Proverbs 18:21 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”
Sometimes we say things glibly without realizing their consequences, for example, “I wish I could die,” or “we are going to be defeated!” We think that nothing happens, but we have an enemy listening and watching us. Though the bad and ugly may not always happen, there are times when it does hitch on to us. The Bible tells us that in all circumstances, have a thankful heart. It releases the treasures of life and His Divine Will is knit into our circumstances when we walk in the Light to manifest His higher purposes.
I will share such a testimony here that I read in a book, since it was long ago, I cannot give you the exact details. A man fell into deep depression and kept wanting to die. He was angry with other Christians who did not seem faithful or true and his depression hit him after that. He told his wife he wanted to die and said, “I hope some killer disease comes upon me and takes my life. When he said that, he opened the door for Satan to get permission to attack him and take his life. He soon became very ill and started losing weight. He refused to see a doctor because he was embracing a death wish. A death wish, incidentally is always sent by Satan, and never God.
He became so weak that he could not walk and finally allowed his wife to call an ambulance. Unfortunately, there was no ambulance he had to be walked to the hospital with the help of his son. He was soon diagnosed as suffering from acute renal failure. His kidneys stopped functioning and he also developed a blockage in his prostate gland caused by an untreated bladder infection. The prostate enlarged to block the natural waterworks of his body. Finally, his kidney stopped working completely. Soon other major organs to swell up and become infected.
He soon began to “smell” the presence of death around him. He saw himself drifting in and out of a dark place…In his mind, he identified it as the ‘valley of the shadow of death…’He could actually smell rotting flesh about him. He was acutely aware of other people around him. These people seemed to be in limbo land. They seemed to be totally unaware of their surroundings, and even aware of themselves. He thought this is the place to be where one waits for death to claim them. He remembered Psalm 23:4 “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”1Kings 19:12 “And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.” 1 Corinthians 15:55 “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” Many more Bible verses came to him in that valley such as Isaiah 54:17 “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.”
He looked boldly into the face of the shadow of death, who had come to claim him and told him: “My life belongs to God!” In that split second, the valley of death fled from him and vanished. The Bible says, James 4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” This man soon began to recover after this. His kidney function began to slowly return to the astonishment of the doctors. He overcame many other hurdles. His relationship with Christ became deeper, richer and he learned forgiveness.
Sometimes, we test God with words of unbelief, fear, anger, frustration. These words lock us in a curse that can only be broken by practicing faith. Speaking fear opens the gates to self destruction. It is importance to practice faith in our words, confession and walk. Negativity and unbelief stifles the atmosphere around us. Then we grow from strength to strength and glory to glory in the spiritual realm, walking in purity and truthfulness! We learn today that the more we confess words of Faith from the Living Word, His presence works mightily in our situations.
It might disturb us that a man who claimed to be close to God went to the valley of the shadow of death. If you note, this happened to him in a state of anger, and unforgiveness to others. While we know that God forgives us through the Cross, a true salvation always makes a person forgive and life a transformed life. Though this man was perhaps saved, he had traces of unforgiveness and perhaps God gave him a taste of death,which was very unpleasant to a person who has not made his or her peace with others and God. If a person has not understood forgiveness, they have not understood the Cross, Jesus sacrifice, probably are not born again and cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Not forgiving others takes one through the valley of shadow of death for we are not practicing our faith. Matthew 5:23 and Matthew 5:24 Jesus said that anger leads to murder, and anger is just as bad as murder itself. And that whosoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment himself.
Rita F. Kurian
Comentários