Thank you for healing her hands, Lord!

Last night I saw a woman who is a deaconess in my church healed of her arthritis. She was able to close her hands into fists for the first time in over four years. She just kept opening and closing them again, to see what it felt like, and to verify they were still working like they should, instead of not working as they had been. God is good all the time! And all the time, God is good! We were in a group prayer meeting, praying for another woman who asked us to lay hands on her. She is stressed and recovering from a cold or flu as a consequence. It's a wonderful comfort to be able to support each other in our concerns - but it's glorious to feel the room and the people filled with the Holy Spirit and to know that awesome things are happening as His power moves! Now 1 Corinthians 12:31 rings in my head. Too long have we been too comfortable with too few of the blessings the Lord had appointed for us. Christ is real, and wants to heal people and to glorify God in magnificent ways! We must be willing to be His hands and feet and speak boldly that the Kingdom is come: in faith call for His will to be done, on earth as it is in heaven! Paul's admonition to fully proclaim the gospel of Christ was not an exhortation to apologetics, debate and study: 1 Corinthians 2:4-5, Romans 15:18-19. The gospel fully proclaimed is the gospel in signs and wonders, that all might be led to repentance and obedience.

If there is more You have for me, Lord - I want it. Draw me nearer, my God, to thee and fill me with Your Spirit. Take command of every cell and sinew, for all that I own is worthless, and all that You own is worthy. Own me. I am nothing without You. Let those around me be blessed because You live in me so that it is only with Your light and for Your glory that I shine.

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining!
It is the night of our dear Savior's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining -
Till He appeared, and the soul felt its worth!
A thrill of hope - the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!

Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices.
O night divine,
O night when Christ was born!
O night divine
O night, O night divine!