Self-Inflicted Spanking - UBM [David Eells]

(Jas.5:14-16) Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save him that is sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, it shall be forgiven him. Confess therefore your sins one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working.

I have been saved for about 8+ years and have learned a lot of what I don't know about God. It's amazing how this process of sanctification is so much deeper than I would have ever wanted to know at first. (Joh.16:12) I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. (What a patient Father we have.) In recent months God has given me many dreams about being transparent and killing the old man.

Saturday, 1/03/09, we went sledding with our fellowship group and we were having a great time. I had always thought it was just natural to have a competitive, show-offish, guy-thing nature. I was raised that way. I am 46 years old and after we were sledding for a while I was acting like a child. On one of the steeper sections there was a big jump. I made sure to tell everyone in the vicinity to watch as I flew off. Just down from that was another jump. I approached as fast as I could and lost control. When I hit the snow my knee popped and I hobbled down the rest of the way and then asked for prayer. My wife, Kristen, who had not seen what happened later asked me if I felt like I was being chastened for something and I said no. That night we had fellowship and prayer. The spirit of God started speaking to all of us with convicting messages. The Lord's Glory was like a spotlight to me, uncovering some of the unholy parts of my heart. I felt like I wanted to run and hide because I was so unworthy. God was showing each of us the things in our lives that needed to be removed. Some of the things He showed me were my love of the world, my unwillingness to surrender everything, my lack of perseverance to follow through with His calling on my life, etc. Everyone ended up weeping and crying out for God's power to remove these things from our lives so that we could each go to a deeper level with Him. Wow, what an awesome experience to see God uncover one more veil on this journey to Holiness.

While I was on the floor crying out for God's help I had much pain. I needed to [use the restroom] and really began to weep when I tried to get off the floor. The pain in my knee was excruciating at this point and I had muscle spasms. I decided to go to bed. Thank God Kristen and Kai (my son) were there to help me. Just getting into bed was a major battle. My whole body was shaking. I could not even move (let alone roll over) without pain. After getting settled I looked at the clock and it was 1:11 am. The old devil kept telling me, "Your ligaments are torn" and I had to cast those thoughts down many times. As this battle continued, I remembered David's revelation on the imagination and I started visualizing all of my ligaments and tendons knitted together and I was praising God. The next morning I could not put any weight on it. Kevin called the brethren together to pray and anointed my knee with oil. After a while I could start to put some weight on it and hobble around.

The next day I took Kai to work. At this point I was able to limp around but it was still very painful. At the jobsite there was a tile guy I had never met. He asked me if I'd been to the doctor and made sure to tell me that he looked just like I did after he tore a ligament in his knee. I did not accept it but afterward I wondered if I should have used this opportunity to brag on God. Next we went on a service call and the guy there had to tell me how he "blew out his knee" and had to have surgery. We then went to the parts store and one of the guys I have been witnessing to asked if I had been to the doctor. I said, "I don't need doctors. I have The Great Physician, God". It was like Satan himself was standing there as this guy started saying, "Your ligaments are torn for sure"; "if you don't get it fixed right away it won't be fixable";" your knee is history, dude"; etc. I just kept saying, "I don't accept that"; "that's not true"; and so on. When he was finished I said, "It's no problem for God; He created these bodies, He can surely fix them".

We finished the service call and I decided to go home and take a nice hot bath. As I was soaking I was praising God and praying in the spirit. I began to ponder my knee. I asked God why this happened and He put the word "pride" in my mind. Suddenly I saw myself showing off, taking foolish risks and setting a very bad example to the rest of the body. I felt Him say, "My children do not act like that". I realized that God lifted His supernatural protection and let the old man within me deliver the spanking I so desperately needed. I knew that I had set a bad example and let the old man overcome the wisdom from the Lord. In that moment I knew that I needed to humble myself, confess my sin to our group and ask forgiveness. I felt so blessed knowing that God loves me enough to allow me to go through some pain in this life so that I can really learn how to overcome this world and through His power kill the old man.

(Pro.4:10-13) Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; And the years of thy life shall be many. I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in paths of uprightness. When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; And if thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble. Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: Keep her; for she is thy life.

(Rev.3:19) As many as I love, I reprove and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

That week Kristen dreamed that I died. In the dream she realized that several days had gone by and she hadn't experienced any grief at all. Praise God! I'll receive that promise (spiritually of course, death to self).

UPDATES

1/13/09
It is so awesome to see God take our follies and do so much to bring glory to His name and teach His children. The pain that the Lord allowed me to experience has been a huge blessing. I must crucify the old man because he wants me to go to hell. At the next fellowship on 1/10/09, I confessed my sin and asked those whom I set a bad example to for forgiveness. I was also able to jog around the room praising God for healing me. On Monday, 1/12/09, I went into the supply house and the same guy asked how my knee was. So, I got off the stool, jogged around in a circle and said, "See, I told you God would heal me! " There are about six counter guys and a few other customers who think I am crazy (but I know God has heard our prayers for them so that will change). I went to the job and it was "work as usual" (other than a slight limp). Toward the end of the day I had to work in a crawl space under the house. I crawled around on my knees for about an hour and a half with very little pain. Praise the Lord! The devil still wants to steal my healing but my healing is already done.

1/14/09
Today my sons (Kienan and Kai) got free ski passes. I told them that I would take them. Kai asked about my knee and I said, "It's healed". Thank-you Jesus! With the Lord's help, I'm going to make sure that I don't show off.

1/18/09
Today we went to Michael's for fellowship. I hadn't even thought about my knee until someone asked how it was doing so I jumped up and down a few times with no pain to demonstrate my healing. As soon as we get some fresh snow I'm going skiing (Lord willing).

1/31/09
I have had a good trial of my faith. We watched the weather forecast and saw storms coming so we scheduled in the ski trip. Meanwhile, I was still going through some trials and what appeared to be setbacks but I did my best to hold firm my confession. I had a major battle in my mind, wondering if I made my decision to go skiing from the flesh. As I prayed for wisdom I was led to call the family together and cast lots because I wanted to make sure God wanted me to take the boys skiing. I got three quarters, gathered the family and said, "If God wants me to go skiing then He will give me three heads". I threw them all at once. The Lord gave me three heads and the quarters landed in a nearly perfect triangle (whatever that means). I must admit that I was surprised; I had to look twice and then realized, "Wow, God does want me to go". Yesterday we went skiing and it was awesome. After making my first run I knew that my healing was manifested. We skied all day and only God knows how many miles we skied. Thank you, Father! Praise you, Jesus!

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