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FEMALE 1: You know I came to a place in my life where, um—you know studying the bible and I’ve come to realize God is so purposeful. I really feel like there is more—that there is more in his word than what I was seeing. And I began studying the Hebrew and Greek routes of the words and God completely opened my eyes to a new world and it was amazing to see my hearts desire of him being purposeful. I saw it and how he—um, how he built the temple, how it pertains to the coming of Christ, how everything in the Old Testament is just saying in every verse Christ is coming, Christ is returning.

Like it was just amazing—such an amazing picture, eye opening experience. And now I’m hungry to get into the word and now I feel like it’s like this treasure map and it’s showing me the ways to—of the Lord and it’s—and it’s—

I mean I can’t even express how absolutely amazing–it’s grown my—

FEMALE 2: It makes it more exciting even.

FEMALE 1: –faith so much. I’m excited. Like I’ve given—like since I started that like I’ve given up watching movies because I’m like this is life, this is real, this is changing everything about my being and I would encourage everyone and anyone to get a strong sincordance [phonetic], to get—you know to get your hands on the Hebrew and the Greek routes of these words because once you see what the original text is and how God is really implying these words your life will be changed.

And he is a lot—he’s a lot—not harsher but he is a lot more definite—

FEMALE 2: Forceful.

FEMALE 1: –and forceful and very passionate in his original—in his original Hebrew and Greek.

ALYSSA BARLOW: Isaiah 61 really played a key role in my life, of God really showing me– ‘cause I never really believed God could have a plan for me. I don’t know, people say that in the church all the time, you know, Jeremiah 29.11, “For I know the plans I have for you” declares the Lord, plans to give you a future and a hope. I’ve heard that my whole life but for some reason I just didn’t really trust it, I guess. And the amazing part was I had gone through a time where I had been–when I was 18 I was diagnosed with a disease called RSD, and they told me, you know, you’ll never really walk normally again. It’s a chronic pain that spreads throughout your entire body and it’s kind of an incurable disease, and you pretty much just live with chronic pain the rest of your life and you’re on very, very heavy medication.

And I just remember kind of struggling with God at that time, just saying, you know, “You say you have all these great plans for me and yet why does this kind of stuff happen in my life, why in the world would I have to go through this if you are really a God that has great plans for me.” So I kind of began to shake my fist a little bit and say, “Well, then that’s not the kind of God I want to serve.”

During that season of me just kind of having to lay in bed pretty much all day long ‘cause I couldn’t do anything, God really began to just melt my heart and really just bring me to Him, and to show me that He had a great plan for my life, and to show me that His love really was all that I needed and that He really was going to give me great things. But a lot of that was His presence, you know was Him. And Isaiah 61 really played a key role in my life in, you know, what we’re called to do, of the calling of a believer and what we could be. You know, that we’re called to open blind eyes and set the captives free.

Through that I was miraculously healed by God through that time, and I began to really see that Isaiah 61 was true, that healing was still for today. That God still was a powerful God. That it wasn’t just Old Testament stuff, that this was truth of today and that Jeremiah 29.11 was actually truth as well, that God actually really does have amazing plans for all of us.