Healing is a part of Salvation.....

Healing is just salvation impacting the natural man. That's all it is. Jesus didn't see a difference between salvation and healing to the person.
We can get a little bit of an idea of this in Mark 2:9, where Jesus said, "Whether it is easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?"
We've taken what God put together in the Atonement and we've made it two seperate subjects. When Jesus went to the cross, He took our sin, iniquity, sickness, and disease there. Forgiveness and healing have never been different subjects. Healing is nothing more than the New Birth affection the human body.
We see that sin takes a toll on the human body. We can look at someone who has been in sin all their life, and we can see it on them. We can tell that they have lived a rough life. Their sin has had an adverse affect. If someone is an alcoholic for a long period of time, we can see the effects of that upon them. And when people get born again and healing begins to come into their body we can see the advantages of righteousness on them.

Jesus wanted to prove to the religious leaders that He could forgive sin. The religious leaders could only go by what they saw, so Jesus showed them salvation in the natural. He healed the lame man to show how salvation works. In other words, he said, "If you can't see redemption one way, I will show it to you another. I'll prove to you that I have the power to forgive sin. I'll tell this man to get up and walk, and he will do it." He did, and they were absolutely amazed. As the power of this gospel of salvation impacted his physical being, he stood up and walked, and salvation renewed the whole man.
Salvation is not to renew part of us, but it's to have all of us impacted by all of God.
Isaiah 53:4-5 "Surely he hath borne our grief, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."
Salvation and healing are not seperate issues. Jesus didn't see them that way. We will never walk in the full measure of power to get the sick healed until we have a proper, foundational understanding of healing in the atonement.
John 3:17 says, "For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved."
Now if you look at this word "saved" in Strong's Concordance, in the Greek it means "sozo." That word means "deliver, protect, heal, preserve, save, do well, to make whole."
If you look at that word "whole" in Matthew 9:21, it says, "If I may but touch His garment, I shall be whole."
The woman with the issue of blood touched His garment and she was made whole. That word "whole" is also the Greek word "sozo." The whole person impacted by the whole God.
In Mark 10:50-52 we read, "And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto him, what wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way."
In this passage the word "whole" is also "sozo", "to be completed." You see salvation is to impact or make whole the person in spirit, mind and body. It's not to push this work of healing on God and think that God's will is salvation for everyone, but not healing for everyone. When we push that responsibility on God, then it's "Whatever God does is OK with us." But God's will is for salvation to impact every person and also for healing to impact every person and also for healing to impact every person.
Romans 5:12 says, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."
If we look into Deuteronomy 28, we see that sickness is incipient death, or death in progress.
The passage in Romans say that by on man sin entered into the world, and death by sin. Through the fall of Adam, sin entered the world through disobedience, and death by sin. Sickness is incipient death. Since sickness is part of the curse, and only God could remove the curse, then the only way He could do it was through substitution, because of our free will.
We have a will to choose - God is not a dictator. He's not trying to force us to become His children. Through substitution, He could remove the curse.
Galatians 3:13 says, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree."
If healing is not for us, then how can justify us, and at the same time require us to remain under the law's curse, when the Apostle Paul says you're not under the law, but under grace? (Romans 6:14)
Why should anyone remain under the law's curse if they're not under the law? That would be like putting someone in jail and keeping them there when the court has declared them innocent.
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. He became our substitute. He became the curse so that the curse of sickness would come off of us and go onto Him on the cross. He bore our sickness and carried our pain.
If we're to be redeemed to God through salvation, then why should we remain under the curse of the law, which is sickness? Sickness is part of that curse. See, if the body is not included in redemption, how can there be resurrection? How can corruption put on incorruption?
1 Corinthians 15:52-54 says, "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory."
If we were resurrected with a body still under the curse - if redemption were not impacting the physical man - and we were raised with the curse of sickness still in us, then sickness would go right up to heaven.
But Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, because He was that substitute. Sin and sickness went upon Him, so that redemption would impact the whole man, not part of man. God is coming to redeem man in spirit, mind and body. That's why corruption will put on incorruption in that day - so that healing will impact the whole person.
Since our future destiny is both spiritual and bodily, our redemption must also be both spiritually and bodily. There can be no bodily resurrection without bodily redemption. It can't happen.
Isn't God as willing to show the mercy of healing to His Body as He is to show the mercy of forgiveness to His enemies? Think about that. If salvation and healing are to impact us, and He is willing to show His mercy for salvation to His enemies, then He is also willing to show His mercy for healing to His own Body.
If Jesus is the Head of the Church, and we're the Body of Christ, then we're connected, because we have been raised with Him and we're seated with Him. We are connected. And if salvation and healing are provided by the Head, then whey should it bot also impact the Body of the Head? Why should this Body only be impacted with salvation and still have the provision of the curse - sickness - impacting the Body?
Is the Body of Christ supposed to look like the world, or is it to represent what the Head provides for it? If sickness comes from the enemy, should the things of the enemy exist in the Body of Christ? We must not look at the Church as a body of believers disconnected down here, we must see it as connected to the Head. We must have a revelation of what the Body of Christ is to look like. Not a Body with a rapture mentality. Not a Body more impacted by what the devil had done than by what God has don.
Here again, we have to go back to Ephesians 2:5-6; "Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus."
We're a connected Body. We must begin to exemplify all that Christ provided in the atonement as the Head of that Body.
I believe that Jesus has been looking down at His Body lately, saying, "This isn't what I had in mind. I want this Body to benefit from all that I provided when I redeemed it from the curse." Redemption is to impact HIs whole Body, not part of it.
God's purpose in sending His Son to the cross was to redeem all that He created, not part of it. God 's purpose in sending His Son to the cross was to redeem all that He created, not part of it. God did not make a disposable man. He did not say, "I am coming to redeem just the spirit of man, and I'm going to discard the rest of him.
1 Corinthians 15:53-54 says; "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory."
When the power of redemption impacts a person, it is to impact the whole person. We must begin to move toward that understanding of redemption.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
It doesn't say "may the God of peace sanctify you partly". I says entirely. He's saying here that the spirit, soul and body must be preserved complete. When you preserve something, you leave it in the best order possible. When you preserve peaches, you get them to their optimum condition, and then you preserve them to keep them that way.
God is saying He wants to preserve His Body. He wants His Body to represent what the Head provides, so that it will be without blame at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
When Jesus comes, He's coming for a Church in victory, not a church that's a victim -- a Church that is benefitting from all that He provided when He destroyed the curse, taking it upon Himself as our substitute. Salvation and healing are ours in the atonement. When Jesus comes for His Body, it's not going to be in a mess, it will be in victory, without spot or wrinkle.

(excerpt taken from Cal Pierce's teaching on "Healing in the Atonement." Cal reopened the Healing Rooms of John G. Lake, in 1999 and travels all over the US and worldwide holding conferences on Healing.)

Healing in the Atonement.....

The Power to get the sick healed

by Rev. Cal Pierce

Part of the problem that we're experiencing in the Body of Christ today comes from a thinking that is called dispensationalism. The thinking behind here is that God has dispensed of the power for the Body of Christ to get the sick healed. Rather than a Gospel of the Kingdom, we've developed a Gospel of Grace, and this dispensational thinking puts the responsibility for healing off of the Body of Christ and on to God. It says, "Well, God is sovereign. He will heal some and not others. It's up to Him." 
Isaiah 53:4 in the Hebrew meaning of that Scripture, says "Jesus bore our sickness. He carried our pain. By His stripes we were healed." 
1 Peter 2:24 in the New Testament reiterates this: "By the stripes of Jesus we are healed." 
If we go to Isaiah 53:6, it talks about the iniquity of us all being upon Jesus. From there we get our salvation.
If we can get our salvation out of verse six, then we need to get our healing out of verse four. The provision for salvation and healing are both in the atonement for a reason - so that the Body of Christ can have all the provision for the whole person to be impacted by God.
The problem with the dispensational thinking that has crept into almost every denomination is that when we say God is sovereign, we then put the responsibility of healing upon God. If the scripture is true, and the Hebrew meaning of Isaiah 53:4 is that Jesus bore our sickness and carried our pain on the cross, then it is wrong to put that work on God, as if God was going to decide whether or not He's going to heal us. Putting that responsibility on Him takes it off of us, and then we don't want to become responsible. This comes from a wrong thinking and a wrong understanding of healing in the atonement. 
Matthew 8:17 takes what Isaiah 53:4 says and brings it into the New Testament: "....so that what was prophesied by the prophet Isaiah....he bore our sickness and he carried our diseases on the cross." 
So God made provision not only for salvation impacting us, but for healing impacting us. What we're seeing happening today, and why this healing movement is coming so fast, I believe, is because as we get closer and closer to the end time, we're going to begin to carry a salvation message to the street, and we're going to back up that salvation message with a Kingdom message that doesn't just come in word, but in power, so that healing can be a sign to the lost that our God is real. 
God has kept the healing evangelist before us, but the healing evangelist was never going to do all the work. The Church has pushed the work onto the healing evangelist to come into a community, bring the anointing, do a crusade and leave. The anointing would follow after them, and the sick would also have to follow after them. But God is going to bring this healing anointing in this hour - not on somebody, but on The Body. There's a connection being made between the healing evangelist and the Healing Room type of ministry, a work that will reside in the community all year long to get the sick healed.
Part of this work is to break the barrenness off of the Church, and this wrong understanding of healing in the atonement, and to break off this dispensational thinking. 
This is fairly recent thinking. It goes back to about 1830. It says that God is somehow dispensing with that part of the Gospel--that Jesus healed the sick, but then stopped, and now today we're not to move in that kind of power. The thinking is that there's just a a Gospel of grace. This has not allowed us to be like the frog in the pot, slowly getting boiled, not knowing that we have the power and authority to walk in. This thinking puts the responsibility on God. It causes us to have a rapture mentality rather than a harvest theology. We want to get bailed out. This thinking preaches a gospel of a kingdom of heaven, a future kingdom, and leaves us in the kingdom of darkness in this world, with that rapture mentality.

God is saying to the Church in this hour, "thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven." 

1 Corinthians 4:20 says, "The kingdom of God does not consist in words, but in power."

In the Greek that means "dunamis" or "dynamite power." See, we're to have a kingdom message here and now in order to move into the harvest field and move in power to destroy what the enemy has done. We're God's Body, we're the Body of Christ. It's the Body that does the work. We're to move in power, not form. We're to have a salvation message that will be backed up with a Kingdom message. We're to bring the Kingdom of God to this planet here and now as it is in heaven, so that we can move into the end-time harvest with power and authority and begin to destroy the work of the enemy.

Why would God dispense with power in the Church, yet allow the power of the enemy to exist on the planet, when He says greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world? For some reason, we're not supposed to work and move in that greater power? 

Part of the problem that this causes is that we show up on Sunday at church, we get born again, and that's it. Nothing happens. We sit in church waiting for and talking about a rapture as if we're running out the back door with the devil kicking in the front door. We think the enemy is greater than the power of God in us. 

That's the church that God is not coming for. God is not coming for a church in a mess. He's coming for a church in victory, not a church that's a victim. Not a church with spots and wrinkles, but a church without spots and wrinkles. This dispensational thinking says, "Well God is sovereign. He will heal some and not others." 

God is sovereign, but He's no liar. He says none should perish. All should come to repentance. That's what God's will is. A sovereign God will tell His Church what His will is so the Church can move in it. We're to move in the power to get the sick healed. We're to move in power to get the lost saved. We're to be impacted with Isaiah 53:6 for our salvation, and as the Body of Christ we're to be impacted by Isaiah 53:4, which states that He bore our sicknesses and He carried our pain and by HIs stripes we were healed 2000 years ago. 

We're to take that message of salvation and healing to the street, so that we can move in power to get the sick healed. Not looking for a future kingdom, but bringing the Kingdom of God into this planet here and now. It will not come in word, but it will come in power. We're to move in power in the Body of Christ. He wants His Church to move in power in order to take this harvest. 

After 9-11, when those airplanes hit the twin towers, we began to realize that in Islam they have been taught and trained not receive a salvation message. But the only message that will bring them to Christ is the Kingdom message that brings signs and wonders following after it. Those signs and wonders are undeniable. 

In Matthew 16:19 it says; "I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven." This is talking about power. "And whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." 

You see, God gives power that we might bind and loose down here, and it will be backed up with a binding and loosing in heaven, because God stands behind His promise and His word. And we're to walk in that promise, we're to walk in that word, we're to walk in that power to get the sick healed. 

Matthew 6:33 "Seek first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." 

You see, God is saying if you seek Him first and His righteousness, then He will bring the provision. He will bring the power to back up His word so that it will not be void. It will not go out of His mouth without accomplishing what He sends it to do.

Matthew 24:14 says; "This gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come." 

If we don't have a gospel of this Kingdom, how on earth will that be fulfilled? It will be fulfilled on earth with a Church that doesn't have a partial gospel getting a partial result, but a Church that has a full gospel getting a full result, so that the Kingdom message will not just be in word, but it will be in power. So that signs and wonders will begin to follow after the Church. 

Matthew 12:28 says; "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you."

If we do this work of the gospel of the Kingdom, then the power has come. If we expel the enemy and destroy his work by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God is come upon us. God wants this Kingdom message to come into the Body of Christ. But dispensational thinking is putting the responsibility of this healing work onto God, and not allowing it to be on us. If Jesus is the Head of the Church and we are His Body, then it's the Body that does the work. God does not dispense with part of His gospel. Otherwise, He's not the same God that He used to be. When He says in His word, I am the same yesterday, today and forever. 

Did God hold some of His healing power back, because He's sovereign, so that some would be healed and not others?

Jesus said, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth." What part of "all" are we having a hard time understanding?

Ephesians 1:22 says; "And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church." 

Ephesians 2:5-6 "Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus."

We've been raised with Him. We've been quickened with Him. We sit with Him in heavenly places. We're not a disconnected body, but a connected body. The same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in this Body in order for it to carry out this Kingdom work. But this dispensational thinking has caused us to be filled with doubt and unbelief that comes through fear. It's developed in the Body a "hope so" faith for healing rather than a "know so" faith for healing. It has pushed the work on God, so that we can't pray with faith, because we don't need faith for healing when it's not our responsibility. But without faith, it's impossible to please God. 

When the Father gave all power in heaven and earth to the Son, then the responsibility for this healing work, this Kingdom work, went to Jesus and from Jesus to the Church. That's why He said that He has put all things under the feet of Jesus and gave Him to be head over all things to the Church. So God transferred the responsibility for salvation and healing to Jesus, and through Jesus to the Body, because Jesus is the head of the Church, and we're the Body of Christ. When Jesus wen to be with the Father, what did He say to the Apostles? "Where I go you cannot follow. But it will profit you, because I will be sitting at the right hand of the Father, interceding for you, and I give you the Holy Spirit." 

The same Holy Spirit that raised Him is dwelling in us - not a seperate Holy Spirit, the same one, the Bible says. And that's to bring resurrection power into the Church. 

This is why it says in John 14:12 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also: and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father." 

Because we're the Body, and the Body is to move in power and authority, the Body is to bring this Kingdom message, this Gospel of the Kingdom, into the planet here and now. 

The Church will begin to walk in authority and they will begin to carry this healing power to destroy the work of the enemy, because we're the Body, and the Body is supposed to do it. 

(to be continued....)

The Spirit comes in power.....

My post on Saturday, led me to go dig up some Scriptures about God's power and I was so compelled by  Don's wonderful comment I decided to share them in this post. I remember as a child and a youth being well versed in the stories of the Bible, especially the old testament. Now as an adult I can't ever remember thinking as a child that the same spirit that came in power on many in the Bible was for today or for me to experience as a believer. It's interesting though to me that those God used to accomplish his purpose had the "spirit of the Lord come on them in power." You can go dig through the Bible and find many accounts where this was the case. Samson, even Saul in, 1 Samuel 10:6..."the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you and you will be a different person," and David, 1 Samuel 13:16, then  Elijah, Daniel, Micah. Those are some of the ones I found that said specifically, "the Spirit of the Lord came on them with power." You will find John the Baptist in Matthew 3:11 saying, "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." Many believers get baptized in water, but why not in the Holy Spirit? Why accept one and not the other? 
We also see that the Holy Spirit came on Mary in power. Acts 1:8....Jesus tells the disciples that they will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them....Phillip was taken away by the Spirit from one location to another location entirely!! (Acts 8)I didn't include all the many Scriptures that simply talk about God's power. I think most Christians are quick to believe and agree on His power. It's just that there is not a wide spread belief in the power of the Holy Spirit for the believer today. I never knew him personally, I simply lived in naivety due to the environment I grew up in, not just my home church but I also went to a Christian school and never heard about the Holy Spirit. Which to me is interesting, I now think it's a package deal...salvation, baptism of the Holy Spirit and like Don said, signs, wonders and miracles. Again, why is it that we accept salvation, and then get baptized in water,  but not baptized in the Holy Spirit? Hebrews 6, says baptisms, plural, meaning more than one kind of baptism. Salvation is for us, for our eternal redemption, which is a wonderful gift. But it's by the power of God's Spirit that we will be more transformed into His likeness and it's by the power of His Spirit that we will go forth and preach the gospel, and see the sick healed, and the oppressed set free, demons cast out. (Demons were not just for Bible times. Many people need to be set free from demonic oppression.) 
About a year ago my mom and I were talking about whether or not believers could have demons oppressing them. (She mentioned Mary Magdelene) So over the course of this year, I have been exploring this question, can Christians be oppressed by demonic influence? Absolutely! Anyway, I am getting off topic a bit, I do think is important to understand this though. I mean it is obvious people are sick and people need to get saved, but it is not obvious to many believers that they can be oppressed by evil spirits. All of which we have authority and power given to us to overcome, so we shouldn't fear this fact, just simply be aware of it so we can learn to deal with it, or that it may be a reason someone seems to be in bondage to "sin".
What I really want to do in this post is raise questions for people. For me, since coming to a full revelation of God's grace, His pure gospel, I have found myself searching and seeking to know God more and it has been kind of a natural progression for me to find out more about the Holy Spirit, who He is, His job in the life of a believer and to find out what baptism in the Holy Spirit means, then asking to be baptized in the Spirit, getting baptized speaking in tongues, learning to get set free from demonic oppression and now longing to walk in His kingdom authority healing the sick, seeing signs and wonders in my life and getting people saved. 

A form of godliness that denies the power.....

For quite some time I have had this phrase swirling through my mind....." a form of godliness that denies the power." (2 Tim. 3:5) This verse sums up most of my Christian experience. Christians, myself included, that seek godliness, but don't know or live in the power of God. The bible says .."avoid such people." Wow!!  It almost seems to say that there is no point to being a Christian, if we don't experience God's power.(my interpretation here, feel free to disagree) I mean should there even be a Christianity that is simply just learning how to be more holy and pursuing godly ways of doing things?  Without His power we simply are denying the truth of His word and the Gospel. When the Gospel is preached, truly truly, there should be evidence of people getting saved, healed - signs and wonders should follow the one true Gospel of the New Testament. Paul says to the Corinthians, when I came and proclaimed the mysteries of God, I didn't do it with lofty speech or wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God. (1 Cor. 2:1-5)  I wonder what exactly he meant by "in demonstration of the Spirit and of power"?  I simply can't ignore these kinds of verses any longer. Jesus also always preached and demonstrated in power God's love and desire to heal all who He touched. Everywhere He went, He taught and healed the sick, raised the dead, cast out demons and set the captives free.  Why is it that modern Christianity does not look like the Christianity of the Bible? Why are people so skeptical of the Lakeland Revival and the outpourings of the Spirit's power going on there? Do we not read our Bibles and believe the whole thing? For me, a lot of it has been naivety, a lot of it has been a wrong focus when I did study my bible and some was the teaching I received and believed to be true, that never once taught me about the power of God or understanding the Holy Spirit's job in the life of a believer. A lot of my own issues were fear of man or seeking approval of people. That truly was a fetter keeping me back from moving on in the things God truly has for my life. But, thankfully, the Spirit will lead us into all truth, as we seek to be led and are hungry for God and long to know Him at a deeper level. And He is truly doing this in my life!! Hebrews 2, talks about  Without His Holy Spirit working in us and through us we cannot generate genuine fruit. Real fruit comes from the inside out. Not from applying biblical standards and disciplining ourselves, etc, etc. - but is the priority of our whole life to be focused on our own walks or on the big picture, seeking first the kingdom of God, seeing the lost saved, the captives set free, the cripples walking, the blind eyes opened. This was Jesus main ministry!  

Last night Todd Bentley preached a wonderful message at the revival. He has come under much criticism and last night shared that people want to know why he wasn't preaching the gospel. He went on to share that the gospel is not just preaching a message, but it demonstrates the power! The same "method", that Jesus Christ and Paul the apostle used. He preached the on the Lord's prayer and gave a compelling message( which unfortunately I did not take notes and eventually fell asleep before hearing the whole thing), that we should pray thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. On earth as it is in heaven. What is it like in heaven? Well go look in your Bibles and study up on what heaven is like, and then you will know what to pray for. The kingdom of heaven is at hand, it is for now. We do not have to wait for the whole shebang until we die and go to be with our Lord. God wants us to bring heaven down to earth and invade it for His Kingdom and for His glory!! 

Another thing, what does salvation mean anyway, does it simply mean you are forgiven of your sins, which that in itself is amazing?! Salvation in the Greek is sozo, which means healing, provision, wholeness and preservation. By His stripes we are healed. Not just from the power of sin, but from sickness and poverty and emotional deprivation! Folks this salvation we have is far more amazing than we realize. I want to live in it! No longer do I simply want to pursue a form of godliness that denies the power of God in my life!!  

The best things in life are free............

gazing at the sky, cloud formations, different each day, the moon in all it's phases, the sun (what would we do without it),

the air we breathe, the refreshing summer rain, every first snowfall of every year for the rest of my life, the ocean breeze,

sand between my toes, the amazing vast view of the ocean

changing seasons - the colorful array of leaves by October's end, a blossoming, budding, blooming variety of flowers each spring, along with their unique fragrances

summer evenings spent catching fireflies -

tickles, giggles, laughter -having fun with my kids

a great children's book from the library (as long as it's returned on time)

sleep

the body you were born with

the family you were born into

being who you are, who God made YOU to be.................

best of all, the gift of salvation, -God's love and grace to all who are in Christ!!

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." ~Ephesians 2: 4-9