The Morning Star Rising on the First Day
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Spiritual Warfare Changes Everything
In a series of prior postings I have communicated how a life threatening illness sent me to the emergency room where the doctors did not expect me to live through the night. Being close to death, my spirit left my body and I experienced the truth of our spiritual reality. I traveled to and swam in the Lake of Fire (also called the second death) where I experienced unimaginable horrors. I then went into Hell where I was confronted by Satan and experienced the incredible hatred that he has for me. Next I traveled to the Judgment Seat of Christ and heard the words from God that no one wants to hear, which were, “Why should you live?”
If you would like to read the details of all of this please use the following hyperlinks:
The-Intensive-Care-Unit-and-the-Initial-Prognosis
Entering-the-Spiritual-Realm-of-Death
Inside-the-Lake-of-Fire-the-Second-death
Reliving-my-sins-before-the-Judgment-Seat-of-Christ
Opening-the-Books-on-Judgment-Day
Repentance-Brings-Salvation-Even-on-Judgment-Day
But I made a promise to God that I would be better if He would work with me. The next thing that I knew was that I woke up in the intensive care center. I had lived through the night but what was about to become clear was that the battle for my life was not over. My problem was an exploding pancreas was filling my body with powerful digestive enzymes capable of decomposing the internal organs of my body. So in effect, my body was disintegrating from the inside out. To slow down enzyme production I was placed on a strict fast until such time as a more definitive direction could be made. Then suddenly my vocal cords became swollen and choked off my air supply and an emergency operation was performed that saved my life. Another operation was performed to insure that I had proper levels of nutrition entering my body. Then I was beset by a series of traumatic attacks of a mysterious infection that to me to the brink of death on three separate occasions. I still did not realize that I was under a spiritual attack and as a result the attacks continued. The remaining portion of this posting will address a how these attacks of spiritual warfare would totally change my life.
Spiritual Warfare Reveals the Truth
From this point forward most of my physical problems subsided and my general health was gradually improving. I had been in either a hospital or on home care for over four months now and was eager to get back to work. I thought that I was ready and disregarded my family doctor’s warning that I was not as strong as I believed. I went to the company’s personnel department and took the physical exam required to return to work. They allowed me to start work again, but on a very limited basis.
But my problems were not over by a long shot as I was about to enter into a new phase of troubles. All of these problems centered on my blindness to the reality of God in all of my circumstances. It had not dawned on me that God was behind my good progress and therefore it never occurred to me that I should give Him thanks for bringing me back from the dead and healing my body. True, I had picked up the bible in an attempt to find God, but never tied this to my healing. Therefore I did not give Him the credit and I did not ask for His protection from harm. As a result, I would face a new bombardment of problems and calamities in my life.
During the time of my recovery I never realized that the damage done to my body would have such a major impact on my life. It would require that I change who I was into something new. In this posting I will tell you about one facet aspect of my life that had to change. The result was that everything else would have to change as well. It would also bring to my eyes exactly the type of person that I had become.
My pancreas problem required that I not ever drink alcohol. Not a single drop. I was advised not to take alcohol based medicines like cough syrup. When my doctors first communicated this information to me I did not want to believe them. But, as it turns out they had the statistics on their side. They told me that a pancreatic dysfunction is typically caused by a combination of one to three lifestyle factors. The number one factor is high alcohol intake, the second is a high fat diet, and the third is a high stress lifestyle. I would have to admit that I was probably over the acceptable limits in all three categories. They also communicated to me that once someone has a pancreas problem that an introduction of alcohol will often trigger a reoccurrence of the illness regardless of the cause.
Here are the statistics that my doctors presented to me: if I started mild drinking again, I would have a ninety-nine percent chance of a reoccurrence of my pancreas problem. In addition, the next episode would have a ninety-nine percent chance of being much worse than the first one. They also told me that based on my condition when I first entered the hospital that I had a one-in-three chance of survival. Since any reoccurrences would lessen my chances of survival substantially, what they were really telling me was that I was a walking dead man if I started to drink again. I really did not want to quit drinking but the stakes were too high. Drink or live, that was the question and I chose to live. I therefore committed myself to quit and to do what ever it took to ensure that I kept myself away from these potential dangers.
Spiritual Warfare Mandates Change
I had no idea of how difficult it would be. I did not understand that it would change everything including my friends, favorite activities and even who I was. For example, I never realized that drinking had become the hub of all my interpersonal relationships. Drinking was my way of socializing.
I was involved in lots of activities but they were just occasions established for drinking. Drinking was the real reason for the softball leagues, the canoe trips, camping excursions, the bowling league, traveling, and seemingly everything else. What I discovered that drinking was my life. Without it, I was confronted with a big void.
In the beginning I knew that I would just quit going to bars and other social events including parties. They were really nothing more than disguises for my drinking buddies to convene. Much to my surprise, I discovered that my old friends, for whom I had such a high regard, were not very interested in me anymore. It was like they were saying, “If you will not come out and have a drink with me then you have chosen not to be my friend.” They were cordial and warm in every way but even so, there was an obvious distance between us that had not been there before. I guess that they did not understand the reason why I could not hang out with them anymore.
After thinking about this problem for a while, I thought what the heck; there is no reason why I should not go to the bars and parties with my friends. I will drink ginger ale or club soda to sidestep the alcohol problem. I am strong enough; I can resist the temptation of having alcohol everywhere and yet not partake. So I tried it and another crude reality hit me. All of my world-class comedian friends were not nearly as funny when I was sober. Sorry, but their jokes were not comical, but rather just stupid most of the time. I found myself being the stick in the mud—the only one not laughing. I thought, okay perhaps I will try recreational drugs. Maybe this will be able to get me down with the crowd. To be honest, the drugs just made me stupid. That was not what I wanted. In the end, I dropped out of the bar and party scene completely.
Upon reflecting upon it I realized that many of these people never came to the hospital to see me anyway. Could it be that they were not the really good friends that I thought they were? I suddenly felt like an outsider with the people I thought I knew. I felt alone. Then I knew that my old life was dead, dead, dead. I was going to have to reinvent myself—create a new life. I had to change, but into what? Our future postings will tell.
Read my story by ordering my book, “Possess the Vision”
SEEKING JESUS 