Holy Spirit – Page 17

God’s Treasure Chest – Romans 16

April 25, 2016 by Sandra McCollom

Here we go – the final chapter of Romans! I have thoroughly enjoyed this book of the Bible and enjoyed recording my thoughts of the treasure I discovered while reading and studying it. What an incredible book of the Bible!

Romans 16:16a says,
Greet each other in Christian love. (NLT)

The Apostle Paul says this after 15 verses of greetings to his friends in a letter. These greetings were much more than a “hello.” As Paul was sending his greetings I noticed he was also speaking words of affirmation over his friends. I think it’s pretty evident that he was calling them out one or two at a time, not just to greet them, but also to honor and encourage them!

Then, in verse 16a Paul encouraged them all to greet each other in Christian love. How blessed they were that he had just given them a living example of how to do this in his letter to them. There’s definitely a lesson to be learned here, by watching how Paul communicated to his friends.

Here are some examples:

Romans 16:1-2 (NLT)
1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a deacon in the church in Cenchrea. 2 Welcome her in the Lord as one who is worthy of honor among God’s people. Help her in whatever she needs, for she has been helpful to many, and especially to me.

Romans 16:3-4 (NLT)
3 Give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in the ministry of Christ Jesus. 4 In fact, they once risked their lives for me. I am thankful to them, and so are all the Gentile churches.

Romans 16:6 (NLT)
6 Give my greetings to Mary, who has worked so hard for your benefit.

Romans 16:7 (NLT)
7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews, who were in prison with me. They are highly respected among the apostles and became followers of Christ before I did.

Romans 16:8-9 (NLT)
8 Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our co-worker in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys.

I personally read though verses 1-16 three times because I was so inspired by Paul’s great leadership example.

I’ve never understood why leaders think they’re going to get the best out of their team by yelling at them, insulting them, intimidating them and making them feel as if they are never good enough. That form of leadership is such a deception.

After reading verses 1-16, I’m sure we would all agree that there is no possible way Paul’s friends could have felt anything other than encouraged by his greeting. In addition, I’m sure we would all agree that Paul’s respectful treatment of them would only serve to make them want to work even harder because they felt valued by him. Now that’s good leadership!

25 Now all glory to God, who is able to make you strong, just as my Good News says. This message about Jesus Christ has revealed His plan for you Gentiles, a plan kept secret from the beginning of time. 26 But now as the prophets foretold and as the eternal God has commanded, this message is made known to all Gentiles everywhere, so that they too might believe and obey Him. 27 All glory to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, forever. Amen.

Verse 25 – God is able to make us strong. How can we be sure? The Good News says so!

Verse 26 – One of the most important things that I have learned on my grace journey is how important my believing is and how right believing leads to right living and wrong believing leads to wrong living; therefore, I always notice something when reading the Bible now that I never noticed before. I notice the phase believe and obey. So they too might believe and obey Him. (from verse 26) Right believing has to come first, then obedience will follow.

For example, if I believe the Bible is a book full of rules and I believe I need to find out what rule there is in each verse for me to follow and and I also believe that I’m going to be punished by God if fail to follow those rules, I am not going to be very enthusiastic about reading it. On the other hand, if I believe the Bible to be a love letter from God to me and a book full of His amazing grace and His promises, then I will be enthusiastic about reading it and I won’t have to be talked into reading and studying it because I will want to as a result of having a right belief system.

Here’s another example. If I believe I have to accomplish a certain amount each day and I believe if I don’t, then that means I’m a failure, that wrong belief will lead me to live in anxiety and frustration. That wrong belief will result in me living in works (self-effort) much of the time instead of being free to trust in God’s grace to carry me through. On the other hand, if I understand that my worth and value come solely from the fact that I am a child of God and He loves me unconditionally, I will be able to receive His grace to help me do my best everyday and not feel better about myself on days I get more accomplished or worse about myself on days I get less accomplished. Believing this way will actually free me to get more accomplished because I’ll be working from a place of rest and peace, assured that I am already loved and valued, instead of trying to work for my worth and value!

Do you see how wrong believing leads to wrong living and right believing leads to right living? It really made a difference for me when I understood this. Now that I do, if I’m living in disobedience in a certain area of my life, I go to the throne of grace (see Hebrews 4:16) and ask God to show me what area my believing is off in so I can begin to believe correctly in that area again, according to His Word, knowing that obedience will naturally flow out of my right believing (out of my renewed mind)!

To find my other God’s Treasure Chest posts on the book of Romans, just click here on My Grace Journey and then scroll down to the topic that says God’s Treasure Chest – Romans!

If you have not yet made Jesus your Savior and received the wonderful joy that His finished work on the cross has provided for you to live in, please visit my page here titled Jesus In The Driver’s Seat. On this page I explain the good news of the gospel and you will have the opportunity to pray a prayer of salvation, making Jesus your Savior! Jesus loves you and His arms are wide open!

Sandra McCollom

My Book Is Now In The Korean Language!

April 23, 2016 by Sandra McCollom

So excited to announce the release of my book, I Tried Until I Almost Died, in the Korean language! I’m grateful to my publisher, WaterBrook & Multnomah, for working with Kyujang Publishing to help this become a reality.

Last night I found out from Wikipedia that about 80 million people speak Korean worldwide!

Please believe with me that the Korean people will be greatly helped, encouraged and blessed as they read and receive a personal revelation of the grace of our Lord Jesus.

I attribute this wonderful news to God’s grace, His unmerited favor, working on my behalf!

Click here to go to a Korean retailer

Click here to check out more about the English edition

Click here to watch a 2 minute video synopsis of I Tried Until I Almost Died

Sandra McCollom

I Was Shouting At The TV In Agreement

April 20, 2016 by Sandra McCollom

Over a month ago my husband Steve listened to this teaching by Judah Smith, Pastor of The City Church in Seattle. He said he wanted us all to watch it as a family during one of our weekly family rallies.

I was literally shouting at the TV in agreement while my family and I watched this teaching. It will help you understand how grace works in your life. That’s why I was shouting. He was explaining the journey that I have been walking out for the past 4 years.

This message is about how to see our impulses, appetites and desires become more like Jesus!

While watching, I was shouting, “That’s right. That’s exactly how grace works. People have got to hear this. It’s gonna help them!” Then, the minute we finished watching it, I emailed The City Church and asked permission to post a link on my website. I’m thrilled to say that they said yes!

If you have ever heard Judah Smith preach you already know this, but the man is hilarious so get ready to laugh and be helped at the same time! This link leads straight to the church’s website where you will find all of Pastor Judah’s other teachings as well.

The Six Week Journey – Part Two

Sandra McCollom

Our Breakthroughs Come By God’s Grace, But Grace Must Be Received

April 15, 2016 by Sandra McCollom

I thoroughly enjoy processing my grace journey by thinking through how God’s grace plays into every single part of my life. I had a pretty rough period of time for about 12 weeks earlier in the year, but God has really given me some huge breakthroughs recently. I’ll tell you more about those in the future, but my whole experience got me thinking about how our breakthroughs come.

How do our breakthroughs come? By God’s grace!

How do we receive God’s grace? By Faith!

Faith is not a feeling we have to work up. It’s simply trusting God.

So God is always extending His grace to us, but if it’s true that we receive His grace by faith – by believing – then it would also be true that we could stop receiving His grace through unbelief or wrong believing.

This doesn’t mean God stops extending His grace. He is always supplying grace to us, but we still have to do our part which is to receive His gift of grace by faith.

There are many ways we can stop-up the pipeline of God’s grace through unbelief. Maybe, after you read this post, God will show you something specific that you’re doing to stop up that pipeline. One way I used to do this was by receiving guilt and condemnation. Instead of receiving God’s forgiveness provided to me through His shed blood, when I sinned I would try to pay for my own sins by feeling guilty and condemned. As a Christian, I was believing wrong by thinking I had to pay for my own sins.

I very rarely ever mess with guilt and condemnation anymore because… (see Romans 8:1)

If the devil does try to bury me with guilt and condemnation I turn away from it and turn instead to God’s grace once again by believing (trusting) that I am:

1.) Unconditionally Loved (see Romans 8:35-39) and (Psalm 36:5)

2.) Completely Forgiven (see Matthew 26:27-28) and (Ephesians 1:7)

3.) Righteous through Jesus!! (see Philippians 3:9) and (2 Corinthians 5:21)

So remember that the breakthroughs in your life come by way of God’s grace and you can always choose to receive God’s grace through faith!

You can’t earn it. You can’t do enough to deserve it. You’ll never be able to merit it. But THAT’S O.K. because God’s grace is His unearned, undeserved, unmerited favor and it is a free gift to you. It’s for your salvation, when you trust in Jesus and receive Him as your Lord and Savior, and also for your everyday life, as you choose to receive it by trusting in Him to help you through the circumstances of your daily life instead of trusting in yourself and your own efforts!

Have a great weekend living in God’s grace!

#FreedomLiving

Sandra McCollom

Freedom From Legalism

April 14, 2016 by Sandra McCollom

Do you find yourself wondering if you have done enough for God? Are you looking for a to-do list to accomplish for God in order to be acceptable to Him? When you struggle with sin do you think you would be able to overcome if you would just try harder? Do you have a hard […]

The post Freedom From Legalism appeared first on Sandra McCollom.

Your Struggle Is Not With People

April 11, 2016 by Sandra McCollom

It really helps me to remember that my battle is not with people, but with the devil and his evil spirits that are holding people captive. It even helps me pray for people with a greater level of compassion when I keep this in mind.

When I pray, I don’t come against the person themselves in prayer, but the spirit of fear, jealousy, control, manipulation, violence, anger, pride, intimidation, depression etc. – whatever that spirit is that seems to be holding that person in bondage.

I pray for myself this way as well. For instance, I might pray, “I bind up this spirit of fear that is trying to hold me captive in this particular area in the name of Jesus. I loose a spirit of peace and calm over my life in this area right now. (see Matthew 16:19) God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (see 2 Timothy 1:7) I receive God’s love afresh for myself and I know His perfect love drives out every fear. (See 1 John 4:18)

Jesus gave us Christians authority over all the power of the enemy! This is really good news!

Colossians 2:15 says, “When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities [those supernatural forces of evil operating against us], He made a public example of them [exhibiting them as captives in His triumphal procession], having triumphed over them through the cross.” – AMP

and

Luke 10:19 says, “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” – NKJ

I told you it was really good news. We have been given authority over the devil and his personal assistants and we need to use it!

I do want to make one clarification here in case anyone would have this question. Am I saying there’s never a time to confront a person directly? Definitely not. In fact, I believe in Spirit-led confrontation, but it must be Spirit-led and it must be done in love for it to do any good.

We have to remember that only God can change a person’s heart by His grace. Remembering this keeps us doing our job and allows God to do His job. Sometimes the person is living in such deception that they either can’t see or purposely won’t admit to the fact that they are not living their lives led by the Holy Spirit, but have succumbed to living under the influence of another kind of spirit. We can pray that the blinders of deception be removed from their eyes.

Steve prayed for me all those years that I was living under the influence of a spirit of legalism and thank God he did. I am now free from that spirit’s influence and I am living my life once again under the leadership of the Holy Spirit!

Your Struggle Is Not With People

April 11, 2016 by Sandra McCollom

Jesus gave us Christians authority over all the power of the enemy! This is really good news!

and

Luke 10:19 says, “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” – NKJ

I told you it was really good news. We have been given authority over the devil and his personal assistants and we need to use it!

Your Battle Is Not With People

April 11, 2016 by Sandra McCollom

Jesus gave us Christians authority over all the power of the enemy! This is really good news!

and

Luke 10:19 says, “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” – NKJ

I told you it was really good news. We have been given authority of the devil and his personal assistants and we need to use it!

Sandra McCollom

Good Parenting

March 30, 2016 by Sandra McCollom

Wow, I love to write. I think I could write all day long and not get bored, especially if it meant helping someone. Although I don’t have time to write all day long these days, I get excited when God puts something on my heart to write and post for your encouragement and then the Holy Spirit helps me put it into words. I hope this post on good parenting helps you. Of course, all the glory goes to God…always!

Good parenting takes time…lots and lots of time. This is one big reason us McCollom’s don’t plan such a tight schedule that we end up running from thing to thing to thing. We learned years ago that to be able to listen to our kids and to be able to train them according to the Word of God this would take many, many, many, many conversations over the years; therefore, we purposely leave time in our schedule for these conversations.

Of course, just like everyone else, I have over scheduled our lives before. (I say I instead of we because Steve really doesn’t fall into this trap) But every time I do over schedule, I find that those parent/child conversations that are suppose to be positive and bring a positive outcome become more of a frustration. When that happens our kids can begin to feel like they are a frustration to us and that is definitely not God’s plan for parenting!

I just had a conversation with my girls this morning that was not in my plan, but the extra time was in my schedule helping me be able to calmly listen and talk through what we needed to talk through. And most importantly, having that time and not being in a hurry helped me remember to stop and hear from the Holy Spirit before making any decisions or saying anything I would regret.

I believe this kind of parenting leaves our kids feeling loved.

Today I encourage you and remind myself with this:

Let’s leave lots of extra time in our daily schedules for good parenting! We’ll all be glad we did because good parenting is an investment we are making into our kids lives and we will reap the benefit of investing well!

Let’s pray and ask the Holy Spirit to guide us and then be willing to click the delete button on as many things as we need to in our schedules so good parenting doesn’t end up getting deleted!

Sandra McCollom

God’s Treasure Chest – Romans 15

March 16, 2016 by Sandra McCollom

Here’s some of the treasure I discovered while reading and studying Romans chapter 15. I hope this brings you encouragement!

Romans 15:1-2 say,

1 We who are strong must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this. We must not just please ourselves. 2 We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord. (NLT)

Well, I have to admit that I failed in fulfilling this verse recently. Keep in mind, this example I’ll be giving does deal with weakness, but not specifically in regards to what one eats as Paul discussed in Romans 14.

In my situation I was ministering to a lady that a friend of mine put me in contact with purposely so I could help her. There were several areas where she was really struggling to trust God and those same areas, which had also been a struggle for me in the past, are areas where I am now enjoying freedom, BUT the ONLY reason is because of God’s grace .

She just kept making excuses for her situation and blaming others and I was thinking, “Lady, do you want help or not.”

The next day I started reading Romans 15 and verses 1&2 immediately stood out . I knew right away that it was no accident.

It’s not what I said to her that day that was wrong. In fact, I believe I was able to offer her some genuine help. It was my attitude toward her weakness that was wrong.

This situation reminds me of 2 Timothy 3:16-17 which say,

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (NASB)

This is what seeing Romans 15:1-2 did for me. It taught me, reproved me and corrected me. This is something I have no problem with now, but for many years I would have taken something like this in a condemnatory type of way, even though that was never the way God intended for me to receive it.

I talked about this in my book, I Tried Until I Almost Died. In it I said, …after coming to a grace revelation, I started seeing and reading the Bible from a completely different perspective. Instead of seeing a book of rules, I now see a book full of promises – promises made available to us by a heavenly Father who, rather than waiting to punish us when we step out of line, invites us to step into His presence just as we are.

You see, God wasn’t saying to me through His Word, ‘Wow Sandra, you’ve really blown it royally this time. Man you are so self-centered. Come on. Get your act together girl,’ although this is exactly how I would have perceived the correction prior to understanding God’s nature of goodness, love and grace.

Here’s what I felt God was showing me through His Word this time, now that I was reading it differently. First, God brought the situation from the day before to my mind immediately when I read Romans 15, verses 1 and 2. He showed me that the conversation was frustrating to me as a result of my perspective of just wanting this girl to get over her insecurities and get on with her spiritual journey and that I really wasn’t looking out for her or looking to please her, but myself. Basically, I wanted her to stop feeling sorry for herself, stop making excuses and just listen to me so she could get the help she needed. But God reminded me once again that only He can change a person’s heart. I don’t know about you, but once in a while I still try to take matters into my own hands by attempting to do God’s job.

This has been a great reminder for me to bear with the failings of the weak!

Romans 15:5 says,

May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. (NLT)

See, I love this. Even when we are impatient with another person’s weakness, we don’t have to go into a fix ourself up mode. This verse tells us that it is God who gives us patience and encouragement. It is Him who helps us live in complete harmony with others. And if we want His help all we have to do is ask for it!

Romans 15:7 says,

Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory. (NLT)

This Biblical truth has helped me in so many areas. For many years I tried to accept others, forgive others and love others, but I didn’t have the revelation that God accepted me, had forgiven me and loved me unconditionally. It was when I got this revelation that I was able to begin to give out what I had finally received from God.

Of course, I’m not perfect, as you saw by my example at the beginning of this blog post, but I can testify for sure that accepting, forgiving and loving other people comes so much more naturally than it did before I understood how God truly felt about me.

Romans 15:13 says,

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. (NLT)

One of the most amazing things that I have discovered on my grace journey these past 4 years is how much of our Christian walk hinges on us being willing to trust God.

Jesus provided everything we will ever need to live in victory through His finished work on the cross… but we have to believe this is true in order to receive. In the New Covenant of God’s grace all of His promises are yes and amen… but we have to believe to receive. God is so amazingly good. He doesn’t just do love. He is love. But again, we have to believe in God’s goodness to receive the enormous benefits that come with right believing!

Romans 15:14 -15a says,

I am fully convinced, my dear brothers and sisters, that you are full of goodness. You know these things so well you can teach each other all about them. Even so, I have been bold enough to write about some of these points, knowing that all you need is this reminder. (NLT)

I simply love the Bible and I love how the Apostle Paul ministered to the church! He ministered with a gracious spirit, believing the best of them, always teaching them wisdom and reminding them (when they got off track) who they were in Christ Jesus and what was available to them through Christ Jesus.

The apostle Paul said this in Romans 15:16:

I am a special messenger from Christ Jesus to you Gentiles. I bring you the Good News so that I might present you as an acceptable offering to God, made holy by the Holy Spirit. (NLT)

I’m getting the biggest kick out of studying this chapter. I know I’ve said this before…many times, but I don’t think I’ll ever get over the difference in how I see the Bible now that I am reading it through the lens of God’s grace. It really is like a huge treasure chest to me!

It’s so cool here that Paul said bringing the Good News to them was going to make such a dynamic change in them that he would be able to present them as an acceptable offering to God. Why? Because this Good News was not just any ordinary good news. It was (and is) the Good News about Jesus and what He did for them (and us) through His death and resurrection. Paul knew they would (and we would) be made holy through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross by the power of the Holy Spirit when they chose (and we choose) to believe this Good News!

Wait a minute Sandra? I thought I had to do all these “holy acts” in order to be holy.

Nope. All you have to do is believe the Good News about Jesus! But guess what? When you do believe in and receive Jesus as your Savior and you know you’ve been made holy because of Jesus, you will most definitely end up living a holier lifestyle than ever before because your who always affects your do.

But guess what else? You can live as a Christian for years, even decades, and not see the fruit of holiness in your life that should be there. Guess why? Because you somehow skipped getting ahold of the who you are in Christ part and went directly to the what you need to do for Christ part. Sadly, this happened to me.

and…

I believe there are a good number of Christians attempting to live out their Christianity without knowing who they are in Christ. This, my friend, is a very bad recipe for F.R.U.S.T.R.A.T.I.O.N.

But guess what? It can all be turned around when you begin to learn who you are in Christ Jesus! When you do, right doing will begin to flow naturally from your right believing about who you really, truly are in Jesus!

How do I know this? It happened to me! Thank God that He has restored everything the deceiver (satan) worked so hard to make sure I missed.

THIS is why I will be spending the rest of my life reminding others of their true identity in Christ.

Romans 15:24 says,

I am planning to go to Spain, and when I do, I will stop off in Rome. And after I have enjoyed your fellowship for a little while, you can provide for my journey. (NLT)

This is very interesting to me how the apostle Paul boldly asked for financial help from the Christians in Rome so he could continue his missionary journey. In today’s world if Paul said something like this some might accuse him by saying all Paul ever wants is our money. But it seems to me from reading some of the different verses in this chapter that this was not the mentality of the early church at all. They were in it to preach the Gospel. They were in it to spread the Good News. This is what they lived for.

Now, I realize one of the reasons there is so much suspicion out there in the area of money is because of the way some churches/ministries have mishandled money. I really do understand that. Believe me, Steve and I are very careful who we give to.

All I’m saying is that reading this chapter really made me want to see the church get back to being united for the purpose Jesus gave us – to Go Into All The World And Preach The Gospel!

And He said to them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. (Mark 16:15 -NASB)

Of course, as you know, there are plenty of great churches and ministries out there that are really fulfilling The Great Commission. I’m inspired, after reading this chapter, to begin to pray that Christians worldwide will both find and get planted in a great church that is Jesus-centered and preaches the Gospel and find great ministries that do the same and begin to partner with them to fulfill the purpose Jesus gave to us, His church!

I can’t think of any better way to invest my money than to invest it into the lives of people who don’t yet know Jesus!

My next and final God’s Treasure Chest post will be on Romans 16.

To find my other God’s Treasure Chest posts on the book of Romans, just click here on My Grace Journey and then scroll down to the topic that says God’s Treasure Chest – Romans!

Sandra McCollom

Major Breakthrough!

March 5, 2016 by Sandra McCollom

First thing I want to say is Thank You All For Your Prayers in regards to my health situation that I talked about in my last post, Going Through A Trial? Here’s Some Encouragement!

Since that post was published on February 18th, I have received a major breakthrough!

If you have not had a chance to read that post I encourage you to do so before you read this one. I linked it above for your convenience.

As I mentioned in that blog post, I have been dealing with paresthesia for probably the past 6 weeks. In addition to this, I’ve had neck pain, jaw pain, ringing in my left ear that seems to be getting louder, bouts of nausea with the neck pain, periods of disorientation, headaches (which I almost never get) and so, so, so much trouble focusing and concentrating.

As I have continued to do the things I recommended to you in that blog post I have received a breakthrough in regards to my health!

I’ve had a history on and off with iron deficiency, but several years ago my doctor recommended a supplement called Iron Complex from Integrative Therapeutics. I wasn’t currently taking this supplement, but as my symptoms became worse and worse I began taking it again one week ago. The difference in the way I felt within just 24 hours was so significant.

The first thing I noticed is that I could think again. Wow, was that nice!

I’m thrilled to say that at this point almost all of the symptoms I was experiencing have been greatly reduced.

Oh, and I didn’t even tell you that whatever was going on with my health seemed to be attacking my nervous system. Especially over the past couple of weeks, before I started taking the Iron Complex, I had felt an increasing amount of nervousness, to the point where, on several occasions, I basically flipped out. Not that I haven’t flipped out before in my lifetime because I certainly have, but this was different. I knew something was really wrong. I was getting overwhelmed so easily from feeling like there was too much information coming at my brain. Believe me, I was NOT myself. It was a horrible feeling.

In fact, 2 weeks ago while driving my girls to Friday night church I was having one of my flip out sessions. I was having a super hard time feeling overwhelmed and even screamed out on the way, I don’t want to go to church. I don’t want to do this. Those of you who know me know how much I love my church and actually count down the hours until church every week, so this was not normal behavior.

It’s funny now, looking back on it and remembering how I was acting, but it sure wasn’t funny at the time. In fact, I even threatened to not go into church and just sit in my car in the church parking lot while my girls were in their middle school class. I knew I wasn’t really going to do that, but I came close.

Right in the middle of my meltdown I asked my girls (who were sitting in the back seat hearing all of this) to pray for me. My daughter Angel prayed the most beautiful prayer over me. I’m getting choked up right now as I type this, recalling her prayer.

CeCe Winans was at our church that night leading worship and oh my goodness, that’s exactly what I needed. I needed to worship God right in the middle of my storm. Indeed, God answered Angel’s prayer that night as well as my own. The only thing I could manage to get out of my mouth before I walked into the church was, God, please help me. Please give me a breakthrough tonight!

It was not an immediate breakthrough, but only one week after that awesome night of worship I’m thankful to be able to sit here and type that the nervousness and feeling of being overwhelmed is now completely gone. I am so relieved to be feeling like myself again.

This coming Monday I am scheduled to get an MRI of my c-spine. After my symptoms started decreasing I prayed about if I should cancel my MRI or not, but I did not feel led to cancel it. I am still having some symptoms and I feel it’s wisdom to go ahead and get the test done as I probably needed this test several years ago.

And the good news is, I’ve already had an MRI and an MRA of my brain to check for tumors and aneurysm’s in conjunction with the ringing in my left ear and both tests came out perfectly fine. Praise Jesus!

I also went to my regular doctor last week and explained everything to him, including how much the Iron Complex seemed to be helping me. I had only been seeing my chiropractor for this issue up to that point. In fact, he is the one sending me for the MRI. But my regular doctor sent me for a blood test and I am waiting for those results. He also wrote a prescription out for me to get a type of physical therapy called Myofacial Release which I start in a couple of weeks.

So, I’m not all the way there yet, but as you can see, God is bringing me through and God is Who I give all the glory to! God may have used an iron supplement to help me and I believe He is leading me to get this Physical Therapy, but, no matter who or what He chooses to use, it is God who gives the breakthrough!

Someone may say, Sandra, since you still have some symptoms, how can you title this blog post Major Breakthrough? Believe me, if you knew how bad off I was, you would know why I feel like I have received a major breakthrough…and besides, my total breakthrough is on it’s way!

As I said in my post last week, when we continue to trust God in the midst of our trials, He will work everything together for our good. It’s a Biblical promise.

I have actually had issues with my neck and jaw for years now, although the pain was greatly elevated recently. I have also had ringing in my left ear for a little over a year. So some of the symptoms I am experiencing have been around for a while, BUT you better believe this girl is not giving up for anything. Healing is mine. Jesus already paid for it and He said It Is Finished.

I told my Mom the other day, wouldn’t it be cool if I got this physical therapy and it not only took care of my current set of health issues, but also resolved the longstanding problem with my neck pain, jaw pain and the ringing in my ear?

That’s what I’m believing for. In fact, I’m convinced that God will once again take what the devil intends for my harm and turn it around and work it all together for my good!

My trust in God has really grown over the past 4 years, since I have come into a revelation of His grace. I’ve begun to play a little game when I have trials. When I do, I immediately think, Oh my goodness, I cannot wait to see what good God is going to work out of this situation. And guess what? GOD NEVER FAILS. Every single solitary time I go through a trial I am able to look back and clearly see all the ways in which God has worked on my behalf. I’ve already seen it over this past week and know that I will continue to watch God bring me through to a complete breakthrough and actually to a place of being better off than I was before!

I invite you to play this game along with me. What shall we call it? The Believing God Game? The Trusting in Jesus Game?

Regardless of what we name it, let’s determine that no matter what the devil tries to attack us with, we will never stop believing in God’s goodness, love and grace toward us!

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. – Romans 15:13 (NASB)

Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses]. – Hebrews 11:1 (AMP)

But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.
– Isaiah 40:31 (NLT)

Overhearing what was being said, Jesus said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid; only keep on believing [in Me and my power].” – Mark 5:36 (AMP)

No weapon formed against you shall prosper,
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their righteousness is from Me,”
Says the Lord.
– Isaiah 54:17 (NKJV)

For when we believe we enter God’s rest. (see Hebrews 4)

Sandra McCollom

Going Through A Trial? Here’s Some Encouragement!

February 18, 2016 by Sandra McCollom

I’ve been up since 2:30 am with symptoms of paresthesia. Paresthesia, by definition, is an abnormal sensation, typically tingling or prickling (“pins and needles”) caused chiefly by pressure on or damage to peripheral nerves.

This has been going on for about a month and yes, I am seeing a doctor for it.

As I was laying in bed and couldn’t go back to sleep I thought, since I can’t sleep, maybe I can write a post on what to do when we go through trials and maybe it will help others who are also going through something right now.

So here’s some encouragement for you!

When you’re going through a trial here are some things I recommend.

1.) Remember that God loves you and that He didn’t give you the trial to teach you a lesson

I know there are many different schools of thought on this issue and I’m not here to argue with anyone, but if your reading my blog, you’re never going to hear me say that God gives us trials or even permits them in our lives. My belief is that the devil comes to steal, kill and destroy, but Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. See what Jesus Himself said here is John 10:10 .

I sincerely feel what we believe about God and His nature is critical to our lives. If you would like to hear a really good message on this subject click here to listen to a teaching by our pastor, Jeff Perry: Does God Cause Or Permit Bad Things In Our Lives.

2.) Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus

This past month Jesus has reminded me over and over again to keep my eyes fixed on Him.

Matthew 14:24-33 says,

24 Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves. 25 About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. 26 When the disciples saw Him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, “It’s a ghost!”

27 But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” He said. “Take courage. I am here!”

28 Then Peter called to Him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.”

29 “Yes, come,” Jesus said.

So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted.

31 Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?”

32 When they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped. 33 Then the disciples worshiped Him. “You really are the Son of God!” they exclaimed. (NLT)

This Biblical story is so amazing as it so clearly proves the difference Peter experienced when He was keeping his eyes firmly fixed on Jesus as opposed to when he started focusing on the wind and the waves in life – the storm going on around him.

I’m so glad this is in the Bible for us to look back at over and over again to remind us what to do when we’re in a storm…like for me, right now. The paresthesia symptoms have lessened a little over the past couple of weeks, but not at any kind of lightening speed as I would like. But a few weeks ago the tingling was so bad that it was literally going all over my body. Crazy. I called and texted a few people for prayer and I knew I had a decision to make right then and there. Was I going to focus on the storm of my circumstance or was I going to trust Jesus by keeping my eyes fixed on Him and His finished work on the cross? I knew from experience that one would result in me having to fight fear and the other would result in me being able to stay in peace right in the middle of the storm – symptoms and all.

It’s not about trying to work up more faith. It’s simply about us choosing to trust in Jesus and trust that He will see us through. I’ve said this before in a previous post, but I love what my pastor, Jeff Perry, said one time about faith at Friday night church. He said, “Faith is just reliance on how good God is.” This helped me so much because it simplified it and made it more practical for me.

Hebrews 12:1-3 says,

12 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (NASB)

I LOVE what the Amplified translation says here in the first part of verse 2:

[looking away from all that will distract us and] focusing our eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of faith [the first incentive for our belief and the One who brings our faith to maturity] Hebrews 12:2a (AMP)

3.) Refuse to be moved by what you feel, see or hear. Instead, be moved by the promises in God’s Word.

I certainly had to put this into action the day I had that severe paresthesia all over my body and I still do right this very minute as symptoms are happening while I type.

I’ve had to ask myself a number of times: Are these symptoms going to dictate to me my outcome or is God’s Word going to dictate my outcome. It’s almost like I’ve had to get obstinate against what I’m feeling and purposely hold my head up high and fight the good fight of faith by continuing to rest in the finished work of the cross. To me that’s what not being moved by what I feel means.

Then, when I heard several doctors say to me in the beginning of this, If you keep having the tingling you need to get back in here. That’s not something you want to mess with,” I had to choose to not be moved by what I was hearing. This doesn’t mean I have ignored what the doctors have said. In fact, I am going in and getting treatments. But to me, not being moved by what I hear simply means I don’t let the doctor’s report unnerve me and send me into a panic. How can I do this? By keeping my eyes fixed on Jesus and the truth that He already paid the price for my healing on the cross.

I really can’t be looking around in anxiety thinking, Oh my gosh, what am I gonna do, what am I gonna do. I have to do something to make these symptoms stop. No. What I have to do is keep believing that God’s got this no matter what I feel, see or hear…because He actually does!

So many times people (and I’ve done this many times before) launch forward in their own efforts in a situation like this and instead of trusting God and being perceptive to the leading of the Spirit, they are led by their own mind, will and emotions. But self effort is never going to produce the same result that resting in Jesus and His finished work and following the leadership of the Holy Spirit will produce.

4.) Recall past victories

When we are in pain or discomfort it’s easier to say we should be in faith than to actually do it. I have been in the hospital on numerous occasions with high fevers and infections and was in such a delirious state that I didn’t even feel I had strength to pray for myself. All I could get out of my mouth through my delirium was, Dear God, please help me, but guess what…that was enough! In fact, this is now my favorite prayer to pray. I pray this every day, all throughout the day when I need God’s help…which very is often!

This past month I have felt somewhat discouraged at times. I believe this is partially because of the pain I’ve been fighting. I’m sure you would agree that pain has a wearing affect on us. One of the things I have done to combat this discouragement is to purposely recall past victories over unpleasant circumstances that God has delivered me from in the past.

For instance, from 2009-2011 I went through what I refer to as a 2.5 year health nightmare, but guess what? – God brought me through it. Here’s that story if you would like to read about it or listen to it via audio post: The Value of Trials.

Just like David looked back and recounted the victories God had given him with the lion and the bear to prepare him to conquer the giant, we also need to purposely recount all the things God has helped us through in the past to help us have the strength to fight against discouragement during a trial.

The McCollom family has what we call our book of remembrance. In it, we record the things God does for us, the prayers that have been answered in our lives and our friends’ lives and the trials God has brought us through. We haven’t recorded anything in our book of remembrance for a while, but not because God hasn’t done anything. We have just gotten busy and not taken the time to record anything lately. Let me go on record by saying this bugs me.

I told my husband the other day, just imagine if we recorded every single thing the Lord did for us, how big our book of remembrance would be and how encouraging it would be for us to look back on in years to come!

Here are just a few recent blessings that come to mind.

The medal part of a chair fell on Angel’s head this morning while she was laying on the floor, but she is totally fine. I believe God protected her from what could have been a serious injury.
We made a change in our girls’ schooling situation recently and although it was a little hectic (time wise) while working through the transition, God’s grace is totally on the change and things are going great!
Sophie, one of our dogs, had a bad rash recently. We scheduled an appointment with her Veternarian, but then prayed that she would get better so we wouldn’t have to spend the time or the money on this appointment. The rash cleared up very quickly and we were able to cancel the appointment.

I am inspired after writing these few, very recent, breakthroughs, to open up my book of remembrance this weekend and catch up on recording all the things I can remember since the last time I’ve recorded in it. I seriously DO NOT want to forget all the awesome things that God does in my life, the lives of my family members and my friends’ lives!

5.) Remember Romans 8:28

Don’t forget what Romans 8:28 says:

And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose. (Romans 8:28 – AMP)

I believe this Biblical truth with all my heart. This is why I am able to say to myself, when going through a trial, God is gonna work this whole thing together for the good… for sure. This blog post is one example. No, I don’t believe God gave me paresthesia. What I do believe is, the devil hates me and wants to stop me from helping others. But look at how God is helping me have the stamina to write this post and causing all things to work together for good! In fact, I just noticed that the symptoms I had when I started typing are gone! Thank You Jesus!

So I really encourage you to hold onto Romans 8:28 as a promise.

6.) Receive Communion to honor Jesus for His sacrifice for you

Well this may be the last piece of encouragement I’m giving, but it certainly is not the least. I really enjoy receiving communion on a regular basis as a way to honor Jesus for the sacrifice He made for me through His finished work on the cross. It’s a great way for us to receive afresh everything Jesus provided for us through His death and resurrection. In fact, I tell Jesus every time I receive communion that I am going to receive every single solitary thing that He died to provide for me, leaving no stone unturned… and guess what, sometimes I say this while experiencing negative symptoms at the same time. Again, we CANNOT be moved by what we see, feel or hear. We have to decide that , by God’s grace, we are going to hold our heads up high, even when the devil is trying to beat us down, and only be moved by the truth of God’s Word.

I have posted about the privilege of honoring Jesus through receiving communion before and have had quite a few comments from people saying, Oh wow, I didn’t know I could do this on a regular basis.

If you would like to read a wonderful mini-book on the power of communion, I recommend Pastor Joseph Prince’s book titled Health And Wholeness Through The Holy Communion. This is such a good book that I’ve given away numerous times when visiting and praying for people in the hospital and I believe it dispels some common misconceptions about communion that will help you!

Well, 2,435 words and 6 hours later… I pray this blog post brought you encouragement.

Special note of thanks to my daughter Angel, who made me a great breakfast of her own free will so I could finish this post. Also, Angel said Starr made Angel’s breakfast so Angel could make mine – haha. Thank you Starr!

Sandra McCollom

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