Just this week a man from our church was at the
Publix on Ridge Rd, by Regency, and encountered a demon-possessed man. He followed the man as he ran loops around
the parking lot, trying to catch him and minister deliverance to him. The demon possessed man fled into the Publix,
but just then, another man by the entrance spoke out to the disciple to start a
conversation. The disciple recognized
that this other man was the main focus that the Holy Spirit had at that moment. The end result was that on the side walk in
front of Publix the disciple rebuked the spirits of addiction and horror from
the mind of the veteran who had seen too much and had become an alcoholic. The
vet was crying and asked the question as to why the disciple wasn’t a pastor. The disciple’s response was that he was just
doing what all Christians are supposed to do.
I also learned of a person from our church this week who ministered to
an older lady in the produce section of Wal-Mart and rebuked the spirit of infirmity
behind the lady’s high cholesterol levels and super high blood pressure
levels. The conversation began because
the older lady simply commented that she would be on a fruit and cottage cheese
diet for the rest of her life. Let’s
state Ephesians 5:16 again, “Make the most of every opportunity for the days
are evil.” I was in the checkout line at
Wal-Mart, and the Holy Spirit told me to tell the cashier, very sincerely and
directly, that the Lord loves her. I did
so and she broke down crying making somewhat of a scene – there were three or
four customers behind me waiting to be checked out. The short story is that her mother was just
murdered less than a week before and she wanted me to pray with her right there
without regard for her job. Her mother
was murdered! This poor woman was standing
there with a gaping hole in her heart and on a different day, I may have just
smiled and walked out the door! The King of the universe loves that cashier,
her pain hurts His heart, and He wanted me to let her know so she could get to
know Him, so they could cry together for a while, and so He could heal her
hurts.
One of my favorite passages is Matthew 10:7-8, which
says, “7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come
near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive
out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” The phrase, “as you go” means just that – as
you go about your daily routine and business.
This is the call to arms, to be Disciples of Christ in love, in words,
and in power … where ever we may go from day to day. Our weapons?
The Scriptures clearly state in 2 Corinthians 10:3-4, “3 For though we
live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight
with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power
to demolish strongholds.” As I quoted
before from 2 Timothy 4:2, we need to be ready to preach on the Lord’s behalf
at all times. I know some of you have
arguments rising up in your mind as you read this, but the Lord would not issue
a command to you unless he was going to make sure you were able to follow
it. You may not have Bible verses
memorized yet, or a evangelistic message ready for street ministry, but every
believer, every disciple, has at least one weapon, one mighty weapon. Revelation 12:11 says, “They triumphed over
him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony …” Two
weapons are listed here – the blood of the Lamb, Jesus, and the word of their
testimonies. If you are a disciple, then
that means you have the blood of Jesus, in you and covering you. Notice the second weapon is phrased as
“their”. Using one of your personal
testimonies of what the Lord has done for you to witness to people in your
daily routines is powerful. If you are
new in the Lord and do not have an arsenal of testimonies yet, or none of yours
fit the situation being discussed with the person to which you are ministering,
use someone else’s testimonies – that is the “their” in “their testimonies”. Tell them, “I have a friend who faced a
similar situation …”, or ,”there is a lady at my church who …”, you get the
point. The Lord has made it so that we
always have weapons with which to set captives free and bring people to Him. We simply have to be willing to obey, to
answer the "call to arms" He has issued. Will you answer it?
There is a saying that I came up with years ago to
challenge myself and keep myself focused on the tasks of the Lord. When I was feeling lazy, distracted,
intimidated, or even offended, I would shake my soul with this phrase – often
looking in the closest mirror straight into my own pupils. It is a phrase I have brought back into
personal usage and hope you will use it too.
It goes well with the first verse I quoted, it is this, “Get to work,
souls are dying!” With urgency, because
every moment is someone’s last moment, let us answer the Lord’s call to arms
and preach, heal, deliver, and work miracles as we go about our daily business. Will you?
Baaron (LifeGroup Director)
