Dear friends:
This is the fourth and last in a series, giving testimony that
Jesus is
alive and has not changed!!!
Previous messages described some healings and miracles
experienced by
others. This message will describe some that I have
experienced
personally.
Testimonies of God’s
supernatural
power manifested in our day
Part 4
Actual miracles and healings (experienced by me!)
________________________
Legs and arms grow out before my eyes! One day
years ago I
saw an evangelist with a ministry of miracles and healings pray
for
people who had one leg or arm shorter than the other and the
Lord
lengthened them right before our eyes. I personally witnessed
it.
It was uncanny. Shortly later during the latter years of
my career
in the U.S. Air Force, I was on TDY (temporary duty) to
Warner-Robbins
Air Force Base in Georgia. I met a sharp young captain, an
Air
Force Academy graduate, who was a squadron commander, and who I
discovered was a Spirit-filled Christian. He prayed for me
and I
saw both a leg and an arm grow out close to an inch. I was
so
filled with faith in God’s power that when I got back home I
shared it
with my home Bible study, and the Lord began to do the same
thing for
us. In that group and with others, I probably saw this
happen a
half dozen times following my prayer. This experience
taught me
that
faith is contagious. These testimonies will
inspire
others to be bold in their faith, and they will see similar
results.
One day I learned about an older lady in my church who was
incapacitated from a severe back problem and was almost an
invalid. I
felt a nudge of the Holy Spirit leading and boldness to visit
her and
pray for her healing. I knocked on the door and
waited.
Slowly, she finally opened the door, standing before me on
crutches. I explained the purpose of my visit and she was
delighted. I asked her to sit down so I could take a look at the
length
of her legs. She obliged, and I was shocked to see that
one leg was
shorter by about three full inches, not the one inch or less as
I had
previously seen. At first I was intimidated, but I thought that
if one
inch was not too hard for God, then three inches would not be
either. I
started praying, commanding the leg to grow out in Jesus’ name,
and I
kept praying for 3-4 minutes. Nothing happened at first
but
suddenly the leg began to grow, and in seconds both legs were
the exact
same length! The Lord healed her back at the same time
because she
got up, walked normally, and never used her crutches after
that.
She threw them away.
A young lady worked in an office adjacent to mine at the
Christian
Broadcasting Network. Due to a severe burn several years
earlier,
one arm was several inches shorter than the other. She let
me pray
for her and within seconds the arm grew out to a normal
length. It
was another miracle, a major one, by God’s power.
This one is really bizarre. Our church was having a series
of
revival meetings with an evangelist from South Africa who had a
ministry
of healing and miracles. One fellow in the church had a
severe
birth defect -- a deformed arm, which was markedly shrunken and
only
about half the length of the other arm. Before this
revival
meeting, he had made up his mind that he was going to get a
miracle new
arm! He got in the long healing line on the stage of the
high
school where the meeting was being held. He waited about
30 minutes
before it was his turn to be prayed for. Finally, he reached the
front of
the line. The evangelist held his withered arm and prayed,
and all
of a sudden the withered arm shot out to normal length!
However, a
split-second later, it retracted back as before. I clearly
saw what
happened, and so did others, and we were all mystified.
Oddly, no
one ever mentioned a word of it later. However, I believe
the Lord
showed me later what happened. It was like Peter walking
on the
water. Peter had the faith to step out of the boat and
walked on
the water momentarily, but when he began to take his eyes off
Jesus and
look at the circumstances and physical reality, he began to
sink.
He lost his miracle. Jesus saved him, but said, “You of
little
faith. Why did you doubt.” (Matthew 14:28-31).
I
believe the normal arm was such a shock to him that his faith
suddenly
evaporated and, like Peter, he could not hold on to his
miracle.
Moral of this story: If we get a miracle by radical faith, we
must hold
on to it with radical faith.
Cancerous-looking mole drops off. In Chapter 1, I
said: “I
had a mole on my chest for many years. One day I noticed
that it
began to look suspicious. It became darker and funny looking, a
warning
sign the magazines tell you about, one that would normally cause
one to
run to the dermatologist to have it removed and a biopsy made,
with
dreaded results. My natural mind thought, ‘cancer,’ and
fear tried
to come upon me. But my supernatural mind kicked in one
morning
while shaving and I released the power into it. The very
next
morning, while shaving again, the mole suddenly dropped off into
the wash
basin and washed down the drain. There was not even any
scar tissue
left to tell where it was. It was like a baby’s skin.
Later I will
tell you how I did it. You can do it too.”
How did I do it? Well, I remembered Jesus’ words in Mark
16:17-18:
“And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name they
shall…
lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”
Standing there shaving, looking at the mole in the mirror, I
thought to
myself, “There is nothing in the passage that says I cannot do
that to
myself. I believe, I am sick, and I can lay hands on
myself just
like it says.” So I did. I laid my hand on the mole,
spoke
healing to it, claimed God’s promise, commanded the mole to
wither and
die, just like Jesus did to the barren fig tree, and said
amen. You
know the rest of the story.
Cancerous-looking sore heals. Years later I had a
small sore
on my face near my eye. It had been there for years, but
one day
blood began to run from it. I never went to the doctor,
but an M.D.
friend suggested I do so because he thought it looked
cancerous.
But as I usually do, I go to Dr. Jesus, the best doctor I know
about. I prayed the same prayer as with the above mole,
the
bleeding soon stopped, and I was healed.
Severe burn healed supernaturally. One day I was
cutting my
lawn when I decided to adjust the height of the mower blade.
With my left
hand I reached down to pick up the new mower so with my right
hand I
could adjust the first wheel. With searing pain, I suddenly
realized that
my left hand had inadvertently grabbed the hot muffler. Being a
new
mower, I was not that familiar with it, and the muffler location
was not
readily apparent, being somewhat camouflaged. I jerked my
hand back
and the pain was extremely excruciating on the full palm and all
my
fingers. Within a period of about 10 seconds, two contrary
thoughts
rushed through my mind.
THOUGHT NUMBER 1. Severe burn. Blisters about to arise. Rush to
the
emergency room for burn treatment. I envisioned a bandaged,
useless hand
for several weeks. (I have a big burn scar on my right arm where
it
accidentally touched a mower muffler about 20 years ago in a
similar
accident.)
THOUGHT NUMBER 2. No, I reject that. I will immediately apply
God's
healing Word to it and claim my healing. No problem. I
actually saw
this as a potential testimony of God's power.
OBSERVATION: The palm and fingers of my left hand were beet red.
I could
see where blisters were about to pop through. The pain was
terrible.
ACTION: Within seconds, I laid my right hand on my injured left
hand
according to Mark 16:18 and claimed my healing. I began to
confess
healing Scriptures, such as Matthew 8:17 and 1 Peter 2:24. I
continued to
confess these Scriptures.
OBSERVATION: The pain was still there, and the hand looked
terrible, but
the prayer of faith seemed to be blocking the blisters.
ACTION: I have learned to receive healings just by myself based
on God's
Word, but I know that prayers of agreement with fellow believers
can
always help. I spoke on the telephone with a friend in Texas and
asked
him to pray. He prayed a powerful, authoritative prayer. As soon
as we
hung up, I was shocked to see that the appearance of my hand had
suddenly
changed during his prayer. It was more normal looking, and there
was no
sign of the earlier beginning blister formation. A great
improvement. A
few minutes later I spoke with a pastor friend in Kentucky. Ron
added
another powerful prayer, and when I hung up there was even more
improvement in the appearance, and less pain.
Some pain continued throughout the rest of the day, but there
were no
blisters or breaks in the skin. By bedtime, the hand was looking
normal,
but there was still some pain. By morning, the hand looked
perfectly normal and all pain was gone. A miracle!
Back suddenly healed. Some years ago, I was
suffering from
chronic lower back pain. I knew what God said in His Word
about
healing, and one day I decided because of God’s Word I didn’t
have to
take the pain any more. I decided to take my Bible and go
upstairs
to my bedroom, lock the door, and not come out until I got my
healing. I was totally determined and was confident of
both God’s
power and willingness to heal me. After being locked in
the bedroom
for awhile and reading the Bible, all of a sudden my eyes fell
on a verse
I had read many times before, but it never held any significance
for
me. But this time, it was as though the words were
illuminated, not
literally, but they just jumped out at me. They were from
Hebrews
12:13: “And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which
is lame be
turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.” Suddenly my
back
pain was totally gone! I had received my healing, via the
power of
a
rhema word from God.
Heart healed. One day
over
ten
years ago, I
began to have irregular heartbeats. This went on for
several weeks
and I became quite concerned. But I never went to the
doctor
because I was trusting God to take care of it. One day at
a large
church I was visiting, the congregation was singing and the
words of the
song were projected upon the front wall. The song included
a
Scripture, from Psalm 73:26: “God is the strength of my
heart.” Now
I had read that Scripture before. I liked it, but it never
meant
anything personal to me. But on that particular day in
that
particular church, God spoke to me. Those words, “God is
the
strength of my heart,” were a
rhema word to me from
God. The
symptoms suddenly disappeared during that service and never
returned!
Cancer healed, twice! In the past few years, God
has twice
healed me of cancer, supernaturally. This is documented at
http://www.choicesforliving.com/cancerhealings.htm .
Rheumatoid arthritis healed. Several years ago, my
wife came
down with painful and debilitating rheumatoid arthritis.
She could
barely walk, and even then with great pain. I anointed her
with oil
and prayed the prayer of faith over her as described in Chapter
7.
She believed for her healing, but felt like the Lord might want
to heal
her through a doctor. She went to one of the most
respected
arthritis specialists in Central Florida. The doctor told
her,
“There is no known cause and no known cure.” So much for
conventional medicine. My wife rejected what the doctor
said,
saying in her heart, “I know there is a cause and I know Jesus
is my
healer.” The doctor prescribed a drug for her, which
through her
own research, my wife discovered had serious side effects, as
almost all
drugs do, which would later require another drug, and another
drug, ad
infinitum. She refused to take the drug. She decided
to hold
to God’s promise in Exodus 15:26: “I am the LORD that healeth
thee.” One day she suddenly felt a great peace envelop her
and she
had an inner knowing that God was going to heal her. She
then
wanted to pray that God would give us a Christian doctor, which
we
did. We soon saw an advertisement in the newspaper for a
doctor
that uses alternative medicine, which we had come to believe in,
because
God’s natural ways are always better. She made an
appointment, and
we prayed that God would confirm that this was the right
person. We
discovered immediately that he was a committed Christian.
And in
contrast to the first doctor, one of the first things he said
was, “Let’s
see what the root of the problem is. I want to get to the
root of
the problem.” He then explained some possible causes that
conventional medicine rejects. He put her on a natural
regimen,
with supplements, and within about three months there was
remarkable
improvement. All her symptoms continued to disappear, and in
about 10
months she was totally healed, with no symptoms, and they have
never
returned! But while natural means were used, we both give
credit to
the Lord for this “supernatural” healing, and we trace her
healing back
to our prayers. Another miracle is that even though she
could
barely get out of the car and up the small steps to her job, she
never
missed one day of work, except to go to the doctor. That
was
supernatural enabling.
Co-worker healed. A young man I worked with shared
with me
in my office one day that he had a long-term problem with
depression that
was really affecting his life. I asked if he would like to
have
Jesus heal him. He said yes. I closed the office
door, got
out my bottle of anointing oil (not always necessary), anointed
him, laid
hands on him, and prayed the prayer of faith over him, claiming
God’s
healing. While not in accord with his denomination, he was
a little
surprised by all this, but he thanked me, and left. He did
not
mention it for several months, and I was waiting on him to say
something. Finally, one day he came to see me privately
and said
that ever since I prayed for him he had not had any
problems. He
was very happy with what Jesus had done for him.
Near-death teenager healed at point of “pulling the
plug.”
Several years ago my wife’s 13-year-old cousin in another
city came
down with brain encephalitis and was in a coma for several
weeks, with
absolutely no response coming from her. She was on life
support. The outlook was grim. One day the
doctors
admitted giving up hope and recommended “pulling the plug” to
the
parentsthat the life support be removed, allowing her to
die.
Hearing this from another city, I was able to reach the mother
by
telephone near her daughter’s bed. I urged the mother,
“Don’t do
it! Let’s trust God for this healing.” I asked if
she could
put the phone to her daughter’s ear, because I had been told
that people
in a coma could actually hear. I wanted to speak God’s healing
words into
her ear and spirit. But the mother said that was not
possible. So I asked that the mother just touch the
daughter and
let me pray with her, which she did, and I did. After I
hung up, I
marshaled an army of powerful intercessors for the girl on the
Internet,
which kept praying. One day about 2-3 weeks later, to
everyone’s
shock, the girl suddenly popped out of her coma, sat up in bed
and
exclaimed, “Where’s daddy. I’m hungry.” The crisis
was
over. A short while later she was back home and in school
again.
Aircraft emergency averted. In Chapter 1, I said,
“A few
years ago I was on a commercial jet airliner when a serious
mechanical
problem developed just after takeoff from Orlando
International.
The pilot announced over the speakers that we should prepare for
a crash
landing. An older lady seated next to me was almost
hysterical with
fear. I gently put my hand on her hand and said, ‘Ma’am,
everything
is going to be all right. Jesus has assured me.’ I
knew,
because I had released the power
into the
situation.
Astonishingly, just a minute later the captain came on the
speaker and
said that everything was now back to normal! He gave no
explanation. We were both stunned at this miraculous
manifestation
of the power.”
This reminds me of the saying, “Fear knocked at my door. I
sent
faith to answer, and no one was there.”
How did I do that? Well, I believed God had led me to take
that
trip, for a purpose, which had not been fulfilled.
Therefore, I was
not rattled when the emergency occurred and had an inward
assurance that
everything would be okay. I knew that God would take care
of
it. When it happened, I simply thanked God that He was in
control
and that He was going to keep me safe, and thus the airplane and
its
passengers safe. I thanked Him for the angels, which He
had given
charge over me (Psalm 91:11). By faith, I knew they were
there and
I knew we were safe. I simply told the lady what I knew,
and my
faith through my words released God’s power into that
situation.
But as a former pilot, I was shocked at the quickness with which
the
mechanical problem disappeared. It remained a
mystery. But I
know God’s power solved the problem.
Miracle of multiplying food. I love the verse that says,
“Nothing is
impossible with God”
(Luke 1:37, NIV).
We must
never limit
God. He is still in the miracle business. Jesus is
still
multiplying the loaves and fishes just as He did in Matthew
15:35-38. A few years ago, my wife and I had a buffet
dinner party
for some other members of the ministry where we were working,
and many
came. Near the end of the dinner, the food was almost
gone, but one
couple was very late and had not yet arrived. It appeared
that
there would be no food left for them. I prayed and left it
in the
hands of the One to whom nothing is impossible. The late
couple
finally arrived and went through the food line in the kitchen as
though
everything was normal. I was amazed to see their plates piled
high with
food, which seemed in abundance. Then some others came
back for
seconds and thirds. It was astonishing. And like the
loaves
and the fishes, there was food left over. Things like this
surprise
us, but they should not. Experiencing God’s miracle power
should be
part of the normal Christian life, just like in the Bible.
Jesus
has not changed.
Miracle violating laws of physics. Years ago I was
responsible
for the 700 Club central telephone counseling center, which was
staffed
with volunteers. One day an eager young man came to my
office
carrying a big Bible. He said he wanted to be a volunteer
counselor. Upon questioning, I discovered that he was only
age
17. I thanked him, but being a stickler for “rules,” I
told him I
was sorry but we had a minimum age limit of 18, but I offered to
let him
sit in the counseling room so he could observe what went
on. He
liked the idea, so I took him there, sat him down at one of the
vacant
counseling positions, and made sure the telephone was off the
hook so it
would not ring. Later, I found out that while he was
sitting there,
the telephone, which was off the hook, actually rang (which was
scientifically impossible). He decided to answer it, and
it was a
young lady on the other end of the telephone, the exact same
age, 17, and
from his own denomination. She needed someone to talk to
and he was
just the right person to share with and pray for her concerning
her
need. By causing that phone to ring, which was impossible,
God had
miraculously overruled my legalism to accomplish His loving
purposes. That day I learned a very dramatic lesson that I
have
never forgotten: God is in charge, not me! There were
other
instances of telephone calls coming in and being “randomly”
routed
through the telephone bank to just the right counselor for the
occasion.
Divine dental work. I confess that so far I have
never had
the faith to believe for divine dental work. Our teeth are
a part
of our body and would be included in God’s promise to
heal. I
obviously need to grow in this area. However, I have
personally
witnessed God sovereignly do dental work in other people.
It has
been happening in many churches all over the world and has
happened many
times in a church I frequently visited in Oviedo, Florida,
Greater Life
Assembly of God Church, where I came to know the outstanding,
Spirit-filled pastor, Jeff Good. I have seen it with my own
eyes, usually
fillings and crowns. On one occasion it happened to a
visitor
friend sitting next to me. Like faith, it seems to be
contagious. Someone visiting from another church will
experience
it, then they go back to their church where it also
happens. For
example, a pastor from a Baptist church in another part of
Florida
visited this church, then when he got back home it started
happening in
his home church. I have observed that the dental work appears in
services
where the worship of Jesus is intense and expressive. A test is
the
effect it has on people, and it is my observation that people
who
experience or witness this have a renewed sense of awe and
respect for
the Creator and His power, and people are more turned on to
praise and
worship Him. This may be happening to you from just
reading this
paragraph. Grab your mirror and check!
I know this phenomenon has its critics and scoffers because
there is no
specific mention of teeth being healed in the Bible (although
teeth are a
part of our bodies); however, we should not limit God. He
can do
anything He wants to do. Why does He do this? Maybe
He just
enjoys it, demonstrating His power and blessing His people who
dare to
believe Him for the impossible.
_________________________
God wants to do a miracle in your heart today. He simply
wants you
to believe Him.