I developed a preference to roll my own later in life too, partly because it was cheaper but mainly because I loved the smell of fresh tobacco.  I still do.  When the Lord did come into my life it gradually became clearer that He had a better way for me to live.  So I was glad that the attraction for alcohol abuse had diminished, plus the fact that my attraction to blasphemy and filthy language was quickly on the way out as well.  But not so, my attraction for nicotine.  I wanted this practice to remain, so I continually came up with “valid” excuses & justifications to myself as to why it should remain.  

One late afternoon I set off for a near two-hour drive across town to play at a night club.  Sitting in a long cue at traffic lights I rolled a cigarette.  As I was completing the task I found myself saying, “Lord, I don’t want to do this anymore, it is a dirty habit and I believe it dishonors You Who lives in me.”  I did not know the Scripture 1 Corinthians 6:19 at the time but strongly felt the truth of it, based on the deep, indescribable inner peace that I had been experiencing since Christ came into my life those few months earlier.  However, as the traffic started to move off I put the lighter to the cigarette and inhaled.

I will never forget God’s immediate answer to that prayer!  Upon inhaling that smoke, I instantly experienced the most vile, foul, putrid taste in my mouth - shocking!  I quickly pulled it from my lips and dumped it in the ash tray.  It could not have been a quicker action had it been an explosive in my hand.  This was the second time I had experienced an immediate answer to prayer from the Lord, the first having been His two instant physical healings to my body (see my About page) some time earlier.  Just like the people I had been reading about in the gospels when encountering the Lord – I marvelled.

The taste left my mouth later, but not my thoughts on the experience.  Then about thirty minutes from my destination other thoughts entered my head - extreme, powerful thoughts of doubt – “It couldn’t be.  You are imagining yourself.  Who do you think you are?  Where are you at?”  I entertained those thoughts, big time.  So much so that I heard myself saying, “Yeah, it couldn’t be.  You are imagining it. Try it again and see.”  So I did. I rolled another cigarette, lit it, inhaled and the same thing happened exactly as it had seventy minutes earlier.  The decision to doubt my Lord grieved me.  It was not to be the last time, but it certainly was one of the first times when I knew without doubt that I had entertained Satan himself.

By the grace of God, I have never touched another cigarette since that time, twenty-four years ago.  But it is only by the grace of God.  One night I was playing in a club and the smell of booze and cigarette smoke was very enticing.  It still is.  From the stage I looked towards our table and my eyes became fixed on a pack of cigarettes belonging to a colleague.  I said to myself, “As soon as this set finishes, I’m going to have one of those.”  That was my full intention.  Standing up at the table, I reached for the pack only to feel a gentle tap on my shoulder and a male voice saying, “Excuse me, do you mind if I talk to you for a moment?  I’d like to ask about your playing.” 

We stood chatting together for the duration of the break, about twenty minutes.  Back up on that stage later, I thought about that cigarette and the fact that I did not have it, nor by now did I want it.  This was my third known experience of the biblical promise being fulfilled in my life, that God will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able, but with that temptation He promises a way of escape so that we are able to bear it 1 Corinthians 10:13.  How blessed I have been to experience the reality of that promise in other areas of temptation too.  On the other hand, how grieved I’ve been when yielding to temptations.  If inhaling cigarette smoke was the worst thing I could ever do before God, my struggles would be over…but…….

Although he failed to live up to his own words, a pastor was later to teach us that the Lord Jesus knows the very worst about us, “so hide nothing from Him.  Keep nothing back.”  Knowing who and what I had been before I turned to Christ, the words of that pastor began to make sense to me.  The foolishness of trying to justify any ungodly thoughts, words and actions dawned upon me and as a result, I have forever marvelled at God’s great grace and mercy when I do tell him.  One time (but not the last) during prayer, some blasphemous and filthy thoughts cut across my mind and I said, “My Lord God, what is that?”

The biblical answer immediately came from John 15:3 where Jesus tells His followers that we are already clean because of His word, but I also felt a strong impression from Him saying, “Don’t confuse what is around you with what is in you.”  I received that as from the Lord because it lined up the Scripture given, plus, we know the cunning wiles and deceptive tactics of Satan the devil and the fact that we are in a spiritual battle.  The devil loves to play God with our conscience so we must be able to discern and distinguish between what is conviction from the Holy Spirit and what is condemnation from Satan.  If we don’t, he’ll have us for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

Although this post gives testimony to my instant deliverance from nicotine addiction, the last thing I want to suggest or imply is that God will do exactly the same for other smokers, Christian or otherwise.  In the marvellous dealings of God, smoking is not the issue on God’s current agenda for some of His people.  He may deliver them if they cry out, He may not.  I’ve shared this story with people over the years and although some were blessed by hearing it, they still smoke and I do not judge them.  But I have encouraged them to, “hide nothing from God, keep nothing back” and to avoid the temptation to make excuses or justifications before God.

Some Christians are afraid to tell the Lord the very worst about themselves.  They will confess certain things to Him, but often, not the worst thing.  Whether it be ignorance, doubt, unbelief or holding to faulty concepts of God, there seems to be a failure to trust Him fully.  We must know by experience that the very worst is already covered by the blood of Jesus.  In other words, there is not one ugly sinful thought, word or act that Jesus did not take care of by His death on that cross two thousand years ago.  The reason God wants us to personally tell Him about our areas of temptation, is so that we can be led into the way of freedom from all that seeks to trap and snare. 

There is many a Christian whose heart condemns them who are totally missing out on the experiential reality that God is greater than their heart and knows all things 1 John 3:20.  What sort of a taste does that leave in His mouth?  As Christians, we must be cast out all guilt, shame and condemnation and the only way that we can successfully do so is to tell the Lord the worst.  Fear, worry, doubt and unbelief is the worst for some.  Tell God.  Drunkenness, nicotine and drug abuse is the worst for some.  Tell God.  Perpetrating mental and physical violence is the worst for some.  Tell God.  Sexual perversion, pedophilia & pornography addiction is the worst for some.  Tell God.  Dirty business dealings, corruption and stealing are the worst for some.  Tell God.

Christian people have asked me to pray with them over the years and when asked what is it they want prayer for, their response has been, “God already knows.”  I’ve then asked, “Have you told God about this?”  Again, the response has been, “No. God already knows.”  In Matthew 20:29-34 two blind men asked Jesus for mercy.  Jesus responded with a question asking them what it was that they wanted Him to do.  They told Him they wanted to receive their sight.  Jesus knew that.  But He wanted to hear it from their mouths as well.  Tell God.  “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus………For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:1-2. 

© 2010, Roger Williams. All rights reserved.

So what happened to her?  The same thing that happened to the first man and woman in the garden of Eden.  She, like them, heard God’s word, believed God’s word and, for a time, lived according to God’s word.  Then she, like them, questioned God’s word, then doubted God’s word, then disbelieved God’s word, then disobeyed God’s word.  That’s the progressive order to falling away from God.  It originated in the garden and it has not changed in all of history.  The progressive order is one thing, but the by-products of the order can be something else altogether - guilt, fear, loneliness, panic, anxiety, confusion, depression, oppression, sicknesses etc.

Sharon was another young lady in a similar situation.  She had been married twice and was now in an unstable relationship with a another man.  All her relationships were based on fantasy.  She had built up in her mind that each partner was going to be the man of her dreams who would make her happy ever-after.  When reality began to strike each time, all hell broke loose within her and by the time I spoke with her she was bordering on madness.  She had been adopted as a baby and was now suffering from extreme identity crises.  Sharon was seeking that which no human being can give.

She told me she made a commitment to Christ as a young teenager, and went on with “it” for sometime, but “it” never worked, so she sought for reality and happiness elsewhere.  The root cause of Sharon’s problems was rejection.  She was born with that, but in addition, it had serious control over her as a result of her questioning God, doubting God, disbelieving God and disobeying God.  Rejection originated in the garden of Eden too.  It ruled our first parents once they were cast out and because we are their offspring it will rule all who fail to ground themselves in God’s biblical word.  We were able to help Sharon see her real problem but that’s as far as it went.  

An old man told me he refused to believe in God and the Bible, “even though I once believed them as a kid.”  He then went on to blame God for the state of the world, it’s wars, suffering, selfishness, starvation and the like and would not budge from that position.  Blaming God is another by-product from the progressive order, which also originated in the garden of Eden.  It is a common mantra expressed from the world of unbelief.  The saddest deception of all to observe in this however, was the deep belief in these people that I had never heard of such things until expressed by them.  Whatever he “believed” as a kid, he now gave God no chance to biblically ground him in true belief.

“I used to believe these things.”  That was the comment of an elderly lady who no longer believed, because she could not come to terms with what she read of God in the Old Testament.  She said she was appalled by the judgements of God, the blood sacrifices, the strict rules and laws, the wars and slaughter.  She shuddered as she said, “a horrible God!”  Once again such thinking originated in the garden of Eden.  Truth was given to the first man and woman, but they later listened to lies with God’s word being twisted out of context and denied, then based their decisions on those lies, twists and denials.  This lady was no different.  It suited her to believe what she wanted to believe.

Because she tried to interpret the Old Testament without the light of the New Testament, she was unable to accept any truths about the New Covenant and the age of God’s grace, in which Christ’s biblical followers now live under.  Neither was she able to hear that God has always been an unchangeable God of love and that there must be a reason why those things are revealed in the Old Testament.  More importantly, the lady would not open herself to the truth revealed in the Old Testament that God, in relationship with herself, had plans for her life too.  Plans for her good and none whatsoever that would harm her Jeremiah 29:11.  She simply refused to be grounded in God’s word.

Miss Morley told me she was not a church-goer but said she was, ”a believer nevertheless.”  She was a single lady in her early fifties who invited me inside on my third visit. Over a cup of coffee she told me that she was currently experiencing stress from family squabbles due to the pending sale of her deceased mother’s family home on the other side of town.  She enjoyed the company and advice she was given and asked me to call again.  It was not my intention to revisit so soon, but one day she was in her garden as I walked by and she asked me if I could spare some time.  She wanted further advice about the house and family members.

When answering her first question I suggested it a good idea to ask, “What would Jesus do?”  She saw that as an answer from God, by going on to say her father died when she was a very young girl.  She was given his wallet.  Inside the wallet she found a little card with, ‘What would Jesus do?’ written on it.  I then said to her that she didn’t have to guess at the answer, she could find out for herself by going directly to Him and asking.  It appeared that her biblical knowledge was limited when I made that statement.  It seemed to be foreign language to her.  Nevertheless she was grateful for the time and she asked me to call her Vera.

Anyway, the house got sold and all worked out well for Vera and she was grateful for my continuing visits.  She asked me one day to pray for her nephew who lived in her bungalow.  She said he was a heavy drinker.  I had not met him, but the next time I called, which was some months later, he had since died.  I encouraged her to find on-going peace by seeking the reality of such through a relationship with Christ.  Her response to that was rather terse.  I had offended her.  Vera turned out to be one of the many millions of people who enjoyed the things of God, but did not want God Himself. 

This too originated in the garden of Eden.  The man and the woman believed the lie that they could by-pass God and become their own gods.  That was Vera’s preference when confronted with Jesus Christ.  She didn’t want to operate her life as one in Christ, surrendered to Him to become empowered by Him.  She wanted to continue operating independently of the Lord - very similar to lots of church-goers - drawing near to God through the ministry of others, but keeping God at a distance when it comes to themselves.  Vera’s grounding in the biblical word of God had been rather shallow and she was not about to begin to dig deeper foundations.

In Chapter 15 of the gospel of Luke we read of the parable of the lost son who became dissatisfied living in his father’s house.  He believed himself to be restricted so he asked to be cut loose.  Although the father was disappointed with his son’s decision, he nevertheless, gave him what he desired.  But the son was not too long out in the world when things began to go wrong.  His fantasies of living independently of his father did not at all line up with the realities.  Essentially, his life ceased to work.  The longer he fought reality, the deeper he found himself in the pig-swill of life.  It all began when he questioned, doubted, disbelieved, then disobeyed the will of his father and his goodness towards him.

He is not known as the “lost” son for nothing.  The Bible declares all who are outside of Christ to be lost - whether they reject Him or not.  And just like the little child in the shopping centre who stands, panics and screams when he is lost, this man did the same, as did the people written about above.  The difference being, that as mature people working hard in denial of their lost state, they covered it up better.  The good news of Jesus’ parable is, the young man came to his senses, humbled himself and went home to his father.  Apart from Mrs Sullivan, these dear people gave no indication of wanting to do like-wise to their heavenly Father.  “The humble He guides in justice, and the humble He teaches His way.  All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, to such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.”  Psalm 25:9-10.                                

© 2009 – 2010, Roger Williams. All rights reserved.

On the doorstep I learned that Len was retired a gentleman and he told me that he had cancer and thought that it would not be long before he was dead.  When I asked him if he had ever experienced God in his life he said he had not, and in fact, he said he doubted God’s existence.  He was not rude or arrogant (like many) as he made the statement and he gave me his attention when I spoke about the Lord Jesus Christ.  Most of what I shared was certainly not new to Len either, because not only was his wife born again, but so was his married son and married daughter - both with teenage families.  I new God was calling Len to Himself from that day.

As we continued to speak both on the porch and inside I thought that there was every chance that Len didn’t really want to know if God existed or not, because if He did, then Len had a decision to make – a hard decision - accept Christ or reject Christ.  He was no different than most people in this, that is why so many will say the same thing when confronted with the same question.  I was finding human nature to be an interesting study in itself doing this work, observing that most people are reluctant to make  definite “yes” or “no” choices on any serious issues.

Nevertheless, Len told me he enjoyed our time together and he invited me to, “call back anytime.”  May said likewise, so I said I would do so within two weeks.  On that second visit I noticed an openness to the message of Christ in Len that was not there the previous visit.  May told me in front of her husband that, “lots of people” were praying for his salvation and she shared how God had told her that, “all your family will rejoice in the Lord.”  Len had a grin on his face but a, “I doubt it” look in his eyes, which didn’t change when I told him I believed God’s word to his wife.

From that moment on, I made it not only my business to continue in intercession for Len’s soul, but that I would have a time of fasting as well.  Whatever my future involvement was to be, I would make myself ready to the uttermost to be used of God in it. On that second visit I noticed the bulk of May’s chatting to be based on the blessings of being in Christ and whilst it is true that the blessings are awesome, I knew that this was foreign language to Len, so I concentrated on discerning the voice of God to meet Len’s needs, not those of his wife or myself.

Due to the ministry, power and desires of God for this man, a solid genuine relationship was being created amongst us.  On my third visit Len shared with me that his sister became crippled with arthritis at the age of seventeen.  It happened soon after she fell of her bike, “nearly sixty years ago.” She died and was buried the week previously to this one.  Before she died, however, a minister whom she had never met before, led her to the Lord Jesus Christ.  At death’s door, Len’s sister received the gift of eternal life.

At his sister’s funeral, Len no doubt heard much about the reality, love, patience and mercy of God and the biblical fact that He has no desire for the loss of any one’s soul, but I added to it by reminding Len of those words God gave to his wife.  I said, “There’s another one Len.  You’re next.”  He grinned but gave nothing away.  On the way home I was encouraged by the news from that visit.  It was a confirmation of God’s promise to May.  It was never going to be “if” God would respond to our prayer for this man, but rather, “when?”  This called for continued prayer, fasting and thanksgiving on my part.

Each subsequent visit from thereon revealed Len’s physical condition to be deteriorating.  Our relationship was growing but he was clearly slipping.  His body was much thinner than a few days earlier and death was now written in his eyes.  Just a day or so after observing this, God told me early one morning in prayer, “I have redeemed him.”  I did not mention this to Len when we next spoke but I did ask him if he would like to invite Christ into his life and he said, “Not yet.  I have to have time to make the choice.”  I rested in that, thanking God for the way that He gives honour to each person when it comes to choices and decisions.  

The next time I called to see Len, May had a big smile on her face.  Len had received the Lord into his life as a result of some time in prayer with his son.  The mercy, compassion and love of God was once again observed by us all to be abounding and unlimited, just as the Bible declares them to be.  This man had been refusing Jesus Christ since his wife came to Him thirty years earlier, but all along God knew that this would change – in His time and in His way.  Len had a, “God won after all” expression on his face, but because he was now experiencing the reality of the Lord, he was now very grateful that this was so.

Len also made it clear to me that he was very appreciative and thankful for my visits and for taking the time to listen to him where he was at.  Ninety-five days and eleven visits since our first meeting, I received a call early one evening informing me that Len had died.  We would meet no more this side of eternity.  But meet, we most certainly will on the other side.  May told me that just before he died, Christ revealed Himself to this man.

She said their son’s minister was anointing Len with oil and he was in a semi-conscious state at the time.  But then he became fully conscious and pointed to the corner of the bedroom, saying he could see the Lord appearing to him in the form of a very bright light.  Nobody else saw what he saw, but nobody doubted Len’s testimony either, because it’s Biblical.  The Scriptures tell us God never changes.  That means whatever God did “back then,” He can and will do in our time if He deems it expedient for his dying children.  It was expedient for Len. 

It was an honour to be asked by the family to participate at Len’s funeral four days later.  I was given some Scriptures to read from New Testament Romans Chapter 8  which speak of present suffering, but future glory, plus the fact that in spite of those sufferings, we who are in Christ, are more than conquerors because of the love of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Len was experiencing the absolute truths of those declarations in their totality whilst I was reading them.  He would have been nodding in agreement.   “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”  John 11:40.        

© 2009 – 2010, Roger Williams. All rights reserved.

It was my perfect opportunity to talk with her of the Ultimate Healer, Jesus Christ.  Although not a church attender, eighty-six years old Mrs Ashby knew something of the purpose of Christ and the Christian gospel, but had never given serious thought as to how all this might apply to her personally.

I happened to speak about the Lord’s promise to remove all guilt, saying that we all have it – or have had it and in my case, I told her how wonderful it was to be rid of it.  Without any hesitation Mrs Ashby shared how she now remembers the past, “so often” and at first feels angry, then feels guilty for feeling angry.

She told me that as a child at home her parents were very unhappy in their marriage, always arguing and blaming one another for anything going wrong and by the time she was a teenager they had divorced.  Mrs Ashby then said she always felt she was to blame for the breakup, because of the way both parents treated her afterwards.

Now whether that was reality or whether it was simply Mrs Ashby’s perceptions, I mentioned to her that in the biblical book of Genesis Chapter 3, we see that the blame game is as old as humanity itself, the origin of it beginning with our first parents Adam and Eve.  I explained that in that chapter, firstly we see the man blame God, when he said, “the woman whom You gave to me…..,” and secondly, we see the woman blame, “the serpent who deceived me…..”

I then went on to say to Mrs Ashby that each of us has inherited the exact nature of our first parents, therefore, blaming others comes just as natural to us as it did to them – as natural as breathing, eating and sleeping.  By now Mrs Ashby was beginning to get a grasp of how pertinent the message of the gospel was for her.  She could readily see that this failure to be blameworthy in her own life was indeed a stumbling block between her and any permanent peace she might enjoy.  She caught on very fast to “blame” as being one of the root causes of sin.

She made a confession in prayer to the Lord right there on that doorstep, acknowledging Him as the one who died for her sin and she received Him into her life.  Immediately afterwards she said she was feeling, “a lot more peaceful” but had doubts about forgiveness being so simple to receive.  I promised to bring her a New Testament Bible with some appropriate Scriptures typed out on paper to help her overcome her doubts.  I also prayed for this old lady to be healed and released from any fear of her up-and-coming visit with the medical specialist. 

It was important that my church be updated from time to time as to what God was doing in the community so I shared this event with them in a prayer meeting one night and I asked that we pray for God to minister to Mrs Ashby and also to reach out to her husband, who was the same age as his wife.

Less than two months later I revisited Mrs Ashby.  She most certainly was a much happier lady.  Her worried countenance had vanished and was replaced with a bright-eyed smile.  Why?  Because she was still experiencing the promised peace of the Lord Jesus Christ – a peace which the Bible tells us, “surpasses all understanding,” plus she had been given the all-clear from the specialist.  No hospital operation was necessary.  I encouraged her to give all the glory to God Almighty in Jesus’ name.

Eight months after that second visit I called again.  This time Mr Ashby came to the door.  When he did so I knew prayer had been answered.  Knowing God had set this up I told the old man that I had a great message for him from Christ Himself.  I asked him if he had ever personally experienced the reality of God and he said no.  He did tell me though that his father had been a church minister for forty years, so he’d, “heard it all, but I just never got around to doing anything about it.” 

With that I asked Mr Asby if he wanted to do more than simply hear the message again, but this time act upon it.  He replied that he would act, so I led him in a prayer whereby he acknowledged his need of God’s forgiveness in Christ and asked the Lord to come into his life.  I noticed that before we prayed however, he would lose concentration.  I didn’t readily know if that was simply old age or the work of the devil, so I took control over the devil anyway.  God honoured the situation regardless, because clarity in his thoughts and words were the result.  Mr Ashby knew what he was doing.

Walking back to the church later in the day, I got to thinking about the old couple and I began to dwell on the love, faithfulness and the mercy of God as He reveals His power and reality; but also the power of diligent, persistant, faithful prayer.  I continue to do so, knowing one doesn’t happen without the other.  There is a saying in Christian-speak: “Without God we cannot; without us God will not.”  Apparently it’s a quote from 4th century St. Augustine, but it is one that challenges and motivates me.  

As a new Christian, I was taught that if we will do the possible, then God will do the miracle.  Eighty-seven years old Mr Ashby’s father (and mother, probably) never saw the results of their diligent, persistant, faithful prayer for their son, but nevertheless they believed God.  They were not parents praying with a beggars mentality, they were parents with a living faith who believed that one day their prayers would be answered, and that day they were answered.  Today, nineteen years later, they’re all together in that dimension called heaven.

The same applies for Mrs Ashby.  I never learned anything of that lady’s family background apart from the broken home episode.  But someone’s prayer was answered, perhaps the prayers of many people, and certainly long before I or our church came on the scene.  “……The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”  James 5:16.

© 2009 – 2010, Roger Williams. All rights reserved.

Not only did the cages on the veranda contain birds – of all colours and sizes, but so did the hallway.  The singing and chirping of the birds was amazing.  While I waited for some response to my knock, I was creating a picture in my mind of the owner of the home and the birds, expecting to see an eccentric, unkempt old man or lady come walking up the hall.  I could hear a radio on down the back of the house so I knocked louder.  Eventually I heard some movement followed by footsteps slowly making their way towards the front.

The hallway was quite dark but I glimpsed him, and my mental picture appeared to be as accurate as the man making his way towards me.  He looked to be in his early sixties, quite tall, rather hunched, unshaven, with long grey/white hair.  Perhaps he looked a little eccentric, but he was not unkempt.  When I introduced myself and gave the reason for my visit he introduced himself as Frank.  His face wore one of the saddest expressions I’ve witnessed.

As he began to feed some birds he told me he was an atheist.  In my work I’d had people tell me that before.  But if they would allow me to pursue their beliefs as to how they arrived at such a conclusion, often it was the result of praying or crying out to God for intervention in times of great hurts or tragedy.  But when no answers or responses came such people would give up their pursuit of God, believing all their efforts to be a waste of time, “falling on deaf ears.”  Frank’s face and eyes told me that perhaps this was the case for him, but he revealed nothing to me.

He was respectful and polite as he gave me his ear in answer to his questions.  He also listened as I shared the reality of Jesus Christ.  Frank did not tell me what had happened in his past and neither did I ask.  But I did say that Jesus Christ understands hurts and tragedies, because the Scriptures clearly show us that He went through them – and that He did so for each one of us.  I thanked Frank for his time and left.

A few weeks later I was back in the same street and I met a lady outside her home across the road from Frank’s home.  She was a Christian lady, and she told me she “saw me there the other day” and then went on to say that both Frank’s sons had died in car crashes about twenty years earlier.  A few years after those tragedies, his wife had died in great pain over a long period, from cancer. 

Some months later I knocked on the door of the home next door to Frank’s.  A lady answered, we spoke at the door for a while, she then introduced herself as Elizabeth and invited me inside.  Elizabeth asked lots of questions about God and the Bible and, “why do you do this work?”  She said that she came from a church back ground and was familiar with some Christian terminology, but not the reality of it.  Her perception of religious ministers was one of “black coats, white collars, long faces and some with hypocrisy written on them.”  

Over a coffee, she told me she had once done a small study with a group of people, a basic study which gave some explanation to Christianity.  I was surprised to hear that because in our chat it was not apparent that she knew a lot about the promises of Jesus Christ and how they could personally apply to her. 

I mentioned to Elizabeth that in my work, I was finding out that many people with church affiliations or backgrounds knew about Jesus Christ, but there were very few who knew Jesus Christ in the way He has revealed Himself to us in the Bible.     

Not long into the conversation, there was a knock on her door and a rather tall, casually dressed man with short gray/white  hair entered.  It was Frank.  But quite a different Frank  in appearance – I failed to recognize him as the same man whom I’d met earlier and he didn’t recognize me either.  I would like to report that the change I saw in this man since that previous meeting was attributed to Jesus Christ – it may well have been - but Frank gave no such hint of it being so.  What I do know is, that each person I speak to in this work of sharing the reality and power of the Lord Jesus Christ, is a person given by God and as such, I leave the results with Him.

He joined us with coffee and as he listened to our conversation, he gently and politely added comments and opinions - a few of them with expressions of doubt and scepticism.  I now knew why, so by God’s grace and wisdom I was able to bring words that ministered to both of them at the same time.  Once again, I had the pleasure of witnessing God touching two hearts and two lives, both individually and uniquely.       

To this point, neither Frank or Elizabeth shared their background with me, but it was apparent that life had not always been easy and pleasant for Elizabeth either – in fact sometimes it was downright miserable for her she said.  I found out later that some years earlier, Elizabeth had lost her son in a motor cycle crash and also her marriage had broken up.    

As one ministering in people’s lives, I don’t have to know what another person’s past has been – God knows the details, so all I’m called to do is listen to them, remain open to the Holy Spirit’s leading and He’ll give me the words required to meet the innermost needs of that person.    

Later, in another visit, Elizabeth did share a little of the past, and she also prayed a prayer inviting Jesus Christ into her life.  As a result I also encouraged her to continue to pray to the Lord and read a portion of His Scriptures daily, which would allow God to minister to her.  As well, I asked her to consider again undertaking some basic Biblical studies that would enable her to feed her spirit and strengthen her knowledge, understanding and faith in Christ, for both her spiritual and practical needs in life.  “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.”  1 John 5:11  

© 2009 – 2010, Roger Williams. All rights reserved.