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Hello Christianity Oasis, All...

Blessings!

Aspects of Fighting the Good Fight of Faith Part 2

The Gift of Faith

When I read my New Testament I do not find the promise of a divine life while here on Earth outside of the many spiritual blessings God has bestowed upon us through the new birth and subsequent infilling and indwelling of the Holy Spirit. With me, the blessinngs buck stops there. On the flip side of that we are promised persecution and the trial of our faith, both of which require us to suffer. Knowing that might have us shrink back, but the beloved Apostle James gives us these encouraging words.

James ch.1, verse 2

Count it all joy brethren and sisters when you fall into diverse temptations, trials, and testings... and he goes on to say in verse 12 these precious words...(12) Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

My point is this...our suffering in this life brings us many blessings, like a strong faith, ability to suffer long, and a growing love for our Heavely Father and our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. It also gives us the opportunity to have the gifts, administrations, and operations of the Spirit come into play by His working; those being the Word of Wisdom, the Word of Knowledge, Prophecy, Tongues, Interpretation of Tongues, Discerning of Spirits, the Working of Miracles, Gifts of Healing, and our topic of today...the Gift of Wonder Working Faith. In it, I will share a story about how that operation of the Spirit revolutionized my spiritual life making me strong in the Lord and the power of His might.

It was one cloudy, cold and dreary wintery January day. It was early afternoon. I remember being at my mother's house looking out the dining room window at the acres of pastures and woods that defined her surroundings...when out of the blue I exclaimed, "I'm going to preach the Gospel and we're going to get teaching jobs!"

By we, I meant my wife and I. We were both unemployed although I began the month in graduate school only one semester shy of earning my masters degree. The professor of my thesis class had shamed me in front the other graduate students because I wanted to do my thesis on a portion of scripture...Satan smote me again...it seemed I had become his smiting bag...but rather than count it all joy, I threw in the towel. No one likes to be shamed in front of a group of peers. But! That opened the door for the Lord to bless us in a way quite totally unexpected and different way. He gave me a gift of faith.

So after making my proclamation of faith I was off to the local Bible and book store in search of materials to help in my transition from drop out of an earthly graduate school to a drop into a heavenly one. I purchased a book of warfare prayers, Halley's Bible Handbook, a Greek to English lexicon, and Prepare for War, a spiritual warfare manual by Dr. Rebecca Brown. Those tools coupled with my Bible became the resources I would need to embark on my faith journey.

After that task I sat down with my Bible and wrote out some scriptural prayers and confessions that I intended to take before the Lord three times a day. And after that I began reading Dr. Rebecca Brown's book. In it she detailed her struggle with evil forces attempting to keep a witch convert of hers from leaving her coven. It was an all out seven year war with witches, warlocks, and demons and her use of the Whole Armor of God throughout it all. The Whole Armor of God thing intrigued me. I was still, to some degree, a novice, and knew nothing about its usage. Dr. Brown asked our Heavenly Father to put His armor on her. Following her lead I wrote out a prayer and it went something like this.

Heavenly Father I come before you this day praising your Holy Name, worshipping you, and giving you all the glory. I love you Dad. You are my Father. PLease place your armor on me this day, even the helmet of salvation, the breast plate of righteousness, girt about my loins with your truth and prepare my feet with the gospel of the preparation of peace...then place your shield of faith in my left hand and the sword of the Spirit in my right hand, strengthen I in I with thy might, and quicken this mortal body according to your will and purpose.

Believe you me...if you pray that prayer aloud with authority it will not be long before you are strengthened with might in the inward man and made mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds. That prayer revolutionized my spiritual life. The one thing I left out is this...pray that prayer on your face before God.

2Tim.2
[4] No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

Months passed...January rolled into February, February into March, March into April...I spent each day fasting some, praying lots, and teaching my wife what I knew of the Gospel, and me some things I didn't know about the Gospel. I didn't doubt. I didn't faint. I didn't quit. I rolled right on down the road to glory. And I have to believe it made our Lord happy to see me fighting the good fight of faith. And then the strangest thing happened...

I found myself in the Spirit clothed in the whole armor of God racing toward my back door where a green skinned humanoid being lurked with his son...sword drawn, I sliced off the right forearm of the youngling and severed a tile of armor plating off the chest of the reptilian man, then chased them out the back door to who knows where. I lost sight of them...they must have made their escape around the right corner of the house because the next thing I knew I was in the backyard...then another strange thing happened...as I turned back toward the house a heavy woven rope net thrown from the roof 2 stories up landed on top of me...and when I looked up I saw 4 men of average size still holding their their end...without hesitation, I grabbed hold of the net and pulled them all down off the roof...when they hit the ground they all turned their backs toward me and I read this in huge bold black letters. "WE LOVE OUR GOD." I do believe their intent was to capture the evil spirits, expecting them to escape via the backyard, but instead caught me instead. At any rate, they did have "we love our God," written on their back in huge bold black letters, and that calmed me down, ending my saga with darkness that day.

Afterward it dawned on me I had experienced what the Prophet Daniel might have seen when he prophecied this in Dan.11.32... but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. That would be one incredible sight to behold!

April passed, then on into May...it was then while reading scripture one day I came upon Revelation chapter 17 verse [5] And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. I immediately grabbed my Halley's Bible Handbook and traced her history back to her roots in early Mesopotamia, tracing her to Nimrod then forward throughout the Old Testament and on into the New. I was fascinated, so much so I began an exposition of her life from her inception...50 hand written pages later it was the middle of June, when not quite finished yet, that the Lord Jesus spoke to me.

He Said. "Finish what you are working on and you will get teaching jobs." I finished it. Then I recorded the message and sent out 50 copies. The next morning I set out to have the engine oil changed at good ol' Value Tire Center in Lebanon, Missouri. And believe it or not my good ol' Christian friend Leon A. Word walked up to me and said, "Dennis, I know where you can get teaching jobs."

Two weeks later we were hired to teach in Navajo, New Mexico in the Gallup Mckinley County School District...thank you Spirit of the Living God. Amen. It was my best year of teaching ever!


Blessings!
Love, In Christ Jesus. Amen.