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| Sad Lady courtesy photobucket.com |
By the time we met Tom and his wife, I had obtained a great
rental property that was close to our church with a basement apartment and an upstairs apartment
plus a small cottage in the rear.
My husband was busy working, so I found a handyman to do
simple repairs and paint for me. Then
the basement apartment became vacant, and I received a phone call from my
Pastor.
He said, “The Home of Peace just called me and wanted to
know if we can find housing for a couple and their young son, who just arrived
from the jungles of Peru
Tom and his wife liked the furnished place and immediately
gave me a months rent. They also liked
the fact that the apartment was so close to our church and they began to
attend.
Tom had been traveling the world working on his doctorate
and had married an English girl while he was studying at the University of Oxford Peru
While they were living in Peru
During one of his angry spasms, the local authorities took
him to the hospital, where the doctors said they could not help him, but allowed
him to stay a few days in their clinic.
Tom requested that a missionary come to visit him. He told the missionary, “I believe I am demon
possessed, and I need you to help me.”
The missionaries were taken back a step of two, because this
was an appeal they had never experienced before. They told him they would go home and read
their Bible and return later.
After reading their Bible, they decided that perhaps they
needed to fast a day and seek God’s direction before visiting Tom again.
When the missionaries returned, Tom was ready and willing to
do what ever they suggested. Very carefully they laid hands on him and
commanded the evil spirit to leave and to never return.
Then they signed the medical release for Tom, and took him,
his wife and their baby home with them.
The missionaries welcomed them to live in
their home for six months, while they explained how to be born again and to serve God. During this time they taught them how to apply
God's Word to their lives.
James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to
God. Resist the devil, and he will flee
from you.
Tom related his story to us and suggested that we
get together for Bible Study and prayer, which we began to do each week.
One evening they brought with them a woman guest
that Tom had met at the Berkeley
University
The woman had heard Tom’s story of his
experiences and decided that she might have an evil spirit. She was continually depressed, and never
smiled or laughed. Tom and his wife had
explained how to receive Jesus, but she was still plagued by a sorrowful mood.
As we prayed together, Tom, addressed the spirit
in the woman and asked it’s name. The
woman slowly spoke in a harsh voice and said the word, “SADNESS.”
We were novices at all this, and I can’t say we
helped the woman much. She did enjoy the
fellowship, and told us that she would begin to read her Bible. I believe she wanted to keep her SAD outlook
on life.
Proverbs
12:25 (Sadness) Heaviness in the heart of man makes it stoop: but a good word
makes it glad.
At that time, I did not know that it was
important to have the person agree that they are willing to give up their
negative attitude (spirit of sadness) and receive an opposite attitude (spirit
of happiness, gratitude and thankfulness).
Choices and decisions can make or break us. If we are experiencing self pity and
wallowing in the mire of “poor me,” it is time to get up from there, and to
begin to count our blessings.
When we discover that God loves us
unconditionally, and just as we are, then we realize that he does not want us to remain that way.
If we are SAD, perhaps we should exchange sadness for a merry
heart according to:
Proverbs 17:22
A merry heart doeth good like a medicine:
but a broken spirit dries the bones and by sorrow of the heart the spirit is
broken.
Proverbs 12:15
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkens unto
counsel is wise.
