Blessing and Increase!

Well it is time to tell of all that God has done in the last few months and to declare a renewed vision for the future. Remember when you hear this testimony that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy! This means the very testimony you hear of Jesus touching some else's life has the power in it to do it again. So take this testimony as a prophesy for your situation.

Several years ago, while attending a Bethel Church service, Pastor Bill was moved by the Spirit to have us all pray for those who were having financial struggles. Well we had moved there to attend BSSM and were completely strapped financially having used up whatever cash we had and all of our credit. So we were in desperate need of some prayer and money. As my friend layed hands on me to pray for our situation I had a vision of people putting money into my hands, then the vision changed and I saw people pinning  money on my back, then the vision changed again and I was standing in front of the mail box collecting a check that would pay off our debt. This was exactly what I needed to encourage me. Well right after he was done praying people started putting money in my hands while I was standing there. Then later that month I got a job working for Loving On Purpose, right at the point where had no money left, it was amazing.

Now I knew that the first two parts of the vision had come true, money donations were coming in and I was getting money for my labor. I longed to see the third part come true, but nothing. My wife started seeing the numbers 555 frequently. The number 5 means grace and Bill had an encounter where the Lord showed him that the cancellation of debt was upon us and the number was 555. So every time we saw that number we claimed it as the cancellation of debt for us. It was crazy how often we saw it. I mean ridiculous. I would see the number, reach out my hand and claim the promise as ours. Well Kris Vallotton says the word you hear the most often can be a sign of the resistance you will face before you see that promise come to pass. This was a real test for our faith, especially when we felt financially strapped after going to Nicaragua and reducing our salary to only 6% of what I was making when I was working as a video game project manager. God was faithful and provided all the way. There were times in Nicaragua in the middle of the month, when all we had was a bag of oatmeal on the shelf and people came, without knowing and paid to feed us for 3 days, etc. It was truly amazing! Always there, always at the last moment, God came through. However the debt was always there as a nagging temptation not to believe God as the creditors kept calling.

The external pressure to not believe the faithfulness of God to fulfill the promise was intense and just last month it came to a head with a creditor when they threatened legal action. All sorts of questions come to mind like, did we hear God right, were we foolish in giving it all up to follow what we felt God was telling us to do, am I being an irresponsible father, etc etc. It was rough, but no matter what we felt, experienced or perceived we kept reminding each other that the God who answered our prayers in the past is the same God who will answer our promises in the future and that He is more than capable to do what He said He would do. Then in the middle of last month, a couple we know sold their house and gave us check of $20K to pay off our debt. PRAISE GOD! He is faithful to fulfill all that He promises.