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What God Can Do "In a Heartbeat" If You Hear and Obey His Voice
by Steve Trullinger
About
Steve Trullinger:
When God called Steve Trullinger into healing ministry in 1995, he was at that time
an Associate Professor of Physics at the University of Southern California in Los
Angeles. Steve already knew that he would be trading his secure, tenured academic
position for a faith-walk of adventure, trusting in the Lord's design for the second
half of his life. His twenty-five years as an educator and researcher helped prepare
him to train healing teams and to understand the synergisms of spiritual gifts in
the ministry of healing.
Steve releases encouragement among the sons of God to step into their destiny, and
he exhorts the Body of Christ to please God by exercising faith in His promises.
Steve holds the firm belief that the Father trains his sons through activation of
faith and the demonstration of promised miracles that Jesus said would accompany
those who believe! There is often a release of powerful healing anointing to launch
individuals and even entire congregations into the ministry of healing when Steve
ministers the compassion of Jesus to the sick! He also ministers with Revivalist
Todd Bentley and serves as an Itinerant Speaker with Fresh Fire Ministries based
in Abbotsford, B.C.
In his crusade ministry in Africa, Steve has witnessed miraculous creations of missing
body parts and the wholesale healing of entire villages! He has been privileged
to commission healing ministries and serve as a "spiritual father" to younger healing
revivalists. He helped found The Father's Touch Orphanage in Igoma, Tanzania, and
often visits various regions of East Africa to encourage the children left parentless
by the AIDS epidemic and to bring the Father's touch to the sick and the lost.
Steve has four grown children and currently resides in Torrance, California, near
his beloved Redondo Beach where he believes for Holy Spirit revival fire to soon
bring widespread ignition of the hearts of the young and old, the rich and poor,
and the lost and found! |
What God Can Do "In a Heartbeat" If You Hear and Obey His Voice
by Steve Trullinger
The Father's Touch Ministries
web: http://www.fatherstouch.org/
Have you ever promised someone that may need your
help that you would "be there in a heart-beat" if the need arose? Most of us have
made such a pledge to a loved one to assure them that we will not be far off when
they need us. We want them to know that they can count on us to respond quickly!
Sometimes we say, "In a heart-beat!" to indicate that we would not waste any time
in making a decision (because we have actually already made it!). We want to convey
our excitement and/or commitment level when we use this familiar phrase. It adds
emphasis to the importance of our statement. "In a heart-beat" has come to mean
a very quick response or very quick decision-making, with no delay or procrastination.
More generally, it implies a very short time interval during which sudden things
happen!
WHAT CAN HAPPEN IN THE SPACE OF A HEART-BEAT?
The possible answers are many: a sudden catastrophe, a couple
falling in love at first glance, a brilliant idea popping into your head, baptism
of fire, etc.
Your Father's heart beats for you. What can happen during one of those beats? Many
of us are tempted to become skeptical of God's intent to move quickly because we
have been waiting a long time (sometimes patiently!) for His answer to our plea.
Does that mean He can't or won't move suddenly? Of course not! Let's remember
His
promise through the prophet Isaiah to the nation of Israel:
"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose
the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide
the poor wanderer with shelter - when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not
to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like
the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear..." [Isaiah 58:6-8]
It is important, however, to also remember that God does not have to operate on
our timetable:
"But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the
Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord
is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness..." [2 Peter
3:8-9a]
SWIFT ACTION
We know that the healing power of Jesus often acted very swiftly
in numerous documented cases. For instance, he healed a leprous man promptly:
"A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said,
'Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.' Jesus reached out his hand and
touched the man. 'I am willing,' he said. 'Be clean!' Immediately he was cured of
his leprosy." [Matthew 8:2-3]
The bleeding woman was healed instantly upon touching Jesus' cloak:
"And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding
for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and
had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard
about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because
she thought, 'If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.' Immediately her bleeding
stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering."
[Mark 5:25-29]
When Jesus was on his way to Jericho, a blind beggar cried out to him for mercy
and received his sight instantly:
"...Jesus asked him, 'What do you want me to do for you?'
'Lord, I want to see,' he replied.
Jesus said to him, 'Receive your sight; your
faith has healed you.' Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising
God..." [Luke 18:40-43]
When Jesus took the hand of Jairus' dead daughter and commanded her to get up, she
instantly responded:
"He took her by the hand and said to her, 'Talitha koum!'
(which means, 'Little girl, I say to you, get up!'). Immediately the girl stood
up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished."
[Mark 5:41-42]
A woman who had been crippled by a spirit for 18 years was instantly healed when
Jesus laid hands on her:
"...She was bent over and could not straighten up at all.
When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, 'Woman, you are set free
from your infirmity.' Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened
up and praised God." [Luke 13:11-13]
THE DISCIPLES AND INSTANTANEOUS
HEALING
One clear example that instantaneous healings occur through disciples is the story
of the beggar crippled from birth that Peter and John encountered at the temple
gate Beautiful:
"When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them
for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, 'Look at
us!' So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. Then
Peter said, 'Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name
of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.' Taking him by the right hand, he helped him
up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet
and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping,
and praising God." [Acts 3:3-8]
Not only was he instantly healed, but God instantly taught him to walk and jump!
What about today? Do healings still happen in a heart-beat? God's word is clear:
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."
[Hebrews 13:8]
Here are some "touches" from the Father illustrating the present-day beat of his
heart for us.
MAKE IT SNAPPY, LORD!
On a business trip to the Northwest just before Christmas a few years ago, one of
The Father's Touch team members was conducting a small, informal training of new
sales associates in the home of a young woman who graciously agreed to host the
impromptu meeting on a Saturday morning, in spite of her not-quite-complete recovery
from a bad cold.
After several cups of coffee that morning and a rather long first session, our team
member needed desperately to take a restroom break (others did too, so there was
a line forming already!)
As he started to dash for the bathroom, he was interrupted in his quest for relief
by the groans of the anguished hostess in the kitchen who was holding her ears as
she coughed again and again from lingering congestion in her chest. When asked what
was wrong, she said her ear infection was causing extreme pain whenever she coughed.
She was obviously in a great deal of pain!
For our team member, this was one of those dreaded moments when he just knew that
the Lord was going to give him an assignment that didn't quite agree with his plan.
Sure enough, the Holy Spirit told him to pray for the woman. "Can't it wait, Lord,
until after my restroom break? Please?"
"No, pray for her now," came the answer!
What would you do in his shoes? Most of us would be tempted to think that it couldn't
be the Lord talking; it must be the devil trying to inflict serious injury in the
form of a burst bladder! Visions of a marathon 2-hour healing session were beginning
to invade the team member's mind. And he began to wonder who was going to pray for
his healing!
Wanting to be obedient, but also highly impacted by his urgency, he silently made
a demand of the Lord, "OK, Lord, I'll pray now for her, but you're going to have
to make it snappy!"
When he asked if he could lay hands on her ears and pray, she nodded in agreement.
As he reached for her ears, his hands began to tingle with a familiar presence of
healing power and she was delivered from pain instantly when he touched her ears!
Then he asked if she needed anything else and she responded that her throat was
very sore. That pain also left instantly when he touched her throat! Again, he asked
if there was anything else, wanting to make sure he finished everything the Lord
wanted to do before he made a mad dash for the bathroom! She said her lungs were
really congested (in his self-focus he forgot about her lungs!), so he commanded
her lungs to be cleared and told her to take a breath. She breathed in freely with
no vestige of congestion and exclaimed, "No way!" He said, "Yes way!' gave her
a high five, and made his dash!
The healing that he thought might take many minutes (in agony - his!) actually took
no more than 15 seconds! The Lord did indeed "make it snappy"! And the entire room
full of trainees witnessed their first miracle!
When our team member returned from the restroom in a much more relaxed state, he
found the hostess sobbing where he had so abruptly left her in the kitchen. She
was in shock over the Father's loving touch. As a result of this encounter with
the powerful compassion of Jesus, she soon after surrendered her life to her Savior
and Lord!
GO TELL YOUR MAMA!
Never doubt the power of a praying Mama! Several years ago in the university office
of one of our team members, a student came in to discuss her late term paper just
before the Christmas break. She had a valid excuse, relating that she had finally
been diagnosed with debilitating Still's Disease which is a very painful auto-immune
disorder that had begun to exhibit symptoms in her body when she first came to the
university two years before. Her body was swollen due to the effects of the corticosteroids
she had to take to suppress her malfunctioning immune system. She was still in obvious
pain as she sat across the desk from her professor while they discussed her situation
for a few moments.
Prompted by the Holy Spirit, he politely asked her what kind of faith she had. She
replied that her mom was a Baptist! When pressed a bit about her own faith, she
seemed a bit embarrassed when she confessed that she hadn't attended church in two
years since starting her studies. He then asked if she believed in the power of
prayer. She replied, "Oh, yes! My mama and I pray together on the phone every night!
(Her mother lived on the opposite side of the continent!)
Encouraged by the fact that Mama had been praying with and for her daughter, the
professor asked if he could pray right then for healing! She nodded and within 10
seconds of exercising authority over the disease in her body, she was delivered
of the pain in her neck, back, and shoulders and was able to easily move her arms!
When she got up, walked around the office and discovered that her legs were also
pain-free, she began to sob with joy and amazement!
She was encouraged to go home and immediately call her Mama to let her know that
her prayers had been answered!
Two months later, he bumped into her again and could barely recognize her! She had
lost about 30 pounds and looked great! She said she was completely pain-free and
off all medications! God had done an instant work in response to a short prayer
added to Mama's stockpile!
FINESSING THE PHARMACIST!
At a home fellowship meeting attended by some of our team members, a guest teacher
gave an inspired and passionate message which was based on her newly released book
chronicling her wonderful heritage and relationship with her father, a well-respected
national church leader in their home country. She had several copies of her book
for sale during the coffee and dessert time afterwards and most of the fellowship
group were supporting her by their purchases and gladly received her autograph on
their copies.
During a lull in the book-signing, the teacher was standing by herself for a moment
and one of our team members heard the Lord say that she needed prayer. She indicated
that indeed she would welcome prayer because she was in a lot of pain due to her
condition called sarcoidosis, which causes difficulty and pain in breathing because
of an auto-immune attack against the lungs!
Immediately, as the group began to pray for her, she was able to take several deep,
uninhibited breaths without any pain whatsoever! She declared her healing and began
praising the Lord loudly as everyone else joined in celebrating her deliverance
from this "incurable" disease!
She shared that before our prayer with her, she had been planning to go directly
to the pharmacy with the proceeds of her book sales in order to purchase the expensive
medication she needed to help alleviate the symptoms of this incurable disease.
Now that she was healed, she could put the money to better use toward the needs
of her family!
YOU DIDN'T WAIT FOR US TO PRAY!
One of the principles we teach in our trainings is that God does not need us in
order to accomplish healings! Yes, he wants us to be involved and most often he
acts in response to our prayers and petitions, but it just seems that sometimes
he is, can I say, too eager to wait for us to pray. His healing presence is a wonderful
experience because people are "spontaneously" healed without any direct prayer for
their situation.
At one of our home healing ministry meetings, the team members and guests were well
into a wonderful time of worshiping the Lord when a young man showed up late at
the door. When he came through the doorway he suddenly stopped, bent over a couple
of times to touch his toes, and exclaimed, "I'm healed!" The team leader was puzzled
and asked, "Of what?" The young man related that he had taken a bad fall down a
flight of stairs and severely wrenched his back and he came to the meeting in the
expectation that we might pray for him. When he stepped through the doorway he felt
a powerful sensation in his back and the pain and stiffness left immediately! Praise
God!
On another occasion at the same meeting place, one of the team members arrived about
an hour late, and because the home was packed with members and guests, she had to
stand in the doorway and pray for the people around her. When the meeting ended
about two hours later, she apologized to the leader for her tardiness, explaining
that she had great difficulty getting to the meeting because of extreme back pain.
She said that when she finally found a place to park her car, it took her a long
time to "shuffle" one foot in front of the other on her way to the entrance. When
she stepped through the gate across the driveway to the host's property, all the
pain in her back suddenly disappeared and she was instantly able to walk normally
the rest of the way to the door! Not only that, she stood on her feet for close
to two hours ministering to people!
These examples, and many others like them, illustrate the sovereignty of God and
the manifestation of His declaration that He will have mercy on whom He chooses:
"...I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I
will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." [Exodus 33:19b]
WHAT CAN HAPPEN IN YOUR HEART-BEAT?
While it is very good to wait on the Lord and be patient for his answer to our petitions,
it is also very good to expect him to act suddenly, swiftly, and decisively! Whether
his response is fast or slow, as we might reckon, our faith for healings and miracles
(instant healings) should always be based on His goodness and the beat of His loving
heart! He wants our hearts to beat in synchrony with His, as His bride, so that
when His love pours out of Heaven in one of His heart-beats, it also pours out of
us during one of ours to those in need! It's another way that we, as the apples
of His eye, can bless our Father in Heaven!
by Steve Trullinger
The Father's Touch Ministries
web: http://www.fatherstouch.org/
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