I’ve been reading a book lately by Perry Stone called Exposing Satan’s Playbook. In one of the later chapters he discusses how people become weak in their faith and prayer. He explains one of the signs of this is if someone is going through a difficult time such as sickness or financial burden that they go to others and ask them to pray for them, but they don’t pray for themselves. Often when you do this you may not get where you want to which can lead people to lose faith in God.

There can be many barriers making someone weak in their prayer. Maybe they aren’t in church as often as they should be. This can be something anyone can fall into with a difficult work schedule who may work rotating shifts and it might be impossible to go to church Sunday mornings and get encouragement from being around others. Even if you cannot make church every Sunday invest in a good devotional or even watch a live-streamed recording.

Other people might be addicted to drugs, alcohol, or simply just living in sin. Number one when you want to ask something from God in prayer you need to not only ask for forgiveness of your sins but for guidance of becoming better and not to continue your sin. Refer to Psalm 119:113 “Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get domination over me.”

When going into prayer you may want to eliminate distractions as much as you can. For instance, put your phone on mute temporarily. Just your notification sound might cause you to lose focus. See Psalm 119:37 “Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give my life in your ways.”.

It is also important to pray specifically and fervently. You will also not only want to pray for yourself, but also other people. Maybe someone you know lost their job or has cancer. Or simply just pray for God to give guidance to our government leaders and protect our military.

Continually working on your prayer life will help you in your walk with God in the long term. Though what you want may not be according to his plan or may not happen when you want it to. It is important to not get discouraged but continue to keep praying consistently and be open minded to what God is trying to show you.

Moses freeing the Jewish people from Pharaoh arrogant ruler is a very interesting store to read. It is also an important one to know because it shows how God will judge a nation because of the action of its Rulers. I encourage you to read the literature of Johnathan Cahn which talks about judgement in America and how there is a parallel to the Bible. But let’s take a quick glance at what happened with Moses and Pharaoh:

When Moses went to Pharaoh and asked him to release his people, he responded “no”. Little did he know this would bring judgement on him which would affect his nations land and people.

The Plagues.

1. Water Changed to Blood (Exodus 7:14-25)
   God had Moses and Aaron go to Nile River while Pharaoh was bathing. They turned the river into blood. When this happened, Pharaoh had his magicians see whether they could do this, and they could. He continued to decline releasing the people.
2. Frogs (Exodus 8:1-15)
   Seven days later Moses and Aaron went to see Pharaoh again and demanded him to release his people. He declined, then Aaron stretched out his hand and staff. Frogs then came out of the water into the land. Pharaoh declined, but wanted the frogs removed after his magicians were able to produce frogs. Moses promised Pharaoh that they would be removed the following day. Which the following day there were large piles of dead frogs over the land causing a fowl odor. He continued to decline releasing the people.
3. Gnats (Exodus 8:16-19)
   Next Moses had Aaron strike the earth with his staff and create a dust storm, causing Egypt to become gnats and covered the people and animals. This time the magicians could not repeat this plague, they even admitted this was the work of God. Pharaoh still refused to release his people.
4. Flies (Exodus 8:20-32)
   Next flies poured into the homes but did not affect the Jewish people. Moses demanded that Pharaoh released his people, which he did agree to if Moses prayed for the flies to leave. Moses then left and prayed, the flies were gone. But sadly, Pharaoh changed his mind and did not release his people.
5. Livestock- Power of Apis (Exodus 9:1-7)
   Apis was known as the bull god of Egypt with a living personification to Ptah (aka the creator god). Moses predicted that Pharaoh would see a difference between the Hebrew and Egyptian people. Next the living animals died in Egypt, while none died amount the Jews. This still did not result in Pharaoh releasing the people.
6. Boils (Exodus 9:8-12)
   God had Moses grab soot from the furnace and toss it into the air. This resulted in everyone in Egypt breaking out in boils, even the animals! This even affected the magicians. Pharaoh was still stuck in his old ways.
7. Hail (Exodus 9:13-25)
   Moses requested again to Pharaoh to release the people and if he did not God would cause the worst hailstorm against Egypt. Moses raised his hand and hail came down from the sky on Egypt, but none on the Goshen land. This destroyed the crops along Pharaoh’s land. But to no surprise Pharaoh refused to release his people.
8. Locusts (Exodus 10:1-20)
   Moses then threatened Pharaoh that locusts would come and destroy all the green in the land. He still refused. The locusts came and destroyed as promised. At this point Moses has a very high reputation. Pharaoh then began to acknowledge his sin and asked to pray to remove the locusts. Moses and Aaron prayed with Pharaoh, then quickly Pharaoh went back to his old ways and still refused to release the people.
9. Darkness (Exodus 10:21-29)
   This was direct to Ra or Re the sun god of Egypt in confrontation. Moses stretched his hands out and this led to darkness over the land of Egypt but no darkness in the land of Goshen. Egypt was darkened for three days. Pharaoh began to make and agreement and then backed out.  After this plague he told Moses to leave him alone and never to come again. Moses responded along the lines of “As you say I will never appear before you again”.
10. Passover and Angel of Death (Exodus 11 & 12)
    There was so much devastation from the nine plagues. God instructed the man of every household to prepare a lamb, along with hoe to eat it and make bread with no yeast. Everyone was instructed to eat and prepare for the journey ahead. This meal became the start of the Jewish Passover Holiday we celebrate today.  The final plague would be the Angel of Darkness which would kill every first born and animal. This awakened Pharaoh overnight, there was no house without anyone dead in Egypt. Finally, Pharaoh agreed to release the people with their livestock.  He also asked for them to pray for a blessing upon himself.

This shows how God can call judgement on the land. Think of the events that have happened over the course of American history along with the result of our immoral leaders. God is very powerful and can do great harm on a nation and its people. This also gives a brief history of the holiday of Passover, which fits because Passover starts this year on March 30, 2018 and ends on April 7, 2018. Please like and share this blog post with others.

God Bless!

Man names it cancer.
Man names it diabetes.
Man names it arthritis.

The doctor gives you a year to live.
Or a life long battle.
It is just ever ending pain.

It may seem hopeless.
You may be worn out.
You might just want to give up.

But there is hope.
God heals and restores.
God strengthens and comforts.

Don’t give up just yet!
Turn to God.
Its only a name to him.

I just graduated high school in June of 2014 and was working at a local fast food restaurant. During the first month of summer that year, I noticed I started feeling tired after I ate. I attributed it to stress. While at my chiropractor he suggested some supplements to take to help with that issue, he did warn me I may lose a little bit of weight. I didn’t mind losing a few pounds because I had a little bit of belly fat. So I started taking the supplements and started to feel great. I even lost a few pounds. I then got off the supplements.

So I started my first semester of college in the fall of 2014 while being just promoted to a shift manager at the local restaurant I was working at. With being a full-time college student and working 35-40 hours every week, I was even more stressed. I started to notice I started feeling more worn down and I started losing weight. Within a couple weeks I lost 15 pounds. I attributed it to high stress, and not eating properly. It was not until the week of Christmas I started drinking more water, soda, and sweet tea. I kept feeling more and more thirsty, then came the frequent urination. It was not until January 2015, when I took a big turn for the worst.

My parents noticed my significant weight loss which was about 25 pounds in two months. I was slim built to begin with. They knew I was not eating properly. One weekend I started to have trouble swallowing, no matter what it was. I went to see my primary care doctor that Monday and explained all my symptoms, along with the weight loss. Her diagnosis was a virus. She prescribed anti-nausea medications. I took the medications and took a day off. The next morning I felt better. So I went to work, I was working an 11am-10:30pm. It was not until the evening that I started having chest pain and difficulty breathing on and off. My mom called the doctor, and she called an inhaler into my pharmacy. I got off work early and had one of my friends pick me up and take me to the pharmacy to pick up the prescription that was called in. When I went to the pickup counter the cashier said the prescription was never called in. I then got back in the car and called my mom and told her,she said she was sure the doctor sent it in. As I was on the phone with my mom I heard a voice tell me “go to the ER now!” and I told my mom that I feel I need to be at the hospital and told her something is not right. Since I was right by a MedExpress I went there because I felt like I was going to drop over. My friend, Cody brought me there and went in with me. The doctor came in the room and I told her everything that was going on and I said to her I feel like I am dying. She examined me and I could tell she seemed concerned after listening to my heart. She told me that when the nurse took my blood pressure it was 162/109, and my pulse was 124. She had a flu swab, throat culture, and urine test done. As they were doing the tests my parents arrived.

Within a few minutes after my parents arrived the doctor came in and asked if there was a family history of diabetes or if I had been vomiting, which the answer was no to both of those questions. She then listened to my heart again and then had the nurse prick my finger and check my blood sugar. My blood sugar was so high that the meter could not read it. The doctor looked at my parents and explained that I was in a life-threatening situation called diabetic ketoacidosis. Which is when there is not enough insulin in the body and the body produces ketones, which are toxic. She said that I needed to get to the emergency room ASAP, and would have everything they did send there.

My parents rushed me to the emergency room and the nurses immediately got me back and got me on IV fluids and started drawing blood. They then started insulin and did an EKG. As the insulin started I slowly began to feel better. The doctor came in the room and said my blood sugar was up at 458, and that they were going to admit me. When I was brought to my room a cardiologist came in and listened to my heart and looked at my EKG, she told me if I would have gotten that inhaler and  went home and used it, I would have died within a half hour. Through the night the nurses were in and out of my room checking my blood sugar every 30 minutes, I barely slept. By the morning I was down to 167. Later on the doctor came in the room and that was when I was officially told I had Type One Diabetes. Type One Diabetes is a disease in which a persons immune system becomes compromised and recognizes the insulin-producing cells, beta cells, as foreign invaders. The immune system then produces anti-bodies resulting in little to no insulin. The doctor explained to me that I would need insulin injections for the rest of my life, along with checking my blood sugar multiple times a day, and counting carbs. He also explained the numerous complications that are far too scary to think of. I initially did not know what to think at first, it was just like a ton of bricks was thrown on my shoulders.

Before I was discharged I met with a caseworker, dietitian, and nurse who got me set up with resources, carb counting, meal planning, checking my blood sugar and giving myself injections. After being discharged I went to the pharmacy to pick up my meter, insulin pens, lancets, and test strips. My mom asked the pharmacist if that script ever came through from my primary care doctor the other night, and she said: “nothing ever came through”. Keep in mind the doctor called this in and even had a confirmation number and everything to back up it was called in. Whether you believe in God or not, I believe it was God who made sure I did not pick up that inhaler. Because if I did pick it up, I would not be writing this right now.

You may question my belief in God. You may ask, if you believe in God, then why are you facing a life long illness? Number one we have illness in the world because it is a fallen world from the first sin with Adam and Eve. Secondly in Job 42:5 we are reminded suffering produces intimacy with God. Another good example is in Romans 8:28-8:39: ” And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” Look at James 1:2-4 : “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,  because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”  One last example is that during our trials it equips us to comfort others, take a look at 2 Corinthians 1:3-5: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,  who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.” I am also believing that there will come a day that I will be completely healed of this disease, where man says it is impossible, it is possible with God.

Today I have been managing my Type One Diabetes very well. When I was first diagnosed my A1C (average blood sugar for three months) was 12.3 which meant that on an average day my blood sugar was 315-325. As of November 2017, my A1C was 5.7 which is a three month average of 127. I have found a new primary care doctor and a great Endocrinologist to help manage this condition. I am truly blessed to have great doctors to help me manage my condition. Since then I have graduated college with highest honors and landed a full-time job in my field. I do my best every day to strengthen my faith that I WILL someday be able to say “I HAD Type One Diabetes”.