HomeARC ML 1420
THE BATTLE & THE VICTORY! DFO 1420 France 7/3/81
--The Fight of Faith!--With Another Sphinx Attack!
(After an attack of the Enemy at the Airport Restaurant:)
1. IT WAS JUST LIKE SOMETHING GOT AHOLD OF ME! How come the Lord let the Devil get me like that? I must've been out of the Lord's will or something. (Maria: "Many are the afflictions of the righteous!") (Ps.34:19) It came as clear as anything, the Lord said, "Well, it's not your strength, it's gonna be My strength! Of course you don't have any strength, but I have strength!" It's just like when you're weak then you're strong. No matter how weak I felt, the Lord would be strong. (2Cor.12:9,10) It wasn't my strength, but His. Then I must've gone to sleep right then, a real miracle!
2. I WOKE UP FEELING LIKE I WAS IN SORT OF A DREAM & I STILL FEEL SORT OF DREAMY! It's a heavenly feeling with that pain all gone! I didn't dare tell you how bad the pain was. Sometimes it was so bad it hurt my heart! I can understand why people can die of acute indigestion--I didn't want to tell you that either! It was just like it had a stranglehold between my stomach & my esophagus & just wouldn't let anything through. I hope that wasn't a sign I was revolting! I just wanted to take a little trip out!
3. I'LL TELL YOU, WE'RE IN A BATTLE WITH THE DEVIL & WE'D SURE BETTER NOT FORGET TO PRAY OVER EVERY BITE OF FOOD & EVERY SWALLOW OF DRINK! I don't think the Devil likes me! In Jesus' name, rebuke the Devil! What a dirty trick to play! I don't think I really prayed over that food like I should have. Lord forgive me! I started praying after I started having trouble, but I didn't pray beforehand.
4. IT WAS JUST LIKE SOME DIRTY DEMON HAD ME LIKE THAT! I had a knot just like that in that place. I couldn't even swallow my own spit! Every few minutes I had to spit it up because I couldn't swallow it! I prayed & prayed, & we all prayed, & I thought, "Well, why did the Lord let us have such a battle?" Well, we're at war!
5. HELP ME KEEP MY MIND ON YOU, LORD! TYJ! It's Thy strength, Lord, Thy power! Rebuke the Devil, Lord! We believe the Devil's really mad at this Prophecy Series, Lord, 'cause it's really gonna expose him. (Eden Series) TYJ! PTL! TYL! TYJ! I couldn't hold anything down, not even water!
6. (MARIA: WHEN SUE CALLED THE HOSPITAL & ASKED THE GUY WHAT TO DO, THE GUY SAID, "SORRY, WE DON'T HAVE ANYTHING MIRACULOUS HERE!") I'd say that was a miraculous answer! The Lord was just trying to tell you that you weren't going to find the answer there, that it took something miraculous! Imagine him saying a thing like that!
7. WHAT A MIRACLE THAT YOU PUT ME TO SLEEP, LORD! When Maria read me that verse I really claimed it! You have to get something, the voice of His Word! "The king shall joy in Thy strength!" (Ps.21:1)
8. AH, IT'S LIKE A TOUCH OF HEAVEN! TYJ! That's such a nice way to put my snoring, Honey! Isn't that funny? Both Eve & Maria said they couldn't sleep till they heard me snoring. I guess the Lord must've made'm that way, huh? (Maria: It's such a relief to hear you snore, nice music!) Then your job is done. I mean, it just feels like Heaven, just like a touch of Heaven!--God's healing hand!
9. THE SCRIPTURE SAID, "THE KING SHALL JOY IN THY STRENGTH!" & I thought, "Well, Lord, You sure haven't given me strength! I'm so weak I can hardly move! My stomach can't even stand a drop of water!" And as clear as I ever heard the voice of the Lord He said, "Well, it's not gonna be your strength but My strength!" Isn't that amazing? In other words, it was gonna be a miracle! That's the last thing I remember. I said, "All right, Lord, it has to be Your strength 'cause I sure haven't got it!"
10. YOU KNOW, WE THINK THE LORD IS GONNA DO IT OUR WAY OR SOMETHING, that He giveth His beloved strength & all of a sudden we're gonna get real strong, but if anything I was worse! (Maria: This was the first verse I read you: "Now know I that the Lord saveth His anointed. He will hear him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand.") Maybe that's the Scripture! I think there was another one too about strength. (Maria: "The king shall joy in thy strength." That was it! There's twice He talks about strength! (Ps.20:6; 21:1)
11. THANK YOU JESUS! WHAT A MIRACLE! (Maria: "The Lord is my light & my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?") (Ps.27:1) There were two or three verses about strength & I said, "But, Lord, I don't have any strength & You didn't give me any!" And then the verses were about how the Lord was gonna give me some! (Maria: Another I read was, "The Lord will give strength unto His people, the Lord will bless His people with peace.") (Ps.29:11) I must've gone to sleep before that one!
12. (MARIA: AND LOOK, I DIDN'T READ THIS ONE BUT IT SAYS, "O LORD MY GOD, I CRIED UNTO THEE, & THOU HAST HEALED ME!") Hallelujah! TYJ! That's the part you're supposed to read me now! (Maria: "O Lord, Thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.") (Ps.30:2,3)
13. BOY, I'LL TELL YOU THE DEVIL WAS REALLY TRYING TO SCARE ME! "This is it! You're never gonna be able to eat again, you're gonna starve to death! I'm gonna kill you!" I didn't want to tell you guys, but I was in pain! I mean, it was such severe pain it hurt my heart! But you were praying for me anyway so I didn't have to frighten you. People do die of acute indigestion, it used to kill people all the time when I was young. I don't know what they call it nowadays. (Maria: I wonder what they do about it now?) Well, nowadays they take you to the hospital & they kill you there!
14. (MARIA: AND I READ YOU: "WAIT ON THE LORD: BE OF GOOD COURAGE, & HE SHALL STRENGTHEN THINE HEART: WAIT, I SAY, ON THE LORD. I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.") (Ps.27:13,14) TYL! I went to sleep before that. I went to sleep on that third strength! (Maria: There's so much about strength! "This poor man cried, & the Lord heard him, & saved him out of all his troubles.") (Ps.34:6) TYJ!
15. IT'S SUCH A MIRACLE! It's just like something had me strangled right there like that, like a kind of a muscle spasm or something. I could not get one swallow down! You know that peristaltic action of your swallow that goes down in a kind of ripple & pushes the food down? It hit that spot & stopped & came right back up every time! That's the worst I've ever had anything like that in my whole life!
16. THERE'S NO RHYME NOR REASON TO IT, IT DOESN'T SEEM TO MATTER WHAT I'M EATING OR HOW I FEEL OR ANYTHING! It's an absolute attack of the Enemy! That's what Maria got, & I think we got something on that. The Devil must be siccing several of his dogs on us! (Sue: Sara & I made a list of all the different foods, the different times.) And there never seems to be any special combination of circumstances or food.
17. I WAS FEELING JUST FINE WHEN WE SAT DOWN AT THAT TABLE, WASN'T I? I was feeling even better than I'd felt all day! I guess I was too confident in my own strength so I didn't really pray desperately. That was what I think the Lord was rebuking me for, to show me we've really gotta live in the Lord's strength. We cannot live in our own strength.
18. HOW WONDERFUL! HOW WONDERFUL! THIS IS JUST GOING DOWN LIKE HEAVENLY ELIXIR! Maybe we'll nickname this drink "Elixir"! (Sue: That's what we prayed for, an elixir for your tummy!)
19. IT WAS A SPIRITUAL BATTLE! I guess the Lord wanted you to tell the Family, but I'm always so ashamed when you have to ask for prayer for me. (Maria: I don't know why you should be, Honey.) Because I'm supposed to be strong. (Maria: It shows what a battle we're in & makes everybody conscious of it.) Well, some people probably think--'cause I think it myself sometimes--"Well, if you're such a prophet of God, why does the Lord let you be so buffeted by the Devil?" (Maria: Well, it just makes us think how righteous you are 'cause you get more afflictions than any of the rest of us!) I guess just to keep me humble & to know it's just the Lord.
20. IT WAS THE MOST AMAZING THING! I said, "But Lord, I don't have any strength! You haven't given me any strength! I'm just as weak as ever!" And just as clear as I ever heard the voice of the Lord He said, "It's not gonna be your strength, but My strength!" In other words, just like a miracle! And I said, "All right, Lord, it'll have to be Yours, then, 'cause I don't have any!" That's the last thing I remember, then He just put me out like you put somebody out with ether or something!--And I slept two hours!
21. I MUST ADMIT, IT KEPT COMING TO ME THAT THERE ISN'T A THING I WAS GOING TO BE ABLE TO DO OR DRINK! There's no drink in the World that's gonna do this. It's gotta be a miracle! And it also came to me that the Lord was gonna have to knock me out so He could do it, like the doctors do on the operating table. They have to put'm to sleep in order to operate on them! That came to me really just as clear as anything: "Well, I'll have to put you to sleep so I can operate on you, but nothing else is gonna do it!"
22. BOY, I WAS SO THRILLED WHEN I BEGAN TO WAKE UP & THE FIRST THING I NOTICED WAS THAT I COULD SWALLOW! Ah, that was such a heavenly dreamy feeling! You folks don't appreciate the ability to swallow! You don't know what a blessing it is to be able to swallow. I had such a battle in my swallowing! The Devil was really fighting! I remember now that I could hardly swallow one of my first bites. I could hardly get it past here, just like a lump, but things catch there once in awhile so I didn't think anything much of it. I had to swallow several times to get it down, but they just went down here & stopped--boom! It was like the Devil tried to choke me up here first!
23. EVERY SWALLOW I HAVE TO CLAIM BY FAITH! TYJ! It reminds me of what my Mother said that night she got healed! The first solid food she'd had in over a year was hamburgers fried in pork grease & fried potatoes & some other horrible thing. She said that she ate every bite by faith, praying, & never had a bit of trouble--but my father who was perfectly big & strong & healthy got indigestion! Apparently he wasn't eating it by faith! (Maria: And maybe it was just to show the difference, what a miracle it was!) Yes, that's what I mean! Really a miracle!
24. WHAT A BATTLE! THE DEVIL WAS REALLY TRYING TO KILL ME!--Telling me I was never gonna be able to eat again, that I was gonna starve to death! I was wondering how many days it was gonna take & I thought, "Well, maybe I can finish the Eden Series at least before I die!" The Devil was sure tempting me! I thought "Well, Lord, I could live quite awhile without any food, but if I can't even drink I won't last more than about four or five days." I was thinking "I wonder if I could possibly finish that Series in four or five days?" Ha! Oh, what a miracle! (Coughs.)
25. HEAL MY COUGH TOO, in Jesus' name! Just like the Devil, that cough! Put your hand on me, Honey. (Maria: Do a miracle for this too, Lord, in Jesus' name! You said "Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the World!" (1Jn.4:4) TYJ! In Jesus' name! (Maria: "Whatsoever is bound in Heaven shall be bound in Earth.") (Mt.16:19) Boy oh boy!
26. I MEAN, THAT WAS A REAL SEVERE ATTACK! Every time you've ever really prayed desperately for me before I've gotten almost instant healing--I think that's the first time I didn't! That was a strong attack of the Enemy! Whew! (Maria: We rebuked the Enemy, we quoted Scriptures, we did everything! And then we had the whole Family pray!)
27. THE LORD JUST LET THE DEVIL TEST ME & TRY ME UNTIL I KNEW I HAD TO DEPEND ON HIS STRENGTH! It was just the Lord! I guess that was a little lesson He was trying to teach me: "It's not your own strength, it's My strength!" TYL! Hallelujah! TYJ! Stay with me now in faith on these swallows. PTL! Amen? Do we agree together on this? TYJ! PTL! Went down perfectly!
28. IT WAS JUST THE DEVIL! I don't like to give him too much credit but you've got to give credit where credit is due. I'll give him the blame! I think it was absolutely the Devil! Nearly all those attacks have been sudden & unexpected & for no certain cause. The first time I ever had a personal conference with Peter I threw up right in his face! I thought, "Lord, what a terrible testimony! Here's this new man that we're gonna work with & I'm throwing up right in front of him!" It was such delicious creamed tuna, which I just love, & I took this nice big bite & it was totally by surprise! It wasn't anything psychological, nothing about my physical condition. We've tried to add different things together but there's never really anything you can put together!
29. THIS TIME IT WAS ALSO JUST SUDDEN & UNEXPECTED! It was just like a bolt from the blue! Like a bolt from the black, not the blue! Hallelujah! TYJ! What a relief! You guys just don't appreciate the ability to swallow. I mean, I couldn't even swallow my own spit! And then that white foam was coming up! That foam must be some kind of a sign of a demonic attack because people who have epileptic fits foam at the mouth! (Maria: And people that have demons cast out of them, too.)
30. I THOUGHT ABOUT THAT EVEN WHEN I WAS AT THE TABLE: "Well, this is just like those stories I've heard about people having demons cast out!"--But I sure didn't think I had a demon! (Maria: Well, it wasn't possessing you, but maybe it was trying to get in!) It was sure attacking, that's for sure! My Mother used to say that a devil can't possess a Christian, but he sure can attack'm! The Lord lets him attack them sometimes. TYL! Hallelujah!
31. IT'S ALL BY FAITH! What a battle! I think the Devil doesn't like this Eden Series! He tried to kill me before I hardly got started, 'cause I know I was really inspired last night! TYJ! Hallelujah! Ah, it's so heavenly! Painless! I'm so happy to be able to swallow! It's such a blessing to be healthy & strong without pain, to be able to swallow. TYJ!
32. I HAD A BATTLE WITH THE DEVIL ALL DAY! He tempted me & lied to me that he was gonna kill me. I thought, "What a great place to die--this airport or this parking lot!" That's one reason I wanted to drive home, because that made me fight! I knew the Lord wouldn't let me die while I was driving & take you with me! I figured "Well, if the Lord's gonna let the Devil kill me, that's one thing, but He sure wouldn't let him kill us all because you're innocent! Dear Alf, he's so sweet! (Maria: We know that he's innocent, I don't know about me! Ha!) Surely the Lord wasn't gonna let us all die, so I wanted to drive home!
33. THAT KEPT ME FIGHTING! I knew the Lord wouldn't let me die while I was driving! I might deserve to be killed, but I knew you guys didn't deserve it! That's the truth! That's what I felt. I was having a battle with death itself! Whew! That pain was so great I nearly fainted several times. I thought, "Well, Lord, You're not gonna let me faint driving a car! It makes me keep my mind on something."
34. I COULD JUST SEE MYSELF SITTING THERE IN THE BACK SEAT THINKING ABOUT NOTHING BUT MY STOMACH! I think that might've killed me 'cause it was hurting so bad! I figured I should just concentrate on something else & try to keep my mind on the Lord. It sure did make me pray! I just felt like clearing my head, kind of a work therapy! You've heard about that, I guess, get your mind off your problems by pitching into your work! I think it helped a little bit, 'cause you can't concentrate on two things at the same time, really. I couldn't concentrate on the pain & my driving both so it helped get my mind off my stomach!
35. OKAY DEAR GIRLS, IT'S AFTER TWO & TIME FOR US ALL TO GO TO SLEEP! (Maria: Could you just say a little prayer for my head?) The Devil's trying to attack Maria too in her weak spot. I don't mean that you're weak in the head, Honey! (Maria: I was thinking, "Boy, that's really true in more ways than one!" Ha, Ha!) I mean, that you frequently get headaches. In Jesus' name, help her head, Lord! Rebuke the Devil, in Jesus' name! Rebuke this pain in Jesus' name! We resist the Enemy in the Name of Jesus!
36. YOU PROMISED ME TONIGHT, LORD, YOU WOULD GIVE YOUR ANOINTED STRENGTH! She's Your anointed too, Lord! She's your royal blood, your queen, same as a king, Lord, so those verses all can apply to her too. When she's weak, she's strong. Her strength is made perfect in weakness. It's Thy strength, Lord! It's a miracle! It takes a miracle! Rebuke this thing in Thy power, in Jesus' name! Touch & heal her & give her a good night's rest, in Jesus' name, & me & Sue & all the Family. Did you tell'm the Lord healed me so they can sleep? PYJ! TYL!
37. THAT MUST BE MY SPECIAL PART OF THE WORD, THE PSALMS OF DAVID! When I'm sick it seems like the only way I can get the victory is by her reading the Psalms. What a miracle! TYL! I guess we can call this tape "The Fight of Faith!" We just don't appreciate health enough, even a simple thing like being able to swallow, until you can't! You don't miss the blessing until the blessing's gone--but I'm sure glad to have it back! TYJ! The battle's won! The war's not over, but this battle is won anyway!
38. MAYBE ONE OF THE DEVILS AT THE AIRPORT JUMPED ME! That place was full of devils, especially the Algerian part. Remember, I was joking with you about the bugs? Well, let me tell you, I wasn't joking! I was really praying we didn't get anything! I remember thinking, "Well, I wonder if you can pick up something in the spirit in a place like this?" Well, I sure found out! I hope when the Lord cut him out, He cut him up! Amen, Lord, drive him completely away from here & off this farm so he won't affect anybody here, in Jesus' name! You said we have power to command the spirits in Jesus' name! Filthy devils, all get out of here, in Jesus' name! And then don't bother the Family so they can all go to sleep.
39. WE REBUKE YOU, REVOLT, in Jesus' name! TYJ! Amen! That's a good name for a devil, Revolt, 'cause he's in revolt against God & he tries to make other people revolt! I almost got mad at the Lord tonight for not healing me & for embarrassing me in front of you folks & humiliating me in front of the whole Family because you had to ask for prayer, so I guess Revolt was in me too! He sure did try to throttle me! (The next day with the Family:)
40. PTL! WELL, I HAD A WONDERFUL GLORIOUS VICTORY YESTERDAY AFTER A BIG BATTLE, BUT IT WAS REALLY AN AMAZING VICTORY! The whole thing was very supernatural & very mysterious, but there's no triumph without a trial & no testimony without a test, no victory without a battle!--And we had quite a battle. I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever swallow again! PTL! (Begins Communion:)
41. WE THANK YOU ESPECIALLY FOR THIS BREAD TONIGHT AS IT SYMBOLISES THE MIRACLE OF HEALING, THY BODY BROKEN FOR US! You said, Lord, that the same night that You were going to begin Your greatest trial, at that Last Supper, You took bread, & after You had blessed it You brake it & said, Lord bless it in Jesus' name. Hallelujah! TYJ! Amen! (Sings "Break Thou the Bread of Life".) He said, "Take, eat, this is My body which is broken for you. Every time you do it, you do it in remembrance of Me." And after the same manner He took the cup when He had supped & He said, "This is My blood of the New Testament shed for you, as oft as ye do it, ye do show the Lord's death till He come!" PTL! (Sings: "My Hope is Built on Nothing Less than Jesus' Blood & Righteousness!")
42. AMEN, LORD, HELP THOSE HERE TONIGHT WHO NEED HEALING TO CLAIM IT THROUGH THY BODY, LORD, BROKEN FOR US. By Thy stripes we are healed. And those, Lord, who need the extra encouragement, Lord, no matter who we are or how bad or good we are, we all have to come the same way. You forgive our mistakes, You cleanse every stain through Thy blood. "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin," & therefore "Who forgiveth all thy iniquities & healeth all thy diseases." (1Jn.1:7; Ps.103:3)
43. YOU'RE A WHOLE CHRIST FOR THE WHOLE MAN, LORD, BOTH BODY & SPIRIT! TYJ! PTL! You save our bodies as well as our spirits. In Jesus' name, we ask Thee to help us to be faithful to observe this & show it, Lord, until You come, in Jesus' name. TYL! Hallelujah! (Sings: "Nothing But the Blood of Jesus" & "Power in the Blood.") Hallelujah! TYJ! PTL!
44. AMEN, WELL THERE'S CERTAINLY POWER IN HIS WORD, I'll tell you, that's one thing, as well as His blood & as well as in the bread, & I sure felt a touch of it last night! Hallelujah! PTL! I've never had an experience like that in my life before, at least not that serious, where I couldn't even swallow my own spit & constantly threw up I don't know how many times--I don't think anybody was counting! That was a supernatural experience both ways.
45. THEN MARIA STARTED READING ME THE SCRIPTURE FROM SOME OF MY FAVOURITE PSALMS, I think it was the 20th Psalm that mentions strength three times! (Maria: "Now know I that the Lord saveth His anointed; He will hear him from His holy Heaven with the saving strength of His right hand.") It was a beautiful Scripture, she was reading two or three Psalms. And I just said, "All right, Lord, we prayed but I don't have it, I don't have the strength--& I got the sweetest thing!
46. THE LORD SAID, "OF COURSE YOU DON'T HAVE IT, I HAVE IT!" I said, "All right then, Lord, what shall I do?" And it came to me very clearly, "Go to sleep! You have to go to sleep so I can do the healing." Just like the Lord wanted to put me to sleep so He could do the operation. And sure enough I fell immediately to sleep, slept for two solid hours & woke up completely perfectly healed! Not another bit of trouble at all!
47. WHEREAS BEFORE I COULDN'T SWALLOW A DROP OF ANYTHING, NOTHING!--Milk, water, wine or tea. I tried all those at the restaurant table, & when I got home we tried apple cider vinegar & blackberry wine & all the usual things that are so good for calming your stomach, & nothing calmed my stomach! It all came back up just almost as fast as it went down.
48. I NEVER HAD AN EXPERIENCE LIKE THAT BEFORE, & the Devil tempted me & tried to make me think, "Aha! See? You'll never be able to swallow again & that means that death is not far away!" Boy oh boy, he sure likes to scare you! I thought, "Well, you can go quite a long time without food!" I'm able to go sometimes a long time without food, but I can't go very long without drinking anything. You don't usually last more than about four days without any liquid, at the very most a week. The thought occurred to me, "Well, I don't know if I can get this Prophecy Series finished in four days!" I think that was my greatest concern, trying to finish this for the Family before I went!
49. I HOPE YOU DON'T MIND IF I HAVE A LITTLE MORE OF THIS, I HAVEN'T HAD SOLID FOOD FOR TWO DAYS! Well, I did have about two or three bites I wish I hadn't taken, at least not without more faith & more prayer! I know when we got our drinks first last night we raised them & we prayed, but I don't think we prayed again for the food. Well, I'll tell you, the Devil really takes advantage of opportunities like that.
50. YOU'VE REALLY GOT TO LIVE BY FAITH, & we didn't take a definite stand of faith over that food! And I knew that that kind of food was hard for me to eat, all that steak & french fries & stuff like that. I just don't remember us really praying very seriously over that food. Boy, I'll tell you, the Lord wants you to acknowledge Him! "In all thy ways acknowledge Him & He'll direct thy paths. Lean not to thy own understanding!" (Pr.3:5,6)
51. WE JUST PRAYED A LITTLE BRIEF PRAYER AT THE BEGINNING. We don't pray publicly in restaurants for fear of identification, & I didn't even talk a prayer, I don't think, last night. So I guess the Devil really took advantage of the opportunity. The first bite seemed to go down OK, I ate a couple of bites of steak & it went down--until I took a couple of bites of those french fries! I think I had a doubt in my mind about those french fries, but they wouldn't give us anything else. I was trying to moisten them with a little ketchup, & I think I had a few.
52. YOU HAVE TO REALLY HAVE FAITH, especially if you have been sick or if you have a problem or there's any weakness, you have to take a definite stand of faith! I don't think we really claimed it by faith, because that has bothered me before. Usually the minute I throw up I'm relieved, sometimes I'll put off eating for a little while, but this time it just wouldn't come up! I never had such an experience! It was like I'd swallowed a rock or a bunch of lead or sticks or stones or something! I kept throwing up but it didn't come up!
53. SO WE FINALLY DROVE HOME. Alf could have driven home, but I decided if I just sit there in the back seat throwing up I'll think about nothing but my stomach, so I might as well have a little work therapy, & as long as I have to drive I'll think about something else! I did pretty good on the way home except one time when I made the worst mess of all, I threw up all over my coat & my pants & everything!
54. SO WE GOT HOME & WE TRIED EVERYTHING & I kept throwing up until finally Maria read me those Scriptures. "The entrance of Thy Word giveth light." (Ps.119:130) It's the Word that gives faith! PTL! And it just came as clear as anything that it was not my strength but the Lord's strength that was going to do it! (Techi: See what I can do?) Yes, you can do a lot of things, you can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth you! That's another good one on strength. (Ph.4:13)
55. YOU THINK, WELL, I'VE GOT TO FEEL IT OR SOMETHING, but it just came to me, "It's not your strength but My strength that's going to do it!"--That I should try to go to sleep so the Lord could do it, just like He put Adam to sleep to operate on him to take Eve out of him. (Ge.2:21) And sure enough, I slept a solid two hours & woke up perfectly whole, didn't have any more trouble swallowing anything.
56. IT KEPT COMING UP IN A WHITE FOAM! That's another indication it was an attack of the Devil, because people who are demon-possessed or people who have epilepsy, when they have an attack or a fit they foam at the mouth & a white foam comes out. It was just a real attack of the Enemy just like Sara's vision, a definite attack of the Devil! He just took opportunity, because we didn't take a definite stand of faith. We didn't really pray seriously & I didn't really eat by faith.
57. SOMETIMES WHEN YOU'RE HAVING A REAL TEST OR TRIAL YOU'VE GOT TO DO THINGS PURELY BY FAITH. Well, I didn't know I was about to have a test or trial or I sure would have! But that's where you need to keep on the ball all the time & always pray. "Men ought always to pray & not to faint. Pray without ceasing!" (Lk.18:1; 1Th.5:17) I did sort of, but I didn't really take it seriously. I thought, "Oh well, I'll be able to eat a little thing like this!" I had felt a little sick earlier in the day, I must say, but I wasn't feeling bad right then. I was feeling pretty good, in fact.
58. I SHOULD HAVE BEEN PREPARED, BUT I'LL TELL YOU, I SURE LEARNED A LESSON FROM THAT! I'd had that kind of attack before, but never so severe & never so continuous with no relief at all, so that it didn't matter what I tried to drink or anything. Usually if I drank a little wine for my stomach's sake* & claimed it by faith, the Lord's calmed it or I've thrown it up or whatever. *(1Tim.5:23)
59. BUT THAT TIME NOTHING DID IT UNTIL WE REALLY GOT A GOOD SOAKING FROM THE WORD--& FAITH CAME BY HEARING THE WORD & EXACTLY WHAT TO DO! (Rom.10:17) David wrote me a little note: "I love you, Mommy & Daddy, there's power in His Word!" As soon as I got a good dose of the Word it gave me the faith to trust the Lord, go to sleep, & I woke up just fine! TTL! And thanks for your prayers, too, of course, & everybody that was praying for me. PTL!
60. WELL, THE LORD'S DONE A MIRACLE & I'M STILL HERE! Oh, the pain was so intense last night, sometimes it actually hurt my heart! I just had to rebuke every discouraging thought! I thought, "Now Lord, I'm surely not through yet!" I think frankly this Prophecy Series is one thing the Devil is really mad about! I think he's furious at this thing & didn't even hardly want me to get started! But praise the Lord, you keep praying with us now that the Lord will protect us from any further attacks so that we can complete the work He's given us to do.
61. ANYHOW, HE CERTAINLY FINISHED THE WORK LAST NIGHT BEAUTIFULLY & I HAVEN'T HAD A BIT OF TROUBLE SINCE! Of course, I haven't eaten any solids since, but I've eaten some soup, that was almost solid, & coffee, that was almost solid. That's the first bite of solid food I've had, that piece of bread, & thank the Lord it's gone down nicely! If you don't mind, I'll drink the rest of this. (Drinks the wine.)
62. I'VE FOUND I DO MUCH BETTER WHEN I GO AHEAD WITH THE LESSON FIRST & I EAT AFTERWARDS, because if I eat, then my mind is groggy & I'm sleepy & a little dull-witted & all my blood's gone to my stomach! So if you don't mind, I'm going to postpone eating until after the lesson, God willing. Have you liked the little Bible Lessons? (Family: Yes!) Well, it's just God's Word so don't give me any credit for it, it's the Bible.
63. I'M SORRY THAT I'M NOT VERY MUCH OF A FLANNELGRAPH TEACHER, HONEY! (David: Oh, that's all right!) I just don't know how to do flannelgraphs very well. That was always Mama Eve's strong fort. I did the talking & the singing & the driving & she did the flannelgraphs! I did a lot of Bible teaching too, & that's the only thing I know how to do is teach the Bible, outside of driving & singing. So I'm going to have to let Sara do the flannelgraphs. She's got the looks for it! Isn't she beautiful? She's always ready to go to bed! That's a gorgeous nightie!
64. SO PRAISE THE LORD, THE LORD CERTAINLY ANSWERED YOUR PRAYERS & VERY QUICKLY! Thank you for standing with me in prayer! The Lord really did a wonderful miracle, & that convinced me all the more this Series is of the Lord, that's what made the Devil so mad! So praise the Lord! That battle's over & victory's won & now it's time for another one! PTL! GBAKY & us all, IJNA!--Amen? Fight, Team, Fight!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
