Maundy Thursday Reflection: If Praise is like Perfume

I was unable to move my head and use my neck AT ALL on 24 and 25 March 2024 until a miracle from God took place.

I was brand new on 25th night and 26th morning! And received my miracle instantly in less than 24 hours!

Painkillers "that do not kill pain"..LOL

Everything happened so quickly! From picture on the left to the picture on the right in less than 24 hours!

 2 hours before Jason landed in Perth from Singapore (he had been visiting his elderly parents for about 2 weeks), I went to get some groceries and was having some chill time on my sofa watching some TV and awaiting his return, when suddenly my neck seized up and I came down with a severe neck pain on both sides of my neck. Jason returned home and I thought it would go away if I went to bed and slept it off but the next morning it was so bad I couldn't move my head at all. I could turn my head 5 deg left and right at most.

I was in extreme pain as I tried to eat breakfast as i couldn't open my jaw much.  
I was also in very severe pain with every little motion of the arms and shoulder area.  So i was moving around slowly and I couldn't lay down without pain. So I told Jason to search the cabinet for any pain killers,  but there were 13 year old ones. As the pain escalated to beyond bearable, I decided we should try to head to the doctor's. I managed to get to the clinic and had to be helped into the car and with every little bump on the road,  the pain intensified.

Returning home I took the pain relief medication and also the muscle relaxant and as i tried going about daily activities like sitting up, going up and down stairs, showering and even folding and hanging up clothes, they were still hurting me very badly.  Even chewing and drinking hurt me badly.
I couldn't yawn fully or sneeze or blown my nose. It would really hurt.

Doctor said "No driving for you".. so my plan was to be house bound until pain goes away. 🙏I was thankful Jason was back in time when these all happened,  as I wasn't able to even do any of daily simple household chores without extreme pain.

I also needed help getting up from sitting position and lying position with extreme pain in my neck each time and with every little movement. By evening I could not even open my mouth wide enough to put a grape in. I asked Jason what kind of pain relief medication that is?   It didn't relief any pain at all! I had 0 relief since the medication I took in morning and evening.

I half suspected it was spiritual cos it happened suddenly the night out of the blue... before Jason landed. And all this hoo-hah before we had to go for medical check up for our visa purposes too the next day!

PRAISE and Glory to God! And thanks also to the prayers of saints from different parts of the world, and here in Perth and some pastors from our city Geo network, in less than 24 hours I received a mighty miracle from God!

The intense pain on both sides of my neck were gone totally. And I can turn my head normally!



This was the TURNING POINT (no pun intended)
 I had opened my bible app that evening and it said "the poor you will have always but Me you will not have always". So I decided the read the chapter for context. I opened my new bible and it also fell open on the very same chapter in John 12 which i was looking for. And John 12 is about Mary breaking the alabaster flask of spikenard oil (costing 1 year's wage) and anointing Jesus's feet with her hair and the oil, worshiping Him and anointing Him in preparation for His burial.

As I read it I felt the Lord say to me  "will you praise Me despite your pain?"
I said "yes Lord, it is not easy but I will give you my sacrifice of praise. "

Then one praise song started flooding my soul.
"Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God
Born of his Spirit, washed in His blood

This is my story, this is my song
Praising my Savior all the day long
This is my story, this is my song
Praising my Savior all the day long
​
Perfect submission, perfect delight
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight
Angels descending bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love"


As I sung, such joy flooded my weary soul and I was amazed I could begin to raise and lift up my both hands to praise Him without pain!

I felt how appropriately worded the song was! When I finished praising Jesus with the song, I felt the pain leaving. And suddenly I was getting more and more mobile.

Then one song came after another.. songs I have not sung in decades.. like.."Pour my love on You".

...Like oil upon your feet. If praise is like perfume I will lavish mine on You
till every drop is gone.I pour my love on am You"

Then another song just burst forth from my lips..
O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds thy hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed:
Refrain:
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to thee:
How great thou art! How great thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to thee:
How great thou art! How great thou art!
2 When through the woods and forest glades I wander
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees,
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur,
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze:
3 And when I think how God, his Son not sparing,
Sent him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the cross, my burdens gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin:
4 When Christ shall come with shouts of acclamation,
To take me home, what joy will fill my heart!
Then I will bow in humble adoration,
And there proclaim, my God, how great thou art!

etc etc..Ha...hallujah ha hallelujah...

Every word of those songs meant so much to me and even though in have sung them before it was totally and completely different singing it this time. It was as if each word in the songs were written just for me, and it pounded with conviction as I sang the words.

As I sang and praise God song after song spontaneously, I got more and more free in my movement. I was able up lift my hands and able to sit doŵn and lie without help. And I went to bed that night WITHOUT Jason's assistance!  And I could lie down WITHOUT Jason's support! It was an amazing feeling of being able to do the basic things in life on my own again!

 As I laid in bed this old song kept flooding my soul as I sang. How apt the words of this song which I would like to share as well.

Verse 1
I will call upon the Lord,who is worthy to be praised .So shall I be saved from my enemies.

Chorus
The Lord liveth, and blessed be the Rockand let the God of my salvation be exalted!{X2}

Verse 2
O magnify the Lord,who is worthy to be praised.So shall I be saved from my enemies.

Verse 3
Let us praise the Lord of Lords,praise Him now and evermore.Praise the Father, Son and the Spirit.
I will call upon the LordI

INDEED "SO SHALL I BE SAVED FROM MY ENEMIES!"
When I woke up this morning i felt brand new!  I danced and sang "SO SHALL I BE SAVED FROM MY ENEMIES" over and over again with joy! 

My husband and I were able to go for our scheduled medical check up for our visas, and I completely fine on the drive there! Praise and glory to Jesus! 

We finished our full health examination, blood tests and Xray and all went very well. I thought and quipped that if the Lord hadn't healed me the night before,I wouldn't be able to even answer those questions regarding physical ability and pass those basic physical mobility tests at all! What a mighty God we serve!

My Father God is good and I am ever grateful that this Passion Weekend, we can remember what He did for us on the cross through His Son Jesus.  His death brought me life,  His stripes he received, brought me healing. And His blood brought me forgiveness. And to know the resurrected Christ who rose from the dead!

Today is what most believers in Christ call Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday and the night Jesus was betrayed. "Maundy" is a Latin word and it means "commandment" and it is where we get the word "mandate".

Interestingly John 12 that act of Mary in preparation for His burial leads us to next chapter of John13 where Jesus washed His disciples feet and after his betrayer was identified and left, gave us the new commandment "that you love another as I have loved you,  that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples,  if you have love for one another."

We have a mission to make disciples who make disciples and a "mandate "of loving one another as His disciples.

My prayer is that we will obey Him and follow His commandments and mandate as we remember Christ and the Passion Weekend. By this all will know we are His disciples. 

And will you praise Him? Because if we don't, even the clouds will! 
(picture below was taken this evening. It shows the cloud formation behind my house. Someone said "it is like fireworks"! "Yes I say ,the "Fireworks of God"! And could these be as the song lyrics go "angels descending bring from above, echoes of mercy,  whispers of love?" 
Or it looks more like the Menorah/ Lampstand! (As a follow up from the miraculous healing of my neck a few days ago I felt to write about this phenomenon of the "lampstand clouds" the next day. 

Honestly I am not into looking at clouds at all. But this one is extremely unusual and I felt the Holy Spirit drew my attention to it as I was walking towards my house with my dog. It is also a witness of God's greatness and miraculous work in my life,  from not being able to walk my dog and everything the doctor said I shouldn't do, to the fact that i am now able to, since the miraculous healing of my neck in less than 24 hours.  So I took a picture of it on Thurs evening.....
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