Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Exuding Jesus – Part I

I had a couple of wild experiences the other day that illustrated to me a familiar passage of scripture:

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task? Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.” II Corinthians 2:14-17


I saw very clearly that to those hungry for God or searching for good, I am a fragrance, odor or aroma of life. To those under the influence and committed to the devil, I am the fragrance of death.


Let me explain:



ANOINTING FOR KIDS


Earlier in the week I had committed to a young man to take him down to one of my favorite places, Grady Hospital in downtown Atlanta. He needed to get a certified copy of his birth certificate from the hospital to enroll in a GED course. We went into the Department of Health office across the street from Grady, filled out the necessary paperwork and sat down, patiently awaiting our turn in the crowded waiting room. A lady in the waiting room started staring at me and the young man I was with, doing so several times and making me just a bit uncomfortable. I looked at her, wondering what was up and she asked me, “Are you a recruiter?” I said, “Recruiter?” She said, “Yeah, like an Army Recruiter or something?” I told her, “No, not really an army recruiter, but I do a bit of recruiting.” She looked at me and the young man standing next to me totally bewildered. I explained that I’m just a believer that’s trying to help some folks out.


She began quizzing me about working with young people and then began to tell me about her grandson, who apparently has been doing a bit of hell-raising. Not 2 minutes into the conversation she asked me for my phone number declaring, “My grandson needs to spend time with you, it would be good for him.” I told her she was absolutely right, it WOULD be good for him to spend time with me. She got mom on the phone and everything, setting up a time for me and the apparent hellion to have a little Jesus chat.


The young lady with her (still don’t know the connection) had two kids with her. Watching Grandma’s interaction she held out her one year old and said, “Take him, he needs it!” I was like, “You want me to take your son?!” She said, “Not permanently, but I need help, you can help!” I assured her that I could help, but that she needed to raise her own kids. She went on telling me about her 6 year old daughter, who was sitting there making evil faces at me. This little girl she assured me was “full of the devil”. Mom went on to tell me about how her little precious angel of 6 years would cuss adults out, gets kicked out of school and basically is ruining her life. I was encouraging Mom with Proverbs 22:6 and Ephesians 6:4, telling her that she needed to TRAIN them, not suggest, to DISCIPLINE, not reject them. The little girl over there was shooting me some serious stink eye and basically just manifesting the devil.


Without even asking, I put my hand on her head and spoke the word, “Peace”. She settled down instantly and I continued to pray, rebuking anger and rebellion and commanding peace and joy. She then grabbed on to my arm, TIGHTLY. I sat down next to her as she hugged on my arm and kept talking with Mom. I am not kidding, within about 1 minute, she was fast asleep! She had a death grip on my arm, but her body went completely limp and she just passed out, rhythmic breathing and all! Mom was seriously weirded out and started telling the uncle, “Look at her, she won’t let this man go and now she’s gone to sleep on him!” She started pulling her little away and I told her, “It’s ok, this is good for her!’ Mom looked at me like I had 3 heads and I continued, “Your daughter has been tormented by devils, we prayed and God set her free. Now, she’s feeling the presence of God flowing out of me and it’s bringing her peace, so let’s just let her hang out here.” Mom agreed and we kept talking.


About 15-20 minutes later, she stirred and it was time for mom to go. She gave me a big hug and walked out without a word.


To be continued…


4 comments:

Unknown said...

Ryan,

You've been involved in this supernatural ministry of God seemingly every week for the past five years. Now that's powerful stuff happening for a long time, so why hasn't this thing spread across the country yet?

Unknown said...

Not sure what you mean exactly.

Unknown said...

Haha, I mean why is this not all over the news?

Unknown said...

Man, I really wish it was. That's funny because I was just having this conversation with a friend of mine last night.

When we first started talking about the miracles we were seeing with him several years ago, he didn't believe me saying basically the same thing, "If what you say is really happening, it would be all over the news."

I couldn't explain it, but told him that many people when they receive a miracle have absolutely NO grid for what just occurred. They just walk away bewildered. Many times, with the dramatic stuff, people will get saved in their families/friends as a result, but it stops there most times.

My buddy has now seen hundreds of miracles in the last 5 years and has had the same experience I have... little/no publicity.

Heaven knows.