Take it to Jesus

Last night I was really struggling with some decisions I was being led to make. I was struggling with the idea of disconnecting from friends and even some family members. So I took my struggles to some of my sisters in Christ and asked for advice on how to do what I feel God is calling me to do. They gave great advice and the advice was based on the Word. After my sister in Christ finished encouraging me she said, "If you continue to be moved by people you will never hear God. Stand on His truth!" This all leads me to the topic of Today's blog: TAKE IT TO JESUS. 

I realized last night as I was talking to some of my sisters in Christ that I take way more things to people than I do to God. Not to say that we shouldn't have brothers and sisters in Christ that we can confide in but when we are more confident in the word of man than the word of God we have a HUGE problem. It causes God to question where our faith lies, and rightfully so. Jesus is the answer to every concern we have. The way He leads us in is far greater than the way of our friends. It may sound kind of cliché to say "Take it to Jesus". It is the BEST way though. All throughout this journey to healing I have complained about not being able to hear the voice of God or hearing something and not knowing whether or not it was God. Last night I realized, the reason I struggle with recognizing the voice of God is because I never just talk to Him without getting a second opinion on HIS word. I know the voice of friends and family that I confide in because I talk to them regularly. However, the voice of God is not as familiar to me and even when I do hear Him, He is often drowned out by the opinions thoughts and feelings of men. 

We have DIRECT access to God and yet we choose not to use it but then complain about being lost or confused or say that God is not speaking to us. In reality it may be that He is speaking but we are not listening because we are to consumed in listening to others. All throughout the Gospels we see people humbly approaching Jesus for healing and deliverance. How stupid would it have been for those same people to go to a friend and talk to them about an infirmity when they had direct access to Jesus for themselves. Yes, I do believe that we can go to others and have them intercede on our behalf. I have done that on several occasions. There is nothing wrong with that. The problem lies when we can no longer "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own (or any other mans) understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path."-Proverbs 3:5-6

The moral of the story is Take it to Jesus. 

Romans 12:12 "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer".

God Bless :)

Don't Give Up on God

Earlier this week I woke up feeling like giving up. This journey to healing that I am on has been a rough one to say the least. Even more than rough, it has been extremely rewarding. However, often times while we are going through the rough patches of life we forget about all of the rewards and blessing we have received along the journey. Sunday-Tuesday of this week were very painful for me. I had a medical emergency that caused me to doubt God to question if I was really walking into healing or if he had lied ("God is not a man that He should lie or a son of man that he should change his mind"-Numbers 23:19). Then God reminded me of the Children of Israel. They complained and cried out to God from Egypt and then when they were freed and going through the wilderness they complained and cried out to God for Him to supply their needs. God answered their prayer, allowed water to flow from a rock, manna to fall from heaven, etc. However, as soon as they got hungry again they began to doubt God and forgot what He had just done for them before. This is where I was earlier this week. Not only had God spared my life on countless occasions along this journey where doctors doubted me making it, but He promised me from the beginning that "By His stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5-6).

I don't know what promise of God you are standing on in this season of your life. You may be expecting God to enlarge your territory and push your business into success, you may be standing on the promise of God supplying all of your needs, you may need God to help you walk in Joy and give you peace, etc. Whatever it is, you've seen Him do it before, if not in your life in someone else's. If God has done it before, He can do it again. If He has done it for someone else He can do it for you. He is not a respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). He's the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Don't give up on God or throw in the towel. Just like He did with the Children of Israel, He made a way out of noway and stuck to the promise that He made EVERYTIME. 

My promise was the promise of healing and I almost allowed my pain to keep me from having faith in the promise. Thursday, God wowed the doctors again and took away all the pain I was having and fixed everything else that was going on in my body at the time. There is NOTHING to big for God. Just be patient and keep the faith. Trust me, God will come through. 

None of the things that you are going through in your life are just for you. God has to allow certain things to happen in His children's lives so that UNBELIEVERS have no choice but to recognize his miraculous power. Me getting sick wasn't just for me, it was so that someone else will see the mighty hand of God healing me when doctors couldn't even figure out what was wrong. You not being able to pay your bills and God coming through and miraculously making everything work in your favor isn't just for you, its so his power may be displayed. 

When Paul and Silas were thrown in prison it was not for them or because they did anything wrong. It was because God needed a greater platform to display His power. Also, don't beat yourself up when things go wrong in your life and think that God is always punishing you for something as I once thought (John 9:1-3). 

Your life is a platform for miracles that will cause others to come to the knowledge of Christ. So DON'T GIVE UP! 

If He promised it, He will fulfill it. 

Love you!

DeeDee

Sickness Saved My Life

Who Am I?

My name is DeNoire Henderson. I am a 19 yr old Atlanta native with a growing testimony. I was born and raised in church been singing in the choir since I was 5 years old. I've participated in just about every ministry in the church and have always had what I felt was a crazy, passionate love for Christ. However, August 2012 I moved to Washington, DC to attend my dream school, Howard University. I got to school and realized that I did not have to continue to have church rule my life. I felt I knew enough Jesus to live crazy and pull myself back to a place of repentance before I went to far astray. Up until college I had never really partied, didn't smoke, drink, have sex, or anything else. I didn't feel I really had a testimony of redemption so how could I preach it. Therefore I twisted to word and said to myself living crazy will actually help my future ministry because God will deliver me out of this and then I can testify. (so churchy and stupid lol) I soon realized though that playing with the devil causes you to go farther into sin than you plan and forces you to stay longer than you intend. Towards the end of October I started going out partying, living recklessly, etc. Eventually I became so wrapped up in "turn up" that I began to loose myself. I tried praying but I no longer felt the presence of God. I tried worshiping but I could never tap into His Spirit. You can't move the devil into your home (temple) and still expect to feel the presence of God there. Long story short this constant battle of who I was created to be vs who I was turning myself into went on from October until almost March 2013. 

March 23, 2013 I made the conscious decision to stop living the way I had been and starting going back to church. On April 4, I rededicated my life to Christ. Even though I made these steps towards God I still felt there was something missing and I prayed "God do whatever is necessary for me to know you better than ever before, I want to experience your power in ways unimaginable." 

April 12, 2013 while doing community service with my classmates I went into anaphylactic shock due to latex powder getting in my lungs. Anaphylactic shock is caused by a severe allergic reaction that causes ones tongue and throat to swell preventing oxygen from getting into the lungs, chest tightness, and the lungs fill with fluid. Anaphylaxis can be fatal. Thankfully in my case it was not. However, because the substance I was reacting to was actually in my lungs my immune system shut down and I fell very ill. Everything that I was even slightly allergic to caused me to go into anaphylactic shock. Which brings me to where I am now. My immune system is still not functioning properly. Since April I have been in and out of the hospital due to my chronic health condition. Doctors have been trying to figure out what exactly is wrong and how to fix it, but have not had any success. 

When I first fell ill I was mad with God because I felt that he was punishing me when I had just made a declaration to live for Christ. However, thanks to my Professor and now greatest mentor I see that getting sick was the answer to the prayer I prayed just days after rededicating my life to Christ "God do whatever is necessary for me to know you better than ever before, I want to experience your power in ways unimaginable." 

Throughout this process I have continued to floor doctors, there was a point where my lungs were not functioning properly but I was never placed on a respirator and the doctors were amazed. I went almost 15 minutes without any oxygen getting to my brain lost all feeling in my limbs and lost the ability to see. However, God kept me and restored me fully. I have been praying to reach the destination of healing but I now realize that healing is not a destination but rather a journey and God is healing and restoring me more and more each day. Before I only knew Christ as a Savior. Now I know God as my keeper, as my healer, as my provider, as my protector, as my peace in the midst of confusion, as my comfort in the midst of pain, and it's all because I got sick. 

Sickness wasn't/ isn't my punishment. It is the answer to my prayer and my reward. I am blessed to be thought so highly of that God would choose little old me to display His glory in. 

John 9:1-3 "As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. ² “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”

³ “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him."

Through this blog I hope to encourage, uplift, and inspire others to chase after God with everything and to keep the faith along their journey. I am still undergoing testing and will post blogs about that as well as spiritual testing that God is taking me through. 

God Bless

DeeDee Henderson