Testimony Of Gods Body Unity And Thankfulness Of Healing

Well so what happened to the Podcast Preacher, I mean we haven’t had such a gap in messages for quite a long while. I was in the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) at Enloe Hospital in Chico for eight days. 

Hey Mr. Podcast Preacher don’t you preach on divine healing and didn’t you get healed of a pile of illnesses a couple of years back? So, what are you doing back at the hospital?  

I intend on answering those questions using this season of my life to further discuss divine healing and but also mixing it with wisdom, not fear or a lack of faith but wisdom (Heb 11:6). And but also I feel that in some of my previous healing or miracles, signs, and wonder messages, I may have come off too one sided, which is to say or imply that if you didn’t get healed then it is all on you. That way of preaching is too God-in-a-box and can come off as judgmental and even be wrapped up in this idea that I am more spiritual than you because I got or get healed and you may not have. No, I still believe in a God who has already healed us and does indeed still perform miracles, signs, and wonders, but for the journey that each of us takes to receive and to give out I believe it is here that God works distinctly and uniquely with each of us (Acts 2:22, Heb2:4, Mark 11:22-24, James 5:14-15, Mark 16:17, 1 Cor chapter 12). I would not want anyone to ever go away from one of my messages feeling like they don’t measure up to any sort of religious qualification for God to move in their life. Please forgive me if I have been the source of any spiritual frustration or discouragement to you. 

Be very encouraged That God meets you where you are at, and as long as you stay away from comparisons with others, you will be on the straight and narrow path (Matt 7:13-14). Maybe in this season God is just showing me that He is not a formula to understand in order for us to get what He Himself has promised whenever we want it. He is ever so deeply committed to us that we would simply become as children who could enter His kingdom as I am sure that otherwise in any other condition we cannot enter (Matt 18:3, Mark 10:15). Testimonies are not challenges directed at us. It is not a measuring bar insofar as to gauge our spiritual maturity. Every Christian is uniquely called and equipped to do what God has called them to do (1 Cor chapter 12). So, stay away from spiritual works competitiveness and trying to one-up someone on testimonies, they are destructive and very relational harmful thus turning God into nothing more than a spiritual miracle, signs, and wonders slot machine. And well besides it has been my experience that we have way too many of us sharing testimonies that elevate or glorify us and not God. God testimonies should reveal the workings of the supernatural, not efforts that you made to bring about something. Again, this happens when we have fallen into a spiritual competitiveness instead of really being grounded in our relational personal walk with the all-ever-living God of everything (Acts 8:18-20, 1 Tim 3:1-10, Titus 1:5-9).

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Transcript

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Hello, this is Ken, your podcast preacher. Welcome back to my podcast, Deep Waters. This podcast is brought to you by Five Strengths Ministry, where we believe working together in our strengths is the effect of working out the will and calling of God and through our lives. Thanks for joining me. Let's open up in prayer. Blessed be the God and Father of your Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed you with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose you and him before the foundation of the world, that you should be holy and without blame before him and love, having predestined you to adoption as a son or daughter by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, which he purposed in himself, to the praise of the glory of his grace, and which he made you accepted in the beloved. In him you have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace, which he made to above towards you in all wisdom and prudence, have he made known to you the mystery of his will, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth in him. I ask that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, and the knowledge of the mystery of him, to the deepest knowledge of him that you are willing and able to receive, that the eyes of your understanding would be open wider, and that you would be enlightened to who he is, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in you, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power towards you, who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he worked in Christ, when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, that he would grant that you would be strengthened with might through his spirit in the inner man, in and through your spirit and heart, and that you would be able to stand against your flesh, this world, and the devil, in and through enemy in all temptations. I pray that your love may abound more and more in all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense until the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ of the glory and praise of God. Ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will and all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him, being fruitful in every good work, strengthen with all might according to his glorious power, in all patience and longsuffering with joy. Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints who walk in the light. I pray that your hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love and unity, and that you would attain to all the riches of the full assurance of understanding, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which has been given to each of my listeners by Christ Jesus, that you are enriched in everything by him, in all utterance and all knowledge, so that you do not come short in obtaining or operating in your calling and purpose, nor in using any spiritual gifts or talents, eagerly waiting for the continued revelation of our Lord Jesus, who will confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the near coming of the day of our Lord, God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son Jesus. Okay, so now therefore, my sisters and brothers in Christ, when things get tough, think about whatever things are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, and whatever things are of a good report. If there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things alone. I pray that in these very days that you would let your love be without hypocrisy, hate and loathe what is evil, cling to what is good and righteous, be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another, not lagging in diligence, fervent and fully engulfed in spiritual fire, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, walking in the peace of God, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer, distributing to the needs of the saints, that is each other, and that you would be given the hospitality. May the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like minded towards one another, according to Christ Jesus, that we learn to be of one mind, in one accord, operating completely and fully in love and unity, always striving for the working out of God's specific will for each of our lives, while working in partnership with each other within the Church and the Holy Spirit, as He manifests His miracle signs and wonders through the daily activities of our ministry and kingdom work. And while we also go out preaching the gospel in word and deed, let us love and serve one another, our enemy, and those who wouldn't expect us to do so, considering each person better than ourselves. Bind up any words or thoughts that are contrary to the love of God, or which would set you back in your Christian walk. I'll step out in faith today and walk with God, being assured that nothing will separate you from Him as long as you abide in Him. Call those things that don't exist as though they do. Remember He that is in you is greater than He that is in the world. Be more than a conqueror today, submitting to the will of God in everything. Let each of us express uncompromising love towards one another in humility while maintaining a teachable spirit. I pray that God will give you the revelation within this message that He intends you to receive with the understanding. Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. The title of this message is Testimony of God's Body Unity and Thankfulness of Healing. Well so what happened to the podcast preacher? I mean, we haven't had such a gap in messages for quite a long while. I was in a coronary care unit, CCU at Enlo Hospital in Chico for eight days. Hey, mister Podcast Preacher, don't you preach on divine healing? And didn't you get healed of a pile of illnesses a couple of years back? So what are you doing back at the hospital? I intend on answering those questions using this season of my life to further discuss divine healing, and but also to mix it with wisdom, not fear or a lack of faith, but wisdom. Hebrews 11 6. And but also I feel that in some of my previous healing or miracle signs and wonder messages, I may have come off too one sided, which is to say or imply that if you didn't get healed, then it is all on you. That way of preaching is too God in a box, and can come off as judgmental and even be wrapped up in the idea that I am no more spiritual than you because I got or get healed, and you may not have. Nah, I still believe in a God who has already healed us, and does indeed still perform miracle signs and wonders. But for the journey that each of us takes to receive and to give out, I believe it is here that God works distinctly and uniquely with each of us. Acts two twenty two, Hebrews two four, Mark eleven, twenty two through twenty four, James five, fourteen through fifteen, Mark sixteen, seventeen, and first Corinthians chapter twelve. I would not want anyone to ever go away from one of my messages feeling like they don't measure up to any sort of religious qualification for God to move in their life. Please forgive me if I have been the source of any spiritual frustration or discouragement to you. Be very encouraged that God meets you where you are at, as long as you stay away from comparisons with others. You will be on the straight and narrow path. Matthew seven thirteen through fourteen. Maybe in this season God is just showing me that He is not a formula to understand in order for us to get what He Himself has promised whenever we want it. He is ever so deeply committed to us that we would simply become as children who could enter His kingdom, as I am sure that otherwise, in any other condition, we cannot enter Matthew eighteen three and Mark ten fifteen. Testimonies are not a challenge directed at or towards us. It is not a measuring bar insofar as to gauge our spiritual maturity. Every Christian is uniquely called and equipped to do what God has called them to do Corinthians chapter twelve. So stay away from spiritual works competitiveness and trying to one up someone on testimonies. They are destructive and very relationally harmful, thus turning God into nothing more than a spiritual miracle, signs and wonders slot machine. And well, besides it has been my experience, that we have way too many of us sharing testimonies that elevate or glorify us and not God. No one ever brags about doing a work to get to the completion of a goal. You oftentimes share the testimony of the goal. But in Christian circles, we often brag about simply going out and preaching the gospel, which is not really a testimony. The testimony would be that fifteen people gave their lives to Jesus Christ and they are now in a discipleship program. God testimony should reveal the working of the supernatural, not the efforts that you made to bring about something. Again, this happens when we have fallen into a spiritual competitiveness, instead of really being grounded in our relational personal walk with the all ever living God of everything. Acts eight, eighteen through twenty, first Timothy three, one through ten, and Titus one five through nine. Now on with it we go. Two of the most anointed Christian people I have ever read about both saw doctors, in spite of the fact that they had significant healing and deliverance ministries. Smith Wigglesworth and William Brannon are just a couple of many people who in spite of having and operating at a level of faith which brought about healing and deliverance in their ministries, still saw doctors. Be okay with that, while striving to grow in your spiritual maturity and getting to the place of faith where when you pray for healing for yourself or others, you get it. Now I have been cautious about mixing these two worlds, that is faith and science, the science that exempts God as God, because of the potential for confusion that can come from people's personal experiences and even desires for healing and deliverance. Now if I pop to the end of the message, I could just say God has told us we are already healed by the stripes of Jesus, that if we ask him anything, he would grant it, and but also that we are to have used and desire the miracle, signs and wonders to manifest throughout our own ministry. 1 Peter two twenty four, Isaiah 53 5, Matthew eight, sixteen through seventeen, Matthew seven, seven through eight, John sixteen twenty three, Mark eleven twenty four, James four, three, first John five fourteen, Matthew ten, eight, and Mark sixteen, seventeen through eighteen. And but so where does this leave us when the healing deliverance or disease remains with us, even after the prayer of faith and such? How do we explain in one circumstance that we definitely received divine healing and deliverance, and but yet in another it was nowhere to be found? As of this message, I can only attribute this to Isaiah, Isaiah fifty five eight, for my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. The reasons are varied and many, so we must be careful not to judge a matter before we have understanding of the reason as to why a miracle sign or wonder didn't take place. Blaming others as to why they didn't receive from God can get you in the frying pan with God. Of course, that is unless you are clearly and with much evidence and accuracy flowing in the Holy Ghost anointing, and that God is working through you at that moment of time. Now let's briefly include a short list as to the obvious ways that we will not receive healing in nearly almost all cases. Yes, I still leave the choice and this Holy Spirit manifestation in the hands of God. No faith. Don't believe in the Holy Spirit. Don't intentionally seek out someone who is anointed to heal. Don't believe in divine healing. The power to heal is absent from the church. You are in unrepentant sin. You're worshiping other gods. The absence of love and character of God in your life. Don't seek to see or hear from God through the Holy Spirit. Disobedience. Seek alternative methods before going to God. Feared out in unbelief. Hebrews three twelve, John sixteen nine, and Matthew twenty eight seventeen. Are there more scenarios? Yes, but these make the point well and good. So then what about those who have their spiritual ducks in a row and have some history of both getting healed and of praying for others to get healed? And but then also of praying for others as well as self, matched by an ever lengthening prayer chain. But do not get healed or delivered. Now we are talking about my situation, and I hope this message helps with some understanding of this specific scenario. So briefly, a little history, I went back from taking fifteen or more pills a day, being diagnosed with diabetes, chronic headaches, plus all of the symptoms for which I was taking so many medications, to dropping all medications after I knew that God had delivered me from diabetes, high blood pressure, daily heartburn, gout, and the ever present pet octopus called in medical terminology a CPAP machine, so that I could breathe throughout the whole night. So I went from that toro condition to no meds, no pedoctopus, no not any doctor appointments, or waiting in long lines at Walgreens for my monthly dose of pills. And I remained in such a condition for about two years. The headaches came back, but then God showed me that it was caffeine that was the root, so I asked for help from God and he helped me to drop caffeinated coffee, and I stopped drinking any soda that had caffeine. Thus, no more headaches. Now here's a temptation to compare your life with mine. God did these things in my life, and they are not necessarily intended for your life. And but if he is tapping you on the shoulder, then take a look at him. Yes, look to him for your deliverance from, for example, from unhealthy foods, bad drinks of any kind, anything else that may be an unhealthy root in your life. And so but before I get back on it, making this next point has been on my heart for several days while I was in the hospital. Sometimes your healing is blocked by your existing habits. If God delivers you from alcohol addiction, but you continue to drink, then you have made your choice, which isn't maintaining healing. If God breaks the yoke of sugar addiction, and this is one of the greatest, most powerful addictions that I have ever had to be set free from, and but you go back to the same foods that got you diabetic, fat, and nearly dead, then you have made your choice. So what's the point, podcast preacher? If you kill the mice but leave the nests, it's on you. We are both, in other words, living in a natural body, and for us who are authentically born again, living and walking in and by the Spirit Galatians five sixteen and verse twenty five and Romans eight four. We must attend to both our fleshly appetites as well as our spiritual relationship with an all powerful God, who desires we be totally set free. Galatians five one and verse sixteen, John eight, thirty two and verse thirty six, Romans thirteen fourteen, Colossians three, five, and first Peter two eleven. If you do not address your natural desires and inclinations, I mean even getting so spiritually out there as to believe that if you eat half a pie, that God will simply absorb the excess calories, then you have limited and unlimited God. Has he repeatedly healed people who continue to walk in the world and continue to feed the flesh with a blatant disregard for personal or natural health? Yes, but that is not as best for us humans. In a revival atmosphere, God is a primary moving party, if you will, and strange things happen in spite of our existing appetites, but he expects us to still mature spiritually and to get a hold of fleshly appetites, so that we go from faith to faith Romans one seventeen. Now I feel like it's time for a scriptural dump, so that we can receive God's supernatural healing and see miracle signs and wonders in our life. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, least when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. So how are you disqualified? Well, if you're walking in sickness and disease and yet you get on somebody else because they haven't received their healing, you are disqualified. If you are financially broke and you're trying to tell someone else how to be financially successful, you are spiritually disqualified. Romans eight twelve thirteen. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Romans thirteen fourteen. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts. Galatians five sixteen. I say then walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh. Okay, so let's say that you are saying I'm just not ready to take on a healthy dietary change, and that daily giving up my moo's is too far of a stretch. John ten ten. The thief does not come except to steal, to kill, and to destroy. I, that is Jesus, have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. Satan will use your unhealthy appetites to carry out a death sentence in your life. Yep, it's right there. And no. I know we want to believe that we don't have to change or control our unhealthy appetites in order to be a Christian. But life isn't about you being a Christian, but about you being one who does all the will of your Father in heaven. Self control is a gift from God, and He can make it manifest in your life. If you are willing to trust and believe that He can do this, every bondage broken in my life only required that I would submit whatever addictions had me in bondage to God, and then I was set free by God, but my will had to line up with His will. Now continuing my story, it is in part about the journey of weight loss and how it has supplemented the natural healing of God that I received in many areas of my current life. Back in the day I lost twenty five pounds by simply changing my diet to a reduced going out for lunch, to eating in my office things such as sardines and salads and stuff like this. Did I desire salads initially? Not on your life. But by reducing the calories, but by reducing the calories that I was ingesting at lunch alone and switching up some not all dietary things, twenty-five pounds dropped, and now I was motivated, and eventually I became more creative in my salad preparation and really consider salads as a mainstay of my daily diet. Yes, you can once again enjoy salads and vegetables over fries and a hamburger. The quick meal excuse actually is stealing away the quality of your life, and it will win the day if you simply ignore it. But remember when I said some of my diet was handed to God. Yes, not all of it, and so I continued to ask God to set me free from sugar, and although I asked lots, it wasn't until I was diagnosed with diabetes that I really meant what I was asking God to do. My sugar levels were over five hundred and forty for an entire month, and I did not know what was wrong with me. Then my pulse dropped to the floor, which prompted me to go to the emergency room to find out what all the hub was about. Something about I was lucky to be alive may have been shouted out from the hilltops, but I did feel that I was, and no, I do not believe in luck. Listen, Romans eight twenty eight, and we know that all things work together for good to those who love God and those who are the called according to his purpose. All things work together, good and bad. Are you saying diabetes and your near death experience was working for good? Yuppie puppies, because what happened while I was floating above a diabetic coma was that I lost another twenty five pounds, and had this great desire to reduce my meals per day from three to two, and maybe a healthy snack in between if necessary. So what are the fifty pounds lost? What was the net of that weight adjustment? It came because of a permanent change in my fleshly appetites and disposition. The weight has never returned, and not because of self control, but because of the deliverance from bad eating habits, along with the total destruction of the sugar bondage I was under. This was a lifelong addiction. No appetite, yes, hear this. No appetite for sugar anything. Pies, cakes, strudels, cookies, cinnabon cinnamon rolls. Now you know I've been delivered when I can walk by those little higher than the mountain caloric buckets of sugar. No potatoes, no rice, no pasta, white breads. Anything that turns to sugar after you have eaten it. What is a result of this deliverance? Ready? No, really. Are you ready? Because I tell you it was not by my strength, but only by my submission to God that I am free of these things. Diabetes had nowhere to root itself in my life. It disappeared as quickly as it appeared. My A one C went from fourteen to four point five. I finally have self control in my eating habits, and I really enjoy the foods that I can eat, as they are most delicious. Okay, so we are getting ready for the wrap up and today's current events, meaning while I was in the hospital. Two years of freedom from the medical noose and I was living large, and then one day my heart decided it was off to the races, and my pulse was as high as one hundred and forty beats. I was basically running a marathon while sleeping. Listen to this Luke four thirteen. Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. Let's Greek that for a moment. In Greek there are two words for time.

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time.

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It refers to a sequential, clock ticking time. Kairos refers to a strategic, opportune, or critical season, the right or favorable moment for an action to occur. By using Kairos, Luke indicates that Satan did not give up, but instead retreated to wait for the most advantageous, vulnerable or strategic moment to strike again. Hey, I thought once free, always free. Nope, the free will to walk away from the things of God is always prevalent, and so we must be on guard for the wiles of the devil, especially if you are the real deal Christian bearing fruit that lasts. So my initial response to my racing pulse was to allow God to do his thing in the mix of my life, just as he had done before. The problem with this kind of thinking is that we can fall into the trap of thinking our thoughts are the thoughts of God and nope Isaiah fifty five eight through nine for my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Racing, racing, racing, no resting, no resting, no resting I slept in one hour shots for the next four months. But no wait there's more, as I am really ramping up my faith to receive what I know that I am entitled to as a Christian. My heart began to fail. Yes, heart failure is not a heart attack, nor does it mean death. It means that you are headed for death if symptoms continue untreated. For some strange reason, though doctors call it heart failure even though you are still alive, which kind of threw me off when I first heard them say it. Oh Mr Shelton, you have had heart failure in addition to atrial fibrillation, and specifically for my case, heart flutter. Let's give you the skinny on both of these conditions, because way too many of us struggle with our diets. We drink and smoke and do other nefarious things to this temple of the Holy Spirit sixteen. We first look at heart failure. Heart failure means the heart doesn't pump blood as effectively as it should. Key warning signs include unexpected shortness of breath, of which I had, especially when lying flat or during activity, persistent fatigue and swelling in legs, ankles or abdomen often accompanied by sudden weight gain. I had all of that but the weight gain. Recognizing these symptoms early can lead to better management and outcomes. The hallmark signs of heart failure are broken down by how they affect the body breathing and lung tissues shortness of breath breathlessness during daily activities or even while resting or sleeping difficulty lying flat, needing to prop yourself up with extra pillows to breathe comfortably while sleeping. When I did sleep I was sleeping upright in my bed, waking up gasping, sudden waking from sleep with severe shortness of breath. This happened to me about once every two to three minutes. Persistent cough or wheezing, a dry hacking cough that may produce white or pink blood tinged mucus, also something I had. Fluid retention and swelling, swelling or endema, noticeable swelling in the feet, ankles, legs or abdomen. You might find your shoes or rings feeling unusually tight. Sudden weight gain, a rapid increase in weight, normally more than two or three pounds in a single day or five pounds in a week. This is due to retained fluids. Frequent urination, needing to get up often during the night to urinate. It was ten times nightly for me, another reason I didn't sleep. Unusual fatigue and weakness, feeling excessively tired even after adequate rest, making everyday activities by climbing stairs or carrying groceries exhausting. Reduced exercise capacity, a noticeable decline in your ability to be physically active. Other signs or symptoms rapid or irregular heartbeat, erasing or fluttering sensation in the chest. This is exactly what I had. Digestive issues, nausea, loss of appetite or an uncomfortable feeling of fullness I had all of those too. In fact, after being in the hospital for ten days, I lost an additional twenty five pounds. Mental confusion, decreased alertness, memory issues, or a feeling of mental fog. I didn't have that so much. Symptoms can often appear slowly, but they may also surface suddenly after an injury to the heart like a heart attack. The next thing I had was atrial fibrillation. Aphib is the most common type of heart arrhythmia, causing the heart's upper chambers atria to beat chaotically and out of sync with the lower chambers. I call this trying to listen to rap and country at the same time while not immediately life threatening, it requires medical management to prevent complications like blood clots and stroke symptoms many people experience no symptoms, but when they do they can include heart palpitations, a fast fluttering or pounding sensation this is something I had shortness of breath and chest pain, also something I had dizziness, lightheadedness or fainting extreme fatigue and weakness yes I had that common causes and risk factors. AFib is usually triggered by damage to the heart's electrical system or underlying structural changes. Major risk factors include high blood pressure, aging, the risk increases as you get older, coronary artery disease, heart failure or past heart surgery, obesity and sleep apnea, those I had thyroid disorders and chronic kidney disease, lifestyle factors such as heavy alcohol use, smoking and stimulant use, those I also had, along with high blood pressure, and I am aging. Diagnostic tools doctors typically diagnose AFib using an electrocardiogram to record the heart's electrical signals. Depending on how frequently your symptoms occur, a doctor may also recommend a wearable monitor or smartphone based heart monitor to track your rhythm over several days a week. Treatment and management goals the primary goal of treating AFib are to reset the heart rhythm, control the heart rate and prevent blood clots. Medications doctors often prescribe beta blockers or calcium channel blockers to control the heart rate, antiarrhythmic drugs to maintain a normal rhythm and blood thinners, anticoagulants to significantly lower the risk of stroke. Cardioversion, a procedure used to reset the heart's rhythm back to normal, either through medication or a brief controlled electrical shock. I've had that done six times and I'm now looking at the seventh time. So we might as well look at sleep apnea not because it returned back on me, but because it was a symptom of a combination of heart failure and arrhythmia. Sleep apnea is a common disorder where breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep. In my case I initially woke up fifty eight times per every hour, which is why they gave me a pet octopus. After losing the first fifty pounds, I went off the machine as my breathing returned to normal. Well and I stopped smoking cigars, marijuana, and I stopped drinking. The most common warning signs included loud snoring, waking up gasping or choking, unexplainable daytime fatigue, and morning headaches. Many sufferers remain completely unaware of these nighttime episodes until a partner observes them. Reviewing the primary indicators helps to identify if you or a bed partner may be experiencing the conditions. Loud snoring, usually persistent and louder than typical snoring. Periods where you temporarily stop breathing, often followed by sudden snorting or jerking movements, waking up suddenly feeling like you are suffocating. So this is what returned in my life which is why I went back on the machine. However, my little pet octopus was no longer working at this time. I could just never catch my breath. Why? Because I had developed fluid in my lungs and so my lung capacity was diminished because of the heart failure. Restless sleeping, tossing or turning or waking up frequently throughout the night and frequently waking up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. Daytime symptoms while awake excessive sleepiness, hypersomnia or feeling drowsy during routine tasks like reading, working or driving. Dry mouth or sore throat, waking up with a parched mouth or a scratchy throat from mouth breathing, brain fog, trouble concentrating or poor memory, increased irritability, anxiety or signs of depression. I didn't have most of those. Why early detection matters? Untreated sleep apnea significantly strains your cardiovascular and metabolic systems, increasing the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. It also deprives the body of restorative REM sleep. Notice that I had all of those high blood pressure, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. I don't have many more man. So now we have a more complete picture of what had been plaguing me for about the last four months. So this is my Christianity in all of its glory under all kinds of questions such as why am I not getting healed? And what of the pains which are now on my left shoulder and why am I constantly running out of breath even without physical exertion? I'm in it knee deep praying, praying in tongues during my many hours of awakeness, fasting, reading the Bible and continuing to do all things as if I had no issues. It sounded normal to me as I had been through this before, but I haven't been through this before, as when it happened the first or second time I simply checked into the emergency room and eventually had got three cardio versions before ending up in surgery to fix the problem. Two rounds of this type of treatment and I suspected we were good, but prior to my weight loss and dietary changes, the root of the problem still existed. But in this last case the root was gone. I was left with leaning on God for those months, not fully knowing that I was dying one heartbeat at a time. Then I decided to elevate my game and invite a small group of prayer warriors so that they can pray me through. I didn't tell anyone who didn't have the faith for a complete healing. I then invited my sister and between her and a friend of mine in my Wednesday group I was finally talked into going in and re-entering the medical regiment that I knew was waiting for me. If I didn't I would be dead maybe full of faith but dead nonetheless. Their wisdom and manner of helping me to see that God is still working helped me to lay down my pride or whatever it was that up until now was keeping me from seeking help. Of course I got to hear from the entire medical community how careless it was for me to go off all of my pills, cold turkey and take such huge risks with my life. Well that is until they heard that I no longer had diabetes, GERD, which is gastriosophical reflux disease, gout or high blood pressure, and that I also lost, at this point in time, a total of seventy two pounds and completely changed my diet. This my friends doesn't happen without God's intervention on your behalf. But so what about my atrial fib and heart failure? They could see that God hadn't delivered me from these conditions, but that I was now placing my life in their hands. The Twixler and having these two things operating at once is that they couldn't cardiovert me because by now my heart function was at a fourteen when it should have been more like well, let's just define it. A heart function number fourteen likely refers to your ejection fraction percentage, also known as EF, a common metric used to evaluate your heart's pumping efficiency. If your reading is fourteen, it indicates severely reduced heart function and signifies advanced heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. What does ejection fraction mean? Ejection fraction measures the percentage of blood that the left ventricle, the main pumping chamber, pumps out with each heartbeat. Normal fifty five to seventy percent of the blood is pumped out. Borderline or mildly reduced is forty one to fifty four percent. Moderately reduced is thirty five to forty percent. Severely reduced is below thirty five. So an EF of fourteen percent means your heart muscle is very weak and struggling to pump an adequate amount of oxygen rich blood to the rest of your body. This places a high burden on the heart and can cause symptoms such as severe fatigue or weakness, shortness of breath even at rest, swelling, endema in the legs, ankles and feet, or rapid or irregular heartbeats, all of which I had what you should do because an EF of fourteen is critically low, it puts you at a high risk for serious complications, you must schedule an urgent appointment with your cardiologist or healthcare provider to discuss your results and to establish a comprehensive treatment plan. Treatments often include specific medications to help your heart as well as potential monitoring for implantable devices like a pacemaker or defibrillator. Okay so I know so dramatic. But all glory be to God that I am still breathing and able to carry on ministries such as this message, which I pray will help all who hear it. The problem with my particular scenario is that one issue may be helping the other issue so that the heart doesn't fail. If I get cardioverted there is a risk of breaking loose an existing blood clot, if indeed I have one. When the doctors tried to go down my throat with an ultrasound and camera device, it didn't go. My throat rebelled against such a large intrusion. That device eventually caused some sort of injury which then caused me to be spitting up blood. So back off the blood thinners thus suspending my cardioversion for at least a month. As of today my throat is healed and I am now on a regimen of pills including blood thinners. Three weeks from now, three weeks from now, which is about the beginning of July, I will get cardioverted, and maybe a discussion about a pacemaker or similar will ensue. Believe it or not, I left a lot out to get to this point. Be careful where you plant your flag to become immovable off of what you believe in God even if you have had past successes is asking for trouble. We cannot force God's hands even on his promises. The one thing we do not have control of is God's timing. This life is not about us all of the time. And as you grow in the Lord he may just decide to do something that is not in your wheelhouse to think about. Be open to doing even those things which you can support from the Bible if they take you in a direction you do not want to go. Did I refrain from going in initially because I thought it would demonstrate my lack of faith? Yes, of course I did. But you know a strange thing happened when I went in as for the next ten days I have had all kinds of sorts of fun talking to people about this podcast and about Jesus and the end of the end of times that we are in. Many Christians became noisy for the Lord again. It was as if my being there gave them permission to do so. I am now home taking the meds and especially the blood thinners so that I can get cardioverted and that my life will return to whatever God has now moved me in. It is my heart that this little story would encourage you to do all that you can to get to know God by reading your Bible and really pressing in to who he is. Just like our good parents out there, they do not always give their kids everything to ask for when they think that they should get it. And of course some things we will never see and perhaps it was for our unseen benefit that God withheld it in the first place. Let's close in prayer. May the Lord make you increase in abound and love to one another and to all so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before your God and Father at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ with all his things. Now may the God of peace the one in whom we call wonderful counselor mighty God everlasting Father the Prince of peace may he himself sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit's Holy Father be preserved blameless at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. To our Lord of Lords and our King of Kings to our high and lifted up great high priest who has once and for all paid price. As you might see and hear God may hear and respond to our prayers. To our God we stand and pray as he too always lives to make intercession for you is seated at the right hand of the Father. May the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant make you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you what is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever. Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name we pray amen. Well that's it for today. Remember what you find wrong or disagree with regarding these messages but what you can take away from it. Together we can do more to impact the kingdom and if we work alone let's flip the script and still kill and destroy the works of the enemy and create space for the light of light to shine through into people's lives. And it's easy to click on the like and subscribe button repost on your social media platform and help us make disciples link this message out or teach from it in your Bible study, life or subgroup and yes even in your church you can be assured a console called to teach and though imperfect you have the word of God be used to test everything I say. Let's build this ministry together. Thanks to see you next time at Deep