My Birthday 2009

April 24, 2009: I was feeling horrible as I had been in bed all day with a nasty head/chest cold. To add to that, my elbow had become infected from a scooter accident a week earlier and my whole arm was red, hot, and swollen to 2-3 times its normal size. Everything in the natural was stealing my joy. But, in the midst of this attack from the enemy, our loving, good God had a lesson to teach me. That night, being a Friday, we had our normal time of weekly "soaking" in the Lord's presence at our house. I barely made my way downstairs to start the meeting. Two of our friends were also there but had to leave early. One of these friends had brought a birthday card from some good friends of mine in Qatar and it had the verse from Philippians 4:4- "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice!" The act of kindness of sending a card with that verse coupled with the natural condition I was in, spoke directly to my heart. I could feel the Joy of the Lord rising in my soul as God was telling me that my natural state had nothing to do with feeling and experiencing His joy. My wife felt led to read the testimony of Charles Finney to start the meeting which made the joy that was rising increase even more. We then prayed for a short time and I started the music. Our two friends had left so it was just me and my wife worshipping and soaking in the presence of God. Every word of every song seemed to be coming directly from my heart to God. I spent the next two hours on the floor loudly weeping/laughing/singing (most of the time all at once). About halfway though the playlist, I had to go to the bathroom very badly but I didn't want to get up because I didn't want to do anything to stop what was happening. But, I had to go so bad that I asked my wife to help me up. Even with her help, it was almost impossible for me to stand. I staggered to the bathroom and went back to worship and, to my delight, nothing had changed! Our four kids came downstairs for the last 4-5 songs and, at first, didn't understand what was happening to me. My youngest daughter came up to me and started wiping away my tears. She started crying and said, "Daddy, make it stop." All I could tell her was that God was making me so happy that I didn't want it to stop. What an amazing birthday gift that our wonderful Jesus had for me! Be encouraged! The Joy of the Lord does not depend on the circumstances of your life! You can experience His joy no matter what is happening to you in the natural. He will prepare a table for you in the presence of your enemies!