Wednesday 3-2-16 (Mercedes, Uruguay)
Scripture reading for today: Num. 30 – 31 Mark
S=Scripture O=Observation A=Application
P=Prayer SOAP for the soul.
S. Mark 9:24-27 Immediately the father
of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my
unbelief!" When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He
rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command
you, come out of him and enter him no more!" Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him
greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said,
"He is dead." But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and
he arose. NKJV
O. Jesus with three of his disciples had just descended from the Mount of
Transfiguration where God the Father’s voice declared, “This is my Beloved Son,
hear Him!” Now the enemy of the souls of men was baffling the other disciples
as he tortured a poor demonized little boy.
A. Missionary Paul Brannan was visiting us,
ministering in our new little church we were trying to plant in San Juan,
Argentina. After church a lady asked to
visit a sick neighbor lady. As we drove
out into the countryside she described to us that this lady had been tormented
and screaming for four days. I stopped
the car on the country gravel road. We
knew this was a case of demon possession.
We had just come from a blessed service... now the devil’s cohorts were
waiting for us. We prayed in the car
until we had the victory... then drove on.
As we drove up people and barking dogs rushed to greet us. People were yelling, “Hurry! She is dying!” We found the demon possessed lady in a small
patio, on her feet, thrashing about and held up by her neighbors that
surrounded her. She was screaming words
about seeing a dark figure. I insisted
that we seat her in a chair. Her adult
sons forced her into a chair. As Paul
Brannan and I reached out to this screaming woman, Paul said into my ear, “You
pray in Spanish and I’ll pray in English!”
We cast out the demon in the name of Jesus. The woman went silent and limp. Her son, yelled, “She is dead!” and reached
to try to find her pulse.
I took the
opportunity to speak to these neighbors.
“She is not dead. She is just
exhausted after fighting Satanic forces for four days and nights.” I pointed to a small crucifix hanging on the
wall. “Jesus is not a little statue on a
cross. He is alive and more powerful
than all the demons of hell.” As I
preached a brief message I watched a man in the crowd with a cigarette in his
mouth. It sat on his lower lip as he
listened with his mouth open. I watched
the cigarette fall on the floor and he didn’t even seem to notice. The liberated lady now woke up. I sent a young man that had come with us to
my car to bring my accordion. We began
to sing praises to the Lord... and prayed with these neighbors to receive the
liberating Christ. It was after midnight
when we went out to leave. We were
getting into our car when a vehicle came roaring up and stopped. One of this lady’s sons had gone earlier to
bring the priest for “last rites” since they thought she would die. The priest stepped out of the car. His face seemed white with fear. As we got into the car, Paul Brannan
commented, “Just like them! Too late
with too little!”
P. Lord, I thank You that You are never too late
with too little. You are more powerful
than all the armies of Satan. Jesus, You
set a little boy free from the enemy’s torments and You have not changed over
the centuries!
Praise God from Whom all blessings flow! Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above you heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost! Amen.
Ralph
No comments:
Post a Comment