A Christian author helping people come to Jesus, helping people understand the Bible, ministering to a lost and hurting world, and speaking truth to power.
Photo by Ryan: Pretty morning snow October 24th, 2019
Hello everyone and God bless you all! I have been having trouble writing the last few days because I am in pain again. I have been fighting it all morning and I am exhausted. I honestly don’t know what to write today and I have been praying about what the Lord would like to say, but all I can think of is “be honest about the pain.” So, here I am doing just that.
Yes, I am in pain, but I will press on. I am leaning into Jesus and resting in Him. More like, I am totally exhausted and He is carrying me. And you know what? That’s okay. Sometimes, all we can do is fall into the arms of Jesus and let Him hold us and comfort us.
I have been asking the Lord for mercy today. I have prayed that He would pour out His Holy Spirit on me and heal me. I know He can do miracles. He has done them in my life before. I am also asking for strength to endure. I know the Lord will work all of this out for my good because I am His and He loves me. I love Him and I have been called according to His purpose. May His will be done!
“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.”
Romans 8:28
The Lord brought this verse to my mind yesterday and I prayed that He would empower me to do what it says:
“So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.”
1 Peter 4:19
Amen! I know the Lord is faithful and I know He still has good plans for me and my family! The Christian life is not a life void of suffering. On the contrary, many of us bear a cross of suffering and we must press on for Jesus. There is a reason. He has not left us and He never will! God has a will and a purpose and it will all be revealed in time. May we overflow with hope as we trust in Him!
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 15:13
Jesus Christ is Lord! May His will be done in all things!
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
The sun is going down here in Colorado and it will be traveling to the other side of the world now giving heat and light to my friends overseas. Enjoy it! It was almost 60 here today and I enjoyed it very much. This post is a bit late, so I will keep it short and sweet. I have been trying to write a post all day, but errands must be done at times. As I watch the setting sun tonight, I just want to say that I am so thankful to God for everything He has done in my life! He is the God who performs miracles and wonders and He is worthy of our praise!
Despite Celiac and all I have suffered, the joy in my heart from knowing Jesus and being filled with the Holy Spirit is all consuming! I just want to stop and give the Lord some praise! Thank You for another day Lord! Thank You for the breath in my lungs! Thank You for saving me when I stopped breathing! Thank You for never leaving me! Thank You for being merciful to me even in Your discipline! Thank You for treating me as a son You love! Thank You for Your forgiveness and grace! I am forever grateful to You Lord, may Your will be done, amen!
I love worshiping the Lord! I did a post about Kanye yesterday. I have been listening to his album all day and giving Jesus big praise. Here is an awesome video of Kanye and his Dad on Kanye’s 4,000 acres in Cody, Wyoming. That’s not too far from us actually. This is a really cool music video and I love his outdoor toys and watching them play in the snow. I love ATVs, trucks, and all that, so this is fun to watch. The vehicle with the giant tires is awesome! Kanye is like us mountain men! His Dad is a strong believer and has been for a long time. So cool to see their family’s joy. It’s amazing how Jesus changes people’s hearts! The song is called “Follow God.” I love the honesty in the song and the beat is sweet, enjoy!
“Praise the LORD, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy
name.”
Psalm 103:1
Thank You Jesus for everything! Thank You for saving my soul! Thank You for dying for the whole world!
Have a beautiful blessed evening, and for those of you catching the sun now, have a beautiful blessed day!
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Hello friends and family! I am still here and this disease is not going to beat me! I feel like I have been in a back alley brawl for the last month. I haven’t even written a blog post since September 30th! I celebrated my one year blogging anniversary on August 10th and everything was going great, then I got hit again and I kept getting hit, but God is faithful to fight for me every time. Thank you so much for praying for me! Your prayers and your messages of encouragement lifted me up! Jesus has been giving me the strength I need to carry on and He is helping me get back up after getting knocked down hard. I never took my hand from the plow. I’ve just been resting on the plow and I never left the field.
Thank you to all of you on Twitter who have been praying for our family as well! During my break from blogging due to suffering, our daughter got sick again. She ended up having strep twice in October and she has it again right now. She is actually home with me again today. I sent out a prayer request yesterday for her on Twitter and I thought maybe a couple people would see it. God had other plans and He blessed it huge and it went viral! So far almost 500 believers have liked it, 83 have retweeted it, and the prayers just keep coming in! It is so amazing how much God loves us! I had been feeling so dismayed and discouraged and the Lord showed me His love and faithfulness yet again. I am so humbled and encouraged by all of your prayers! She is actually feeling great today with no fever and no sore throat, praise God!
A big part of my prayer request tweet going viral was because my friend Lizzie retweeted it on her Twitter and she has almost 17,000 people on her account. She is the brave woman who spoke out about the problems in California and she ended up on Fox News. I wrote about that back in August. Thank you so much Lizzie for retweeting the prayer request for our daughter! I have never had an outpouring of support like that on Twitter before!
I want to let you all know that Lizzie just started a blog here on WordPress too! Please check out her blog and welcome her to the fellowship! Lizzie loves Jesus with all her heart and she preaches the truth unashamed with boldness and grace. You can find her at: The Concrete Rosebud (concreterosebud.com).
So, you can imagine, October was a tough month for us. I tried to get back to blogging several times, but I was going through so much pain and nausea that I just had to rest. Winter came early here in Colorado too and we had quite a bit of snow. On top of that, I was taking care of our daughter through two bouts of strep (and now a third time). I felt so hopeless when she got it a third time a couple days ago right at the start of the very next month. Thankfully we caught it early and she has a different antibiotic this time that is working great. Please continue to pray for her. Celiac disease lowers her immune system and it is nuts that she has had strep three times in less than two months. Thank you all for your prayers of healing for our family!
I was really beat down and discouraged by all the suffering in October. I also dealt with some anger and I had some more strong conversations with God. I wasn’t even sure if I was coming back to blogging at one point. I didn’t want to discourage anyone and I was feeling very angry and broken about my pain and the pain our daughter was going through. When I am hurting I tend to go totally reclusive like an old bear in a cave, but God always climbs in there and pulls me out in His loving grace. I praise Him and thank Him that He is so gracious and merciful to us.
Through the pain, God put it on my heart to read Psalms. That is pretty much all I read during this last month away from blogging. The Lord led me to Psalm 57 and Psalm 77 shortly after I wrote the post “Giving Him My Brokenness.” It was very encouraging and the Lord let me know that He was right there with me in the pain. We must always stay in God’s Word no matter what we are going through. There is so much light and power and joy in God’s Word! Praise God for the wisdom and understanding He gives us in the Holy Spirit! The Lord is so comforting and loving to us! Don’t ever give up seeking the Lord no matter how bad the pain!
“I cried out to God for help;
I cried out to God to hear me.
When I was in distress, I sought the
Lord;
at night I stretched out untiring
hands
and my soul refused to be comforted.
I remembered you, O God, and I
groaned;
I mused, and my spirit grew faint.
Selah
You kept my eyes from closing;
I was too troubled to speak.
I thought about the former days,
the years of long ago;
I remembered my songs in the night.
My heart mused and my spirit
inquired:
“Will the Lord reject forever?
Will he never show his favor again?
Has his unfailing love vanished forever?
Has his promise failed for all time?
Has God forgotten to be merciful?
Has he in anger withheld his
compassion?”
Selah
Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:
the years of the right hand of the
Most High.”
I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
yes, I will remember your miracles of
long ago.
I will meditate on all your works
and consider all your mighty deeds.
Your ways, O God, are holy.
What god is so great as our God?
You are the God who performs miracles;
you display your power among the
peoples.”
Psalm 77:1-14
“Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy
on me,
for in you my soul takes refuge.
I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings
until the disaster has passed.
I cry out to God Most High,
to God, who fulfills his purpose for
me.
He sends from heaven and saves me,
rebuking those who hotly pursue me;
Selah
God sends his love and his
faithfulness.”
Psalm 57:1-3
Those verses spoke to my heart in a deeply profound way. There have been times during my suffering that I have felt rejected. There have been times where the pain put me in a state of mind where I wondered if God was with me at all. Many times I have been too troubled to speak. Many times I have been so discouraged I refused to be comforted. Many times I have cried out to God. Through it all the Lord has never left me! He has always shown me that He still loves me and He is with me! His love, promises, mercy, and compassion never fail!
I remember the miracles He has done in my life and the amazing ways He has revealed His power to me and I rejoice! I take refuge in Jesus and He is merciful to me. I know He will fulfill His purpose for me, amen! I celebrated 23 years walking with Jesus in October and I look forward to being with Him many more years and into eternity! He has never abandoned me and He never will!
The pain I was in has subsided for now and I pray it doesn’t come back. As many of you know, I have been fighting Celiac for almost eight years now and sometimes it really knocks me down hard. Just remember, this disease might knock me down, but it is not going to keep me down! In the power of the Holy Spirit I can take a hit and just keep going! God most definitely always sends His love and faithfulness!
I really missed having fellowship with you all while I was gone. I missed reading everyone’s blogs too and I look forward to talking with you all again! Thank you for all the encouraging comments, tweets, and emails you sent while I was in my bear cave of suffering! I appreciate all of you who reached out to me and prayed for our family!
I give it all to Jesus and I will continue in the purpose He has for me to preach the Gospel (John 3:16, Romans 10:9, Ephesians 2:8-9) and share His Word with the world! May His perfect will be done! Here I am Lord, send me!
Grace and peace to you all in the Beautiful and Powerful Name of Jesus!
Ryan Callahan's Blog 
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