YOUR NAME
IS LIKE PERFUME POURED OUT
YOUR NAME IS AS PERFUME POURED OUT
YOUR NAME IS AS PERFUME POURED OUTJESUS MY LORD
YOUR NAME IS AS PERFUME POURED OUT
YOUR NAME IS AS PERFUME POURED OUTWONDERFUL
COUNSELOR
MIGHTY GOD
EVERLASTING FATHER
PRINCE OF PEACE
CHORUS:
IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST
IN THE NAME OF MY LORDIN THE POWER OF JESUS BLOOD
IN THE FIRE OF HIS WORD
THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE
AS PERFUME
AS PERFUME
POURED OUT
JESUS, MY LORD
IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST
IN THE NAME OF MY LORDIN THE POWER OF JESUS BLOOD
IN THE FIRE OF YOUR WORD
THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE
YOUR NAME
IS AS PERFUMEAS PERFUME
AS PERFUME
POURED OUT
JESUS, MY LORD
MY MAKER
REDEEMEREMMANUEL
THE LAMB THAT WAS SLAIN
YOUR NAME
IS AS OINTMENTAS OINTMENT
AS OINTMENT
POURED OUT
JESUS, MY LORD
CHORUS:
IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST
IN THE NAME OF MY LORDIN THE POWER OF JESUS BLOOD
IN THE FIRE OF YOUR WORD
THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE
THE SPIRIT, THE WATER AND THE BLOOD AGREE
BY THE WORD OF MY TESTIMONY
IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST
BRING VICTORY
MY LORD
..CONTINUE AS LED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT...
WIND BLOW
OVER THE HILLS FROM CALVARY…WIND BLOW
OVER THE GRASS
WIND BLOW
OVER ME
BRING RESURRECTION VICTORY
WIND BLOW...
...DANCE...
Copyright Ann McGee
Dedicated to Louie de Canha
Written in height of martyrdom
Backing song as praying for the sick, deliverance etc. Commanding healing, etc.
Worship Him
Lay down your crowns before Him
Holy ground
High Priest
I HUMBLY BOW MY KNEE
BEFORE THE MOST HIGH GODFOR HE HAS AUTHORED ME
ON THE PATH I’VE TROD
I HUMBLY BOW MY KNEE
BEFORE THE MOST HIGH GOD
I HUMBLY BOW MY KNEE
BEFORE THE MOST HIGH GOD
I HUMBLY BOW MY KNEE
BEFORE THE MOST HIGH GOD
AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF MY FAITH
AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF MY FAITH
I HUMBLY BOW MY KNEE
BEFORE THE MOST HIGH GOD
I HUMBLY BOW MY KNEE
I HUMBLY BOW MY KNEE
I HUMBLY BOW MY KNEE
FOR YOU HAVE AUTHORISED ME
YOUR HAND IS UPON MEI AM SEATED WITH CHRIST IN HEAVENLY PLACES
AND I WILL FINISH MY RACE, O YES SIR THAT’S ME
I HUMBLY BOW MY KNEE
I HUMBLY BOW MY KNEEI HUMBLY BOW MY KNEE
BEFORE THE MOST HIGH GOD
BEFORE THE MOST HIGH
BEFORE THE MOST HIGH
BEFORE THE MOST HIGH GOD
I HUMBLY BOW MY KNEE
I HUMBLY BOW MY KNEEBEFORE THE MOST HIGH GOD
BEFORE THE MOST HIGH
BEFORE THE MOST HIGH
BEFORE THE MOST HIGH
BEFORE THE MOST HIGH GOD
AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF MY FAITH
THE LORD THE MOST HIGH GOD
I HUMBLY BOW MY KNEE
FOR HE HAS CHOSEN ME
TO COMPLETE THIS RACE
AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF MY FAITH
_____________________
AND THE TEMPLE
BE FILLED WITH SMOKE
MOST HOLY MEETING PLACE
WHERE I WILL MEET WITH YOU
BETWEEN THE CHERUBIM
AT THE MERCY SEAT OF GOD
UNBLEMISHED LAMB OF GOD
THAT WAS SLAIN
YOUR NAME
LIKE PERFUME POURED OUT
THE FRAGRANCE OF CHRIST
HOLY, HOLY, HOLY
MOST HOLY MEETING PLACE
WHERE I WILL MEET WITH YOU
SACRED ANOINTING OIL
COLUMN OF SMOKE, PERFUMED WITH MYRRH AND INCENSEWHERE I WILL MEET WITH YOU
BETWEEN THE CHERUBIM
AT THE MERCY SEAT OF GOD
UNBLEMISHED LAMB OF GOD
THAT WAS SLAIN
YOUR NAME
LIKE PERFUME POURED OUT
THE FRAGRANCE OF CHRIST
HOLY, HOLY, HOLY
MOST HOLY MEETING PLACE
WHERE I WILL MEET WITH YOU
SACRED ANOINTING OIL
AND THE TEMPLE BE FILLED WITH SMOKE
AND THE TEMPLE BE FILLED WITH SMOKEFROM THE GLORY
THE GLORY OF GOD,
AND THE TEMPLE BE FILLED WITH SMOKE
AND THE TEMPLE BE FILLED WITH SMOKE
FROM THE GLORY OF GOD
FROM THE GLORY OF GOD
AND FROM HIS POWER
KING OF KINGS
LORD OF LORDS
AND THE TEMPLE BE FILLED WITH SMOKE
AND THE TEMPLE BE FILLED WITH SMOKE
FROM THE GLORY
FROM THE GLORY
OF GOD
AND
THE TEMPLE BE FILLED WITH SMOKE
AND
THE TEMPLE BE FILLED WITH SMOKEFROM THE GLORY OF GOD
KING OF KINGS
KING OF KINGS
KING OF KINGS
KING OF KINGS
AND THE TEMPLE BE FILLED WITH SMOKE
AND THE TEMPLE BE FILLED WITH SMOKE
FROM THE GLORY
FROM THE GLORY
OF GOD
AND
THE GOLDEN ALTAR BE FILLED WITH THE SMOKE OF THE INCENSE AND PRAYERS OF THE
SAINTS
PRAYERS
OF THE SAINTSBEFORE THE THRONE
WE ARE KINGS AND PRIESTS TO SERVE OUR GOD
AND REIGN ON THE EARTH
AND REIGN
MOUNTAIN OF MYRRH,
MOUNTAIN OF MYRRH
MOUNTAIN OF MYRRH
MOUNTAIN OF MYRRH
HILL OF INCENSE
SPIRIT’S FIRE
GOLD FRANKINCENSE AND MYRRH
AND THE TEMPLE BE FILLED WITH SMOKE
AND THE TEMPLE BE FILLED WITH SMOKE
FROM THE GLORY
OF GOD
AND FROM HIS POWER
HOLY SPIRIT
HOLY SPIRITCOME BLOW ON YOUR GARDEN
COME BLOW
COME BLOW
FLOW ANOINTING OIL
FLOW
POUR OUT YOUR LOVE
FROM HEAVEN ABOVE
POUR OUT YOUR SPIRIT
YOUR WORD UPON US, O LORD
SPIRIT OF PROPHECY SPIRIT OF FIRE
STREAMS OF OIL FROM THE FLINTY CRAG
FLOW ANOINTING OIL
FLOW
FLOW ANOINTING OIL
FLOW
FLOW ANOINTING
ANOINTING
FLOW ANOINTING
FLOW
POUR OUT YOUR LOVE FROM
HEAVEN
FLOWSACRED ANOINTING OIL,
FRAGRANT FRAGRANT SPICES
SACRIFICE
FRAGRANT FRAGRANT OFFERING
UNBLEMISHED LAMB OF GOD
YOUR NAME IS LIKE PERFUME
POURED OUT PERFUME POURED OUT
PERFUME
PERFUME POURED OUT
JESUS
BLOOD COVENANT
JESUS
LAMB OF GOD
BLOOD COVENANT
POURED OUT
POURED OUT
POURED OUT
FOR US
POURED OUT
HE IS LORD
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF
LORDS HE IS RISEN
AND WE ARE KINGS AND PRIESTS TO SERVE OUR GOD
AND REIGN ON THE EARTH
AND REIGN
AND REIGN
AND REIGN
WE ARE KINGS AND PRIESTS TO SERVE OUR GOD
KINGS AND PRIESTS
TO SERVE
PRAISE HIM
PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM
ALWAYS AND FOREVER
PRAISE HIM
KINGS AND PRIESTS
TO SERVE OUR GOD
PRAISE HIM
PRAISE HIM
PRAISE HIM
PRAISE HIM
PRAISE HIM
PRAISE HIM
REVIVAL
WIND BLOW!...
Apostle of Hate – Minister of Healing
By Melanie Hemry
Kenneth Copeland
Ministries
Believers’ Voice of
Victory
‘YES…’
‘THE GRAND DRAGON OF THE KU KLUX KLAN
FOR OKLAHOMA?’
‘THAT’S RIGHT.’
‘MR CLARY, I’M CALLING ON BEHALF OF A
LOCAL RADIO STATION. WE WOULD LIKE TO
INVITE YOU HERE TO THE STATION NEXT SUNDAY EVENING FOR AN INTERVIEW. THE PROGRAM WILL BE LIVE. DURING THAT TIME, WE WOULD ALLOW YOU TO READ
YOUR LITERATURE AND SHARE YOUR VIEWS OPENLY.’
SHARE MY VIEWS ON THE
RADIO? THERE’S NO TELLING HOW MANY KIDS
I CAN RECRUIT! JOHNNY
LEANED BACK ON HIS CHAIR AND PROPPED UP HIS FEET.
‘I’D BE MOST HONOURED TO BE YOUR
GUEST,’ HE ANSWERED, A SLOW SMILE SPREADING ACROSS HIS FACE. UNLIKE MOST KLAN MEMBERS, JOHNNY LEE DIDN’T
SHUN PUBLICITY. HE HADN’T EVEN MINDED
WHEN TELEVISION CAMERAS FOLLOWED HIM AROUND TO SCHOOLS IN THE OKLAHOMA CITY
AREA, WHERE HE RECRUITED KIDS. THE WAY
HE LOOKED AT IT, A MAN OUGHT TO STAND UP FOR THE TRUTH. AND ONE THING JOHNNY LEE CLARY KNEW FOR
CERTAIN – THE KU KLUX KLAN STOOD FOR THE TRUTH.
SEEDS OF HATRED
HIS OWN EDUCATION IN THAT ‘TRUTH’
BEGAN EARLY. HE’D BEEN ONLY 5 WHEN HE
LOOKED OUT THE CAR WINDOW IN AMAZEMENT.
‘LOOK, DADDY!’ HE’D SAID.
‘THERE’S A CHOCOLATE-COVERED MAN!’
HIS DADDY BLEW CIGAR SMOKE OUT THE
WINDOW IN DISGUST. ‘THAT’S NOT A CHOCOLATE COVERED MAN,’ HE SAID. ‘THAT’S A N-----. CAN YOU SAY, ‘N-----‘?’
JOHNNY LEE HAD LEANED OUT THE WINDOW
AND SHOUTED ‘N-----!’ HIS DADDY LAUGHED
AND PATTED HIM ON THE BACK.
JOHNNY LEE’S TRAINING CONTINUED WHEN
HIS UNCLE HAROLD WOULD VISIT FROM GEORGIA AND TELL HIS STORIES ABOUT THE
KKK. ‘I SHOT A BLACK MAN FOR CROSSING MY
PROPERTY,’ HE ONCE BRAGGED TO JOHNNY LEE’S FATHER. ‘THE POLICE DIDN’T CARE THAT I SHOT HIM. BUT THEY DID FINE ME FOR FIRING A GUN IN THE
CITY LIMITS!’ THE TWO MEN LAUGHED UNTIL
THEIR FACES WERE RED.
JOHNNY LEE’S DAD WASN’T A MEMBER OF
THE KLAN. HE COULDN’T BE. HE WAS CATHOLIC. ONE GROUP THE KLAN HATED ALMOST AS MCUH AS
BLACKS AND JEWS WAS CATHOLICS. JOHNNY’S
DAD NEVER ATTENDED MASS, BUT HE MADE SURE THAT JOHNNY LEE WAS ON THE SUNDAY
SCHOOL BUS EVERY WEEK TO THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH.
THAT IS, UNTIL THE DAY JOHNNY LEE
LEANED OUT THE BUS WINDOW AND SCREAMED ‘N-----!’ TO A BLACK CHILD ON THE
STREET. THAT DAY, JOHNNY LEE’S SUNDAY
SCHOOL TEACHER PULLED HIM ASIDE AND TAUGHT HIM A SONG. AT HOME, HE PROUDLY SANG IT FOR HIS FATHER.
‘JESUS LOVES THE LITTLE CHILDREN, ALL
THE CHILDREN OF THE WORLD. RED AND
YELLOW, BLACK AND WHITE….’
JOHNNY LEE’S DADDY NEVER LET HIM GO
BACK TO THAT CHURCH. HE FOUND ONE CLOSER
TO HOME – AN ALL-WHITE CHURCH.
EVERYONE IN THEIR NEIGHBOURHOOD HATED
JOHNNY LEE’S FAMILY. THE NEIGHBOURS
CONSIDERED THEM ‘WHITE TRASH’. OF
COURSE, NOBODY DARED CALL THEM
THAT. THEY WERE AFRAID TO.
THE CLARY FAMILY’S POPULARITY TOOK A
SUDDEN TURN, HOWEVER, WHEN A BLACK FAMILY BOUGHT A HOUSE IN THE
NEIGHBOURHOOD. THE WHOLE NEIGHBOURHOOD
CAME TO JOHNNYLEE’S DADDY AND ASKED HIM TO HELP THEM GET RID OF THE FAMILY. THEY WERE WILLING TO BUY THEM OUT, IF THEY’D
LEAVE.
UNFORTUNATELY, THE NEIGHBOURS’ SUDDEN
ACCEPTANCE OF THE CLARYS DIDN’T MAKE JOHNNY LEE’S FAMILY ANY HAPPIER. HIS PARENTS FOUGHT CONSTANTLY. THEIR MARRIAGE ENDED TRAGICALLY WHEN, ONE
NIGHT, 11-YEAR-OLD JOHNNY LEE WALKED INTO A ROOM TO SEE HIS DADDY HOLDING A GUN
TO HIS HEAD. ‘DADDY, DON’T’ HE SCREAMED, THEN WATCHED AS HIS DADDY SHOT HIMSELF
TO DEATH.
AFTER THE FUNERAL, JOHNNY LEE WENT TO
STAY WITH HIS OLDER SISTER IN CALIFORNIA.
BUT HE WASN’T HAPPY THERE. AS THE
MONTHS PASSED, JOHNNY LEE BECAME MORE AND MORE LONELY. THAT’S WHEN HE SAW A TALK SHOW HOST
INTERVIEWING DAVID DUKE, THE IMPERIAL WIZARD OF THE KU KLUX KLAN. REMEMBERING HIS UNCLE HAROLD, JOHNNY LEE
DECIDED TO CONTACT THE KLAN. WITHIN A
FEW WEEKS, A MAN KNOCKED AT HIS DOOR.
‘I’M A FRIEND OF DAVID DUKE,’ HE SAID.
THE MAN SAT DOWN AND TALKED TO JOHNNY LEE. ‘WHAT DO YOU LIKE? TELL ME ABOUT YOUR LIFE.’
JOHNNY LEE WAS IN AWE. SOMEONE
WANTS TO HEAR WHAT I HAVE TO SAY!
‘SON, YOU’VE HAD A HARD, HORRIBLE LIFE,’
THE MAN SAID. ‘WHAT YOU NEED IS A
FAMILY. A REAL FAMILY. THAT’S WHAT
THEKU KLUX KLAN IS – A FRATERNAL ORDER.
THAT MEANS FAMILY.’
WEEK AFTER WEEK, THE MAN TOOK JOHNNY
LEE TO HIS HOUSE FOR MEETINGS. IT WAS
ALMOST AS IF HE HAD A FATHER AGAIN.
BETWEEN MEETINGS, JOHNNY STUDIED ABOUT THE KLAN. HE WAS AMAZED TO LEARN WHAT PROMINENT PEOPLE
WERE FORMER KLANSMEN, INCLUDING AT LEAST THREE U.S. PRESIDENTS.
JOHNNY LEE TREMBLED WITH EXCITEMENT
THE DAY HE JOINED THE KKK. HE WAS 14
YEARS OLD. BY AGE 20, JOHNNY LEE HAD
WORKED HIS WAY UP IN THE ORGANISATION, FIRST SERVING AS DUKE’S BODYGUARD AND
LATER, BECOMING THE GRAND DRAGON OF OKLAHOMA.
CONFRONTED BY LOVE
IT WAS 1979 WHEN I WAS INVITED TO DO A
RADIO INTERVIEW,’ JOHNNY LEE RECALLS. ‘I
WAS SO EXCITED, I TOLD EVERYONE TO TUNE IN.
THEN, A FEW DAYS BEFORE THE INTERVIEW, I WAS LISTENING TO THE RADIO WHEN
THEY ANNOUNCED THE UPCOMING DEBATE
BETWEEN MYSELF AND THE STATE PRESIDENT OF THE NAACP, THE REV. WADE WATTS!’
‘I’D NEVER ACTUALLY MET A BLACK MAN. BUT I KNEW WHAT TO EXPECT: A MAN IN AFRICAN ROBES SPORTING A HUGE AFRO,
A BUTTON THAT SAID, ‘I HATE WHITE PEOPLE,’ AND A SIGN, ‘BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL.’
‘I WASN’T PREPARED FOR A NICELY
DRESSED, OLDER BLACK MAN CARRYING A WORN BIBLE.’
ON THE DAY OF THE DEBATE, REV. WATTS
WALKED UP TO JOHNNY LEE – HIS HAND OUTSTRETCHED. ‘HELLO, MR CLARY. I JUST WANT TO TELL YOU I LOVE YOU, AND JESUS
LOVES YOU.’
STUNNED, JOHNNY LEE SHOOK THE MAN’S
HAND WITHOUT THINKING. THE PHYSICAL TOUCH OF A NEGRO IS POLLUTION,
HE THOUGHT.
‘DON’T WORRY, SON,’ REV. WATTS SAID
WITH A GRIN. ‘IT DOESN’T RUB OFF.’
HE HAS A SENSE OF
HUMOUR…?
‘WHY DO YOU FEEL THE TWO RACES
SHOULDN’T MINGLE?’ THE INTERVIEWER ASKED JOHNNY LEE AS THE DEBATE BEGAN. ‘BECAUSE CHRIST ORDERED IT,’ HE EXPLAINED.
‘SON,’ REV. WATTS INTERRUPTED, ‘WHERE
DID YOU GET THAT IDEA?’
THE ONLY BIBLE VERSES JOHNNY LEE KNEW
WERE THE ONES OUTLINED IN THE KKK LITERATURE.
SPEAKING SLOWLY, JOHNNY LEE QUOTED, ‘WHAT FELLOWSHIP HATH LIGHT WITH
DARKNESS…’
REV. WATTS EXPLAINED THAT THE
SCRIPUTRE WAS REFERRING TO THE BELIEVER AND THE NONBELIEVER, AND TO SIN AND
RIGHTEOUSNESS. THEN HE ASKED JOHNNY LEE,
‘WHAT COLOUR SKIN DO YOU THINK AN ETHIOPIAN HAS?’
‘BLACK AS THE ACE OFSPADES,’ JOHNNY
RESPONDED.
‘I’M GLAD YOU SAID THAT,’ REV. WATTS
ANSWERED. ‘IF YOU’LL LOOK IN NUMBERS 12,
YOU’LL SEE THAT MOSES MARRIED AN ETHIOPIAN WOMAN. HIS SISTER, MIRIAM, DIDN’T LIKE IT
EITHER. SHE TALKED AGAINST MOSES AND WAS
STRUCK WITH A HORRIBLE DISEASE.’ HE
PAUSED FOR A MOMENT. ‘YOU CAN IMAGINE
WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO YOU.’
JOHNNY LEE SHIFTED UNCOMFORTABLY IN
HIS CHAIR. THIS WASN’T TURNING OUT THE
WAY HE EXPECTED. ‘LOOK HERE,’ HE SAID,
‘WHITE PEOPLE ARE SMARTER THAN BLACK PEOPLE.’
‘HOW DO YOU FIGURE THAT?’ REV. WATTS
ASKED. JOHNNY LEE TOLD HIM ABOUT AN
INTELLIGENCE TEST THAT PROVED WHITE CHILDREN WERE SMARTER THAN BLACK CHILDREN.
‘WHAT COLOUR WERE THE MEN WHO CAME UP
WITH THAT TEST?’ REV. WATTS ASKED.
‘IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT COLOUR THEY
WERE!’ JOHNNY DECLARED.
‘WELL,THEN,’ SAID REV. WATTS, ‘IF IT
DOESN’T MATTER, I’LL GIVE YOU A TEST RIGHT NOW, AND WE’LL SEE IF YOU CAN PASS
IT.’
‘IF YOU THINK YOU’RE SO SMART, GO
AHEAD.’
‘HOW LONG IS THE AVERAGE COCKROACH?’
REV. WATTS ASKED JOHNNY LEE. ‘DO ROACHES
WALK, OR DO THEY FLY? HOW LONG DOES IT
TAKE A MESS OF CHITLINS TO COOK? WHAT ARE CHITLINS?’
‘REV. WATTS, YOU RIGGED THAT TEST,’
JOHNNY LEE FUMED. ‘WHITE FOLKS AREN’T
SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT STUFF.’
‘MR CLARY, NOW YOU’RE GETTING MY
POINT.’
JOHNNY LEE HAD TO DO SOMETHING TO GET
CONTROL OF THE INTERVIEW. ‘LOOK,’ HE
SAID, TRYING TO STAY CALM, ‘THOMAS JEFFERSON HELPED PEN OUR CONSTITUTION, AND
HE SAID EMPHATICALLY THAT THE TWO RACES SHOULD NEVER MIX.’
‘I’M IMPRESSED THAT YOU KNOW SO MUCH
ABOUT OUR FOREFATHERS, MR CLARY. DOES THE NAME SALLY HEMMINGS MEAN ANYTHING TO
YOU?’
‘NO.’
‘SHE WAS THOMAS JEFFERSON’S MISTRESS,’
REV. WATTS SAID. ‘THEY HAD SEVEN
CHILDREN. SHE WAS HIS PERSONAL PROPERTY. HIS SLAVE.
SHE WAS AS BLACK AS THE ACE OF
SPADES.’
‘I’M NOT GOING TO STAY HERE AND LISTEN
TO ANY MORE OF THIS!’ JOHNNY FUMED, STORMING OUT OF THE ROOM.
JOHNNY LEE WAS SURPRISED LATER WHEN HE
SAW REV. WATTS HOLDING A BABY GIRL.
LIFTING UP THE CHILD, REV. WATTS SAID TO JOHNNY LEE, ‘THIS BABY’S
PARENTS WERE TEENAGERS. HER MOTHER WAS
WHITE AND HER DADDY WAS BLACK. THE BOY’S
FAMILY SAID THEY WOULDN’T HAVE A WHITE CHILD IN THEIR HOME, AND THE GIRL’S
FAMILY SAID THEY WOULDN’T HAVE A BLACK CHILD IN THEIR HOME. SO I ADOPTED HER. TIA IS MY
BABY NOW. MR CLARY, HOW CAN YOU HATE
THIS BABY?’
JOHNNY LEE TURNED TO LEAVE.
‘YOU CAN’T DO ENOUGH TO MAKE ME HATE
YOU,’ REV. WATTS SAID TO JOHNNY LEE.
‘I’M GOING TO LOVE YOU AND PRAY FOR YOU, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT.’
A SHORT TIME LATER, REV. WATTS’ CHURCH
WAS BURNED. HIS FAMILY WERE PLAGUED WITH
VICIOUS, HATE-FILLED PHONE CALLS, AND OFTEN FOUND NOTES…’KKK IS WATCHING YOU.’
LOVE YOUR ENEMIES
‘DURING THE NEXT 10 YEARS, I GAINED
MORE AND MORE POWER IN THE KLAN,’ JOHNNY LEE REMEMBERS. ‘YET DURING THOSE YEARS, WE NEVER STOPPED
PERSECUTING REV. WATTS. THE ONLY THING
THAT BOTHERED ME WAS A RECURRING DREAM I HAD OF THAT BABY GIRL. SHE WAS BEAUTIFUL. AND SHE WAS THE ONLY SEED OF DOUBT IN MY
LIFE. SOMEHOW, IT DIDN’T SEEM RIGHT TO
HATE HER. IT DIDN’T SEEM RIGHT FOR HER
TO DIE. BUT I KNEW THE KLAN’S FINAL
SOLUTION INCLUDED EXTERMINATION OF THE RACE – INCLUDING BABIES.
‘I DIDN’T LET THAT SEED OF DOUBT
HINDER MY WORK, THOUGH. WHENREV. WATTS
JOINED RANKS WITH AN OKLAHOMA SENATOR TO MAKE THE KLAN’S RACIST HOT LINES
ILLEGAL, MY BLOOD WAS BOILING.’
JOHNNY LEE CALLED REV. WATTS. ‘I KNOW YOU’RE BEHIND THIS,’ HE SAID. ‘WE’RE COMING TO GET YOU, AND WE’RE GOING TO
BEAT YOU…’
‘HELLO, JOHNNY LEE! HOW’S THE FAMILY?’
‘I SAID WE’RE COMING FOR YOU!’
‘YOU DON’T HAVE TO COME FOR ME, I’LL
MEET YOU. HOW ABOUT PETE’S PLACE OUT ON
HIGHWAY 270?’
‘UH…’
‘JOHNNY LEE, THEY HAVE THE BEST HOME
COOKING YOU EVER TASTED. AND APPLE PIE
THAT’LL MAKE YOU CRY FOR MORE. ICED TEA
IN THOSE MASON JARS. I CAN TASTE IT
NOW.’
‘DID YOU HEAR WHAT I SAID?’ JOHNNY LEE DEMANDED. ‘WE’RE GOING TO BEAT YOU!’
‘YOU BE SURE AND BRING ALL THE BOYS…’
‘I SAID WE’RE GOING TO BEAT YOU!’
‘I HEARD YOU, AND THAT’S JUST
FINE. BUT FIRST, I WANT TO BUY YOU BOYS
DINNER. DID I TELL YOU ABOUT THEIR
POTATOES?’
JOHNNY LEE HUNG UP. ‘WHAT DID HE SAY?’ THE KLAN MEMBERS ASKED.
‘HE TALKED ABOUT HOME COOKING, APPLE
PIE AND ICED TEA. SAID HE WANTED TO BUY
OUR DINNER.’
‘THAT OLD MAN’S GONE PURE CRAZY,’
SOMEONE SAID. ‘LET’S LEAVE HIM ALONE.’
AND THEY DID.
‘DURING THE MONTHS THAT FOLLOWED, A
GIRL I HAD DATED CHALLENGED ME TO GO TO CHURCH,’ JOHNNY LEE RECALLS. ‘I DECIDED TO TAKE HER UP ON IT, SO I CALLED
AN ELDER AT CROSSROADS CATHEDRAL IN OKLAHOMA CITY. HE MET WITH ME, AND LED ME TO THE LORD. I ASKED JESUS INTO MY LIFE AND RECEIVED THE
BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT. A MONTH
LATER, SOMEONE ASKED ME TO SPEAK AT A FULL GOSPEL BUSINESSMEN’S
FELLOWSHIP. I HADN’T EVEN BROKEN TIES
WITH THE KLAN.
‘SOON, WORD OF MY SALVATION REACHED
THE MEDIA, AND A LOCAL NEWSPAPER ASKED FOR AN INTERVIEW. I GAVE IT, AND THE NEXT THING I KNEW I GOT A PHONE CALL FROM THE KLAN. I BROKE INTO A COLD SWEAT WHEN THEY SAID THEY
WERE COMING AFTER ME. I WAS SCARED.’
‘WHAT ARE YOU DOING, CLARY?’ THEY
ASKED WHEN THEY ARRIVED.
FRIGHTENED FOR HIS LIFE, JOHNNY LEE
TURNED HIS BACK ON GOD AND THE CHURCH, AND BEGGED FORGIVENESS FROM THE
KLAN. HE WAS GIVEN A SECOND CHANCE.
THE WAY HOME
IN 1989, JOHNNY LEE WAS APPOINTED
IMPERIAL WIZARD OF THE KKK.
‘I WANTED TO UNIFY ALL THE HATE GROUPS
– THE DIFFERENT FACTIONS OF THE KLAN, THE SKINHEADS, THE PATRIOTS, THE
NEO-NAZIS, THE MILITIAS, THE POPULISTS AND THE ARYAN NATIONS – UNDER ONE COMMON
ORGANISATION,’ JOHNNY LEE RECALLED. HE
SPENT MONTHS ARRANGING A NATIONAL MEETING OF ALL THE WHITE SUPREMACIST
GROUPS. FINALLY, ALL THE PLAYERS WERE IN
PLACE.
WHAT JOHNNY LEE DIDN’T KNOW, HOWEVER,
WAS THAT THE FBI HAD TAPPED HIS PHONE AND KNEW HIS PLAN. THEY ARRESTED HIM ON HIS WAY TO THE MEETING.
WITHOUT HIS PRESENCE, THE MEETING FELL
APART. BY THE TIME JOHNNY LEE WAS
RELEASED AND ARRIVED AT THE RALLLY SITE, THE DIFFERENT FACTIONS WERE FIGHTING
AMONG THEMSELVES.
JOHNNY LEE SURVEYED THE SCENE IN
DISGUST. I GAVE UP MY WIFE AND CHILD FOR THESE PEOPLE. I GAVE UP MY LIFE FOR T HIS ORGANISATION, AND
ALL THEY WANT TO DO IS KILL ONE ANOTHER.
ON HIS RETURN HOME, JOHNNY LEE FACED
STAGGERING LEGAL BATTLES AND ATTORNEY FEES.
HE WAS ALSO DISILLUSIONED.
WHERE WAS THE LOYALTY? HE WONDERED.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE
BROTHERHOOD? WASN’T THE KLAN SUPPOSED TO
BE A FAMILY?
SOON AFTERWARD, JOHNNY LEE RESIGNED AS
IMPERIAL WIZARD, AND WALKED AWAY FROM THE KLAN.
HE TOOK A GOOD LOOK AT HIMSELF, AND DIDN’T LIKE WHAT HE SAW.
‘I’D HIT AN ALL-TIME LOW IN MY LIFE,’
JOHNNY LEE RECALLED. ‘WHENEVER I APPLIED
FOR A JOB, PEOPLE JUST LAUGHED.’
AS THE MONTHS PASSED, JOHNNY LEE
BECAME MORE AND MORE DESPONDENT.
THEN HE HAD A THOUGHT: DADDY
ESCAPED IT ALL. I COULD GO BE WITH MY
DAD, THEN I WOULDN’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT SOME KLANSMAN PUTTING A BULLET IN ME.
JOHNNY LEE LOADED HIS GUN AND PUT THE
BARREL TO HIS HEAD.
THE AFTERNOON SUN FILTERED THROUGH THE
CLOSED BLINDS, CASTING TINY LINES OF LIGHT ONTO A BIBLE THAY LAY GATHERING
DUST.
THE ONLY HAPPINESS, THE
ONLY PEACE IN MY LIFE, WERE THOSE FEW MONTHS AT CROSSROADS CATHEDRAL, JOHNNY
LEE THOUGHT. BUT NOW, IT’S TOO LATE FOR ME…
THE DUSTY BIBLE CAUGHT JOHNNY LEE’S
EYE. HE PUT DOWN THE GUN, AND PICKED UP
THE BIBLE. IT FELL OPEN TO LUKE 15 – THE
STORY OF THE PRODIGAL SON.
JOHNNY LEE READ THE STORY ONCE, THEN
AGAIN, THEN A THIRD TIME.
‘I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TRYING TO TELL ME,
GOD,’ HE SAID, WEEPING. ‘THAT YOUNGER
SON TURNED HIS BABCK ON HIS FATHER AND WASTED HIS LIFE. BUT WHEN HE CAME HOME, THE
FATHER WELCOMED HIM. YOU’RE TELLING ME I CAN COME HOME.
‘GOD, I HAVE NO ONE ELSE TO TURN TO
EXCEPT YOU. I ASK YOU TO FORGIVE ME FOR
THE WAY I LIVED…FOR ALL THE HATRED.
PLEASE, COME INTO MY HEART, JESUS, AND CHANGE ME.’
IN THE SPACE OF A HEARTBEAT, THE
WEIGHT OFYEARS OF HATRED MELTED OFF JOHNNY LEE CLARY. WEEPING OPENLY, HE RAISED HIS HANDS AND
WORSHIPPED GOD. THEN HE PICKED UP THE
BIBLE AND READ FOR HOURS.
THE RIGHT CHURCH
‘I WAS LIVING IN TULSA, OKLA. – TOO
FAR TO DRIVE TO CROSSROADS CATHEDRAL,’ JOHNNY LEE RECALLS. ‘I VISITED A FEW CHURCHES, AND ALTHOUGH I
ENJOYED THEM VERY MUCH, I KNEW NONE OF THEM WAS WHERE I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE. EACH ONE HAD AN ALL-WHITE CONGREGATION. I KNEW GOD WOULD NEVER ALLOW ME TO JOIN AN
ALL-WHITE CHURCH.
‘THAT WEEK, I SAW AN AD IN THE
NEWSPAPER, ‘VICTORY CHRISTIAN CENTER – A
CHURCH FOR ALL RACES.’ THE NEXT
SUNDAY, I WALKED INTO THAT CHURCH AND KNEW IT WAS RIGHT. THERE WERE BLACKS, HISPANICS, ASIANS, FILIPINOS,
EVERY RACE SEEMED TO BE REPRESENTED.’
JOHNNY LEE JOINED THE CHURCH.
‘THIS TIME, I DIDN’T TELL ANYONE WHO I
WAS. EVENTUALLY, SOMEONE RECOGNISED ME,
AND I WROTE A LETTER TO THE PASTOR, BILLY JOE DAUGHERTY, EXPLAINING THAT I’D
BEEN THE IMPERIAL WIZARD OF THE KU KLUX KLAN,
HE WROTE BACK, ENCOURAGING ME TO SPEND TIME GETTING GROUNDED IN GOD’S
WORD.
‘GOD HELPED ME GET A JOB AND, FOR THE
FIRST TIME SINCE 1982, I WAS HAPPY. IN
ADDITION TO LISTENING TO THE WORD AT CHURCH, I WAS INTRODUCED TO THE TEACHING
OF KENNETH AND GLORIA COPELAND. I TUNED
IN TO THEIR BELIEVER’S VOICE OF VICTORY
PROGRAM, BOUGHT THEIR TAPES AND LEARNED ABOUT FAITH.
REAL UNITY
‘IN 1991, DURING ONE OF PASTOR BILLY
JOE’S SERMONS, THE LORD CALLED ME TO PREACH.
BILLY JOE’S WIFE, SHARON, WALKED OVER TO ME AND ANNOUNCED, ‘GOD DIDN’T
SAVE YOU FOR YOU TO SIT IN TULSA. HE’S
COMMANDED YOU TO GO INTO THE WORLD AND GET PEOPLE SAVED.’”
A FEW WEEKS LATER, JOHNNY LEE HEARD
THE LORD AGAIN. CALL REV. WATTS.
HE DID.
‘HELLO, JOHNNY LEE,’ REV. WATTS SAID
WARMLY.
‘REV. WATTS, I WANTED YOU TO KNOW THAT
I RESIGNED FROM THE KKK IN 1989. I GAVE
MY HEART TO JESUS, AND I’M A MEMBER OF VICTORY CHRISTIAN CENTER,AN INTERRACIAL
CHURCH. MY MINDIS BEING RENEWED, AND GOD
HAS CALLED ME TO PREACH.’
‘WELL, PRAISE THE LORD, SON!’ REV. WATTS SAID ‘WOULD YOU DO ME THE HONOR
OF SPEAKING AT MY ALL-BLACK CHURCH?’
JOHNNY LEE CHOKED BACK THE TEARS. ‘I’D LOVE TO.’
WHEN JOHNNY LEE ARRIVED TO SPEAK AT
REV. WATTS’ CHURCH, THERE WERE CAMERAS AND NEWS REPORTERS EVERYWHERE. ONCE INSIDE, JOHNNY LEE CLARY STEPPED UP TO
THE PODIUM AND LOOKED OUT OVER THE SEA OF BLACK FACES. HE SAW PEOPLE MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD, SOULS
THAT JESUS HAD DIED TO SAVE. THE
CONTEMPT HE ONCE FELT HAD BEEN REPLACED WITH A LOVE SO GREAT, SO POWERFUL, THAT
HIS KNEES FELT WEAK.
THIS, HE REALIZED, IS WHAT REAL UNITY
IS ALL ABOUT. IT WAS NOT WHAT HE HAD
TRIED TO DO THROUGH THE KKK. REAL UNITY IS ONLY POSSIBLE THROUGH LOVE.
JOHNNY LEE TOLD HIS STORY, AND WHAT
JESUS HAD DONE FOR HIM. AFTERWARD, A TEENAGE GIRL RAN DOWN THE AISLE. ‘I WANT TO KNOW THE SAME JESUS YOU KNOW,’ SHE
SAID.
AS THE ALTAR FILLED WITH PEOPLE
WANTING TO KNOW JOHNNY LEE’S JESUS, HE HEARD REV. WATTS WEEPING.
‘DO YOU KNOW WHO THAT IS?’ WATTS
ASKED, POINTING AT THE YOUNG GIRL JOHNNY LEE HAD JUST LED TO THE LORD.
‘NO,’ JOHNNY LEE ANSWERED.
‘THAT’S TIA,’ REV. WATTS SAID.
‘SHE’S THE BABY I SHOVED IN YOUR FACE THAT DAY AT THE RADIO STATION!’
JOHNNY TURNED TO LOOK AT THE BEAUTIFUL
FACE BEAMING AT HIM. SHE WAS THE BABY HE
COULDN’T HATE.
REV. WATTS AND HIS WIFE HAD 13
CHILDREN. NINE OF THEM HAD GIVEN THEIR
LIVES TO JESUS. IN THE THRONG OF PEOPLE
WHO CROWDED THE ALTAR THAT NIGHT, JOHNNY LEE WAS PRIVILEGED TO INTRODUCE THE
OTHER FOUR TO THE LORD JESUS.
AFTER THE SERVICE, REV. WATTS AND JOHNNY
LEE EMBRACED. AN ELDERLY BLACK PASTOR
WRAPPED HIS ARMS AROUND A YOUNG, WHITE, FORMER KLANSMAN. THEY BOTH WEPT.
‘ALL THOSE YEARS I PRAYED FOR
YOU!’ WATTS SAID. ‘I NEVER DREAMED THAT GOD WOULD USE YOU TO
BRING MY OWN CHILDREN INTO THE KINGDOM!’
IT’S BEEN MORE THAN SIX YEARS NOW
SINCEJOHNNY LEE PREACHED AT REV. WATTS’ CHURCH, AND MANY THINGS HAVE
CHANGED. BUT BOTH MEN STILL WORK
UNTIRINGLY – TO SPREAD THE GOSPEL AND PROMOTE RACIAL RECONCILIATION.
TODAY, JOHNNY LEE CLARY’S GREATEST
THRILL IN MINISTRY OCCURS WHEN HE MINISTERS ALONGSIDE REV. WADE WATTS. HIS SECOND GREATEST THRILL IS BEING A
GODFATHER TO YOUNG TIA WATTS.
JOHNNY LEE CLARY STANDS AMAZED THAT
ONE MAN – THE MAN HE PERSECUTED – PRAYED HIM OUT OF HELL ON EARTH AND INTO
HEAVEN FOR ETERNITY. BEFORE, THAT KIND
OF LOVE WAS UNFATHOMABLE TO JOHNNY LEE.
NOW, IT IS A WAY OF LIFE.
BVOV
STILL IN THE
MIRACLE BUSINESS
BY MELANIE HEMRY
KENNETH COPELAND MAGAZINE -
BELIEVERS VOICE OF VICTORY
TRUE REPORT
JAMMIE HORTON SAT
HER 2 YEAR OLD SON, CASEY, ON ONE END OF THE TEETER-TOTTER AT THE PARK NEAR
THEIR HOME IN LINDALE , TEXAS
‘YOU DON’T HAVE TO
BE AFRAID, HONEY,’ JAMMIE ENCOURAGED, WALKING OVER TO TAKE KITRINA’S HAND. ‘REMEMBER COMMANDER KELLIE AND THE ADVENTURES
OF GENERAL FEAR? COME ON, LET’S SPEAK TO
THAT TEETER-TOTTER.’
JAMMIE AND KITRINA
SHOUTED IN UNISON, ‘WE’RE NOT AFRAID OF YOU, TEETER-TOTTER! WE HAVE JESUS WITH US!’ AFTERWARD, KITRINA GIGGLED AND CLIMBED
FEARLESSLY ONTO THE SEAT. JAMMIE SMILED
AS SHE LISTENED TO THE CHILDREN’S SHOUTS OF LAUGHTER. IT WAS HARD TO BELIEVE THAT HER 5 YEAR OLD
ALREADY KNEW MORE ABOUT FAITH THAN SHE’D KNOWN MOST OF HER LIFE.
A LIFE OF FAITH
ALTHOUGH JAMMIE HAD
WELCOMED JESUS INTO HER LIFE AT THE TENDER AGE OF 9, SHE’D ONLY BEGUN LEARNING
ABOUT THE LIFE OF FAITH A FEW YEARS AGO WHEN SHE STARTED LISTENING TO KENNETH
COPELAND AND JOYCE MEYER. BOTH PRESENTED
GOD IN A UNIQUE WAY. FROM KENNETH
COPELAND, JAMMIE HAD LEARNED MORE THAN JUST FAITH. SHE’D NEVER HEARD ANYONE TALK ABOUT JESUS THE
WAY HE DID. IT MADE HER HUNGRY TO KNOW
HIM.
THIS WEEK JAMMIE WAS
SATISFYING THAT HUNGER BY DRIVING TO FORTH
WORTH EVERY DAY FOR THE 1998 SOUTHWEST BELIEVER’S CONVENTION. EACH SESSION SHE ATTENDED HAD FUELED HER
SPIRITUAL LIFE. BUT THE REVELATION THAT
TOOK ROOT IN HER HEART AND CONTINUED TO GROW WAS A SIMPLE ONE, GOD IS ABLE.
JAMMIE SIGHED AS SHE
LEFT THE PARK TO GET READY FOR A LUAU SHE WAS HELPING TO THROW FOR THE YOUTH
GROUP AT CHURCH. THERE HAD BEEN NO
WAY FORT
WORTH
LATER THAT
AFTERNOON, JAMMIE’S 15 YEAR OLD SISTER, KATY, AND HER FRIEND, AMANDA, HELPED
HER SET UP TABLES AND FOOD AROUND THE POOL WHERE THE PARTY WAS BEING HELD. THE TWO TEENS LEFT TO PICK UP EXTRA SUPPLIES,
AND AGREED TO TAKE KITRINA WITH THEM.
A BUSY HIGHWAY
BISECTED THE TOWN IN FRONT OF THE HOME WHERE THE PARTY WAS BEING HELD. KITRINA SKIPPED ALONGSIDE HER AUNT KATY,
HOLDING TIGHTLY TO HER HAND AS THEY PREPARED TO CROSS THE HIGHWAY. AMANDA DASHED ACROSS THE HIGHWAY DURING A
BRIEF LULL IN TRAFFIC. SUDDENLY, WITHOUT
WARNING, KITRINA RELEASED HER AUNT’S HAND AND FOLLOWED AFTER AMANDA.
‘KITRINA!’ KATY
SCREAMED.
KITRINA STOPPED, AND
TOOK TWO STEPS BACK. KATY AND AMANDA
WATCHED IN SLOW MOTION HORROR AS A HUGE, RED, ONE-TON TRUCK STRUCK KITRINA AT
FULL SPEED. THE DRIVER NEVER SAW THE CHILD. HE STOPPED WHEN HE HEARD THE SICKENING THUMP.
JAMMIE WAS PUTTING
FINISHING TOUCHES TO THE PREPARATION WHEN SHE HEARD HER SISTER’S AGONIZED
SCREAM. ‘JAMMIE! JAMMIE!’
REJECTED THOUGHTS OF
DEATH
JAMMIE STARTED
PRAYING IN TONGUES AT THE SAME INSTANT SHE BEGAN TO RUN. SHE SAW HER DAUGHTER CURLED UP IN A FETAL
POSITION LYING UNDER THE TRUCK. JAMMIE
KNELT DOWN AND SCOOPED KITRINA INTO HER ARMS.
HER BODY WAS LIMP AND LIFELESS.
ALL THE COLOUR HAD DRAINED FROM HER BODY. KITRINA WASN’T BREATHING.
SHE’S SAVED, JAMMIE
THOUGHT. AT LEAST I KNOW SHE’S GOING
TO HEAVEN TO BE WITH JESUS.
‘THE INSTANT THAT
THOUGHT CROSSED MY MIND,’ JAMMIE RECALLS, ‘SOMETHING ROSE UP ON THE INSIDE OF
ME WITH GREAT INTENSITY. NO! NOT NOW!
THE MINUTE I REJECTED DEATH, A PEACE CAME OVER ME THAT I CAN’T
EXPLAIN. IT WAS AS THOUGH I STEPPED
ASIDE, AND JESUS TOOK OVER.
‘ALMOST WITHOUT
CONSCIOUS THOUGHT, I BEGAN TO SPEAK THE WORD OF GOD. SCRIPTURES JUST POURED OUT OF ME. I SPOKE LONG LIFE OVER KITRINA. I SPOKE HEALING OVER HER. I SPOKE ABOUT HER BLOOD COVENANT WITH
GOD. I SPOKE ABOUT ALL THE BLESSINGS OF
THAT COVENANT. WITH EVERY WORD I SPOKE,
ONE THING BECAME MORE ESTABLISHED IN ME:
GOD WAS ABLE.
‘I DIDN’T KNOW HOW. THE SITUATION LOOKED HOPELESS. BUT I KNEW HE WAS ABLE. WHEN THE SCRIPTURES STOPPED FLOWING, I BEGAN
SPEAKING THE NAME THAT IS ABOVE EVERY NAME. ‘JESUS…JESUS…JESUS.’
‘EACH TIME I SPOKE
THE NAME SOMETHING HAPPENED. FIRST, SHE
BEGAN CONVULSING. I LAID HER GENTLY ON
THE GROUND, RESTED HER HEAD IN MY LAP, THEN SAID IT AGAIN. ‘JESUS.’ HER EYES ROLLED BACK IN HER HEAD. FOR SOME REASON I THOUGTH OF THE
TEETER-TOTTER. ONCE AGAIN KITRINA AND I
HAD TO STAND AGAINST FEAR, ONLY THIS TIME LIFE AND DEATH HUNG IN THE BALANCE. I SPOKE TO HER AND TOLD HER NOT TO BE AFRAID
BECAUSE JESUS WAS WITH HER. WHEN I SAID
HIS NAME, SHE GASPED FOR AIR.’
THE AMBULANCE
ARRIVED, AND WHILE KITRINA WAS BEING MOVED JAMMIE NOTICED THAT A CROWD HAD
GATHERED. MANY OF THE PEOPLE WERE CRYING
HYSTERICALLY. JAMMIE MADE HER WAY
THROUGH THE CROWD. ‘NO, IT’S OK,’ SHE
ASSURED THEM. ‘SHE’S ALL RIGHT!’
JAMMIE LIFTED HER
HANDS AND BEGAN SINGING PRAISES TO GOD.
OBLIVIOUS TO THE THRONG OF PEOPLE, SHE SANG BEAUTIFUL SONGS IN ENGLISH
AND IN OTHER TONGUES. WHEN A HELICOPTER
ARRIVED TO TRANSPORT KITRINA TO HOSPITAL, JAMMIE ASKED PEOPLE IN THE CROWD TO
FIND THE TRUCK DRIVER AND TELL HIM SHE KNEW THE ACCIDENT WAS NOT HIS
FAULT.
LONG LINES OF CARS
WERE AT A STANDSTILL ON THE HIGHWAY.
JAMMIE RECOGNISED ONE OF THEM AS HER HUSBAND, JAMES, WHO HAD NO
WAY
‘KITRINA’S IN THAT
HELICOPTER,’ SHE SAID. ‘SHE’S BEEN HIT.’
THE DRIVE TO THE
HOSPITAL WAS A LONG ONE FOR JAMES AND JAMMIE.
‘WHEN KITRINA WAS
LIFTED IN THE HELICOPTER AND WE STARTED FOR THE HOSPITAL, THE REAL FIGHT BEGAN,’
JAMMIE REMEMBERS. ‘IN THE CAR I WAS
ASSULTED WITH DOUBT AND UNBELIEF. BY THE
TIME WE REACHED THE HOSPITAL, THE BATTLE
NOW COMES THE
NEGATIVE
UPON ARRIVING AT THE
HOSPITAL, A DOCTOR EXPLAINED THE RESULTS OF A CT SCAN TO KITRINA’S HEAD. IT REVEALED TWO CONTUSIONS ON HER BRAIN WHICH
WERE SWELLING. THE PRESSURE WOULD KILL
HER IF THEY DIDN’T TAKE HER TO SURGERY.
JAMMIE LISTENED
INTENTLY TO WHAT HE SAID, THEN ADDED, ‘YES, BUT SHE’S GOING TO BE OK.’ THE DOCTOR REPEATED HIMSELF. JAMMIE SAID, ‘THAT’S RIGHT, BUT SHE’S HEALED
BY JESUS’ STRIPES.’
‘I WAS JUST SPEAKING
WHAT WAS ON MY HEART,’ JAMMIE EXPLAINS. ‘WHEN
I REALISED THE DOCTOR WAS GETTING FRUSTRATED BECAUSE HE DIDN’T THINK I
UNDERSTOOD HIM, I APOLOGISED AND TOLD HIM I WASN’T TRYING TO BE DISRESPECTFUL.’
JAMES AND JAMMIE
SPENT TWO HOURS IN THE WAITING ROOM WHILE THE EMERGENCY ROOM STAFF WORKED TO
STABILISE KITRINA FOR SURGERY. AS SOON
AS SHE COULD BE MOVED, THEY TRANSPORTED HER TO THE SURGICAL INTENSIVE CARE
UNIT. KITRINA WAS UNCONSCIOUS, BUT
BREATHING WITHOUT ASSISTANCE. HER FACE
WAS SCRATCHED, HER LIPS SWOLLEN AND HER HAND INJURED, BUT MOST OF THE DAMAGE
WASN’T VISIBLE TO THE EYE.
THE DOCTOR ORDERED A
SECOND CT SCAN JUST PRIOR TO SURGERY.
JAMMIE WENT WITH KITRINA FOR THE TEST.
WHEN THE SCAN WAS COMPLETE, THE RADIOLOGIST SHOWED JAMMIE THE
FILMS. ‘WHY DID THEY ORDER THIS SCAN?’
HE ASKED, CLEARLY PUZZLED. ‘THERE’S
NOTHING WRONG WITH HER - NO CONTUSION, NO SWELLING, NOTHING.’
BACK IN THE
INTENSIVE CARE UNIT, DOCTORS BEGAN FILING IN - ASKING QUESTIONS. ‘ARE YOU SURE SHE DIDN’T JUST FALL DOWN IN
FRONT OF THE TRUCK?’
‘NO, WITNESSES SAID
THE TRUCK HIT HER, AND I FOUND HER UNDER THE TRUCK,’ JAMMIE ANSWERED.
A MIRACULOUS HEALING
‘WHEN DID SHE BREAK
HER COLLARBONE? WE SEE THAT ITS BEEN
RECENTLY HEALED.’ ‘VERY RECENTLY ‘ JAMMIE
THOUGHT. ‘SHE’S NEVER HAD A BROKEN BONE,’
JAMMIE ANSWERED.
Jammie
stayed at kitrina’s bedside and prayed all night, watching the cardiac monitor
and hoping to see life behind her hazel eyes.
Friday morning the doctor came by and said they were going to keep
kitrina in intensive care for observation.
Later that morning, kitrina’s eyes fluttered open and she gazed up at
her mother.
‘mommy,
I love you.’
Kitrina
was sore and in pain, but very much alert.
That day was spent in a seemingly endless array of tests. ‘by evening, the isolation was getting to me,’
jammie recalls. ‘only one person was
allowed in the room so james stayed home with our son. My friends from church weren’t allowed
inside. I knew we’d had a miracle, but
now I needed something or someone to boost my faith. Only doctors and nurses had access to this
area.’
That
evening, god met jammie’s need in a most unusual way. A physician walked in and said, ‘I heard
about yhour daughter in the emergency room.
How is she?’
‘better,’
jammie said, ‘jesus is healing her.’
‘praise
god!’ came his stunning reply.
As
they visited, jammie learned that the doctor had sat a few rows in front of her
at the southwest believers’ convention.
They discussed the meeting and the revelation that god had given
them. By the time he left, jammie had
been revived through his words of encouragement.
Saturday
morning, kitrina was transferred out of intensive care to the pediatric
ward. She immediately hopped out of bed
and began running and playing. She
looked like a child who’d merely fallen off her bicycle.
One
doctor said that perhaps there was a ‘smear’ on the first ct normal
‘if
this had happened a few years ago, kitrina would have died,’ jammie
admits. ‘not because god wasn’t still in
the miracle business, but because I didn’t know it, so I couldn’t believe
it. I’m so grateful that god moved me to
attend all those sessions of the southwest believers’ convention just before
the accident.’
The
uncompromised word of god jammie heard in those sessions gave her the power to
believe that - whether you’re facing a teeter-totter or a one-ton truck - you
don’t have to be afraid. After all,
jesus is there to deliver you - and he is able.
Bvov
WHOSE REPORT WILL YOU BELIEVE?
BY MELANIE HEMRY
KENNETH COPELAND MAGAZINE - BELIEVER’S VOICE OF VICTORY
LIZZY GROSS WAS AS EXUBERANT ABOUT HER VISIT TO THE DOCTOR AS MOST 9 YEAR OLDS WOULD BE ABOUT A FIELD TRIP TO THE ZOO. TO HER, THE PEDIATRIC OPHTHALMOLOGIST’S OFFICE WAS AN ADVENTURE - THERE WERE ALL SORTS OF INTERESTING GADGETS. LESTRA, LIZZY’S MOTHER, WATCHED HER WITH AN INDULGENT SMILE.
WHEN LIZZY BEGAN SEEING DOUBLE, AN OPHTHALMOLOGIST DIAGNOSED LAZY EYE AND HE RECOMMENDED WAITING UNTIL SPRING BREAK BEFORE CORRECTING IT. LESTRA TOOK LIZZY TO A CHILDREN’S EYE SPECIALIST TO GET A SECOND OPINION.
‘THIS ISN’T LAZY EYE,’ THE SECOND SPECIALIST EXPLAINED. ‘IT’S EITHER MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, MYASTHENIA GRAVIS OR A BRAIN TUMOR. SHE HAS TO SEE A NEUROLOGIST RIGHT AWAY.’
ALONE IN THE DOCTOR’S OFFICE, LESTRA BATTLED EMOTIONS THAT THREATENED TO OVERWHELM HER. ‘JESUS,’ SHE SAID, ‘I KNOW YOU’RE HERE. WE’VE BEEN TOGETHER FOR 13 YEARS NOW. I NEED YOU TO HELP ME.’
THE VOICE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT SPOKE CLEARLY IN HER HEART. I HAVE SET BEFORE YOU LIFE AND DEATH, BLESSING AND CURSING THIS DAY. CHOOSE LIFE THAT YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN MAY LIVE.’ (DEUT 30:19).
‘LORD, I CHOOSE LIFE.’
TWO HOURS LATER, THE NEUROLOGIST SAID HE THOUGHT LIZZY MIGHT HAVE OCULAR MYASTHENIA WHICH COULD BE TREATED WITH MEDICINE AND POSSIBLY OUTGROWN, AND SCHEDULED A MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (MRI) SCAN OF HER BRAIN TO BE SURE.
LIMP WITH RELIEF, LESTRA WENT HOME AND STARTED DINNER. THE NEXT DAY, A FRIEND SUGGESTED SHE CALL DEBBIE GASTON, A WOMAN IN THE CHURCH WHO’D BEEN HEALED OF HODGKIN’S DISEASE A FEW YEARS EARLIER. ‘SHE KNOWS SOME THINGS ABOUT HEALING THAT WE DON’T KNOW,’ LESTRA’S FRIEND EXPLAINED.
‘YOU’RE NOT GOING TO HAVE TO TELL ME GOD NEEDS TO BE FIRST PLACE IN MY LIFE,’ LESTRA SAID WHEN SHE ARRIVED AT DEBBIE’S HOUSE LATER THAT DAY. ‘YOU DON’T NEED TO HELP ME GET MY PRIORITIES RIGHT. GOD AND I ARE REAL TIGHT. I JUST NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HEALING.’
WITH A SIGH OF RELIEF, DEBBIE OPENED HER BIBLE AND BEGAN READING OUT LOUD SCRIPTURE AFTER SCRIPTURE THAT REVEALED GOD’S HEART ABOUT HEALING. ‘HE HIMSELF BORE OUR SINS IN HIS BODY ON THE TREE, SO THAT WE MIGHT DIE TO SINS AND LIVE FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS; BY HIS WOUNDS YOU HAVE BEEN HEALED.’ (1 PETER 2:24 NIV).
‘YOU HAVE TO MAKE A CHOICE’
‘WHAT ABOUT ALL THE PEOPLE WHO SAY THEY ARE STANDING IN FAITH BUT DIE?’ LESTRA ASKED.
‘YOU HAVE TO MAKE A CHOICE,’ DEBBIE REPLIED. ‘EITHER YOU BELIEVE THOSE PEOPLE’S EXPERIENCE, OR YOU BELIEVE WHAT GOD SAYS.’
‘YOU’RE TELLING ME TO SAY LIZZY IS HEALED, BUT I DON’T KNOW IF I CAN DO THAT.’
‘OK, DO YOU THINK YOU COULD SAY, THE BIBLE SAYS THAT BY HIS STRIPES SHE WAS HEALED?’
‘I CAN DO THAT,’ LESTRA SAID.
LESTRA LEFT DEBBIE’S HOME THAT DAY WITH SEVERAL THINGS - THE BOOK GOD’S WILL FOR YOUR HEALING BY GLORIA COPELAND, KENNETH COPELAND’S TAPE SERIES FREEDOM FROM FEAR, AND A STACK OF THE BVOV MAGAZINES. SHE ALSO HAD A PLAN. AT HOME, SHE AND HER HUSBAND, JOHN, WROTE OUT THEIR SCRIPTURAL PROMISES FOR LIZZY’S HEALING AND POSTED THEM AROUND THE HOUSE. THEY BEGAN DEVOURING THE MATERIAL DEBBIE HAD GIVEN THEM.
THE FOLLOWING SUNDAY, THEIR PASTOR, JOHN HAGEE, AND THE ELDERS PRAYED FOR LIZZY. LESTRA HAD LEARNED THAT YOU BELIEVE YOU RECEIVE WHEN YOU PRAY. THAT DAY SHE WROTE IN HER BIBLE, ‘FEB 3 1991 - LIZZY IS HEALED.’
LESTRA WAS AT PEACE THE FOLLOWING WEDNESDAY WHEN SHE TOOK LIZZY IN FOR THE MRI. THE DOCTOR WOULD CALL THEM WHEN HE GOT THE RESULTS. THE NEXT DAY, JOHN, AT CHURCH WHERE HE WORKED AS MINISTER OF MUSIC, RECEIVED THE NEUROLOGIST’S CALL: ‘SHE HAS A BRAIN TUMOR,’ HE SAID. ‘IT’S INOPERABLE, INCURABLE AND UNTREATABLE. THERE’S NOTHING WE CAN DO, BUT WE WANT YOU TO GET HER TO THE HOSPITAL RIGHT AWAY TO MAKE SURE.’
LESTRA WAS ALREADY HOME WHEN JOHN AND PASTOR HAGEE ARRIVED. SHE MET THEM AT THE DOOR AND POINTED A FINGER IN EACH OF THEIR FACES. ‘I WILL NOT FEAR!’ SHE PROCLAIMED.
‘WELL, OK, THEN I WON’T FEAR EITHER!’ JOHN AGREED.
THEY CHECKED LIZZY OUT OF SCHOOL AND DROVE HER TO THE HOSPITAL, EXPLAINING TO HER THAT SOMETHING WASN’T WORKING RIGHT IN HER HEAD, BUT THAT GOD WAS GOING TO HEAL IT.
THE NEXT MORNING A GROUP OF SPECIALISTS REVIEWED LIZZY’S CASE, THEN REPORTED TO JOHN AND LESTRA, ‘THERE IS NO CURE. NOTHING IS GOING TO MAKE HER BETTER. CHEMOTHERAPY WON’T HELP HER. RADIATION WON’T HELP HER. SURGERY WON’T HELP HER. TAKE HER HOME AND ENJOY HER FOR A WHILE. SHE WILL DEVELOP EXCRUCIATING HEADACHES, AND WHEN SHE STARTS VOMITING BRING HER IN IMMEDIATELY, BECAUSE YOU’LL KNOW SHE’S ABOUT TO DIE. SHE’LL DIE AN AGONISING DEATH, AND YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO STAND IT.’
‘ALL I CAN TELL YOU, DOCTOR, IS THAT I SERVE A MIGHTY GOD,’ LESTRA SAID. ‘I SERVE A GOD OF MIRACLES, AND THAT’S WHO I’M GOING TO BELIEVE.’
SEVERING THE CONNECTION TO FEAR
AT HOME THAT NIGHT, JOHN AND LESTRA HELD ONE ANOTHER AND WEPT. BUT IT WASN’T FROM GRIEF. THEY KNEW BETTER. THEY WEPT BEFORE THE LORD WHILE DECLARING HIS GOODNESS AND THE TRUTH OF HIS WORD. PASTOR HAGEE CALLED THE WHOLE CHURCH TO FAST AND PRAY FOR THE MANIFESTATION OF LIZZY’S HEALING.
JOHN AND LESTRA COUNTERED THE FEARFUL THOUGHTS THAT BOMBARDED THEM DAY AND NIGHT WITH THE WORD OF GOD.
STANDING ON GOD’S WORD THAT LIZZY WAS HEALED, THEY SENT HER TO SCHOOL EVERY DAY. THEY DIDN’T TAKE ANY TIME OFF FROM WORK, AND DETERMINED EARLY ON THAT THEY WOULDN’T BELIEVE WHAT THEY SAW - GOOD OR BAD. SO WHEN LIZZY’S LEFT EYE BEGAN TURNING OUT, THEY REFUSED TO FEAR.
OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS LIZZY’S EYE TURNED ALL THE WAY INSIDE HER HEAD UNTIL ONLY THE WHITE WAS SHOWING. EVENTUALLY, HER EYELIDS BEGAN TO DROOP. FINALLY, SHE COULD HARDLY OPEN HER EYES. THE MUSCLES ON HER FACE LOST THEIR TONE AND ELASTICITY.
LESTRA AND JOHN FOUGHT FEAR AS THOUGH IT WAS THE FORCE THAT COULD KILL THEIR DAUGHTER - AND IT WAS. THEY MAINTAINED A POSITIVE ATMOSPHERE FOR ALL THEIR CHILDREN. THEY PLAYED HEALING PRAISE BY KENNETH COPELAND AND SCRIPTURE TAPES IN LIZZY’S ROOM WHILE SHE SLEPT. THEY LISTENED TO TAPES, MEDITATED ON THE WORD AND CONFESSED SCRIPTURES.
BUT SOMETHING WAS MISSING.
IN THE YEARS LESTRA HAD BEEN A CHRISTIAN, SHE HADN’T REALLY NEEDED THINGS FROM GOD. SO EACH MORNING AT 4.30 SHE GOT UP AND SPENT TIME IN FELLOWSHIP WITH HIM. BUT SINCE THE DAY THEY FOUND OUT LIZZY WAS SICK, SHE HADN’T SAID ANYTHING TO GOD THAT DIDN’T INVOLVE LIZZY.
FINALLY, LESTRA TOLD THE LORD THAT SHE WOULD KEEP GETTING UP AT 4.30 BUT WAS NOT GOING TO MENTION LIZZY ANYMORE DURING THAT TIME. IN HIS PRESENCE SHE WAS LIFTED ABOVE THE CRISIS. AFTERWARD, SHE WOULD PULL OUT THE HEALING SCRIPTURES, PUT ON HER ARMOUR AND GO BACK INTO THE BATTLE - REFRESHED.
BY THE MIDDLE OF MARCH, LIZZY LOOKED SO BAD THAT PEOPLE AT CHURCH TURNED AWAY AND WEPT WHEN THEY SAW HER. THAT WASN’T THE ONLY THING BOTHERING LESTRA. ALONE ONE NIGHT SHE MADE A HEART CRY TO THE LORD.
FATHER, THERE’S SOMETHING THAT I HAVE TO GET STRAIGHT WITH YOU. I WON’T SAY IT OUT LOUD BECAUSE I DON’T WANT TO GIVE THE DEVIL ANY PLACE. I KNOW IT IS YOUR WILL TO HEAL LIZZY. I KNOW THAT YOUR WORD IS TRUE. I KNOW THAT YOU ALREADY PAID THE PRICE FOR HER HEALING. I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT IF THIS DOESN’T WORK OUT THE WAY IT’S SUPPOSED TO - I’LL NEVER BLAME YOU. I WILL NEVER TURN AWAY FROM YOU. I WILL LOVE YOU AND SERVE YOU ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE.
WHEN LESTRA PRAYED THAT PRAYER OF CONSECRATION - REGARDLESS OF THE OUTCOME - AN AMAZING THING HAPPENED. IT SEVERED HER CONNECTION TO FEAR. SHE HAD NO IDEA WHEN SHE FELL INTO A RESTFUL SLEEP THAT NIGHT THAT THE WORST WAS YET TO COME.
‘THIS IS NOT WHAT IT SEEMS’
MONDAY MORNING, JOHN WAS AT WORK WHEN HE RECEIVED A CALL FROM THE SCHOOL. ‘LIZZY HAS A HORRIBLE HEADACHE AND JUST VOMITED.’
FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE ORDEAL BEGAN, FEAR GRIPPED JOHN GROSS THE LIKES OF WHICH HE HAD NEVER KNOWN. HE WENT STRAIGHT TO PASTOR HAGEE’S OFFICE. ‘IT’S HAPPENING JUST LIKE THE DOCTORS SAID!’
‘THIS IS NOT WHAT IT SEEMS!’ PASTOR HAGEE PROCLAIMED. ‘LIZZY HAS A SIMPLE HEADACHE. TAKE HER HOME AND GIVE HER AN ASPIRIN. SHE’LL BE BACK IN SCHOOL TOMORROW.’
FEAR HIT LESTRA WITH SUCH FORCE IT TOOK HER BREATH AWAY. SHE LEFT HER DESK AND BEGAN SPEAKING HER CONFESSIONS AS SHE WALKED THE HALF MILE TO HER CAR.
‘FATHER, I THANK YOU THAT THE MANIFESTATION OF LIZZY’S HEALING COMES SPEEDILY. I THANK YOU THAT IN ISAIAH 49:25-26 YOU SAID, ‘I WILL CONTEND WITH THOSE WHO CONTEND WITH YOU, AND YOUR CHILDREN I WILL SAVE. I WILL MAKE YOUR OPPRESSORS EAT THEIR OWN FLESH.’ SO FATHER, I CONFESS THAT EVERY REBELLIOUS CELL IN LIZZY’S BODY EATS ONE ANOTHER.
‘THIS IS WHAT THE LORD SAYS - YOUR REDEEMER, WHO FORMED YOU IN THE WOMB: I AM THE LORD, WHO HAS MADE ALL THINGS, WHO ALONE STRETCHED OUT THE HEAVENS, WHO SPREAD OUT THE EARTH BY MYSELF, WHO FOILS THE SIGNS OF FALSE PROPHETS AND MAKES FOOLS OF DIVINERS, WHO OVERTHROWS THE LEARNING OF THE WISE AND TURNS IT INTO NONSENSE.
‘THANK YOU, FATHER, FOR TURNING THE WISDOM OF DOCTORS INTO NONSENSE.’
BY THE TIME LESTRA REACHED HER CAR, THE FEAR HAD GIVEN WAY TO EXCITEMENT. SHE FIRMLY BELIEVED THAT LIZZY’S SYMPTOMS MARKED THE DESTRUCTION OF THE BRAIN TUMOR. AT HOME, SHE AND JOHN TREATED LIZZY’S HEADACHE, CALLED A RELATIVE TO SIT WITH HER AND BOTH WENT BACK TO WORK.
THE NEXT MORNING LIZZY LOOKED HORRIBLE BUT FELT GREAT. TRUE TO PASTOR HAGEE’S WORDS, SHE WENT TO SCHOOL. THE NEXT DAY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, LIZZY WENT HOME WITH A FRIEND AFTER SCHOOL. WHEN LESTRA PICKED HER UP, THE FRIEND’S MOTHER SAID, ‘LIZZY LOOKS GREAT!’
THAT IS SO KIND OF HER TO SAY
, LESTRA THOUGHT AS LIZZY CLIMBED IN THE BACK SEAT. DURING THE DRIVE HOME, LESTRA GLANCED IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR AND ALMOST GASPED AT WHAT SHE SAW. TWO BRIGHT BLUE EYES SPARKLED FROM A FACE THAT WAS PERFECTLY NORMAL.
‘WE WERE SO COMMITTED TO NOT LIVING BY SIGHT THAT I DIDN’T MENTION THE CHANGE TO ANYONE, INCLUDING JOHN. IT WASN’T UNTIL FRIDAY NIGHT THAT HE SAID, ‘HAVE YOU NOTICED LIZZY?’
WE AGREED NOT TO SAY ANYTHING TO ANYONE. ON SUNDAY WHEN WE WENT TO CHURCH PEOPLE LOOKED AT LIZZY AND BEGAN TO WEEP FOR JOY. WHEN PASTOR HAGEE SAW LIZZY, HE PULLED HER INTO HIS ARMS AND SAID TO HER FATHER, ‘JOHN, TAKE THIS CHILD BACK TO THE DOCTOR AND LET HIM DOCUMENT A MIRACLE.’
TWO WEEKS LATER LIZZY HAD ANOTHER MRI. HOVERING OUTSIDE THE DOCTOR’S READING ROOM, FRIENDS HEARD, ‘THESE PEOPLE ARE GOING TO HAVE SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE TONIGHT. THEY’RE LOOKING FOR A TUMOR, AND IT’S NOT THERE.’
A FEW DAYS LATER, LIZZY’S PHYSICIAN, WHO WAS A CANTOR AT A JEWISH SYNAGOGUE, AS WELL AS A WELL-KNOWN PEDIATRIC NEUROLOGIST, PHONED PASTOR HAGEE. ‘I WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU AND YOUR CHURCH DID FOR LIZZY GROSS.’
‘WHY DO YOU ASK?’ PASTOR HAGEE QUIZZED.
‘I HAVE IN ONE HAND AN MRI THAT SHOWS A TUMOR IN THE CENTRE OF HER BRAIN. I HAVE IN THE OTHER HAND A PERFECT MRI SHOWING THIS CHILD TO BE ABSOLUTELY HEALTHY. IT’S THE MOST DRAMATIC THING I’VE EVER SEEN IN MEDICINE, AND I WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOUR CHURCH DID.’
‘DO YOU BELIEVE THAT GOD PARTED THE RED SEA?’ PASTOR HAGEE ASKED. ‘DO YOU BELIEVE THAT GOD MADE THE SUN STAND STILL FOR JOSHUA? WELL, WE SERVE THE SAME GOD. WE FASTED AND PRAYED FOR A MIRACLE. AND GOD ANSWERED OUR PRAYER.’
TODAY LIZZY GROSS IS A 19 YEAR OLD COLLEGE STUDENT WHO PLANS ON GOING INTO NURSING. SHE HAS BEEN IN PERFECT HEALTH SINCE THE DAY HER HEALING MANIFESTED - A MERE SIX WEEKS AFTER SHE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH A DEADLY BRAIN TUMOR.
JOHN AND LESTRA GROSS WOULD BE THE FIRST TO TELL YOU THAT THE CHOICE GOD PRESENTED TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL IS STILL ECHOING THROUGHOUT ETERNITY:
‘I HAVE SET BEFORE YOU LIFE AND DEATH, BLESSING AND CURSING.
CHOOSE LIFE.’
BVOV
WHEN BLOOD GETS THICKER THAN WATER
KENNETH COPELAND
BELIEVER’S VOICE OF VICTORY MAGAZINE APRIL 2000
WHEN I WAS A KID, I ALWAYS WANTED A
BLOOD BROTHER. I WANTED ONE SO BAD, I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO DO. I NEVER HAD ANY
BROTHERS OR SISTERS, SO I TRIED TO GET MY FRIENDS TO BECOME BLOOD BROTHERS.
I REMEMBER THINKING, INDIANS ARE
SUPPOSED TO HAVE BLOOD BROTHERS….
I NEVER COULD FIND ANY WHITE BOYS WHO
WANTED TO SEE THEIR OWN BLOOD. IT WAS NEAT IN THE MOVIES, BUT WHEN IT CAME TIME
TO MAKE ‘THE CUT’ THEY DIDN’T WANT ANY PART OF IT.
TODAY, IN OUR CIVILISED SOCIETY, WE
ARE NOT VERY AWARE OF OR CONSCIOUS OF COVENANTS - AT LEAST, NOT LIKE OUR
ANCESTORS WERE - PARTICULARLY, BLOOD COVENANTS.
IN ANCIENT DAYS, AMONG ALL TRIBES OF
PEOPLE AND ALL CIVILIZATIONS, THERE WAS THE COMMON PRACTICE OF COVENANTS MADE
BY BLOOD. THESE BLOOD COVENANTS WERE A MATTER OF TOTALLY GIVING ONESELF TO
ANOTHER FOR LIFE WITHOUT ANY RESERVATION. IT MEANT COMPLETE LOYALTY. WHAT’S
MORE, ONCE A BLOOD COVENANT WAS CUT BETWEEN TWO INDIVIDUALS OR FAMILIES, THAT
COVENANT WAS AN AGREEMENT THAT LASTED FOR AT LEAST EIGHT GENERATIONS.
WITH THE PASSING OF TIME, HOWEVER, AND
THE MORE ‘SOPHISTICATED’ OUR CULTURES BECAME, THE HUMAN FAMILY STRAYED FROM
SUCH COVENANTS. CONSEQUENTLY, TODAY, MANY BELIEVERS ARE UNAWARE OF THEIR OWN
BLOOD COVENANT WITH GOD. THEY HAVE NO REAL UNDERSTANDING OF ETERNAL PROMISES
WRITTEN IN THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF JESUS.
IN THAT COVENANT OF BLOOD, GOD HAS
PROVIDED EVERYTHING WE NEED TO TAKE AUTHORITY OVER OUR FLESH AND LET THE IMAGE
OF CHRIST BE FULLY FORMED IN US. GOD’S COVENANT HAS GIVEN US THE POWER TO
SUCCEED IN EVERY TASK AND FULFILL EVERY DREAM HE HAS PUT IN OUR HEARTS. SO,
LET’S TAKE A CLOSE LOOK AT THE RICH DEPTH AND RANGE OF PROMISES GOD MADE IN HIS
COVENANT WITH US, SEALED IN THE BLOOD OF JESUS.
IN THE DAYS OF THE ANCIENT HEBREW
NATION, FAMILIES CUT COVENANT AS WELL. IN FACT, THE HEBREW WORD FOR COVENANT LITERALLY
MEANS “A CUT WHERE BLOOD FLOWS”. THESE BLOOD COVENANTS WERE THE PRINCIPLE
BEHIND SCRIPTURES SUCH AS PROVERBS 18:24 WHICH SAYS, ‘…THERE IS A FRIEND THAT
STICKETH CLOSER THAN A BROTHER.’ THEY WERE ALSO THE REASONING BEHIND PHRASES
SUCH AS, ‘BLOOD IS THICKER THAN WATER.’
THE MOTIVE BEHIND BLOOD COVENANTS WAS
QUITE SIMPLY, DIFFERENCES - THAT IS, COVENANTS WERE BASED ON THE STRENGTHS AND
WEAKNESSES OF THE PARTIES INVOLVED. FOR INSTANCE, ONE FAMILY OR TRIBE MIGHT BE
GOOD FARMERS, WHILE A NEIGHBORING FAMILY OR TRIBE MIGHT BE KNOWN FOR BEING
SUPERIOR WARRIORS. SO, WHY NOT COME TOGETHER AND CUT COVENANT AND ENJOY THE
BENEFITS OF EACH OTHER - ESPECIALLY IF THE FARMERS WERE ALWAYS GETTING ROBBED
AND THE WARRIORS WERE ALWAYS GOING HUNGRY.
BEFORE THESE COVENANTS COULD BE MADE,
HOWEVER, THERE WERE USUALLY LENGTHY DISCUSSIONS BETWEEN BOTH PARTIES. AFTER
ALL, AN AGREEMENT MADE IN BLOOD SPANNING EIGHT GENERATIONS WAS SERIOUS
BUSINESS.
TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE SIGNIFICANCE
OF BLOOD COVENANTS, AS WELL AS OUR COVENANT WITH GOD, IT WOULD HELP US TO WALK
THROUGH THE SEVEN STEPS OF A TRADITIONAL HEBREW COVENANT CEREMONY.
STEP 1
EACH FAMILY, OR PARTY,
CHOSE A COVENANT REPRESENTATIVE.
THE PERSON REPRESENTING THE FAMILY WAS
ALWAYS THE FAMILY’S BEST - THE SMARTEST, THE STRONGEST, THE FLEETEST OF FOOT.
LIKEWISE THE ANIMALS TO BE USED IN THE
COVENANT CEREMONY WERE ALWAYS THE BEST. THEY WERE CAREFULLY SELECTED AND
PREPARED. THE HEBREW PEOPLE HAD LEARNED THIS EARLY ON WHEN GOD INSTRUCTED THEM
TO OFFER ONLY THE BEST WHEN BRINGING SACRIFICES TO HIM. HE DIDN’T WANT
ONE-EYED, DISEASED ANIMALS ON HIS ALTAR.
CONSEQUENTLY, THIS IS WHERE THE
TERM THE FATTED CALF COMES FROM. IN TODAY’S TERMS, WE COMMONLY
THINK OF THE FATTED CALF BEING THE BEST OF SOMETHING TO CONSUME OURSELVES.
ACTUALLY, IT WAS THE CHOICEST ONE SET
ASIDE FOR COVENANT CEREMONIES AND SACRIFICES.
FINALLY, A COVENANT SITE WAS CHOSEN,
AND THE FAMILIES WOULD COME TOGETHER. EACH FAMILY’S COUNCIL OF ELDERS WAS
PLACED WHERE THEY COULD WATCH CLOSELY, AND HEAR EVERY WORD SPOKEN.
STEP 2
THE COVENANT CUT WAS
MADE.
IN THE ANCIENT HEBREW COVENANT
CEREMONY, THE CUTTING OF THE SACRIFICIAL ANIMALS WAS DONE DIFFERENTLY FROM
EVERY OTHER SACRIFICE OR CEREMONY.
THE COVENANT CUTS WERE MADE FROM THE BASE OF THE ANIMAL’S SKULLS, LENGTHWISE DOWN THEIR BACKBONES. THE ANIMALS WERE SPLIT AND THEN PARTED DOWN THEIR BACKBONES. EACH HALF WAS MADE TO FALL SIDE TO SIDE, BUT THEN PROPPED UP SO THE BLOOD WOULD FLOW DOWN A PATHWAY.
THE COVENANT ANIMALS USUALLY INCLUDED A CALF AND A LAMB. THE CALF REPRESENTED MONETARY VALUE. IT REPRESENTED THE FAMILY'S POSSESSIONS. THE LAMB REPRESENTED TOTAL DEFENSELESSNESS. IN FACT, THE LAMB USED IN THE CEREMONY WAS SO YOUNG THAT IT DID NOT YET HAVE TEETH. IT HAD NO DEFENSE.
BY SACRIFICING THESE ANIMALS, EACH FAMILY WAS SAYING, "WE FREELY BRING OUR BLOOD TO THIS COVENANT. WE COME WITH NO MALICE - TOTALLY FREE, TOTALLY LOYAL." ONCE THE ANIMALS WERE CUT AND THEIR BLOOD SHED ON THE GROUND, THE COVENANT CEREMONY BEGAN.
STEP 3
THE REPRESENTATIVES
EXCHANGED COATS.
EACH REPRESENTATIVE WALKED THROUGH THE
PATHWAY OF THE ANIMALS’ BLOOD TWICE, AND THEY DID SO IN A FIGURE OF EIGHT.
AFTER THEY WALKED THROUGH THE BLOOD THE FIRST TIME, THEY STOPPED AND EXCHANGED
COATS WHILE MAKING CERTAIN PROMISES ABOUT WHO THEY WERE, WHAT THEY HAD, AND
WHAT THEY MEANT TO THE OTHER PERSON. THIS WAS SIMILAR TO OUR MODERN MILITARY
TRADITIONS.
IN OUR SOCIETY, WE KNOW YOU CAN TELL A SOLDIER'S RANK BY THE COAT THAT HE OR SHE WEARS. THEIR COATS REPRESENT THEIR AUTHORITY, THEIR OCCUPATION OR SPECIFIC TASK, THEIR BRANCH OF SERVICE, AND SO ON. WE ALSO KNOW WHEN A PRIVATE WALKS INTO A ROOM FILLED WITH SOLDIERS, NOT MUCH HAPPENS. WHEN A GENERAL WALKS IN, HOWEVER, EVERYONE STOPS EVERYTHING TO JUMP TO ATTENTION AND SALUTE.
BUT NOW, IMAGINE A PRIVATE - WEARING A GENERAL'S UNIFORM - WALKING INTO THE ROOM. THAT PRIVATE WOULD GET THE SAME RESPONSE AS THE GENERAL. WHY? BECAUSE IT'S THE GENERAL'S UNIFORM THAT DOES THE TALKING.
THE SAME HELD TRUE FOR THE BLOOD COVENANT CEREMONY. A FARMER, FOR INSTANCE, WOULD COME TO THE CEREMONY WITH A COAT REPRESENTING HIS FAMILY AND HIS AUTHORITY. A WARRIER WOULD COME WITH HIS. THEN, AT THIS POINT, THEY WOULD EXCHANGE THEIR COATS, AND THEREBY, THEIR IDENTITIES.
THIS ADDS GREATER INSIGHT AS TO WHY THE APOSTLE PAUL EXHORTS US TO 'PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOUR OF GOD' (EPH. 6:11). IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO IS WEARING IT - IT'S THE ARMOUR THAT DOES THE TALKING.
STEP 4
THE
REPRESENTATIVES EXCHANGE WEAPONS.
AFTER THE REPRESENTATIVES WALKED
THROUGH THE PATHWAY OF THE ANIMALS’ BLOOD IN A FIGURE EIGHT THE SECOND TIME,
THEY STOPPED AGAIN AND EXCHANGED WEAPONS.
IN THOSE DAYS, WHEN MEN WENT TO WAR,
THEY WORE A GIRDLE, OR BELT. IT WAS A GIRDLE BECAUSE THEIR OUTER GARMENTS WERE
LIKE LONG, FLOWING ROBES. TO BE ABLE TO FIGHT, RUN, OR WALK COMFORTABLY, THEY
HAD TO REACH BETWEEN THEIR LEGS AND PULL THE BACKSIDE OF THEIR ROBE UP TO THE
FRONT AND FASTEN IT UNDERNEATH THEIR BELT. STRAPPED TO THEIR BELTS WERE ALSO
THEIR WEAPONS.
NOW, IF THE FARMER DIDN’T HAVE ANY
WEAPONS, HE AT LEAST HAD HIS FIGHTING KNIFE, AND MAYBE A GOOD AXE HANDLE TO
FIGHT WITH. THE WARRIOR, MEANWHILE, PROBABLY HAD AN ASSORTMENT OF FEROCIOUS
LOOKING WEAPONS STRAPPED TO HIS BELT.
REGARDLESS OF WHAT THEY HAD, THEY
EXCHANGED WEAPONS AND BELTS SAYING, ‘HERE’S MY AUTHORITY AND POWER IN WAR. I
GIVE IT TO YOU. ANY ENEMY THAT COMES AGAINST YOU IS MY ENEMY. ANYONE WHO
CURSES YOU, I CURSE. ANYONE WHO THREATENS YOU, HAS TO ANSWER TO ME.
JUST AS THIS ANIMAL HAS BLED AND DIED,
I WILL BLEED AND DIE FOR YOUR FAMILY THE SAME AS I WOULD MINE.’
STEP 5
THE REPRESENTATIVES CUT
THEIR FLESH.
ONCE MOST OF THE COVENANT PROMISES AND
BLESSINGS WERE MADE, THE TWO REPRESENTATIVES CUT THEIR OWN FLESH SO THEIR BLOOD
WAS VISIBLE TO ALL THE COUNCIL OF ELDERS. THEN THEY BROUGHT THEIR HANDS
TOGETHER, MINGLED THEIR BLOOD AND LIFTED THEIR HANDS TO GOD. THIS WAS WHEN THE
MOST PRECIOUS OF THE VOWS WERE MADE BETWEEN THE FAMILIES.
BY LIFTING THEIR HANDS TO GOD, THEY
WERE MAKING THE CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH THIRD PARTY TO THEIR COVENANT,
BELIEVING ALMIGHTY GOD TO WATCH OVER THEIR AGREEMENT. EACH SWORE BY GOD TO KEEP
THE PROMISES THEY HAD MADE.
BY BRINGING THEIR HANDS TOGETHER AND
MINGLING THEIR BLOOD, THEY WERE CALLED ONE FAMILY.
FROM THAT DAY ON, THE SEAL OF THE
COVENANT WAS THE SCAR ON THE BODY OF EACH REPRESENTATIVE. IF YOU SAW SOMEONE
WITH A COVENANT SCAR, YOU REALLY DIDN’T KNOW WHO YOU WERE MESSING WITH, AND YOU
WOULD PROBABLY THINK TWICE ABOUT STIRRING UP TROUBLE WITH THEM. THAT SCAR MEANT
THERE WAS A BLOOD BROTHER HANGING AROUND SOMEWHERE.
REMEMBER WHAT JESUS SAID IN MATTHEW
18:19-20? ‘AGAIN I SAY UNTO YOU, THAT IF TWO OF YOU SHALL AGREE ON EARTH AS
TOUCHING ANY THING THAT THEY SHALL ASK, IT SHALL BE DONE FOR THEM OF MY FATHER
WHICH IS IN HEAVEN. FOR WHERE TWO OR THREE ARE GATHERED TOGETHER IN MY NAME,
THERE AM I IN THE MIDST OF THEM.’
THE CHURCH HAS NEVER REALLY FIGURED
OUT WHAT THAT MEANS - BUT IT’S COVENANT. WHEN JESUS SAID IT, HE MEANT IT. WE
JUST HAVE NTO HAD A COVENANT CONSCIOUSNESS TO UNDERSTAND IT FULLY.
STEP 6
THE COVENANT MEAL.
THE MIGHTY CLIMAX OF THE WHOLE COVENANT
CEREMONY WAS THE REMEMBRANCE PARTY.
IN THE BIBLE, THE WORD REMEMBER IS
POWERFUL. EXODUS 2 TELLS US THAT GOD REMEMBERED HIS COVENANT WITH ABRAHAM,
ISAAC AND JACOB. IT DOESN’T SAY, ‘HE HAPPENED TO REMEMBER IT.’ GOD DOESN’T
FORGET. THE WORD REMEMBER, THERE, LITERALLY MEANS ‘THE CLAW’. IT
REFERS TO THE TALON OF A MIGHTY EAGLE.
AMONG SOME OF THE HEBREW TRIBES,
PEOPLE CUTTING COVENANT WERE KNOW TO TAKE AN EAGLE’S CLAW AND PUT IT IN THEIR
FACE AND SAY, ‘MY REMEMBRANCE OF YOU IS AS THOUGH I WERE STILL IN THE BLOOD,
PROMISING YOU EVERYTHING I HAVE. MY COVENANT WITH YOU IS LIKE A CLAW IN MY
BRAIN. I CANNOT EVEN SEE EXCEPT FOR SEEING YOU IN MY FACE.’
THIS REMEMBRANCE PARTY OR COVENANT
MEAL, WAS WHERE THE FAMILIES BEGAN EATING BREAD, DRINKING WINE, DANCING AND
CELEBRATING. THEY WOULD ACTUALLY FEED BREAD TO ONE ANOTHER, SAYING, ‘THIS IS MY
BODY. I WILL LET YOUR FAMILY HAVE MY BODY, BEFORE I WILL LET THEM STARVE.’
THEN, SHARING WINE, THEY WOULD REMIND
EACH OTHER THAT IT REPRESENTED THE BLOOD THEY HAD JUST WALKED IN, MAKING THEM
ONE FAMILY.
STEP 7
THE FAMILIES EXCHANGED
NAMES.
BY THE TIME THE COVENANT CEREMONY WAS
COMPLETED, BOTH PARTIES OR FAMILIES HAD NEW NAMES. FOR EXAMPLE, IF THE FARMERS
AND THE FIGHTERS CUT COVENANT, PHIL FARMER WAS NOW PHIL FIGHTER-FARMER, AND
FRED FIGHTER BECAME FRED FARMER-FIGHTER.
SUCH COVENANT NAMES WERE ANOTHER INDICATION FOR TROUBLEMAKERS TO LEAVE PHIL, THE FARMER, ALONE. THAT WAS NOT JUST PHIL FARMER ANYMORE. THAT WAS PHIL FIGHTER-FARMER. THAT WAS NOT JUST FRED FIGHTER EITHER. THE FARMER-FIGHTER FAMILY NOW HAD PLENTY OF FOOD TO SELL. THEY HAD COVENANTED WITH THE FARMER FAMILY. THEY WERE NOW ONE LARGE, POWERFUL FAMILY.
TODAY, WE OFTEN SEE NAMES OF FAMILIES THAT HAVE A HYPHEN IN THE MIDDLE OF THEM. THAT MEANS, SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY, THOSE TWO FAMILIES CAME INTO COVENANT.
EPHESIANS 3:15 SAYS 'THE WHOLE FAMILY IN HEAVEN AND EARTH IS NAMED' OF JESUS. BY COVENANT, WE BEAR THE NAME OF JESUS - THAT NAME THAT IS ABOVE EVERY NAME. AND BY COVENANT, WE GO INTO ALL THE WORLD BEARING THAT NAME (MARK 16:15-18).
YOU HAVE A BIG BROTHER
TO UNDERSTAND JUST HOW PASSIONATE GOD
IS ABOUT THIS COVENANT HE HAS MADE WITH YOU IN THE BLOOD OF HIS OWN SON JESUS,
LOOK AT 2 CORINTHIANS 6:16-18, ‘…FOR YE ARE THE TEMPLE OF THE LIVING GOD: AS
GOD HATH SAID, I WILL DWELL IN THEM, AND WALK IN THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD,
AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. WHEREFORE COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM, AND BE YE
SEPARATE… AND I WIL BE A FATHER UNTO YOU, AND YE SHALL BE MY SONS AND
DAUGHTERS, SAITH THE LORD ALMIGHTY.’ THIS WAS PAUL QUOTING FROM ISAIAH 52 AND
EZEKIEL 20.
OLD TESTAMENT WRITERS USED A COVENANT
WORD, WHICH IN HEBREW IS HESED. IT IS TRANSLATED AS ‘EVER
LOVINGKINDNESS; TENDERNESS; MERCY.’ THESE TRANSLATIONS, HOWEVER, MISS THE DEPTH
AND POWER OF ITS MEANING.
HESED
IS BEST DESCRIBED, PERHAPS, AS WHAT
HAPPENS INSIDE A MOTHER OR A FATHER WHEN THEIR CHILD IS THREATENED. ONLY, IT
GOES FAR BEYOND THAT.
HESED
IS THE FORCE THAT RISES INSIDE A
COVENANT BROTHER CAUSING HIM TO WANT TO SHOW HIMSELF STRONG FOR THE BENEFIT OF
HIS COVENANT BROTHER, OR COVENANT FAMILY. IT IS A DRIVE THAT FAR EXCEEDS ANY
OTHER DRIVE KNOWN TO MANKIND. WE’VE ONLY TASTED A SMALL BIT OF IT.
FROM GOD’S PERSPECTIVE, HESED MIGHT BEST BE
DESCRIBED USING JOHN 3:16: ‘FOR GOD SO HESED THE WORLD, THAT
HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON…’
LONG BEFORE GOD EVER CREATED MAN, HE PROVIDED
A COVENANT LAMB, A LAMB WITHOUT SPOT, OR BLEMISH, SO IF
MAN DID MESS UP, IT WOULD KEEP HIM FROM LOSING EVERYTHING - AND IT WOULD KEEP
GOD FROM LOSING THE FAMILY HE SO LONGED FOR.
AFTER ADAM DID COMMIT HIGH TREASON AND BOWED
HIS KNEE TO SATAN, HE LOST THE PRESENCE AND REVELATION OF GOD. WHEN THAT
HAPPENED, THE FIRST THING GOD DID WAS TO KILL AN ANIMAL IN ORDER TO CLOTHE
ADAM. HE HAD BEEN CLOTHED WITH THE VERY GLORY OF GOD, BUT WHEN HE SINNED, THE
GLORY LIGHT WENT OUT.
LATER, HOWEVER, GOD FOUND FOR HIMSELF A MAN,
ABRAM, A MAN WITH WHOM HE COULD CUT COVENANT, A MAN WHO WOULD TEACH HIS
CHILDREN THAT COVENANT (GENESIS 18).
BUT WHY DID GOD REQUIRE THE BLOOD OF ANIMALS?
HE DID NOT HAVE ANY BLOOD OF HIS OWN TO SHED. WHEN ABRAM SINNED, GOD SAID, I’LL
TAKE THE BLOOD OF AN ANIMAL, RATHER THAN HIM. I’LL TREAT HIM AS THOUGH HE
DIDN’T SIN. I’LL ACCOUNT IT TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS - BECAUSE HE BELIEVED ME
(GALATIANS 3).
ABRAHAM BELIEVED THE PROMISES OF GOD, THE
PROMISES THAT WERE TO HIM AND HIS SEED.
GALATIANS 3:13-14 SAYS, ‘CHRIST [THE ANOINTED
ONE AND HIS ANOINTING] HATH REDEEMED US FROM THE CURSE OF THE LAW, BEING MADE A
CURSE FOR US… THAT THE BLESSING OF ABRAHAM MIGHT COME TO THE GENTILES THROUGH
JESUS CHRIST.’
THE APOSTLE PAUL GOES ON TO SAY THAT, WHEN
GOD MADE THOSE PROMISES TO ABRAHAM, HE WAS ALSO MAKING THEM TO JESUS, WHO HAD
NOT YET BEEN BORN INTO THIS EARTH. GOD WAS MAKING A BLOOD COVENANT WITH A MAN
AND HE EXPECTED THAT COVENANT, THOSE WORDS, TO PRODUCE A BODY WITH BLOOD -
JESUS- WHEREIN HE COULD SWEAR.
JOHN 1:14 SAYS, ‘THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH, AND
DWELT AMONG US…’
YOU AND I ARE ABRAHAM’S SEED. WE ARE HEIRS
ACCORDING TO THE PROMISE (GAL 3:29). IT IS NO LONGER BY THE BLOOD OF COWS AND
SHEEP, BUT BY THE BLOOD OF ALMIGHTY GOD, HIMSELF.
OURS IS A COVENANT BETWEEN A RESURRECTED,
IMMORTAL MAN, JESUS, AND A HOLY AND INFALLIBLE GOD.
WHICH OF THEM DO YOU THINK COULD EVER BREAK
THE COVENANT? NEITHER.
WHAT’S MORE, WE CANNOT BREAK IT. WE MAY STEP
OUT OF FELLOWSHIP WHEN WE SIN. BUT ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS CONFESS OUR SIN AND
STEP BACK INTO THAT FELLOWSHIP (1 JOHN 1:9).
WE’VE BEEN GRAFTED INTO A COVENANT BETWEEN
GOD, OUR HEAVENLY FATHER, AND JESUS, OUR BLOOD BROTHER. KNOWLEDGE OF AND TRUST
IN THAT COVENANT WILL REMOVE THE FEARS OF INSUFFICIENCY AND LACK THAT MEN FEED
WITH SUCH THINGS AS OVEREATING AND COMPULSIVE SPENDING. IT WILL REMOVE THE
FEARS OF REJECTION THAT HAVE CAUSED SO MANY TO SEEK COMFORT IN WRONG
RELATIONSHIPS AND IN WHAT THEY PUT IN THE BODY AND ON THE BODY INSTEAD OF WHAT
THEY FEED THE SPIRIT. GOD’S COVENANT LOVE REMOVES MEN FROM TRUST IN THE WORLD’S
WAYS FOR THEIR SECURITY AND SUCCESS AND BUILDS THEIR LIVES ON THE UNSHAKEABLE
FOUNDATION OF GOD’S WAY OF DOING THINGS.
ALL WE EVER NEED TO DO, NOW, IS BEING
DEVELOPING A CONSCIOUSNESS OF JESUS’ BLOOD, A CONSCIOUSNESS OF OUR BLOOD
COVENANT WITH GOD. WHEN THE DEVIL COMES AGAINST YOU, WHEN SICKNESS AND DISEASE
COME AGAINST YOU, WHEN FEAR, WORRY, HARM OR POVERTY COME AGAINST YOU - REMEMBER
THE COVENANT!
REMEMBER THE BLOOD. REMEMBER THE PROMISES.
REMEMBER THE WORD.
YOU HAVE
A BLOOD BROTHER, JUST TURN IT OVER TO HIM. YOU’LL SOON REALIZE JUST HOW THICK
HIS BLOOD REALLY IS!
BVOV
REFUSE THE FEAR
KENNETH COPELAND
BELIEVER’S VOICE OF VICTORY MAGAZINE MAY 2000
‘FEAR NOT’ IS NOT JUST A SUGGESTION; IT’S A COMMAND - A COMMAND WE’VE NOT TAKEN SERIOUSLY ENOUGH.
‘I’M AFRAID SO’
‘I’M AFRAID NOT’
‘I’M AFRAID I CAN’T MAKE IT ON TIME’
NO ONE LIKES TO BE AFRAID. YET PEOPLE HAVE BECOME SO USED TO FEAR, THEY HAVE TROUBLE IMAGING LIFE WITHOUT IT. IT’S SUCH A PART OF THEIR THINKING THEY’VE MADE IT A FAMILIAR - EVEN WELCOME - PART OF THEIR CONVERSATION.
‘WELL, BROTHER COPELAND, ISN’T FEAR A NATURAL THING?’ YES, AND THAT’S WHAT’S WRONG WITH IT. GOD’S WORD NOT ONLY TELLS US WE CAN LIVE FREE FROM FEAR, BUT IT ALSO COMMANDS US TO DO SO.
LOOK AT WHAT THE PROPHET ISAIAH SAID ABOUT FEAR.
FEAR THOU NOT; FOR I AM WITH THEE: BE NOT DISMAYED; FOR I AM THY GOD: I WILL STRENGTHEN THEE; YEA, I WILL HELP THEE; YEA, I WILL UPHOLD THEE WITH THE RIGHT HAND OF MY RIGHTEOUSNESS (ISAIAH 41:10).
FEAR NOT; FOR THOU SHALT NOT BE ASHAMED; NEITHER BE THOU CONFOUNDED; FOR THOU SHALT NOT BE PUT TO SHAME: FOR THOU SHALT FORGET THE SHAME OF THY YOUTH, AND SHALT NOT REMEMBER THE REPROACH OF THY WIDOWHOOD ANY MORE. FOR THY MAKER IS THINE HUSBAND; THE LORD OF HOSTS IS HIS NAME; AND THY REDEEMER THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL; THE GOD OF THE WHOLE EARTH SHALL HE BE CALLED (ISAIAH 54:4-5).
IN BOTH OF THESE PASSAGES ‘FEAR NOT’ IS NOT JUST A SUGGESTION; IT’S A COMMAND - A COMMAND WE’VE NOT TAKEN SERIOUSLY ENOUGH. YES, THE HUMAN RACE IS RIDDLED WITH FEAR, BUT CHRISTIANS NOT ONLY DON’T HAVE TO BE, BUT SHOULD NOT BE.
LET’S LOOK AT HOW FEAR CAME INTO THE WORLD. THE BIBLE SAYS, ‘…SIN ENTERED INTO THE WORLD, AND DEATH BY SIN…’ (ROM 5:12). WHEN ADAM MADE SATAN HIS LORD, SATAN - WHO NEVER CREATED ANYTHING - PERVERTED THE FORCE OF FAITH IN ADAM AND IT BECAME FEAR.
EVERYTHING GOD HAD INVESTED IN ADAM’S SPIRIT CAME UNDER THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH, FROM WHICH CHRIST (THE ANOINTED ONE) FREED US (ROM 8:2). THE FAITH ADAM RECEIVED WITH WHICH TO CONNECT WITH GOD BECAME THE SAME SPIRITUAL FORCE THAT CONNECTED HIM TO THE DEVIL. FEAR IS TWISTED OR PERVERTED FAITH. FEAR WORKS IN THE SPIRIT WORLD THE SAME AS FAITH - IT ACTIVATES SATAN THE WAY FAITH ACTIVATES GOD.
EVIDENCES OF THIS ARE ALL AROUND US. FOR EXAMPLE, SOMEONE WHO IS TOLD THEY’LL DIE OF CANCER WILL FEAR DEATH BECAUSE THEY HAVE FAITH IN CANCER. FEAR OF CANCER IS REALLY FAITH IN ITS ABILITY TO KILL YOU. FEAR OF A POISONOUS SNAKE IS REALLY FAITH IN THAT SNAKE’S ABILITY TO HURT AND KILL. FEAR OF OUR CHILDREN FALLING ILL WITH DISEASE IS FAITH IN THE SICKNESS AND DISEASE.
FEAR IS CONNECTED TO THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH THE SAME WAY FAITH IS CONNECTED TO THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS.
SO WHEN GOD SAYS ‘FEAR NOT’ WE HAVE AN OBLIGATION UNDER THE BLOOD OF JESUS TO RESIST FEAR.
THE KEY TO GETTING RID OF FEAR
REMEMBER, GOD DOESN’T WANT YOU HANDLING THE FEAR. HE’S ALREADY OVERCOME IT FOR YOU. HE WANTS YOU TO GET RID OF IT! LET’S SPEND SOME TIME IN ISAIAH 54 LOOKING AT HOW FEAR OPERATES AND HOW WE CAN GET RID OF IT. LOOK AT VERSE 10 AND VERSES 13-14:
FOR THE MOUNTAINS SHALL DEPART, AND THE HILLS BE REMOVED; BUT MY KINDNESS SHALL NOT DEPART FROM THEE, NEITHER SHALL THE COVENANT OF MY PEACE BE REMOVED, SAITH THE LORD THAT HATH MERCY ON THEE… AND ALL THY CHILDREN SHALL BE TAUGHT OF THE LORD; AND GREAT SHALL BE THE PEACE OF THY CHILDREN. IN RIGHTEOUSNESS SHALT THOU BE ESTABLISHED: THOU SHALT BE FAR FROM OPPRESSION; FOR THOU SHALT NOT FEAR: AND FROM TERROR; FOR IT SHALL NOT COME NEAR THEE.
THE KEY TO GETTING RID OF FEAR IS GIVEN TO US IN THAT LAST VERSE - BE ESTABLISHED IN RIGHTEOUSNESS. BEING THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IS NOT SOMETHING WE CAN MAKE HAPPEN THROUGH OUR OWN EFFORTS. WE ARE IN RIGHT STANDING WITH GOD BECAUSE HE SAID SO, THROUGH THE BLOOD OF JESUS. OUR PART IS TO ESTABLISH THAT TRUTH IN OUR OWN THINKING. WE ARE RIGHTEOUS IN HIM AND GOD IS FOR US AND NOT AGAINST US. EVEN WHEN WE MAKE MISTAKES, GOD SAYS, ‘DON’T WALLOW AROUND IN GUILT! JUST COME TO ME, CONFESS THE THING AND GET RID OF IT!’
THE PURPOSE OF TRAINING YOUNG CHILDREN SHOULD BE TO TEACH THEM GOOD JUDGMENT - NOT FEAR. WHEN WE TRAIN OUR CHILDREN WE COULD SAY, ‘DON’T GO OUT IN THE STREET. DADDY’S AFRAID YOU’LL BE RUN OVER…’ OR WE COULD SAY, ‘ YOU SEE THAT CAR? CARS ARE GOOD AND ONE DAY YOU’LL BEG ME TO DRIVE MINE. BUT DON’T PLAY IN THE STREET BECAUSE CARS CAN MASH YOU FLAT!’ THE SECOND WAY DOESN’T BRING FEAR INTO GOOD JUDGMENT. SURE, IT TAKES MORE TIME THAN SAYING, ‘GET OUT OF THE STREET. DON’T YOU KNOW YOU’RE GOING TO GET KILLED OUT THERE!’ BUT IT DOESN’T RELEASE FEAR INTO THE CHILD’S LIFE.
FAR FROM OPPRESSION
ACCORDING TO VERSE 14, WHEN WE ARE ESTABLISHED IN RIGHTEOUSNESS, THEN WE’LL BE FAR FROM OPPRESSION BECAUSE WE WON’T FEAR. ONE DICTIONARY DEFINES OPPRESSION AS ‘THE TAKING AWAY OF MEN’S GOODS OR ESTATES BY TERROR OR FORCE WITHOUT HAVING ANY RIGHT THERETO, BY WORKING ON THE IGNORANCE, WEAKNESS OR FEARFULNESS OF THE OPPRESSED. (AMERICAN DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, NOAH WEBSTER 1828). ACTS 10:38 DESCRIBES JESUS AS GOING ABOUT ‘DOING GOOD, AND HEALING ALL THAT WERE OPPRESSED OF THE DEVIL’.
OPPRESSION IS SOMEBODY TAKING SOMETHING AWAY FROM YOU (WITHOUT A RIGHT TO IT). SICKNESS IS A SATANIC OPPRESSION. THE DEVIL DOESN’T HAVE ANY RIGHT TO TAKE YOUR HEALTH. HE’S NOT YOUR GOD. YOU’VE BEEN BOUGHT WITH A PRICE, AND YOUR BODY BELONGS TO JESUS. BY THE STRIPES ON HIS BODY, YOU WERE HEALED.
LET ME GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE OF HOW, WHEN WE ARE ESTABLISHED IN RIGHTEOUSNESS AND KNOW OUR COVENANT RIGHTS, WE CAN STOP THE ENEMY FROM USING OPPRESSION AND FEAR TO STEAL FROM US. MY DAUGHTER, KELLIE’S SECOND CHILD, LYNDSEY, GOT SICK THE CHRISTMAS SHE WAS ELEVEN YEARS OLD. CHRISTMAS MORNING SHE LOST CONSCIOUSNESS AND WHEN THEY WOKE HER, SHE DIDN’T KNOW ANYBODY. THEY RUSHED HER TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM WHERE SHE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH THE MOST DEADLY TYPE OF SPINAL MENINGITIS. ITS USUAL KILLING TIME IS 48 HOURS OR LESS. TWO CHILDREN IN THE HOSPITAL HAD DIED AND ANOTHER HAD BOTH LEGS AMPUTATED BECAUSE OF IT, YET THE INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALISE SAID SHE’D NEVER SEEN A WORSE SPINAL TAP TEST.
KELLIE KNEW FROM PSALM 112, THAT A PERSON WHOSE HEART IS FIXED TRUSTING IN THE LORD, NEVER FEARS EVIL TIDINGS. MY DAUGHTER TERRI TOLD ME LATER, ‘KELLIE LEFT THAT DOCTOR, WALKED UP TO ME, LOOKED ME STRAIGHT IN THE FACE AND CALMLY AND FIRMLY SAID, ‘I REFUSE TO FEAR IN THE NAME OF JESUS.’
WE TAUGHT OUR CHILDREN THIS WAY. WE REFUSE TO HAVE FEAR EVEN AT A MOMENT LIKE THAT!
AT THE TIME OF THIS ATTACK, GLORIA AND I WERE IN COLORADO WAITING ON A FRIEND’S AIRPLANE TO PICK US UP AND TAKE US TO THEM. AS WE PRAYED, I LOOKED AT GLORIA AND SAID, ‘I HAVE A STRONG URGENCY TO RECEIVE COMMUNION TOGETHER.’ SHE SAID, ‘I DO TOO. LET’S TAKE COMMUNION RIGHT NOW.’ SO WE DID.
AT THE HOSPITAL, MY DAUGHTER, TWO SONS-IN -LAW AND JERRY AND CAROLYN SAVELLE WERE MOVED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD TO TAKE COMMUNION. WITHOUT BEING AWARE OF IT, WE ALL TOOK COMMUNION AT THE VERY SAME TIME. THEY IN FORTH WORTH AT THE HOSPITAL - GLORIA AND I IN COLORADO. FIVE MINUTES LATER, LYNDSEY WOKE UP AND SAID, ‘DADDY, WHY ARE ALL THESE WIRES ON ME?’ BY THE NEXT AFTERNOON, SHE WAS RUNNING AROUND THE HOSPITAL.
WHERE DID THE VICTORY TAKE PLACE? THE VICTORY TOOK PLACE IN US. EVERY ONE OF US TOOK AUTHORITY OVER FEAR AND REFUSED TO BE MOVED BY IT. WE ESTABLISHED OURSELVES IN THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD AND STAYED FAR FROM OPPRESSION. WITHOUT FEAR THERE WAS NOTHING TO CONNECT US TO IT.
ACTING ON THE WORD ONLY
THAT PARTICULAR DISEASE TRIES TO CUT OFF CIRCULATION IN APPENDAGES OF THE BODY. WHEN THE DOCTORS TESTED LYNDSEY, THEY FOUND SOME HEARING LOSS. THAT GAVE US ANOTHER GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO BE AFRAID. WHEN GLORIA AND I ARRIVED LATER THAT FIRST NIGHT, I WENT TO LYNDSEY’S BEDSIDE. ‘LYNDSEY,’ I SAID, ‘I SPEAK TO THE ANOINTING THAT IS IN YOU ACCORDING TO 1 JOHN 2 THAT SAYS THE ANOINTING WE HAVE RECEIVED OF HIM ABIDES IN US NOW. I STIR IT UP!”
LYNDSEY LOOKED UP AT ME, GRITTED HER TEETH AND SAID, ‘I AM HEALED, IN THE NAME OF JESUS.’ NOW THE DOCTORS SAID THE HEARING LOSS WAS WORSE IN ONE EAR THAN THE OTHER, SO WHEN LYNDSEY TALKED ON THE TELEPHONE, SHE WOULD USE THE EAR THAT WAS WORSE, ABSOLUTELY DETERMINED TO WALK BY FAITH!
WHY WOULD AN 11 YEAR OLD GIRL DO THAT? BECAUSE HER MAMA AND DADDY TAUGHT HER TO DO IT! THE THINGS OF GOD ARE MORE NATURAL TO HER THAN THE WORLD’S WAY OF DOING THINGS. LYNDSEY AND HER MOTHER QUOTED SCRIPTURES ABOUT HEARING EVERY MORNING AND NIGHT, OVER HER EARS. SEVERAL WEEKS LATER SHE HAD LESS HEARING LOSS, AND FINALLY EVEN THAT LEFT.
ACTING ON THE WORD OF GOD INSTEAD OF ACTING ON FEAR PUTS US FAR FROM OPPRESSION. YES, THE DRIVE TO BE AFRAID IS A TERRIBLE FORCE, BUT WE HAVE BEEN REBORN. THERE’S A GREATER FORCE AT WORK IN US. THE FAITH OF GOD WE FEED WITH THE WORD KEEPS THAT FEAR CAST OUT! BY RECEIVING JESUS AS LORD AND SAVIOUR AND ACTING ON THE WORD, WHAT WAS A FOUNTAIN OF FEAR HAS BECOME A FOUNTAIN OF FAITH.
WHAT THE DEVIL TRIES TO DO IS TRAIN US IN HABITS OF FEAR SO HE CAN STEAL, KILL AND DESTROY. BUT WE DON’T HAVE TO TAKE THOSE THOUGHTS. IN FACT, ANYTHING THAT JESUS BORE ON THE CROSS, WE’RE OBLIGATED TO RESIST WITH EVERYTHING THAT IS IN US! LOOK AT ISAIAH 54:15: ‘BEHOLD, THEY SHALL SURELY GATHER TOGETHER, BUT NOT BY ME: WHOSOEVER SHALL GATHER TOGETHER AGAINST THEE SHALL FALL FOR THY SAKE.’
WHEN FEAR AND OPPRESSION AND TERROR TRY TO GET TO YOU, TELL THEM TO FALL. SAY, ‘FALL IN THE NAME OF JESUS! I REFUSE TO BACK OFF FROM YOU.’
YEARS AGO, A PREACHER TOOK ME WITH HIM TO MINISTER IN A HOSPITAL. I’D BEEN SAVED A MONTH OR SO AND DIDN’T KNOW ANYTHING.. AT THE TIME, I WEIGHED ABOUT 245 POUNDS. WE WENT TO SEE A LITTLE, SICK, MOSTLY OUT OF HER HEAD OLD WOMAN, WHO WEIGHED ABOUT 75 POUNDS. WE WERE JUST STANDING THERE BY HER HOSPITAL BED WHEN SUDDENLY SHE RAISED UP, LOOKED RIGHT AT ME AND SHOUTED, ‘SICK, BOY! SICK, SICK BOY! SICK!’
I BOLTED FOR THE DOOR. THE DEMONS IN THAT LITTLE WOMAN RAN ME OUT OF THAT ROOM! OUTSIDE, I WAS SO ASHAMED. I SAID, ‘LORD, THIS IS PITIFUL. IN THE NAME OF JESUS, I’LL NEVER AGAIN RUN FROM THE DEVIL THE REST OF MY LIFE. BUT YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE TO TEACH ME HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVILS.’
SINCE THEN, I’VE BEEN AROUND SOME OF THE MEANEST, MOST DEMONIC PEOPLE ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH, WALKED RIGHT IN AND WALKED RIGHT OUT AND HAD GOD ALMIGHTY PROTECT ME EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. ISAIAH 54:17 TELLS US: ‘NO WEAPON FORMED AGAINST THEE SHALL PROSPER, AND EVERY TONGUE THAT RISES UP AGAINST THEE IN JUDGMENT THOU SHALT CONDEMN. THIS IS THE HERITAGE OF THE SERVANTS OF THE LORD, AND THEIR RIGHTEOUSNESS IS FROM ME,’ SAITH THE LORD.
REDEEMED FROM FEAR AND OPPRESSION
WE HAVE AN ANOINTING - THE BURDEN-REMOVING, YOKE-DESTROYING POWER OF GOD INSIDE US. SO FOR US TO ACT IN FEAR IS BLASPHEMOUS. WE MAY BE TREMBLING FROM THE KNEES UP AND SHAKING FROM THE KNEES DOWN. WE MAY HAVE BEEN AFRAID ALL OUR LIVES. FEAR MAY SEEM LIKE IT’S JUST PART OF US. BUT WE CAN RESIST FEAR, SAYING, ‘I HAVE BEEN REDEEMED FROM THE POWER AND BONDAGE OF THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH. FEAR, TAKE YOUR HAND OFF MY LIFE. I REFUSE TO BE AFRAID OF ANYTHING I HAVE BEEN REDEEMED FROM.’
HEBREWS 2:14-15 SAYS:
FORASMUCH THEN AS THE CHILDREN ARE PARTAKERS OF FLESH AND BLOOD, HE ALSO HIMSELF LIKEWISE TOOK PART OF THE SAME, THAT THROUGH DEATH HE MIGHT DESTROY HIM THAT HAD THE POWER OF DEATH, THAT IS, THE DEVIL; AND DELIVER THEM WHO THROUGH FEAR OF DEATH WERE ALL THEIR LIFETIME SUBJECT TO BONDAGE.
THE NEXT TIME YOU’RE TEMPTED TO RUN FROM THE DEVIL, REMEMBER DAVID. WHEN PEOPLE WERE TRYING TO HIDE FROM GOLIATH, DAVID WAS ASKING, ‘WHAT DO I GET IF I KILL HIM?’
WHEN GOLIATH MOUTHED HIS THREATS, DAVID TALKED HIS FAITH: ‘I’LL TAKE YOUR HEAD OFF. I’LL SHOW THE WHOLE WORLD THAT THERE’S A GOD IN ISRAEL!’ HE KNEW A PERSON IN COVENANT WITH GOD IS NEVER AT THE MERCY OF ANY THREAT FROM THE DEVIL. DOWN GOLIATH WENT, AND DAVID CUT OFF HIS HEAD.
THAT’S THE WAY YOU CAN BE. ‘(SUBMIT TO GOD), RESIST THE DEVIL AND HE WILL FLEE FROM YOU.’ (JAMES 4:7). MAKE THE DEVIL DREAD EVERY DAY YOU GET OUT OF BED. WHEN THE DEVIL COMES STORMING IN, TELL HIM, ‘GET OUT, IN THE NAME OF JESUS!’ PUT THAT WHOLE ARMOUR ON! AND WHEN YOU DO, THINK WHAT YOU MUST LOOK AND SOUND LIKE TO THE DEVIL. YOU’RE STANDING BEHIND THE SHIELD OF FAITH. THE FACEPLATE IS PULLED DOWN ON THE HELMET OF SALVATION. YOUR BODY’S COVERED WITH TRUTH AND THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND YOUR FEET ARE SHOD WITH THE GOSPEL OF PEACE. WAVING THE SWORD OF THE (HOLY) SPIRIT AS YOU REFUSE TO SPEAK ANYTHING BUT FAITH IN THE NAME OF JESUS!
THE DEVIL WON’T KNOW THAT IT’S NOT GOD IN THAT SUIT. AFTER ALL, IT’S GOD’S SUIT! SO, TAKE YOUR STAND! BE BIGGER THAN YOU ARE BECAUSE THE BIGGER ONE IS LIVING IN YOU. AND WHEN YOU ROAR, ROAR LIKE THE LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH!
IF YOU’LL DO THAT, IT WON’T BE LONG BEFORE YOU STOP ASKING HOW YOU CAN GET RID OF FEAR. INSTEAD YOU’LL WATCH IN AMAZEMENT AT HOW FAST FEAR, AND EVERY OTHER OPPRESSION OF THE DEVIL, FLEES FROM YOU!
BVOV
I CANNOT BE DEFEATED
Excerpts from the sermon of
JERRY SAVELLE
GOD WANTS ME FILLED WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD.
HE HAS DELIVERED AND DRAWN ME TO
HIMSELF OUT OF THE CONTROL AND DOMINION OF DARKNESS, SATAN AND ALL HIS COHORTS.
SATAN HAS NO AUTHORITY OVER ME WHATSOEVER, AMEN. ACCORDING TO WHAT THE APOSTLE
PAUL TEACHES ME, ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED AT CALVARY, WHAT HAPPENED FROM THE CROSS
TO THE THRONE, JESUS DEFEATED SATAN, AND TOOK FROM HIM HIS ABILITY TO HOLD ME
CAPTIVE. COL. 2:15 SAYS: ‘HAVING SPOILT PRINCIPALITIES AND
POWERS HE MADE A SHOW OF THEM OPENLY, TRIUMPHING OVER THEM IN IT.’ THE
AMPLIFIED SAYS: ‘HE DISARMED THEM’. – HE DISARMED THE
PRINCIPALITIES AND POWERS THAT RANGED AGAINST US. ‘HE DISARMED THEM’ MEANS HE
TOOK AWAY SATAN’S WEAPONS – HE HAS NO WEAPONS, PRAISE GOD. JESUS DEPRIVED HIM
OF HIS ABILITY TO HARM AND TO HURT ME. ‘DISARMED’ MEANS JESUS OVERCAME SATAN’S
HOSTILITY AGAINST ME. ‘DISARMED’ MEANS HE REDUCED HIS POWER AND HIS ABILITY TO
ZERO. HALLELUJAH.
LUKE 11:22 SAYS:
‘BUT WHEN A STRONGER THAN HE SHALL
COME AND OVERCOME HIM, HE TAKETH FROM HIM ALL HIS ARMOUR WHEREIN HE TRUSTED’. JESUS
WAS THE STRONGER AND HE OVERCAME MY ADVERSARY AND TOOK FROM HIM ALL THE ARMOUR
IN WHICH HE TRUSTED. REVELATION 1:8 SAYS: ‘I AM HE
THAT LIVETH AND WAS DEAD, AND BEHOLD I AM ALIVE FOREVERMORE, AND I HAVE THE
KEYS OF HELL AND DEATH’. HEBREWS 2:14 SAYS: ‘THAT
THROUGH DEATH, HE MIGHT DESTROY HIM THAT HAD THE POWER OF DEATH, THAT IS, THE
DEVIL’. THE AMPLIFIED SAYS: ‘AND TO BRING TO NOUGHT AND
TO MAKE OF NO EFFECT HIS POWER AND HIS ABILITY’. THE
ROTHERHAM TRANSLATION SAYS: ‘HE PARALYSED SATAN’S DEATH DEALING
POWER’.HALLELUJAH! THE ONE YOU AND I ARE DEALING WITH IS POWERLESS.
HALLELUJAH! WHY THEN, ARE SO MANY OF GOD’S PEOPLE STILL IN BONDAGE AND STILL IN
CAPTIVITY? A LACK OF KNOWLEDGE. I PRAY THAT I MAY BE FILLED WITH THE KNOWLEDGE
OF GOD AND CONTINUE TO INCREASE IN HIS KNOWLEDGE. THE BIBLE SAYS IF I CONTINUE IN
THE WORD, I WILL KNOW THE TRUTH, AND THE TRUTH WILL MAKE ME FREE. WHEN I
UNDERSTAND THESE THINGS, I CANNOT BE DEFEATED. I AM BEYOND DEFEAT. AMEN.
1 JOHN 2:14 SAYS:
‘YOU ARE STRONG, AND THE WORD OF
GOD ABIDETH IN YOU AND YOU HAVE OVERCOME THE WICKED ONE’. STRONG,
WHY? BECAUSE ‘THE WORD OF GOD ABIDES IN YOU’ AND WHEN THE WORD OF GOD ABIDES IN
ME RICHLY, I WILL OVERCOME EVERY ATTACK OF THE EVIL ONE, NO MATTER WHAT COMES
AGAINST ME, IT WILL NOT SUCCEED WHEN I STAND IN THE AUTHORITY THAT JESUS HAS
CONFERRED ON ME. LUKE 10:19 SAYS: ‘BEHOLD, I GIVE YOU POWER,
AND NOTHING SHALL BY ANY MEANS HURT YOU’. JESUS HAS
SHATTERED SATAN’S AUTHORITY. HE HAS NO POWER OVER ME, HE HAS NO CONTROL OVER
ME. AND I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO FEAR REGARDING SATAN AND HIS OPERATIONS.
IT’S TIME FOR ME TO BEGIN TO ACT AS IF I TRULY BELIEVE IT. WHEN I ACT LIKE THE
BIBLE IS TRUE, THEN I CANNOT BE DEFEATED. TRIAL AND ADVERSITIES MAY COME MY
WAY, BUT THEY CANNOT KEEP ME FROM LIVING A VICTORIUS LIFE WHEN I KNOW WHO I AM
IN CHRIST AND I KNOW MY AUTHORITY AS A CHILD OF THE LIVING GOD. PSALM 34:19
SAYS: ‘MANY EVILS CONFRONT THE CONSISTENTLY RIGHTEOUS, BUT THE LORD
DELIVERS THEM OUT OF THEM ALL’. GOD NEVER INTENDED FOR ME TO
FAIL, HE NEVER INTENDED FOR ME TO LIVE A DEFEATED LIFE. NOTHING MAKES GOD
HAPPIER THAN WHEN HE SEES ME TAKING HIS WORD, TAKING HIS ARMOUR, TAKING HIS
NAME AND OVERCOMING EVERY ATTACK THAT IS LAUNCHED AGAINST ME. I REFUSE TO GIVE
UP. I REFUSE TO GIVE IN. GOD IS ON MY SIDE. AND IF GOD BE FOR ME, NO-ONE CAN
SUCCESSFULLY BE AGAINST ME. GOD HAS PROMISED NO WEAPON
FORMED AGAINST ME SHALL PROSPER. HALLELUJAH. WHEN GOD IS ON MY
SIDE, I CANNOT BE DEFEATED. DEFEAT BECOMES A THING OF THE PAST. GOD WILL ALWAYS
MAKE A WAY. RIGHT NOW, WHILE I’M TALKING, GOD IS MAKING THAT WAY, HALLELUJAH. 2
CORINTHIANS 1:10 SAYS: ‘FOR IT IS HE WHO RESCUED AND SAVED
US, AND HE WILL AGAIN DELIVER US FROM DANGER AND DESTRUCTION AND HE WILL DRAW
US TO HIMSELF’. THE APOSTLE PAUL EXPERIENCED MANY TIMES GOD’S DELIVERING
POWER. MANY TIMES PAUL FACED DEATH, MANY TIMES HE FACED TRIALS AND ADVERSITIES,
BUT GOD DELIVERED HIM TIME AND TIME AGAIN, AND PAUL IS SO CONFIDENT THAT GOD
WILL CONTINUE TO DELIVER HIM THAT HE SAYS ‘HE WILL
AGAIN DELIVER US FROM DANGER AND DESTRUCTION AND HE WILL DRAW US TO HIMSELF’. I AM
HIS CHILD. HE WILL DELIVER ME ALSO. HALLELUJAH. GLORY TO GOD. ACTS 7:9-10 SAYS:
‘BOILING WITH ENVY AND HATRED AND ANGER, HIS BROTHERS SOLD JOSEPH INTO SLAVERY
IN EGYPT, BUT GOD WAS WITH HIM AND DELIVERED HIM FROM ALL HIS DISTRESSING
AFFLICTIONS AND WON HIM GOOD WILL AND FAVOUR’.WHEN
GOD’S FAVOUR IS ON MY LIFE, WHEN GOD’S GOODNESS IS SURROUNDING ME THEN GOD WILL
SEE TO IT, NO MATTER WHAT KIND OF AFFLICTION I MAY EXPERIENCE, GOD WILL TURN
EVERY SETBACK INTO A VICTORY. HE DID IT FOR JOSEPH AND HE WILL DO IT FOR ME. I MAY BE
STRUCK DOWN, BUT I AM NEVER STRUCK OUT, HALLELUJAH. I AM INDEED
BEYOND DEFEAT. WHEN I ACT ON WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT ME, NOT WHAT MAN THINKS,
SATAN CANNOT KEEP ME FROM OVERCOMING EVERY ATTACK THAT HE LAUNCHES AGAINST ME. CONTRARY TO
WHAT SATAN SAYS, HE IS NOT ALL POWERFUL. ONLY GOD IS ALL POWERFUL. SATAN
IS NOT ALL POWERFUL AS HE WOULD HAVE ME BELIEVE. I’M THE ONE WITH THE POWER.
GOD’S THE ONE WITH THE POWER. AND THANK GOD, IT’S BEEN BESTOWED UPON ME. I HAVE BEEN
INDUED WITH POWER, THE BIBLE SAYS. I’M THE ONE WITH THE POWER. I’M THE
ONE WITH THE AUTHORITY, NOT SATAN. HE HAS BEEN
REDUCED TO ZERO. I ACT ON WHAT HAS ALREADY BEEN GIVEN TO ME. LUKE 24:49 SAYS: ‘WE SHALL BE
INDUED WITH POWER FROM ON HIGH’. INDUED MEANS I HAVE PUT IT ON
AND AM CLOTHED WITH IT. WHEN I AM INDUED WITH POWER FROM ON HIGH, IT MEANS I
HAVE PUT IT ON AND AM CLOTHED WITH IT. I AM
WALKING AROUND WITH POWER AND AUTHORITY. FOR AS I KNOW, AND AM FILLED WITH, THE
KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, I REALISE THAT POWER AND AUTHORITY IS AS CLOSE
TO ME AS MY NEXT BREATH; POWER AND AUTHORITY IS AS CLOSE TO ME AS MY ABILITY TO SPEAK THE
NAME OF JESUS AND THE WORD OF THE LIVING GOD. IT
ALSO MEANS THAT I AM SKILLED IN POWER. I KNOW HOW TO TAKE THIS POWER AND AUTHORITY
AND APPLY IT TO ATTACKS AND ADVERSITIES AND OPPOSITION, AND KNOW, THAT NO POWER
IS GREATER THAN THE POWER OF GOD UPON MY LIFE. MATTHEW 16:18 SAYS: ‘UPON THIS
ROCK I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH AND THE GATES OF HELL WILL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST IT’. THE
AMPLIFIED BIBLE SAYS: ‘SHALL NOT OVERPOWER IT’. WHAT IS
THE ROCK? REVELATION KNOWLEDGE. HALLELUJAH! WHEN I AM
WALKING IN REVELATION KNOWLEDGE, THE GATES OF HELL CANNOT OVERPOWER OR PREVAIL
AGAINST ME. I REFUSE TO HAVE A LACK OF KNOWLEDGE OF MY AUTHORITY OVER SATAN
AS A BELIEVER. I WILL ACT ON THAT KNOWLEDGE. I WILL NOT GIVE UP BECAUSE I WILL
WIN. IT’S NEVER GOD’S WILL FOR ME TO BE DEFEATED. I KNOW WHO I AM IN CHRIST.
THE BIBLE SAYS: ‘THANKS BE UNTO GOD THAT CAUSES ME TO TRIUMPH
ALWAYS’. JESUS ALREADY BOUGHT AND PAID FOR THIS AUTHORITY THAT I AM
INDUED WITH, THAT I POSSESS. GOD IS NO RESPECTER OF PERSONS. HIS WORD WILL WORK
FOR ANY BELIEVER THAT WILL DARE PUT IT TO WORK, HALLELUJAH. I EXERCISE MY
AUTHORITY AND I STAND MY GROUND. DEFEAT IS NOT GOD’S PLAN FOR MY LIFE. I CANNOT BE
DEFEATED. NOT AFTER WHAT JESUS DID AT CALVARY, I CANNOT BE DEFEATED. I’M NOT
TALKING ABOUT IN MY ABILITY, I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT IN MY MIGHT, I’M NOT TALKING
ABOUT IN MY STRENGTH. IN MY OWN ABILITY I’M NO MATCH FOR SATAN. BUT I QUIT
LEANING ON MY ABILITY AND I AM FILLED WITH THE MIGHT OF ALMIGHTY GOD,
HALLELUJAH. AND I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH HIM WHO STRENGTHENS
ME. AND SATAN IS NO MATCH FOR THE MIGHT OF THE
ALMIGHTY, HALLELUJAH! I AM JUST DECLARING WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS.
DEUTERONOMY 28:13 SAYS: AND THE LORD WILL MAKE ME THE HEAD
AND NOT THE TAIL. I SHALL BE ABOVE ONLY AND I SHALT NOT BE BENEATH’. THAT’S
MY COVENANT. GOD PROMISED BY COVENANT THAT I WILL BE THE HEAD AND NOT THE TAIL.
I WILL BE ABOVE ONLY AND NOT BENEATH. THAT MEANS IT IS NEVER THE WILL OF GOD
THAT I EXPERIENCE DEFEAT IN MY LIFE. I AM A WINNER. THERE IS NOT A LOSER IN
THIS ROOM TODAY. GLORY TO GOD. NO MATTER WHAT SETBACKS, I’M NOT A FAILURE UNTIL
I DECLARE I AM A FAILURE. AND I AM NOT GOING TO DECLARE THAT, BECAUSE THE BIBLE
DOES NOT DECLARE THAT, AND ‘M NOT LEANING TO MY OWN WISDOM, I’M LEANING TO THE
WISDOM OF GOD. AND WHETHER IT LOOKS LIKE IT, WHETHER I’VE EVER EXPERIENCED
SUCCESS OR NOT, THE BIBLE SAYS I AM, THE BIBLE SAYS I CAN, AND I’M GOING TO
HOLD FAST TO WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS, AND EVENTUALLY THINGS WILL TURN AROUND IN MY
LIFE, HALLELUJAH! GLORY TO GOD. HIDE AND WATCH, IT AIN’T OVER YET! LET ALL THE
WINNERS SHOUT HALLELUJAH. I AM DEVELOPING A WINNER’S ATTITUDE. I’M NOT A LOSER.
I CANNOT BE DEFEATED. NOT AFTER WHAT JESUS DID AT CALVARY, HALLELUJAH. JESUS
DEFEATED MY ADVERSARY. HE’S BEEN REDUCED TO ZERO. GLORY TO GOD. HALLELUJAH. I
REFUSE TO ACCEPT DEFEAT. I KNOW WHO IS FOR ME: THE ALMIGHTY GOD. GOD IS FOR ME,
GOD IS WITH ME, AND GOD IS IN ME. AND GREATER IS HE THAT IS IN
ME, THAN HE THAT IS IN THE WORLD, HALLELUJAH! HALLELUJAH! I HAVE
THE ATTITUDE OF A WINNER. I KNOW GOD IS FOR ME, I KNOW GOD IS WITH ME, AND I
KNOW GOD IS IN ME. WHEN I HAVE A REVELATION OF GOD FOR ME, GOD WITH ME AND GOD
IN ME, THEN I AM BEYOND DEFEAT. HALLELUJAH, GOD IS FOR ME,
GOD IS WITH ME, AND GOD IS IN ME, AND I CANNOT BE
DEFEATED. HALLELUJAH. GLORY TO GOD. I CANNOT BE DEFEATED WHEN I
KNOW THESE THINGS. I DON’T NEED MORE MONEY, MORE BREAKS OR MORE SLACK. I NEED
MORE KNOWLEDGE. IF THE WORLD CAN ACHIEVE WITH WILL POWER, WHAT CAN I ACHIEVE
WITH GOD POWER. I REFUSE TO LAY DOWN OR GIVE UP, I HAVE GOD POWER ON THE INSIDE
OF ME. I AM A WINNER, NOT A LOSER. I WILL NOT PLAY DEAD AND LET
THE DEVIL RUN OVER ME FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE, AND LET THE DEVIL KEEP ME FROM
EXPERIENCING ALL THAT GOD SAYS IS RIGHTFULLY MINE. I WILL ACT LIKE THE BIBLE IS
TRUE. I AM WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS I AM, I HAVE WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS I HAVE,
AND I CAN DO WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS I CAN DO. DEFEAT WILL
BECOME A THING OF THE PAST, WHEN I BELIEVE WHAT GOD SAYS I AM AND BELIEVE THAT
I CAN DO WHAT GOD SAYS I CAN DO. MY BREAKTHROUGHS ARE GOING
TO START COMING MORE RAPIDLY THAN BEFORE, AND I CANNOT BE DEFEATED, AMEN. I GIVE
THANKS UNTO THE FATHER, WHO HAS DELIVERED ME.
I TAKE AUTHORITY IN THE NAME OF JESUS:
OVER ANY HANDICAP THAT HAS PREVENTED ME FROM REACHING MY FULL POTENTIAL. I TAKE AUTHORITY OVER GENERATIONAL CURSES AND EVERY EXCUSE SATAN HAS USED, TO BIND ME, CONFINE ME, RESTRICT ME, AND RENDER ME HELPLESS. I DECLARE THEM BROKEN AND I AM FREE, IN JESUS NAME. I SHOUT UNTO GOD, HALLELUJAH! I HAVE NO EXCUSE WHATSOEVER TO ACCEPT DEFEAT. I DO NOT FORGET WHO I AM IN CHRIST. I HOLD STAUNCHLY TO THE PROMISE OF GOD. GOD SAYS I CANNOT BE DEFEATED. GOD SAYS I AM BEYOND DEFEAT, AND I CHOOSE TO BE A WINNER. HALLELUJAH, THANK YOU JESUS. OH, HALLELUJAH, HALLELUJAH, HALLELUJAH, HALLELUJAH!
JERRY SAVELLE MINISTRIES.
MERLIN CAROTHERS
PRISON TO PRAISE
Chapter 8
Discovering the power in praise was
one of the most exciting experiences I'd ever had; yet every time I wanted to
share it with someone, it was as if God was saying: "Hold it. This isn't
the time."
When Ron came to see me about his
problem he was the picture of misery and despair. "Chaplain, you've got to
help me. When I was drafted my wife tried to commit suicide. Now I've received
orders for Vietnam
Ron was an attorney and a member of
the bar association. But he had been drafted and preferred to join the Army as
a Private. Now he was obviously distraught and unable to handle the situation
with his wife.
"Ron, have your wife come in to
see me, and I'll see what I can do."
Sue was also a picture of misery. Her
body was frail and she sat on the edge of a chair, trembling from head to foot.
Tears flowed uncontrollably down her face.
"Chaplain." Her voice was
barely audible. "I'm scared; I can't live without Ron."
I looked at her and a wave of
compassion brought tears to my eyes. I knew Sue's story. She'd been adopted as
a baby, was estranged from her adopted family, and had no one in the world
except Ron. The two of them were very much in love and I knew that if Ron went
to Vietnam
I prayed silently for wisdom to
comfort her.
"Tell her to be thankful."
I shook my head in disbelief. I must have heard wrong.
"Her, Lord?"
"Yes, you may begin to share
with her!" I looked at Sue's tearful face and my heart sank.
"Okay, Lord, I'll trust
You."
"Sue, I'm glad you came," I
said, smiling with a confidence I didn't feel. "You don't have anything to
worry about. Everything is going to be all right."
Sue straightened herself, wiped away
her tears, and managed a trembling little smile.
I continued: "What I want you to
do is to kneel here with me and thank God that Ron is going to Vietnam
She looked at me in blank disbelief.
I nodded. "Yes, Sue, I want you to thank God."
She immediately began to weep almost
hysterically. I calmed her as best I could and began reading to her from the
Bible the verses I had learned to trust in over the past few months.
"...In everything give thanks,
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you...All things work
together for good to them that love the Lord." Carefully I tried to show
her the wonderful truths I had found to be real.
Nothing seemed to help. Sue believed
in God and in Christ, but in her despair her belief was of no comfort. Finally
she left my office crying, with no peace of mind and certainly no joy.
"Lord, have I
completely misunderstood You? That girl wasn't helped a bit."
"Patience, son. I'm
working."
The next day Ron came to my office.
"Chaplain, what did you tell Sue? She is worse than she was before."
"I told Sue the solution to her
problem and now I'll tell you. I want you to kneel down and thank God that
you're going to Vietnam
Ron didn't see my point either. Carefully
we went over the Scriptures: "...This is the will of God concerning
you."
Ron said: "Now I understand why
Sue didn't understand. I don't understand either." And he left.
Two days later they came back.
"Sir, we are desperate. You must do something to help us."
They were both hoping that I as
chaplain would be able to put in a plea for another assignment for Ron. Again I explained to them the only solution
God was letting me hold up before them. "All things work together for good
to them that love the Lord."
"If you can only believe that
God is really working this thing out for the best for both of you, then all you
have to do is trust Him and begin to thank Him—regardless of what the situation
looks like".
Ron and Sue looked at each other.
"What do we have to lose, Honey?" Ron said. We knelt and Sue prayed:
"Lord, I thank you that Ron is
going to Vietnam
Then Ron prayed: "Lord, this is
very strange to me, too, but I trust You. Thank You that I am going to Vietnam
I had a feeling Ron and Sue were not
as convinced as I was, but I thanked the Lord that they were trying. They left my office, and later I heard what had
happened.
Ron and Sue had gone into the chapel
and knelt together at the altar. There they had turned their lives and each
other over to God in a deeper commitment than ever before and now Sue had the
strength to pray: "God, I thank You that Ron is going to Vietnam. You know
how much I will miss him. You know I don't have a father or mother or brother
or sister or family of any kind. I will trust You, Lord."
Ron prayed: "God, I do thank
You. I give Sue over to You. She is Yours and I'll trust You to take care of
her."
With that they rose from the altar.
Ron went through the chapel and headed for his unit while Sue came back to the
waiting room next to my office. She needed to sit quietly and collect her
thoughts. While she sat there a young soldier came in and asked for the
chaplain. Sue told him that I was busy. "But if you wait a little while,
I'll tell him you're here," she offered.
"I'll wait," said the young
soldier. He looked distressed and Sue asked: "What is your problem?"
"My wife wants a divorce."
Sue shook her head: "It won't do
much good to see that Chaplain," she said, but the soldier wasn't
easily discouraged, and while they were waiting he took out his billfold and
began to show Sue pictures of his wife and children. When he turned to the next
picture Sue screamed: "Who is that?"
"That's my mother".
"That is my mother",
said Sue, shaking with emotion.
"That couldn't be," the
soldier replied. "I don't have a sister."
"It is; I know it is!"
"What makes you think
that?"
"When I was a little girl I
happened to find a piece of paper in my parents' desk that showed I was
adopted. In the upper right-hand corner was a picture of my real mother. That's
her. It's the same lady." And it
was.
Further checking revealed that Sue
had been promised for adoption before she was born and her natural mother had
never seen her. She had no idea where Sue was and had never heard anything
about her since the day she was born.
Now Sue had a brother, a real
brother, and with him came a whole family.
Was it coincidence? There are more
than two hundred million people in the United States
But that wasn't all. As Ron walked
back into his unit, he ran into an old friend from law school who was now a
legal officer.
"Hi, old buddy, where are you
going?" he said as he met Ron.
"Praise God, I'm going to Vietnam
Later an Officer Candidate came to my
office. He openly wept for a long time. "Sir, you must help me. My wife
has been asking for a divorce. Her lawyer has just sent me the papers to sign.
I just can't keep on with the Officer Candidate program. I don't even want to
stay in the Army. Please help me."
"I know just how to get your
problem solved. Let's kneel down and thank God that your wife wants a
divorce."
He didn't understand any better than
Sue and Ron did. Carefully we went over the Scriptures together. At last he
decided he might as well try it. We knelt together and he prayed, turning the
whole situation over to God and thanking Him for having allowed it to happen.
When he returned to his unit he was
so shaken emotionally that they gave him the rest of the day off. He went to
his bed and lay there, repeating over and over, "Thank you, Lord, that
my wife wants a divorce. I surely don't understand it, but Your Word says I
should thank You for all things, so I'll do it." All day long he thought
the same things over and over. That night he couldn't sleep, so he went on
thanking God. The next day he went through training in a daze. "Lord, You
know I don't understand, but I thank You anyhow."
That evening he was sitting in the
mess hall having dinner. As he was eating, it suddenly hit him. "Lord, you
really must know what is better for me, much more than I do. I know all
of this must be your will. Thank You, Lord; now I understand!"
At that moment another candidate
tapped him on the shoulder and told him to come to the telephone.
In all the weeks he'd been a
candidate, no one had ever wanted him on the phone.
When he lifted the receiver there was
someone weeping on the other end. "Honey, can you ever forgive me? I don't
want a divorce!"
A lady came reluctantly to see me.
One of her friends had almost dragged her into my office. She told me that she
had seriously been considering suicide, but didn't see what good it would do to
talk about it.
Little by little she gave me the
details. Her husband had fathered an illegitimate child by another woman. The
child was being kept by her husband's parents. Every time she went to visit her
in-laws, there was the child. To make things worse, the child's mother usually
showed up at the same time. Even though they were having financial
difficulties, her husband was sending money to his parents to help take care of
his illegitimate child. She couldn't live with this constant pain inside
anymore.
"Don't worry," I said to
her. "You won't have to; there is a solution to your problem."
She looked up, rather surprised.
"What is it?"
"Let us kneel here and thank God
that your husband fathered this child." Again I went over the Scriptures
on thanking God for all things. Wiping away her tears, she finally agreed to
try it. We prayed, and she left the office determined to let God work out the
problems in her life.
The next morning I called to see how
she was doing.
"Wonderful!"
"You are?"
"Yes, Sir, I got up this morning
just filled with joy!"
"What happened?"
"When I got home yesterday I
began to think what I could do now that I am thankful for my husband's baby. I
decided that if I was really thankful, I ought to do something about it. So I
sat down and wrote a check to my in-laws and told them to use it for the baby.
This morning I feel absolutely glorious."
The next day I called her again, and
she said: "I feel even better than yesterday."
"What have you done now?"
"I started thinking of a lady
who lives near me who has a retarded child. I went to see her this morning and
asked if I could help with the child. She was so amazed she didn't know what to
say. I stayed and started to do what I could."
"Do you know what to do for a
retarded child?"
"Yes, Sir. I have a master's
degree in working with special children."
"Have you worked with children
since you graduated?"
"No, Sir. This is the first
child I've ever worked with."
"Now do you understand why God
permitted that thing to happen in your life?"
"Yes, Sir, I do, and now I
really praise Him!"
From that day on she was a changed
woman. Those who knew her before said she had always looked and acted as if she
was in great pain. Now they say she looks and acts as though she has discovered
some wonderful secret, and people are being drawn to Christ through her
radiance and joy.
Jesus didn't promise to change the
circumstances around us, but He did promise great peace and pure joy to those
who would learn to believe that God actually controls all things.
The very act of praise releases the
power of God into a set of circumstances and enables God to change them if this
is His design. Very often it is our attitudes that hinder the solution of a
problem. God is sovereign and could certainly cut across our wrong thought
patterns and attitudes. But His perfect plan is to bring each of us into
fellowship and communion with Him, and so He allows circumstances and incidents
which will bring our wrong attitudes to our attention.
I have come to believe that the
prayer of praise is the highest form of communion with God, and one that always
releases a great deal of power into our lives. Praising Him is not something we
do because we feel good; rather it is an act of obedience. Often the prayer of
praise is done in sheer teeth-gritting willpower; yet when we persist in it,
somehow the power of God is released into us and into the situation. At first
in a trickle perhaps, but later in a growing stream that finally floods us and
washes away the old hurts and scars.
One Army wife came to me, convinced
that her problem had but one solution.
Her husband had developed an
excessive drinking problem and for the past several years had been an
alcoholic. Often he would pass out drunk on the living room floor where the
wife or his teen-age children would find him, stark naked. In this condition
he'd also been found in the hallway of the apartment house where several other
families lived.
In final desperation the wife decided
to take the children and leave. Friends persuaded her to at least come talk to
me first.
"Whatever you say, Chaplain,
don't tell me to stay with him," she said. "I just can't do it."
I don't really care whether you stay
with him or not," I said. "I just want you to thank God that your
husband is like he is." Carefully I explained what the Bible had to say about
thanking God for all things and that if she tried it, God would be able to
solve her problem in the best way.
She thought it sounded ridiculous,
but finally agreed to kneel while I prayed that God would release in her enough
faith to believe that He is a God of love and power who holds the universe in
His hand.
At last she said, "I do
believe."
Two weeks later I called her.
"I feel absolutely
marvelous," she said. "My husband is a different man. He hasn't had a
drink in two weeks."
"That's wonderful," I said.
"I'd like to talk to him."
"What do you mean?" She
sounded surprised.
"I just think it would be good
if I talked to your husband about the power that is working in your
lives."
"Didn't you tell him
already?" She sounded puzzled.
"No, I haven't met him
yet."
"Chaplain, this is a
miracle," she cried out. "The day I was in your office he came home
from work and for the first time in seven years he didn't go to the
refrigerator for a beer. Instead he went into the living room and talked to the
children. I was sure you had talked to him."
Our prayer of praise had released
God's power to work in another person's life. The wife was openly crying over
the telephone.
"Praise God, Chaplain," she
sobbed, "Now I know God works out every detail of our lives."
A young soldier collapsed with a
serious heart problem and was taken to the Fort Benning Hospital
The unhappy soldier was
caught and put in the stockade to await trial. There another soldier led him to
Christ. I went to see him, and he was still feeling depressed and afraid that
he had messed up his life so thoroughly that he couldn't be of any use to
anyone.
"Your sins are forgiven and
forgotten," I said. "Don't think of your past as a chain around your
neck. Thank God for every detail of your life and believe He has permitted all
of these things in order to bring you to the place where you are now."
Together we searched the Scriptures
for God's word on all things working out for those who love Him.
"And that doesn't just mean
things that happen after you've asked God to take over your life," I said.
"God is able to use even our past mistakes and failures when we release
them to Him with thanksgiving."
He understood, and began to thank God
in earnest for everything that had happened. As his trial neared, his defense
attorney told him the best he could hope for was a five-year sentence and
dishonorable discharge. The soldier remained undaunted and insisted that
whatever happened, God had full control of his life and would work out whatever
would be for his good.
The General Court-martial had a
surprise ending. General Court-martial is never held unless the military
authorities believe that the crime warrants severe punishment. This soldier was
sentenced to six months in the local stockade and no discharge from the Army.
With Chaplain Curry Vaughan I went to
visit him in the stockade. We thought we were there to encourage him; instead
he encouraged us. He was filled with joy and it was catching. Soon the stockade
rang with our laughter. The young soldier couldn't stand still; he laughed and
ran and skipped around the visiting room.
Before we got ready to leave we asked
how he was feeling. He had been scheduled for heart surgery and medically
speaking was still in need of attention. He confessed that he felt very weak
physically, and often his heart was troubling him. But he said: "It is
wonderful. God is taking care of me."
We asked if he would like prayer for healing
and he said:
"Please do; I believe God will
heal me."
We placed our hands on him and
believed that God, through Christ, was right there healing him. The soldier
smiled radiantly and said: "I believe it is done."
A few weeks later I talked to the man's
Company Commander.
"I believe it's a waste of
government money to keep this man in the stockade."
"Why, Chaplain?" he said.
"He isn't the same man who stole
clothes and a car and wrecked it. He's completely changed."
The Commander agreed and had the man
released. A week later I asked him how he felt.
"Chaplain, I used to get tired
after walking one hundred yards. Now I can run and I never seem to get tired.
God has healed me."
Wherever I went I now
shared what I had discovered about the power of praise. I was beginning to
learn that praise was not just a form of worship or prayer, but also a way of
waging spiritual warfare. Often when someone began to praise God for the
problems that faced him, he found that Satan increased his attacks and the
situation appeared to become worse instead of better. Many who tried the way of
praise became discouraged and were unable to hold on to their belief that God
was in charge.
Others simply didn't understand and
refused to try praising God for unpleasant things. "It just doesn't make
sense," they'd say. "I'm not going to praise God for something I just
don't believe He as anything to do with. How can God have anything to do with
my broken arm or my wrecked car or my husband's horrible temper? I'd be foolish
to thank Him for something like that."
Of course it doesn't make sense. The
question is, does it work? It didn't make much sense when Jesus said,
"Leap for joy when you are hungry or poor or persecuted." Yet He very
definitely told us to do just that. In Nehemiah 8:10 I read: "The joy of the Lord
is your strength."
The enemy's arrows just can't
penetrate the joy of someone who is praising the Lord. In II Chronicles 20 we
read how a whole army was defeated when the Israelites simply praised the Lord
and believed Him when He said that the battle wasn't theirs, but His.
The message is just as clear today.
The battle isn't ours; it is God's. While we praise Him, He sends our enemies
scurrying.
It was discouraging and sad to see
those who refused to praise the Lord. My heart ached for them in their hopeless
situations of suffering and misery. I asked God to give me wisdom to understand
why they couldn't accept the way of praise, and also asked Him to teach me
better ways of leading others to praising Him.
Nearly seven months after I first had
the experience of laughing with joy in the Spirit, I went to a Camp Farthest
Out Retreat. I was looking forward to a time of resting and rejoicing in the
fellowship of brothers and sisters in Christ.
While I sat in the back of the auditorium
during a healing service, I closed my eyes and on the screen of my inner vision
God painted a picture.
I saw a beautiful, bright summer day.
The air was filled with light, and I had a sense of everything being very
beautiful. Up above was a heavy, solid black cloud beyond which nothing could
be seen. A ladder extended from the ground up into the black cloud. At the base
of the ladder were hundreds of people trying to get a chance at climbing the
ladder. They had heard that above the blackness there was something more
beautiful than anything a human eye had ever seen, something that brought
unbelievable joy to those who reached it. As person after person tried to
ascend they quickly climbed to the lower edge of the clouds. The crowd watched
to see what would happen.
In a short while the person would
come wildly sliding down the ladder and fall into the crowd scattering people
in all directions. They reported that once they got into the blackness they
lost all sense of direction.
My time finally came, and as I made
my way up the ladder into the blackness it grew so intense that I could feel
its power nearly forcing me to give up and slide back. But step by step I
continued upward until suddenly my eyes beheld the most intense brightness I
had ever seen. It was a brilliant whiteness too glorious to describe in words.
As I came out above the dark cloud I realized that I could walk on top of it.
As I looked into the brightness I was able to walk without difficulty. When I
looked down to examine the nature of the cloud I immediately began to sink.
Only by looking at the brightness could I stay on top.
Then the scene changed and I was back
looking at all three levels from a distance.
"What does it all mean?" I
asked, and the answer came:
"The brightest sunshine below
the cloud is the light that many Christians live in and accept as normal. The
ladder is the ladder of praising Me. Many try to climb and learn to praise Me
in all things. At first they are very eager, but when they get into things that
they don't understand they become confused and cannot hold on. They lose faith
and go sliding back. As they fall, they injure other people who have been
hoping to find a way to live in continual joy and praise.
"Those who make it through those
difficult times reach a new world and realize that the life they once thought
of as normal cannot be compared to the life I have prepared for those who
praise Me and believe that I carefully watch over them. He who reaches the
light of the heavenly kingdom can walk on top of difficulties no matter how
dark they may seem as long as he keeps his eyes off the problem and on My
victory in Christ. No matter how difficult it may seem to trust Me to work in
every detail of your life, keep clinging to the ladder of praise and move
upwards!"
I was half-dazed by the vision and
the explanation and wondered how soon God would let me share it with someone.
At the camp I met a woman who was
faced with problems of illness and family difficulties at home. She found it
hard to believe that praising God was going to do any good.
Inwardly I asked for guidance, and
God said, "Tell her!"
So I told her. "You'll be the
first one to hear this," I said, and as she listened I could see how the
heaviness literally left and her face and eyes lit up with a look of joyous
expectancy.
In Ephesians, chapters one and two, I
found my vision described in slightly different words by Paul:
"...Blessed
(Praised!) be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us
with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: ...he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame...To the praise of the glory of his grace...that in...the fulness of
times he might gather together in one all things in Christ...That we should be
to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ...that you may
know...what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe,
according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when
he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly
places, Far above all principality and power, and might, and dominion...And
hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in
Christ Jesus."
Jesus Christ is raised above all the
powers of darkness, and according to God's word, our rightful inheritance is
right there above the darkness together in Christ. The ladder is praise!
I was becoming more aware of the
power of praise, but also aware of some of the enemy's snares.
At the time I began to search my
Bible for insight into praise I was also led to Scriptures describing the power
we have received in Christ over the forces of darkness. I had long been aware
of the passage in Mark 16 where Jesus
155 Prison
to Praise
speaks
of the signs that will follow those who believe in Him:
"In my name
shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take
up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they
shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."
I had prayed asking God to show me if
this was all valid for me in the twentieth century, and if it was, when and how
to use it.
I found that I often became uneasy
when I was around certain people, and asking God, I got the strong impression
that what was wrong with them was of a demonic nature.
I prayed that if I ever came
face-to-face with someone like that during a prayer-session that God would tell
me what to do.
An Army wife was deserted by her
husband who left her with three children. In desperation she tried to kill
herself. She was rushed to the hospital and her life was saved. Friends brought
her to see me after she got home. She was the picture of despair. Her friends
had told me that for several years they had never seen her smile. I began
speaking to her about the way of praising God but soon felt compelled to stop.
I looked into her eyes and suddenly sensed that there was something very wrong
and very evil within her.
Within me was a sense of fear; I
realized that I was actually face-to-face with evil.
"Lord," I prayed within.
"I've come this far, I can't go back now, so I'll step out in faith
trusting that You'll do the work."
Looking straight into the woman's
eyes I spoke out loud commanding the vicious spirit to get out of her in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the power of His shed blood.
Her glassy eyes suddenly cleared, and
she could listen as I explained that God could work all things for good if she
would only trust and praise Him.
She now was free to understand, and
smiled with a beautiful radiance. Jesus Christ had broken the bondage of
darkness that had threatened her life.
Chaplain Curry Vaughan, Jr., had
begun to experience the power of praise in his own life. Soon after he had
started praising God for his difficulties, he arrived home one evening to learn
that his two-year-old daughter had swallowed a glassful of mineral spirits, a
type of high-grade turpentine. She had already been rushed to the hospital.
Curry jumped into his car and raced full speed to be with her. His mind was
swirling with thoughts of fear and worry. He suddenly realized what he was
doing, slowed the car to normal speed, and praised the Lord for what had
happened.
At the hospital they pumped out his
daughter's stomach, x-rayed her and told Curry that two things were bound to
happen. First, she would run a high fever that night; second, there was a
ninety-five percent chance that she would develop pneumonia.
Curry and his wife Nancy Virginia Virginia
A successful businessman came to see
me about his teen-age daughter. I knew the family and knew that their daughter
had received more than the average amount of love and care, yet she had
developed a violent hatred of her younger sister. She would lash out and strike
her with whatever heavy object she could find.
The distraught parents had taken her
to the psychiatrist for treatment, kept her on tranquilizers and prayed for
years that God would help them find a solution to their terrible problem.
They realized the danger as the
violent outbursts increased.
I met with both parents and
challenged them to try the one thing they had failed to do.
"What is that?" they both
asked.
"Thank the Lord that He has
given you this child to meet your need. Really praise Him for knowing exactly
what would be the greatest blessing to your family."
At first they thought this was
completely beyond what they could do. They had tried for years to solve the
problem, and knew of no way to suddenly be glad that everything was exactly the
way it was. We went through the Scriptures together and then prayed that God
would work a miracle and help them to thank Him.
A miracle did happen. They began to
feel and be thankful. They practiced this daily for two weeks. Instead of
constant worry and fear they experienced peace and joy.
One evening
they were in the living room. Their oldest daughter stood in the middle of the
floor holding a potted flower. She looked at them, and when she had their
attention she smiled and dropped the pot in the middle of the rug. Dirt, glass
and flowers went in all directions. The girl stood smiling, waiting for their
reaction. Both parents had given themselves so completely to the practice of
praising God that they automatically said, at the same time: "Thank You,
Lord."
The daughter looked at them in
amazement. Then she lifted her head and, looking toward heaven, she said:
"Thank You, Lord, for teaching me." From that very moment she began
to get well.
Her parents came to me rejoicing. The
power of praise had worked. For years Satan had held the family in bondage
through that girl. Now his spell was broken. In James we read that we are to
draw near to God and resist Satan. In Romans 12:21 Paul describes how:
"Don't allow
yourself to be overpowered by evil. Take the offensive—overpower evil with
good!"
Some have asked me if this principle
of praise isn't just another way to talk about the power of positive thinking.
Far from it. Praising God for every circumstance does not mean we close our
eyes to the difficulties. In his letter to the Philippians Paul says to worry
about nothing, but
"In everything
by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to
God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your
hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Looking only at the good side of
every situation is often a dangerous way of trying to escape the reality of it.
When we praise God we thank Him for our situation, not in spite of it.
We are not trying to avoid our
dilemmas. Rather Jesus Christ is showing us a way to overcome them.
There is a ladder of praise and I
believe that everyone without exception can begin to praise God right now in
whatever situation he may find himself.
For our praise to reach the
perfection God wants for us, it needs to be free of any thoughts of reward.
Praise is not another way of bargaining with the Lord. We don't say, "Now
we've praised You in the middle of this mess, so get us out of it!"
Praising God with a pure heart means
we must let God cleanse our hearts from impure motives and hidden designs. We
have to experience the dying to self so that we can live again in Christ in
newness of mind and spirit.
Dying to self is a progressive
journey, and I have come to believe it is traveled only through praise.
God is calling us to praise Him, and
the highest form of praise is the one Paul exhorts us to give in Hebrews 13:15:
"By (Christ)
therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the
fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name."
The sacrifice of praise is offered
when all is darkness around us. It is offered of a heavy heart, unto God
because He is God and Father and Lord.
As we begin to praise Him, on whatever step of the ladder we may be, His
Holy Spirit begins to fill our beings more and more.
To continually praise Him means a
steady decreasing of self and an increase of the presence of Christ within us
until with Peter we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
