Mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law have a long, long history of having problems, sometimes resulting in alienation of members of families. For some reason mothers-in-law and sons-in-law don't very often have that problem.
I had a good relationship with my mother-in-law Marguerite Allen. She was a smart, congenial, active lady who had four sons. She had a special relationship with all of her daughters-in-law.
Some relationships were occasionally stormy, but most of the time there was great love and respect for the matriarch of the family. She was educated as a nurse, found that was not her calling, but she became a professional woman after college in the early 1900s . She professed to having been the head of the first welfare system in Denver.
We all knew that Mom's word was the final edict in any situation, not only with Dad but also with the sons and their wives. I would say obedient respect is a good phrase to describe our attitude toward her.
She listened very closely all of the time and when birthdays and Christmas came around we always received multiple gifts from her and they were always articles that we had at sometime or other voiced that we wanted or often it was something for which we had only wished. She was a giver of goods, for sure.
When Mom was in her late 70s she developed polymyalgia, a muscle disease. She eventually ended up in a wheel chair. That was a real blow to her independent nature, but it seemed as time went by that a sort of enjoyment came along with the care and attention that the wheel chair afforded her. Dad was very good about taking care of her and carting the wheel chair around from place to place in the trunk of the car.
As years went by, pain began to escalate as the polymyalgia gained more control of her body and there were times when the pain showed on her face. Most of the time she was reluctant to admit to having pain, as women of that generation were inclined to refrain from sharing emotional fluxuations.
On one occasion when my husband Steve and I were visiting Mom and Dad she seemed particularly feeble because of the pain. Yet, the custom was that we always went to The Club to eat an elegant meal and she wasn't going to miss that tradition for anything.
We got her ready to go and Dad wheeled Mom out to the car and put her in the passenger seat. I got in the back seat where I usually rode. Dad and Steve went back into the house to get something and that left Mom and I alone in the car.
Mom told me pitifully that she had been in so much pain that it didn't seem like she could stand it anymore. I asked her if she wanted me to pray for her. She immediately said she welcomed the prayer. I knew that I had the anointing of the Holy Spirit even before I touched her because I felt that familiar heat in my hands that I had felt many times when praying for people.
I touched Mom on the shoulder, prayed a very short prayer, Episcopalian style since that was their denominational preference, and I felt the fire of the Holy Spirit go from my hands into her body.
"Oh, my goodness, Tommye. That's wonderful, " she squealed, setting aside her usual emotional control.
"That's God," I answered.
Steve and Dad came out of the house, having retrieved what they sought. They got in the car but nothing was shared about the spiritual event that had just happened between God and Mom. Sometimes when we immediately give voice to such an occasion the words rob it of its reality. That's why Jesus occasionally told some people to, "Tell no man," after a miracle had occurred in his ministry.
We ventured off to The Club. When we arrived Mom proudly stated that she didn't need her wheel chair and the guys didn't need to get it out of the trunk. Dad asked her, "Are you sure? I certainhly think you need to use it."
"No," she firmly stated. "I don't need it." She walked into The Club assisted only by Dad and Steve lightly touching her arms. She was "aglow with the Spirit."
I know that she had felt the power of God in her body and it had thrilled her. The next time we talked on the telephone she told me that she wished I was there with her to "touch " her again.
I don't remember her talking about pain again, even though she did eventually go back into the wheel chair.
As I look back on the occasion of Mom being "touched" by the power of God, I see that it was a miracle that she walked into the Club. She had not walked with confidence in several years and I know that her muscles were deteriorated from lack of use as well as the effects of a crippling disease.
When I think of Mom now I always visualize that look of utter surprise when God's power surged through her body, resulting in an expression change from one of pain into one of utter joy and peace.
Marguerite Allen had the privilege of experiencing God's love before she met him face to face in heaven where she is completely reveling in it. I'm sure she thanked God even more excitedly in heaven than she was able to in the earth when she was covered by His love and power that time in the front seat of the Buick.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
LUCKY LADY
The Tuesday Girls have been meeting for twenty-five plus years for lunch, prayer, Bible study, sharing of stories and laughter. We formerly met every week on Thursdays but changed to Tuesdays a few years ago. We have thousands and thousands of testimonies of answered prayers, many of which astound other people, as well as us.
My favorite testimony relates to guess who? Me. Of course it would be my favorite, because it happened to me at a very fearful time in my life. I had been diagnosed with breast cancer, which was scary, but I had been healed of breast cancer before and I knew that I would be healed again because I had had a dream relating to it that gave me the assurance of being healed. However, I also had received notice from my doctor that there was a tumor in my lung.
Now, that was really scary because that meant that the cancer in my right breast had metastasized into my right lung. That news threw me for a loop. The breast cancer I knew could be defeated, but two areas of cancer in my body shook my confidence in God.
After a trip to Houston to confer with specialists there, I came back home to have a breast biopsy, later a lumpectomy, also thoracic surgery to remove the tumor in the lung and then radiation and possibly chemotherapy. That was a lot to swallow. But, I did have the prior dream that I would be emerge healthy. The thought kept coming to my mind that I wondered how God was going to heal me this time, yet fear was always present. I knew the healing would be different from the last time.
One day while waiting for the day of the lung surgery to arrive I was visited by one of the Tuesday Girls. Marcia came to bring a meal to my husband and me. When I let her in the door she saw the fear and concern on my face, I'm sure evidenced by my eyes which were swollen and red from crying. I was the teacher of the Tuesday Girls. I was supposed to be strong. She was shocked by the fear I was displaying on my countenance, so she just very simply just put her arms around me and said, "Father, give Tommye peace."
Neither Marcia nor I were prepared for the immediate results from that prayer. In the matter of a split second I began to laugh uncontrollably from the depths of my being. I laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed. It was catching, I guess, because Marcia also began to laugh. There was nothing to laugh about, but we could not stop. I remember leaning against the wall in the entryway so that I wouldn't fall down laughing. That rare episode went on for at least fifteen minutes with both of us laughing in what I now know is holy laughter brought from God to chase away fear, dread, doom, and any other afflicting thoughts. When we forced ourselves to at least slow down the laughter Marcia delivered the meal into the kitchen, then left on another errand. I continued to laugh for hours no matter where I went in the house.
When my husband Steve came home, I could hardly tell him about the peculiar day I had had because every time I started to comment on it I started roaring with laughter again.
Finally when nighttime came I was able to eat and sleep without laughing, but the next day and for many days after that glorious day every time I passed the place in the hall where Marcia had prayed for me, I began deep belly laughing again. It was wonderful. The fear and the dread and the concern and the doom were still gone. I know now that the laughter was coming from my spirit because my spirit knew that God had immediately healed me and the way to affirm the healing was for me to be overcome with joy.
Marcia was the beautiful vessel that God chose to deliver healing to me. I will be eternally grateful to her for her obedience. I think she just meant to deliver a meal, but she ended up delivering much more. She delivered healing to my body.
Later on, while still waiting for the appointed day of the lung surgery Cathi, another Tuesday Girl, called me on the phone and told me that God had told her to tell me that not a bone would be broken. I was thankful that Cathi heard that from God, but frankly I wasn't concerned about my bones. I was concerned about two tumors, one in the right breast and one in the right lung. I graciously thanked Cathi for that message, puzzled about the bone reference.
After the lung surgery the surgeon told me that I was a very lucky lady. He exclaimed that my ribs were so flexible that he was able to merely move them out of the way when he removed the tumor from the lung. He said that he usually has to break a person's ribs to remove a tumor growing at the location of the one in my lung. His comment was that when he has to break the ribs of a person that they usually have pain in their rib area for the rest of their lives but that I wouldn't have to suffer any pain because he did not have to break any of my ribs. The additional good news was that the tumor now was benign, confirming my dream.
The mystery was solved. Cathi had prophesied to me the outcome of the lung surgery, that I would emerge with no broken bones.
Every one of the Tuesday Girls prayed passionately for me during that precarious time in my life. We have shared so much together, food, laughter, tears, prayers and deep, deep love.
What a lucky lady I am. L-U-C-K means living under Christ's kindness and I am one Lucky Lady.
My favorite testimony relates to guess who? Me. Of course it would be my favorite, because it happened to me at a very fearful time in my life. I had been diagnosed with breast cancer, which was scary, but I had been healed of breast cancer before and I knew that I would be healed again because I had had a dream relating to it that gave me the assurance of being healed. However, I also had received notice from my doctor that there was a tumor in my lung.
Now, that was really scary because that meant that the cancer in my right breast had metastasized into my right lung. That news threw me for a loop. The breast cancer I knew could be defeated, but two areas of cancer in my body shook my confidence in God.
After a trip to Houston to confer with specialists there, I came back home to have a breast biopsy, later a lumpectomy, also thoracic surgery to remove the tumor in the lung and then radiation and possibly chemotherapy. That was a lot to swallow. But, I did have the prior dream that I would be emerge healthy. The thought kept coming to my mind that I wondered how God was going to heal me this time, yet fear was always present. I knew the healing would be different from the last time.
One day while waiting for the day of the lung surgery to arrive I was visited by one of the Tuesday Girls. Marcia came to bring a meal to my husband and me. When I let her in the door she saw the fear and concern on my face, I'm sure evidenced by my eyes which were swollen and red from crying. I was the teacher of the Tuesday Girls. I was supposed to be strong. She was shocked by the fear I was displaying on my countenance, so she just very simply just put her arms around me and said, "Father, give Tommye peace."
Neither Marcia nor I were prepared for the immediate results from that prayer. In the matter of a split second I began to laugh uncontrollably from the depths of my being. I laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed. It was catching, I guess, because Marcia also began to laugh. There was nothing to laugh about, but we could not stop. I remember leaning against the wall in the entryway so that I wouldn't fall down laughing. That rare episode went on for at least fifteen minutes with both of us laughing in what I now know is holy laughter brought from God to chase away fear, dread, doom, and any other afflicting thoughts. When we forced ourselves to at least slow down the laughter Marcia delivered the meal into the kitchen, then left on another errand. I continued to laugh for hours no matter where I went in the house.
When my husband Steve came home, I could hardly tell him about the peculiar day I had had because every time I started to comment on it I started roaring with laughter again.
Finally when nighttime came I was able to eat and sleep without laughing, but the next day and for many days after that glorious day every time I passed the place in the hall where Marcia had prayed for me, I began deep belly laughing again. It was wonderful. The fear and the dread and the concern and the doom were still gone. I know now that the laughter was coming from my spirit because my spirit knew that God had immediately healed me and the way to affirm the healing was for me to be overcome with joy.
Marcia was the beautiful vessel that God chose to deliver healing to me. I will be eternally grateful to her for her obedience. I think she just meant to deliver a meal, but she ended up delivering much more. She delivered healing to my body.
Later on, while still waiting for the appointed day of the lung surgery Cathi, another Tuesday Girl, called me on the phone and told me that God had told her to tell me that not a bone would be broken. I was thankful that Cathi heard that from God, but frankly I wasn't concerned about my bones. I was concerned about two tumors, one in the right breast and one in the right lung. I graciously thanked Cathi for that message, puzzled about the bone reference.
After the lung surgery the surgeon told me that I was a very lucky lady. He exclaimed that my ribs were so flexible that he was able to merely move them out of the way when he removed the tumor from the lung. He said that he usually has to break a person's ribs to remove a tumor growing at the location of the one in my lung. His comment was that when he has to break the ribs of a person that they usually have pain in their rib area for the rest of their lives but that I wouldn't have to suffer any pain because he did not have to break any of my ribs. The additional good news was that the tumor now was benign, confirming my dream.
The mystery was solved. Cathi had prophesied to me the outcome of the lung surgery, that I would emerge with no broken bones.
Every one of the Tuesday Girls prayed passionately for me during that precarious time in my life. We have shared so much together, food, laughter, tears, prayers and deep, deep love.
What a lucky lady I am. L-U-C-K means living under Christ's kindness and I am one Lucky Lady.
STANDING TALL
Can a leg really grow several inches in a few seconds?
Yes, it can because my husband and I witnessed it.
Several years ago a six year old boy and his mom came to the small church we were attending at the time and the mother told the pastor of the church that her son had told her that God told him if he would go to, "Bob's church," have the elders pray for him, that God would lengthen his short leg and he wouldn't have to wear his bulky steel brace and ugly shoe with the three inch thick sole.
My husband Steve had never visibly seen a miracle but he had experienced one, having been transformed from an alcoholic to a sober person by God the preceding year. He knew God could do anything and everything, but this was an unusual request. It wasn't new to Bob, the pastor, because he had seen a lot of miracles happen in his church and other churches.
The pastor called certain men up, the elders, and positioned them behind the boy who was seated in a chair. Steve happened to be the one who was standing at the boy's back. Bob told the men to lay their hands on the boy. Steve laid his hand on the boy's back at hip level of the short leg.
Bob prayed a short prayer asking God to make the boy's body whole and perfect. All of a sudden Steve said, "Wow," and jumped back as the boy's leg began to lengthen to the same size as the other leg. Steve was astounded that he could feel the leg begin to grow under the hand which he had laid on the boy's hip. The boy was indeed healed.
The boy and his mom walked out of the church with the boy carrying his bulky brace with the brown shoe and its three inch sole. He was grinning from ear to ear, walking without a sign of a limp.
Many years later we came face to face with the mother of the boy. She recognized Steve as one of the men who had prayed for her son. We inquired about her son who was now in his late teens. She gleefully told us that he is wonderful young man, tall and healthy. She proudly stated that after her son was healed at the church that they took the brace with it's orthopedic shoe and threw it in the Arkansas River, never to need it again.
The child's faith certainly made him whole. He was obedient to what God told him to do, and he left that church with a leg the same length as his other one.
Children and God just seem to have a special bond. After all, He said, "A little child shall lead them." In this situation the boy's faith certainly led many people to believe in the ability of God to heal.
Yes, it can because my husband and I witnessed it.
Several years ago a six year old boy and his mom came to the small church we were attending at the time and the mother told the pastor of the church that her son had told her that God told him if he would go to, "Bob's church," have the elders pray for him, that God would lengthen his short leg and he wouldn't have to wear his bulky steel brace and ugly shoe with the three inch thick sole.
My husband Steve had never visibly seen a miracle but he had experienced one, having been transformed from an alcoholic to a sober person by God the preceding year. He knew God could do anything and everything, but this was an unusual request. It wasn't new to Bob, the pastor, because he had seen a lot of miracles happen in his church and other churches.
The pastor called certain men up, the elders, and positioned them behind the boy who was seated in a chair. Steve happened to be the one who was standing at the boy's back. Bob told the men to lay their hands on the boy. Steve laid his hand on the boy's back at hip level of the short leg.
Bob prayed a short prayer asking God to make the boy's body whole and perfect. All of a sudden Steve said, "Wow," and jumped back as the boy's leg began to lengthen to the same size as the other leg. Steve was astounded that he could feel the leg begin to grow under the hand which he had laid on the boy's hip. The boy was indeed healed.
The boy and his mom walked out of the church with the boy carrying his bulky brace with the brown shoe and its three inch sole. He was grinning from ear to ear, walking without a sign of a limp.
Many years later we came face to face with the mother of the boy. She recognized Steve as one of the men who had prayed for her son. We inquired about her son who was now in his late teens. She gleefully told us that he is wonderful young man, tall and healthy. She proudly stated that after her son was healed at the church that they took the brace with it's orthopedic shoe and threw it in the Arkansas River, never to need it again.
The child's faith certainly made him whole. He was obedient to what God told him to do, and he left that church with a leg the same length as his other one.
Children and God just seem to have a special bond. After all, He said, "A little child shall lead them." In this situation the boy's faith certainly led many people to believe in the ability of God to heal.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
MARY, MARY, WAS FORMERLY CONTRARY
When we were teaching a series of Bible studies in another small town one of the ladies in the group asked me to come to her work, a hospital, and pray for a coworker who had multiple sclerosis. Mary was the person's name. She was so contrary because of the pain from the illness that her boss had to turn her desk to the wall in a corner because of the unpleasant attitude she exuded in the office which affected everyone. My friend Sue was convinced that Mary would be healed if I would pray for her.
My mind-set at the time was not one of overwhelming belief. In fact, I was plagued with thoughts of unbelief and doubt because I had heard two preachers who had international healing ministries state that they had never healed a person with multiple sclerosis. Those statements programmed my mind with thoughts of impossible results from praying for Mary.
I had learned years ago that there are many ways to get healed, medicine, surgery, exercise, diet and prayers. We all go to God when everything else fails. I also knew that there was no way I could ever get anyone healed, that only God knew each individual situation and He is the only one who could intervene in this situation and get Mary healed of the devastating disease which had already afflicted her legs, causing her to walk with an uneasy, halting gait from which she easily fell.
The disease affected her attitude so badly that she was an office outcast. My heart went out to her even before I met her face to face.
Boy, did I quickly go to God about this matter, wanting His insight and wisdom.
Sure enough, He had the solution to the problem, one that no man could ever have devised. He told me that Mary was very religious, keeping all the religious feasts of her denomination, that she was a loyal member of the church, but that she wasn't reborn, she hadn't been renewed by the Holy Spirit.
God showed me in an image in my mind that I needed to tell her that she needed His life inside of her to chase out the multiple demons that had invaded her body. He instructed me to then pray for her to be baptised in the Holy Spirit and her body would be healed completely of the effects of the disease when the Holy Spirit completely permeated her body, soul and spirit.
That all sounded good to me, relieving me of the responsibility of getting Mary healed. What could I do? Humans can't supernaturally heal. Only God can do that.
I set up a meeting with Mary in a small room at the hospital where she worked and went loaded with faith that God would do what He promised He would do, heal Mary of multiple sclerosis and restore her body and mind, even her attitudes.
It was easy to identify Mary when she walked into the room. Her limp and her demeanor, having had them adequately described by Sue, were very apparent. Anger exuded from her entire being, and rightfully so, anger at her being afflicted by a horrible crippling disease and being the office outcast.
I began to talk to Mary about the new birth experience and being baptised by God himself through His Holy Spirit. I read the scriptures to her relating to the power of God healing people. And then I told her what God had told me about her, that she would be healed completely when she accepted the totality of God into her life. That got her full attention, that God had told someone specific instructions about her. She felt that that must mean that God truly loved her and wanted her whole.
We prayed a simple, child-like prayer and Mary began to speak in God's spiritual language as the Spirit gave her the words. She was instantaneously healed and made whole, body, soul and spirit. Her entire countenance changed. She exuded light and joy from her eyes rather than the precious anger.
Mary's testimony and healing impressed her mother and brother so much that they both wanted the same experience, which God arranged as only He can do.
There is always a remnant of doubt when one sees someone else so dramatically healed. In the years after Mary's healing I occasionally wondered if she still was healed and whole. God takes care of those things too, like I said, as only He can do.
We were having breakfast in a restaurant ten years later and Mary and her mother walked in. She recognized us and came to our table and told us that her life was still changed very dramatically since that fateful day when she met God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, She told us about a wonderful dream she had had where she was in heaven and God revealed many mysteries to her. She was transfigured.
Mary was a blessing to me more than I was a blessing to her that wonderful day. My job was a delivery person. All I did was introduce her to the most Loving Father she could ever know, and He did His wonderful work. My blessing was that I got to see Him do what He knew was necessary for Mary.
Mary is no longer contrary. She's a garden growing the fruit of God's Holy Spirit.
My mind-set at the time was not one of overwhelming belief. In fact, I was plagued with thoughts of unbelief and doubt because I had heard two preachers who had international healing ministries state that they had never healed a person with multiple sclerosis. Those statements programmed my mind with thoughts of impossible results from praying for Mary.
I had learned years ago that there are many ways to get healed, medicine, surgery, exercise, diet and prayers. We all go to God when everything else fails. I also knew that there was no way I could ever get anyone healed, that only God knew each individual situation and He is the only one who could intervene in this situation and get Mary healed of the devastating disease which had already afflicted her legs, causing her to walk with an uneasy, halting gait from which she easily fell.
The disease affected her attitude so badly that she was an office outcast. My heart went out to her even before I met her face to face.
Boy, did I quickly go to God about this matter, wanting His insight and wisdom.
Sure enough, He had the solution to the problem, one that no man could ever have devised. He told me that Mary was very religious, keeping all the religious feasts of her denomination, that she was a loyal member of the church, but that she wasn't reborn, she hadn't been renewed by the Holy Spirit.
God showed me in an image in my mind that I needed to tell her that she needed His life inside of her to chase out the multiple demons that had invaded her body. He instructed me to then pray for her to be baptised in the Holy Spirit and her body would be healed completely of the effects of the disease when the Holy Spirit completely permeated her body, soul and spirit.
That all sounded good to me, relieving me of the responsibility of getting Mary healed. What could I do? Humans can't supernaturally heal. Only God can do that.
I set up a meeting with Mary in a small room at the hospital where she worked and went loaded with faith that God would do what He promised He would do, heal Mary of multiple sclerosis and restore her body and mind, even her attitudes.
It was easy to identify Mary when she walked into the room. Her limp and her demeanor, having had them adequately described by Sue, were very apparent. Anger exuded from her entire being, and rightfully so, anger at her being afflicted by a horrible crippling disease and being the office outcast.
I began to talk to Mary about the new birth experience and being baptised by God himself through His Holy Spirit. I read the scriptures to her relating to the power of God healing people. And then I told her what God had told me about her, that she would be healed completely when she accepted the totality of God into her life. That got her full attention, that God had told someone specific instructions about her. She felt that that must mean that God truly loved her and wanted her whole.
We prayed a simple, child-like prayer and Mary began to speak in God's spiritual language as the Spirit gave her the words. She was instantaneously healed and made whole, body, soul and spirit. Her entire countenance changed. She exuded light and joy from her eyes rather than the precious anger.
Mary's testimony and healing impressed her mother and brother so much that they both wanted the same experience, which God arranged as only He can do.
There is always a remnant of doubt when one sees someone else so dramatically healed. In the years after Mary's healing I occasionally wondered if she still was healed and whole. God takes care of those things too, like I said, as only He can do.
We were having breakfast in a restaurant ten years later and Mary and her mother walked in. She recognized us and came to our table and told us that her life was still changed very dramatically since that fateful day when she met God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, She told us about a wonderful dream she had had where she was in heaven and God revealed many mysteries to her. She was transfigured.
Mary was a blessing to me more than I was a blessing to her that wonderful day. My job was a delivery person. All I did was introduce her to the most Loving Father she could ever know, and He did His wonderful work. My blessing was that I got to see Him do what He knew was necessary for Mary.
Mary is no longer contrary. She's a garden growing the fruit of God's Holy Spirit.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
LIGHTENING THE LOAD
When an adult child who always seems to have things under control comes to your home and you immediately discern a weight is bearing down on his or her emotional health to the place where it is apparent to every casual observer, a parent always becomes duly concerned. I experienced this to a large degree with our daughter Pam several years ago.
Pam loved her job, was in a loving relationship with a nice guy, was in a city that she dearly loved. What could be wrong, I wondered when I noticed that she was in a depressed mood when she came 1500 miles home to visit?
I knew that she would share her burden with me, if need be, but I also knew that she needed to initiate the conversation because parents instinctively know whether or not to probe with the, "Are you all right," question that usually gets the, "Yes. Why? I'm all right," answer.
We did the usual things on her visit, ate at her favorite restaurants, fixed her favorite meals, went shopping. She visited with local friends, but still she wasn't her usual joyful, confident self.
The day before she left while we were watching a TV program I asked her how work was going. The emotional volcano erupted. She began to tell me about her supervisor at work, a woman who had become petty, domineering and abrasive to everyone in the office. Pam went on and on describing the negative atmosphere in the office and the abusive daily activities of her supervisor, who was making the lives of everyone in the office miserable.
I knew to let her go on and on, pouring out the frustration and helplessness she felt in the business situation, confessing that she dreaded going to work every morning, telling about her coworkers and their identical feelings toward the woman. It was apparent from Pam's description of the woman that she was controlling and bullying her staff.
As I listened to Pam talk, the word "forgiveness" kept coming to my mind. My logical, fleshly mind kept wanting to say that Pam should complain to the big boss, but my spiritual mind keep saying, "Forgive." How was I going to minister the truth of forgiveness to my precious daughter without sounding religious? Sometimes to religious people forgiveness means to suffer in silence, being taken as a wimp who lacks a good self image, suffering in silence. Yet I knew the truth behind the act of forgiveness, that it is not a weak thing but it is a powerfully strong activity that brings many benefits to the one who forgives.
I waited for an opening. After Pam ran out of her legitimate complaints I told her that there was a way out of the situation for her. She asked what I meant. I let the spiritual wisdom that can only come from God explain to her that she was so burdened and heavy hearted because she had been carrying around a 150 pound woman for months and months by letting thoughts of the woman's pettiness and cruelty and bullying occupy 100 percent of her own thought life. Pam admitted that the woman was all she could think about.
Then it was time to explain the Biblical principle of forgiveness, which is an act of releasing the person who has wronged you from your mind, thus releasing their hold upon you. I explained that God wants us to forgive other people because He loves us so much that he doesn't want us to obsess about being wronged to the point where our health, both mental and physical, are affected. He wants us to forgive petty people for our benefit, not for the benefit of the other person who had been cruel. He knows that holding a grudge will burn deep into our psyches and cause us to attract other depressing thoughts until we become ill, depressed and vengeful. Since forgiveness means to give forth, to release someone from our thought life, then we know that forgiveness is meant to lighten our load.
Pam was totally accepting of the spiritual truth about the power of forgiveness. We prayed a simple little prayer, allowing Pam to speak forgiveness for the supervisor and asking God to change the woman and the situation because it was no longer Pam's burden. Amen.
When we finished the short, simple prayer, Pam looked like a 10,000 pound weight had been lifted off of her. She was visibly changed, free from the weight of the 150 pound woman who had become a constant, heavy burden.
Pam gently wept with relief, saying that she was going to tell the other people at work about what we had discussed so they could be relieved of the depressing burden that they also had.
We never had to discuss the woman again after Pam went back, free as a bird, to her home. However, in a matter of a few months she called and said the woman had been transferred out of the department. Forgiveness (giving forth) in the act of releasing the supervisor left the woman free to be transferred. She was no longer bound to that department by the mental distress of her coworkers.
What a joy to know that everything in the instruction book, the Bible, is God's effort to help each one of us in our daily lives so that we can have a happy, joyful existence in the earth.
"Forgive and let go," is one of the greatest principles taught by Jesus. He was right on in his lesson on forgiveness. I saw it with my own eyes. I saw forgiveness lift a burden right off of my daughter and put it on God, who doesn't mind because he says He's a Big Guy and He can handle it.
Pam loved her job, was in a loving relationship with a nice guy, was in a city that she dearly loved. What could be wrong, I wondered when I noticed that she was in a depressed mood when she came 1500 miles home to visit?
I knew that she would share her burden with me, if need be, but I also knew that she needed to initiate the conversation because parents instinctively know whether or not to probe with the, "Are you all right," question that usually gets the, "Yes. Why? I'm all right," answer.
We did the usual things on her visit, ate at her favorite restaurants, fixed her favorite meals, went shopping. She visited with local friends, but still she wasn't her usual joyful, confident self.
The day before she left while we were watching a TV program I asked her how work was going. The emotional volcano erupted. She began to tell me about her supervisor at work, a woman who had become petty, domineering and abrasive to everyone in the office. Pam went on and on describing the negative atmosphere in the office and the abusive daily activities of her supervisor, who was making the lives of everyone in the office miserable.
I knew to let her go on and on, pouring out the frustration and helplessness she felt in the business situation, confessing that she dreaded going to work every morning, telling about her coworkers and their identical feelings toward the woman. It was apparent from Pam's description of the woman that she was controlling and bullying her staff.
As I listened to Pam talk, the word "forgiveness" kept coming to my mind. My logical, fleshly mind kept wanting to say that Pam should complain to the big boss, but my spiritual mind keep saying, "Forgive." How was I going to minister the truth of forgiveness to my precious daughter without sounding religious? Sometimes to religious people forgiveness means to suffer in silence, being taken as a wimp who lacks a good self image, suffering in silence. Yet I knew the truth behind the act of forgiveness, that it is not a weak thing but it is a powerfully strong activity that brings many benefits to the one who forgives.
I waited for an opening. After Pam ran out of her legitimate complaints I told her that there was a way out of the situation for her. She asked what I meant. I let the spiritual wisdom that can only come from God explain to her that she was so burdened and heavy hearted because she had been carrying around a 150 pound woman for months and months by letting thoughts of the woman's pettiness and cruelty and bullying occupy 100 percent of her own thought life. Pam admitted that the woman was all she could think about.
Then it was time to explain the Biblical principle of forgiveness, which is an act of releasing the person who has wronged you from your mind, thus releasing their hold upon you. I explained that God wants us to forgive other people because He loves us so much that he doesn't want us to obsess about being wronged to the point where our health, both mental and physical, are affected. He wants us to forgive petty people for our benefit, not for the benefit of the other person who had been cruel. He knows that holding a grudge will burn deep into our psyches and cause us to attract other depressing thoughts until we become ill, depressed and vengeful. Since forgiveness means to give forth, to release someone from our thought life, then we know that forgiveness is meant to lighten our load.
Pam was totally accepting of the spiritual truth about the power of forgiveness. We prayed a simple little prayer, allowing Pam to speak forgiveness for the supervisor and asking God to change the woman and the situation because it was no longer Pam's burden. Amen.
When we finished the short, simple prayer, Pam looked like a 10,000 pound weight had been lifted off of her. She was visibly changed, free from the weight of the 150 pound woman who had become a constant, heavy burden.
Pam gently wept with relief, saying that she was going to tell the other people at work about what we had discussed so they could be relieved of the depressing burden that they also had.
We never had to discuss the woman again after Pam went back, free as a bird, to her home. However, in a matter of a few months she called and said the woman had been transferred out of the department. Forgiveness (giving forth) in the act of releasing the supervisor left the woman free to be transferred. She was no longer bound to that department by the mental distress of her coworkers.
What a joy to know that everything in the instruction book, the Bible, is God's effort to help each one of us in our daily lives so that we can have a happy, joyful existence in the earth.
"Forgive and let go," is one of the greatest principles taught by Jesus. He was right on in his lesson on forgiveness. I saw it with my own eyes. I saw forgiveness lift a burden right off of my daughter and put it on God, who doesn't mind because he says He's a Big Guy and He can handle it.
LIGHTNING POWER
When our son De was in college in a town not far from us, we had the usual parental mind-set, worrying about his safety. Teenagers are not yet blessed with the maturity of the area of the brain that discerns right from wrong. That area of the brain that considers the consequences of actions is just beginning to develop at age 15 and never completes its maturation until around 25 to 28 years old. That is a new discovery in psychology, proven by pathological tests. Even before that recent discovery, parents have instinctively known the biological truth that their teens would always take unnecessary risks without realizing there are consequences to the risks.
We rarely had to worry about De. He was pretty street smart and mature in most of his judgments. However, there was always the concern and worry of something happening over which he had no control.
One night during De's freshman year in college in another town, my husband Steve woke from a deep sleep, sat up in bed, said, "De needs prayer." Steve bounded out of bed, went into the den and began praying in the Holy Spirit language very energetically and very authoritatively. He persisted in praying for quite a long time, not stopping until he knew that the prayers had been answered. Then he went back to bed, immediately slipping back into a peaceful sleep.
Several days later we were visiting the college campus and went to visit our son at his apartment. He related an amazing story to us, saying that there had been a very violent storm several nights before our visit. He said that he was in his apartment alone and a bolt of lightning came into his apartment and the room lit up with electricity. He said that people came running out of adjacent apartments to his apartment wanting to know if he was okay, because the force of the lightning was so powerful that they were amazed that he was alive and that the room was in its normal state.
When we compared days and times with De, the bolt of lightning striking his window and its energy entering his apartment were at the identical time that Steve had awakened from his sleep and immediately began praying until he knew the danger had passed.
We were reminded of the scriptures that say that God will save us and our households. God was true to his promise, like he always is. He saved our son De from injury and loss.
We were filled with thankfulness at that time and continue to be thankful for God's protection of our family, knowing that He loves them even more than we do.
We rarely had to worry about De. He was pretty street smart and mature in most of his judgments. However, there was always the concern and worry of something happening over which he had no control.
One night during De's freshman year in college in another town, my husband Steve woke from a deep sleep, sat up in bed, said, "De needs prayer." Steve bounded out of bed, went into the den and began praying in the Holy Spirit language very energetically and very authoritatively. He persisted in praying for quite a long time, not stopping until he knew that the prayers had been answered. Then he went back to bed, immediately slipping back into a peaceful sleep.
Several days later we were visiting the college campus and went to visit our son at his apartment. He related an amazing story to us, saying that there had been a very violent storm several nights before our visit. He said that he was in his apartment alone and a bolt of lightning came into his apartment and the room lit up with electricity. He said that people came running out of adjacent apartments to his apartment wanting to know if he was okay, because the force of the lightning was so powerful that they were amazed that he was alive and that the room was in its normal state.
When we compared days and times with De, the bolt of lightning striking his window and its energy entering his apartment were at the identical time that Steve had awakened from his sleep and immediately began praying until he knew the danger had passed.
We were reminded of the scriptures that say that God will save us and our households. God was true to his promise, like he always is. He saved our son De from injury and loss.
We were filled with thankfulness at that time and continue to be thankful for God's protection of our family, knowing that He loves them even more than we do.
Monday, August 31, 2009
TRUE EVOLUTION
Faith is always an evolving belief system. Every revelation we receive enlightens us, causing our belief system to evolve even more. Things I put on the shelf years ago because I thought they were outlandish are things I believe in now because of scratching more and more into the vast things of God, which he has never hid from any of us. It was all blinded by a veil from the devil.
Like the former blind guy in the gospels said when questioned by people about what happened to him, "All I know is that once I was blind and now I see," once I was confused, turbulent, frustrated, dominated, abused -- in other words blind -- and now I know peace, joy, happiness, hope and excitement and only because of God through the Holy Spirit.
I told God from the very beginning that I didn't want something that would fail me like all the other weirdo stuff I had studied that lasted a while and then failed. I told Him that if He wasn't real and that if He really was like what all the religious people said He was like, that I didn't want to know Him.
Tearing out of my mind what all the religious teachings taught me was the hardest thing I ever did. I had a mountain full of garbage from religion and that was hard for the Holy Spirit to tunnel through. But when the "real thing for me" came, it was like heaven on earth, like going after a tiny gold nugget and finding instead a mountain made of gold and silver and rubies and diamonds.. Notice that I said, "FOR ME" when the real thing "for me" came it was like tasting the sweetest honey a person can taste and drinking the most delicious, invigorating water a person can drink. For me it was and still is paradise. None of it came from any man's teaching. That's why it's so precious. It was tailor made tutoring from the Holy Spirit, tailor made for me so that I could understand it with my peculiar family background, generational heritage, terrible life experiences and unhappy, abusive marriage looming in the background.
That's what is so fantastic about the Holy Spirit. He teaches people from the inside, a private tutor who knows how to phrase revelations individually for every single person who was ever alive in the past, is alive today and those who will be alive in the future. He's Daddy on the inside of us, equipped to tunnel through the crap and the garbage and show us what He is really like. Then when we are established in Him, like a castle built on a solid rock mountain, then He begins to teach each one of us individually, in words and images that only we alone can understand, how to live the abundant life that he created us to live. When He starts teaching us to love our enemies, to do good to those who spitefully use us, then we understand because we see the working of the spiritual dimensions and know that it all works because it is so insightful and wise and brilliant and exciting.
Like the former blind guy in the gospels said when questioned by people about what happened to him, "All I know is that once I was blind and now I see," once I was confused, turbulent, frustrated, dominated, abused -- in other words blind -- and now I know peace, joy, happiness, hope and excitement and only because of God through the Holy Spirit.
I told God from the very beginning that I didn't want something that would fail me like all the other weirdo stuff I had studied that lasted a while and then failed. I told Him that if He wasn't real and that if He really was like what all the religious people said He was like, that I didn't want to know Him.
Tearing out of my mind what all the religious teachings taught me was the hardest thing I ever did. I had a mountain full of garbage from religion and that was hard for the Holy Spirit to tunnel through. But when the "real thing for me" came, it was like heaven on earth, like going after a tiny gold nugget and finding instead a mountain made of gold and silver and rubies and diamonds.. Notice that I said, "FOR ME" when the real thing "for me" came it was like tasting the sweetest honey a person can taste and drinking the most delicious, invigorating water a person can drink. For me it was and still is paradise. None of it came from any man's teaching. That's why it's so precious. It was tailor made tutoring from the Holy Spirit, tailor made for me so that I could understand it with my peculiar family background, generational heritage, terrible life experiences and unhappy, abusive marriage looming in the background.
That's what is so fantastic about the Holy Spirit. He teaches people from the inside, a private tutor who knows how to phrase revelations individually for every single person who was ever alive in the past, is alive today and those who will be alive in the future. He's Daddy on the inside of us, equipped to tunnel through the crap and the garbage and show us what He is really like. Then when we are established in Him, like a castle built on a solid rock mountain, then He begins to teach each one of us individually, in words and images that only we alone can understand, how to live the abundant life that he created us to live. When He starts teaching us to love our enemies, to do good to those who spitefully use us, then we understand because we see the working of the spiritual dimensions and know that it all works because it is so insightful and wise and brilliant and exciting.
That's why it is so wonderful, because He is so wonderful.
This relationship with Him has never been something that I've had to emotionally work up by singing or praising or any other means. That's not my style. It only involved spending time with Him and getting to know him better than anyone else I know. Emotional singing and praising may be another person's right way. It's just not mine. The only song I used to sing when I would sit in my rocking chair rocking away studying about him was,"Getting to know you, getting to know all about you, getting to like you, getting to hope you like me." That wasn't very religious; was it? I had to have Him in my life or I would have perished in my current abusive situation. There was no other way. He was the last resort. I had tried every other religion, philosophy and doctrine.
I never dreamed then that knowing Him like I know Him now would be such a treat that I would double over in laughter at something He says to me, even in a loving rebuff, but more often in His comical, loving explanations of things. I never dreamed that just two kind words from Him would allow me to see the inside of a person and see the true person there. I never dreamed that death would only be an easy transition from one dimension to another like I observed in my mom, and then this week when I saw the spirit of a friend who was dying of cancer. When we were praying for other people last week I saw in my mind the friend just slowly and peacefully slip from earth into heaven and the words came to me, "He is having a transition already into eternity and there will be no river to cross or valley to go through, he will slip into heaven so easily he won't even know there has been a change." Then in the paper in two days I saw that he had died peacefully with his family praying at his side. What an absolute joy to have been privileged to see that prophetically while it was happening but before the actual final event.
My songs of praise to Him are, "There ain't no mountain high enough, there ain't no valley low enough, there ain't no river wide enough, to keep me away from you, Dad." I've never been a traditional person, no traditional religious songs for me. They make me cry. That one brings
joy to me!
Can you imagine my arrogance in telling Him before I knew Him that He better be real because if He wasn't I didn't want anything to do with Him? But, He understood because he knew how fragmented my journey had been and how broken my heart was from abuse, and how genuine my desire was to be a good mother in the middle of a crappy life. He understood and He met me where I was at the time. Now that is a good Dad! An earthly dad would have slapped a mouthy kid who was that arrogant, but He didn't. He just opened His loving arms and gathered me up into them and began to lead someone to me who told me about how to allow His Life, His Holy Spirit, into my life so He could become my hero and my comforter and my guide and my lover and my teacher and my protector and on and on.
It has been a ride and it will be more of a ride in the future. Can't wait to see what comes next!
Again I reiterate, this has been the way "for me". If anyone wants to know about my journey I love to tell them and introduce them to Him. But, the arrogance is gone and I know there may be other ways for other people. We'll all end up at the same place. It's the journey there that is so fantastically exciting.
For me, there ain't no mountain high enough to keep me away from Him!
This relationship with Him has never been something that I've had to emotionally work up by singing or praising or any other means. That's not my style. It only involved spending time with Him and getting to know him better than anyone else I know. Emotional singing and praising may be another person's right way. It's just not mine. The only song I used to sing when I would sit in my rocking chair rocking away studying about him was,"Getting to know you, getting to know all about you, getting to like you, getting to hope you like me." That wasn't very religious; was it? I had to have Him in my life or I would have perished in my current abusive situation. There was no other way. He was the last resort. I had tried every other religion, philosophy and doctrine.
I never dreamed then that knowing Him like I know Him now would be such a treat that I would double over in laughter at something He says to me, even in a loving rebuff, but more often in His comical, loving explanations of things. I never dreamed that just two kind words from Him would allow me to see the inside of a person and see the true person there. I never dreamed that death would only be an easy transition from one dimension to another like I observed in my mom, and then this week when I saw the spirit of a friend who was dying of cancer. When we were praying for other people last week I saw in my mind the friend just slowly and peacefully slip from earth into heaven and the words came to me, "He is having a transition already into eternity and there will be no river to cross or valley to go through, he will slip into heaven so easily he won't even know there has been a change." Then in the paper in two days I saw that he had died peacefully with his family praying at his side. What an absolute joy to have been privileged to see that prophetically while it was happening but before the actual final event.
My songs of praise to Him are, "There ain't no mountain high enough, there ain't no valley low enough, there ain't no river wide enough, to keep me away from you, Dad." I've never been a traditional person, no traditional religious songs for me. They make me cry. That one brings
joy to me!Can you imagine my arrogance in telling Him before I knew Him that He better be real because if He wasn't I didn't want anything to do with Him? But, He understood because he knew how fragmented my journey had been and how broken my heart was from abuse, and how genuine my desire was to be a good mother in the middle of a crappy life. He understood and He met me where I was at the time. Now that is a good Dad! An earthly dad would have slapped a mouthy kid who was that arrogant, but He didn't. He just opened His loving arms and gathered me up into them and began to lead someone to me who told me about how to allow His Life, His Holy Spirit, into my life so He could become my hero and my comforter and my guide and my lover and my teacher and my protector and on and on.
It has been a ride and it will be more of a ride in the future. Can't wait to see what comes next!
Again I reiterate, this has been the way "for me". If anyone wants to know about my journey I love to tell them and introduce them to Him. But, the arrogance is gone and I know there may be other ways for other people. We'll all end up at the same place. It's the journey there that is so fantastically exciting.
For me, there ain't no mountain high enough to keep me away from Him!
Friday, June 5, 2009
THE PLAY DATE
I was reminded today of some official court testimony I had the privilege of transcribing many years ago in the '80s when the AIDS scare was new in America. People who had full blown AIDS were treated like lepers, as if they had asked to be the recipients of that dreaded disease.
The testimony was by a man who had AIDS and had experienced the prejudice of people that comes from the lower nature of men and is dealt out to those who are different.
The man had a family friend whose little daughter also had AIDS, the result of a tainted blood transfusion given to her when she was a preemie. Even though the disease was certainly no fault of hers, nor her parents, just a result of sloppy blood testing by the blood supplier, the girl experienced the same prejudice as the male family friend. Word just seemed to travel fast in those days about AIDS. Because of fear and ignorance anyone who even had the HIV virus was ostracized by the rest of humanity.
The gentleman and the little girl in this case formed a tight friendship. They shared something common to both of them, not only the disease but also the prejudice of most people with whom they came in contact.
One of the questions that was asked of the man in the court case was if he feared death. He told the interviewer that, no, he didn't fear death.
The answer amazed the interviewer who had to know the reason behind the bold statement by this carrier of AIDS. He asked, "Do you welcome death as an escape from this life and this disease?"
The man answered, "No. I know that I will go to a wonderful place."
The interviewer asked, "Then you must be a very religious man."
"No, not really. I just know someone who has been there," the gentleman replied.
Again the interviewer probed for an answer but he got one that he never expected.
The gentleman continued, "See, I have a friend, a little girl who is seven years old who has the same disease that I have, and she, like me, won't live very many more months. I asked her one day if she was afraid to die and she replied, 'Oh, no. And I know you're not afraid to die either. Weren't you with me the other day when I went to heaven and played with Jesus and all them other kids? It was so much fun.'"
The gentleman concluded his testimony by saying that he trusted the experience of his little friend and was looking forward to a face to face meeting with Jesus who took his little friend to heaven for a play date with "Jesus and all them other kids" so that when the time came for her to permanently be taken there that she wouldn't be afraid.
This is a true story from a court case which I transcribed, the story of a courageous man and a privileged little girl who were very lucky to have experienced the Perfect Love that casts out fear.
The testimony was by a man who had AIDS and had experienced the prejudice of people that comes from the lower nature of men and is dealt out to those who are different.
The man had a family friend whose little daughter also had AIDS, the result of a tainted blood transfusion given to her when she was a preemie. Even though the disease was certainly no fault of hers, nor her parents, just a result of sloppy blood testing by the blood supplier, the girl experienced the same prejudice as the male family friend. Word just seemed to travel fast in those days about AIDS. Because of fear and ignorance anyone who even had the HIV virus was ostracized by the rest of humanity.
The gentleman and the little girl in this case formed a tight friendship. They shared something common to both of them, not only the disease but also the prejudice of most people with whom they came in contact.
One of the questions that was asked of the man in the court case was if he feared death. He told the interviewer that, no, he didn't fear death.
The answer amazed the interviewer who had to know the reason behind the bold statement by this carrier of AIDS. He asked, "Do you welcome death as an escape from this life and this disease?"
The man answered, "No. I know that I will go to a wonderful place."
The interviewer asked, "Then you must be a very religious man."
"No, not really. I just know someone who has been there," the gentleman replied.
Again the interviewer probed for an answer but he got one that he never expected.
The gentleman continued, "See, I have a friend, a little girl who is seven years old who has the same disease that I have, and she, like me, won't live very many more months. I asked her one day if she was afraid to die and she replied, 'Oh, no. And I know you're not afraid to die either. Weren't you with me the other day when I went to heaven and played with Jesus and all them other kids? It was so much fun.'"
The gentleman concluded his testimony by saying that he trusted the experience of his little friend and was looking forward to a face to face meeting with Jesus who took his little friend to heaven for a play date with "Jesus and all them other kids" so that when the time came for her to permanently be taken there that she wouldn't be afraid.
This is a true story from a court case which I transcribed, the story of a courageous man and a privileged little girl who were very lucky to have experienced the Perfect Love that casts out fear.
Friday, April 10, 2009
DAVID'S TRANSFORMATION
Several years ago, right after my husband Steve was totally transformed by the power of God through the Holy Spirit, we received a visit from a dear friend and business associate. His name is David and he had lived in the Hawaiian Islands for a while. David was back in the states and he called to say hello and that he wanted to come to see us. Of course we invited him to our home.
David arrived with a distant look in his eyes, which we later found out was caused by smoking some "funny weed". However, we were both glad to see him and invited him to spend the evening with us. He began to tell us about his new religious discovery. He said that he had discovered that he had a spirit guide from another spiritual world and it was leading him and talking to him through guided handwriting.
I was familiar with the same experience, though I had never embraced it, even though I had encountered the teaching in some books which I had initially read while I was on my quest for some power that would help me with problems in my life. Somehow I knew that the "spiritual guide" experiences were not my path to happiness. David had embraced it, though, believing that it would help him.
Since I knew that it would bring confusion to his life because it had done that to my life, I was eager for Steve to tell David that his "spirit guide" would only lead him to more confusion. Steve sat quietly listening to David tell us things that his "spirit guide" had told him, things that seemed to have no real relevance to successful living and problem solving. Steve continued to listen without throwing cold water on David's theories and experiences. I sat quietly seething because I thought that Steve should correct David and warn him about the dangers in listening to his false "spirit guide".
When David ran out of breath, Steve finally said to him, "I have a Spirit guide, too."
To which David said, "You do?"
Steve said, "Yes, I do, and His name is Jesus Christ."
Steve began to tell David his powerful testimony, how I had prayed in the Holy Spirit for hours every day for two years for him. Steve told David how he had unknowingly told another friend that he had turned his life over to Jesus, even though Steve didn't know he had. Steve told David that he had never heard that phrase before but he had used it in conversation and then started crying when he realized that that confession had come from his own mouth.
Then he told David about being instantaneously healed of alcoholism, cursing and tobacco smoking. Steve told him the supernatural orchestration that God had performed in order to get Steve to a place where he could eventually hear testimonies about God's power and His ability to change lives.
David had listened intently to Steve's testimony. Then David admitted that his "spirit guide" had not been supernaturally beneficial to his life, that his pursuit had been an intellectual pursuit with no real life changing power..
We asked David if he wanted to replace his ineffective spirit guide with Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit.
David couldn't get his, "Yes, " out of his mouth fast enough.
David left our house that night a new creature and transformed by the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead made David a totally new person, one who didn't need an inefficient intellectual spirit guide because David has God's powerful Holy Spirit inside of him now. David went to his home in another city totally changed, joyful and completely sober with no remnants of the drugs in his body.
David had such a complete personality change that his wife noticed immediately and she decided that she wanted the same life changing experience that he had. God obliged her, because He is true to his children, and God led David and his wife to a place where she could hear the same truths that David had embraced. His wife became transformed and Holy Spirit filled just like David.
When David had first come to our house Steve had used great wisdom by not opposing what David said about his "spirit guide" but Steve simply told him what the true Spirit guide, God's Holy Spirit, the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, would change David from a life of sadness to a life of joy. God did it, and He is still doing it.
David's entire life changed into a productive, joyful, blessed life thanks to the true "spirit guide", who is God's Holy Spirit.
People want to hear what we have experienced that has changed us and our lives. Our testimonies are more powerful than any philosopy, theology or doctrine.
David arrived with a distant look in his eyes, which we later found out was caused by smoking some "funny weed". However, we were both glad to see him and invited him to spend the evening with us. He began to tell us about his new religious discovery. He said that he had discovered that he had a spirit guide from another spiritual world and it was leading him and talking to him through guided handwriting.
I was familiar with the same experience, though I had never embraced it, even though I had encountered the teaching in some books which I had initially read while I was on my quest for some power that would help me with problems in my life. Somehow I knew that the "spiritual guide" experiences were not my path to happiness. David had embraced it, though, believing that it would help him.
Since I knew that it would bring confusion to his life because it had done that to my life, I was eager for Steve to tell David that his "spirit guide" would only lead him to more confusion. Steve sat quietly listening to David tell us things that his "spirit guide" had told him, things that seemed to have no real relevance to successful living and problem solving. Steve continued to listen without throwing cold water on David's theories and experiences. I sat quietly seething because I thought that Steve should correct David and warn him about the dangers in listening to his false "spirit guide".
When David ran out of breath, Steve finally said to him, "I have a Spirit guide, too."
To which David said, "You do?"
Steve said, "Yes, I do, and His name is Jesus Christ."
Steve began to tell David his powerful testimony, how I had prayed in the Holy Spirit for hours every day for two years for him. Steve told David how he had unknowingly told another friend that he had turned his life over to Jesus, even though Steve didn't know he had. Steve told David that he had never heard that phrase before but he had used it in conversation and then started crying when he realized that that confession had come from his own mouth.
Then he told David about being instantaneously healed of alcoholism, cursing and tobacco smoking. Steve told him the supernatural orchestration that God had performed in order to get Steve to a place where he could eventually hear testimonies about God's power and His ability to change lives.
David had listened intently to Steve's testimony. Then David admitted that his "spirit guide" had not been supernaturally beneficial to his life, that his pursuit had been an intellectual pursuit with no real life changing power..
We asked David if he wanted to replace his ineffective spirit guide with Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit.
David couldn't get his, "Yes, " out of his mouth fast enough.
David left our house that night a new creature and transformed by the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead made David a totally new person, one who didn't need an inefficient intellectual spirit guide because David has God's powerful Holy Spirit inside of him now. David went to his home in another city totally changed, joyful and completely sober with no remnants of the drugs in his body.
David had such a complete personality change that his wife noticed immediately and she decided that she wanted the same life changing experience that he had. God obliged her, because He is true to his children, and God led David and his wife to a place where she could hear the same truths that David had embraced. His wife became transformed and Holy Spirit filled just like David.
When David had first come to our house Steve had used great wisdom by not opposing what David said about his "spirit guide" but Steve simply told him what the true Spirit guide, God's Holy Spirit, the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, would change David from a life of sadness to a life of joy. God did it, and He is still doing it.
David's entire life changed into a productive, joyful, blessed life thanks to the true "spirit guide", who is God's Holy Spirit.
People want to hear what we have experienced that has changed us and our lives. Our testimonies are more powerful than any philosopy, theology or doctrine.
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