Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Exuding Jesus – Part II

After hitting up the health department, Josh and I headed over to the McDonald’s next door to Grady hospital to have a bite to eat and wait on a buddy of mine. Josh and I sat down at a booth and were just sitting there eating delicious McDonald’s nuggets when a lady came up to the table next to us on a walker, walking terribly slow, obviously in pain.


MIRACLE AT MICKEY D’S


As we were finishing up lunch I got up and asked her why she was on a walker. She went on to tell me that her back was injured 7 years before and has been in constant, chronic pain since. Her doctor told her that she should be using a wheelchair and she declined it, knowing that “once she got in one, she would never get out.” I agreed and congratulated her for refusing the chair and opting for the walker. She told me that she was in constant pain and came into the hospital for weekly pain treatments where she would get an injection. She was at McDonald’s getting a quick bite before heading into her appointment.


I told her that the reason I asked how she was feeling was because her walker got my attention. I told her that the walker got my attention because we have a wall at the church covered in crutches, canes, casts and braces. I told her how we’ve seen God do many miracles and deliver folks from every kind of sickness and disease and asked her if I could pray for her. I had her rate her pain, which was only around a 4, but steady for the last 7 years. I also had her move around and show me her range of motion, which was almost mummy like. This poor lady could hardly move!

I prayed and released the Kingdom of God on her body while my new friend Josh stood at a distance and watched. I told him to watch her face because I knew what was going to happen. When I rebuked and commanded a spirit of infirmity to leave her body and told pain to go, it happened! The presence of God hit us both and we reeled back. She took a deep breath and I asked her, “Where did your pain go?”

Her eyes got huge and tears welled up in them as she said, “It’s… going!” She was literally feeling the pain leave her body. She said it was probably at a 2 at that moment. I prayed again, commanding the spirit of infirmity to loose its grip on her and life to enter her body and we were hot with another tangible wave of God’s presence and power. It felt good! She was beaming and I just knew the pain was gone. I asked Josh, “Are you watching this??” and he nodded, looking a little bewildered. She checked and all the pain was gone for the first time in seven years! I had her moving, bending and doing things she couldn’t do moments before. Her mobility was normal! She was still a little fearful about the pain and took it slowly, but her countenance and body language was totally different from 5 minutes before! She walked halfway out of the restaurant without her walker and told me that she still wanted to hold on to it.


I asked her why she was in such a rush and told me that she was late for her pain management appointment. I asked her what she was going to tell her doctor and she told me she was going to show him that there was no longer any pain and she could do things she hadn’t done in 7 years!



THE FRAGRANCE OF DEATH


So now my buddy shows up and the three of us start pacing the sidewalks looking for folks to pray for. We ended up in a nearby park and I see a group of homeless guys standing around, listening to music. One of the guys was sitting by a wheel chair loaded down with stuff, he was a big dude with nappy dreads and obviously homeless. I walked up to him and asked him whose wheelchair it was and why weren’t they in it? He was nice enough at first, telling me that they just used it like a cart and weren’t actually disabled. I was just chatting politely with him when he asked what I was doing there. I looked him dead in the eye and made the statement I always make saying, “Jesus is King and His Kingdom is on the earth!”


The guy went absolutely insane!


All sense of civility immediately went out the door and the guy transformed in front of me. He started cursing me, calling me names and threatening to hurt me. He stood up, got a few inches from my face and was totally berating me. He said again and again how he was going to cut me and kick my *&% all over the street, etc. etc. etc. He was absolutely FOUL. I was a little surprised, the only thing I had said was that Jesus is King and then he went off. I understood that he was totally demon possessed and I really wasn’t talking with a guy any more, this was a spirit talking to me.


He was intent on my leaving and getting out of “his” area. I told the guys with me afterwards that I have this problem. When demons address me and threaten me with violence and start ordering me around, I have a VERY difficult time doing what they tell me to do. I feel that if I do what a demon is telling me to do, it wins. So I just stood there, taking the threats, taking the abuse, but not budging an inch. Actually, my heart was beating fast, but all I could do was smile. I assured him that I would leave, but not yet. This drove him crazy! He was adamant that I leave, RIGHT THEN, but I refused flatly. I don’t know how long he kept up the tirade and how long I just stood there smiling, but I was determined to not let the demon tell me what to do. After a while, he sat down and calmed down a bit, getting out of my face. I waited a minute or two and then slowly backed away.


I WIN.


We ended up talking to another homeless guy for awhile, praying for several physical problems and hearing an amazing testimony how God had delivered our new buddy from drugs several years before. The ENTIRE time we were talking to our new friend, the angry dude was cussing, cursing and literally spewing out threats from about 20 feet away.


“To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.” II Corinthians 2:16


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