are True.
So earlier this week I started googling, Todd White, one of the guys I’d seen on the film. He’s on a love mission to demonstrate God’s love wherever he goes.
So Tuesday morning I got up really early as I felt such a pull to soak in this world of stupendous where miracles were normal- where Love abounded like I’d never known it to.
I went online and watched Heidi Baker as she spoke about saying Yes to God… I watched Todd unpack his experience of God’s love. And I just drank and drank this life that was pouring out on me.
A few hours later my helper, Mariana, came to work. I could see she was in tremendous pain. Her face was grey. Her eyes welled up as she tried to explain how much pain she was in.
The left side of her face was swollen from the abscess in her jaw.
I told her she had to go home but invited her in for tea and something to eat before she left.
As she made her tea I crawled back to my study for more of this love revolution that was happening.
And I thought to myself that for weeks we’d been telling Mariana how much God loved her. Today what she really needed wasn’t just words of God’s mad love for her- what she needed was healing from the mad pain she was in.
So I sat with her and asked her if I could pray with her. She agreed.
I told her we were going to pray for the pain to go away.
I was tearing up, she was crying… On the inside of me I could see how inadequate I was. I had so many shortcomings- and yet I realised that none of this was about me. None of it.
I could feel God’s heart for this wonderful woman that He had given everything for and His greatest desire was to pour His love on her- that included taking every ounce of pain in her away.
So instead of looking at my inability I saw Jesus standing there. And I imagined Him putting His hands on Mariana. And I remembered that when Jesus had walked this earth, in every single encounter where someone had gone to Him for healing, Jesus had never, ever, ever turned anyone away. Everyone that came to Him He healed.
I thanked Father for Jesus and I put my hand where Mariana’s pain was. And I prayed. Knowing it wasn’t about perfect prayer. Knowing God wasn’t holding out a check list to tick what I’d done and not done- Knowing God was right there wanting to show Mariana His Love- the only thing He asked of me was would I let Him minister to her through me?
How could I say no to Love?
After the first time I prayed I asked Mariana how she felt. She said a little better.
I remembered Todd praying for a young man who’d been almost blind in one eye. The first time Todd prayed the young man said his sight was significantly better. But Todd wasn’t looking for “better” he wanted God’s best. And God’s best was complete healing. 100%.
Todd didn’t quit the first time. Three times he laid hands on the young man and on that third time sight was restored 100%.
So I told Mariana we were going to pray again. And I told her I needed her to be completely honest with me about the pain. We didn’t have to do this quickly. I wasn’t going anywhere. She didn’t have to work. So there was nothing pressing us for time. I told her this pain was going to go completely. So I prayed again. This time when I asked her she was beaming- she shook her head and touched her jaw where the excruciating pain had been- She told me the pain was completely gone. Instantly her complexion had changed and she didn’t look grey anymore.
I could see she couldn’t believe what’d just happened.
I was stoked and wanted to pray for other things with her.
But I felt God impress on my heart that He wanted her to receive the gift of The Holy Spirit and speak in Tongues.
I know there’s a lot of controversy about this issue- I can’t even address that here. All I can testify to is what I know God told me. So I called my husband in to help me explain this gift to Mariana. We asked her if she wanted to receive it and although she didn’t fully understand all we were trying to share with her- she had such an eagerness for more of God.
So we prayed with her. The short version is she totally started speaking in Tongues.
As she prayed in this wonderful new language I could see the joy spreading in her entire being. I’ve never experienced anything like it.
She was bubbling with life. It was as though deep wells of life were just bursting open in her.
I was like a kid rejoicing, jumping up and down, praising God for how awesome He was.
So this was what it felt like to join the love revolution…
Even though I was with Mariana in our living room I could see that God had totally captivated her and this was such an intimate moment between them.
She was overwhelmed by everything that was happening. My husband explained as much to her as he could in the little time he had left with us as he had to leave.
Mariana didn’t want to leave. It was almost as though she didn’t want to leave what she was experiencing. I knew that what she was experiencing wasn’t confined to our living room. But I told her she was welcome to stay as long as she wanted to. She didn’t have to work. She could just relax and bask in what was unfolding in her.
For a while Mariana had been asking me to teach her to bake. So I asked her if she wanted us to make a cake. We did.
We’d mixed food colouring in it. It came out looking like such a childish mess! But it tasted gorgeous and luxurious and utterly yummy.
In my heart I felt that God’s love was like that. On the outside it probably didn’t look like much but when enveloped by it, when taking part of it and experiencing it first hand- it was more than anything we could ever imagine!
By the time Mariana was getting ready to leave she was glowing. That grey she’d hobbled to us with was gone. The swelling had disappeared.
She told me that all she wanted to do was sing. And so she sang me a song about how much God loved her.
She told me how alone she’d felt. And that when she’d prayed in the languages she knew she’d still felt alone. But when she prayed in this New Tongue God had given her- she said it was as though her heart had flung open and she knew she wasn’t alone. I understood then, far much clearer, why God had wanted her to speak in Tongues.
I know there are folks that think this crazy- at one point I thought speaking in Tongues was crazy too. I thought I was making it up and no such thing actually existed.
But this week I saw a physical change in someone just by her speaking in this “crazy” language. I saw God minister to Mariana in a way no human words would have been able to.
I’m realising more and more that there is a hectic Love Revolution happening.
It started thousands of years ago when God sent His Son to show the world who He truly was. Not a God eager to punish at the slightest mistake, but a Father who wanted an intimate love relationship with us that made us feel safe and wonderful to call Him Daddy. A Father who loved us more than we could ever ever imagine and far more than we could ever comprehend. Jesus was the love He sent us. Jesus was His love letter to us.
At anytime Jesus could’ve walked away but every day of His life He said Yes to His love for us. He gave us everything until He had nothing left.
Today His love hasn’t decreased. It burns ever brighter. And the question He asks those of us who believe is a simple one: Will we say Yes to His Love Revolution? Will those of us who say we believe truly believe in His love? Will we walk in faith and touch people where it hurts and allow His power to flow through us so they can truly experience God’s love?
All these questions can be wrapped into one simple ask: will we join His Love Revolution?
I’m discovering an entire Gorgeous Nation of crazy believers who have said Yes. They are seeing people raised from the dead, limbs grow, blind eyes opened, deaf ears opened…
God is real. So is His power. His Power is Love. In that love exist miracles unknown.
This week I got a minute taste of God’s Love. And I can say with absolute conviction that truly God is Love.
I’ve never felt more alive than I did seeing Mariana transformed before my very eyes. I don’t know much about any of this. But what I can tell you for sure is seeing God operate the way He did with Mariana this week… man- it’s pretty addictive.
P.S. For our Love Revolution Cake recipe click here
For Todd’s testimony click here
Below is a trailer of the Father of Lights film: