The Power of Testimony
Revelation 12:11
“And they overcame him (the devil) by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.”
This past week we focused on forgiveness and healing of our “inner man”.
As I reflected on what transpired during our meetings I realized that “the word of their testimony” not only gives those who shared with us power to live transformed lives but it transmitted to us, from the Father of Glory both the spirit of wisdom and revelation. It is by this POWER OF TESTIMONY that we overcome the devil. We remind Satan that Christ has been given “All authority on heaven and on earth” (Did you hear that…ALL AUTHORITY even on this earth!) and through the work of the Cross we are forgiven and given the “power to forgive others”. When we share “the word of our testimony” it is like “crushing the head of Satan beneath our feet”! I want to invite you to read these brief summaries of those who shared and consider listening to their testimonies. Then pray and ask the LORD what He would have you to do and who you should forgive. Find someone to share and pray with you. Then receive your healing from the LORD!
THE POWER OF THE TESTIMONY OF FORGIVENESS – Peter Loth
On Tuesday we heard the testimony of Peter Loth who was born in the Stutthof, Poland Concentration camp of the Nazi’s. Peter looked healthy and not like a man that had been drug through hell here on earth. Being a Holocaust Survivor was just a small part of his journey of being hated. Hated because he was a Jew, hated for being German, hated for having a black stepfather…the list went on. The horrendous acts against him from infancy through adulthood would fill anyone with the deepest roots of bitterness, anger and hatred. The torture he has endured is beyond your imagination and yet the the LORD met him where he was at and brought him a river of healing through forgiveness that flows out to others in his testimony. At the end of his testimony he offered prayer for those who wanted to forgive others for things that had been done to them. Just to hug this man was to hug a history of hatred yet the power of the forgiveness that only Christ can give. To hear his story was to hear the power of the Testimony of forgiveness!
THE MOTHER AND FATHER WOUND – Tom and Donna Cole of PURE HEART
Are you ready for this? There is only one perfect parent – GOD! No matter how great, awesome or holy your parents may have been, because of our sin natures each of us have felt their deficiencies in our upbringing. Some of you may have come from very dysfunctional homes. When you hear the power of the testimonies of Tom and Donna and how the LORD came to them and healed their wounds you are sure to be touched in some area of your past. Both Tom and Donna found themselves buried beneath the false identity of homosexuality. Their testimony is compelling. You can listen in on how the LORD came to them and healed them through forgiveness, wisdom and revelation. Here is my personal testimony on how the LORD met me on Thursday and revealed to me the affects of a vow I made under my breath thirty eight years ago!
I asked the LORD to show me if I had any so called “father wounds”. As I opened up my heart to the Holy Spirit I reflected on the early death of my father when I was only 20 years old.
I was in the Army at the time serving my country in the Viet Nam war. While overseeing a platoon which had the night watch at the MACV Headquarters Communications Center on Ton Son Nhut Air Base, in Saigon, I was summoned off shift to receive a Red Cross call. Because my mother had attempted suicide just before I left the U.S. for my tour of duty I just knew for sure that she had finally killed herself . I was “cold-hearted” almost hoping it was her.
When I picked up the phone the woman on the other end verified that she was speaking to me and then asked me to sit down because she had some difficult information to give me. I actually refused to sit down at first and told her that if my mother had killed herself I would be fine. She insisted again, that I sit down, so I did. I felt the weight of something ominous. “Sargent Quinn your father passed away from heart failure…” my heart was stunned and sank into sorrow as she finished telling me about my fathers death. He was barely forty years old.
My last words with my father were filled will contention and strife.
Numb, I listen to the Red Cross representative give me instructions on leaving Viet Nam to attend my father’s funeral. I would soon be flying back across the International Date Line into a whir of emotions.
The whir was overwhelming and deeply internal. I began to reflect on the fact that my father and I had swapped unpleasant, almost hateful, words the last time we talked. As I sat in the webbed seat of a US Air Force cargo plane headed to the US, the pain of this sudden event felt like a puncture wound in my heart. I couldn’t believe God would take my dad at such a young age both for him and for me.
Once I was back in the US and interacting with my relatives my internal voice said, “I am Jerry Patrick Quinn, JR.” and so with each encounter with my relatives they would say my name and break into a smile with tears as they realized they were speaking my father’s name when they greeted me. I was in uniform as a war veteran. I was the oldest child. I had to be strong now for the family.
I was given a personal viewing with my dad. I placed a poem I had written to him in the casket and asked God why He had taken my father from me.
At the graveside when my father was lowered for burial I made a confession “My Father is dead, buried and gone out of my life. He is in the grave and cannot help me. I must do this alone.” These were the words the Holy Spirit revealed to me that have tainted my view of my Heavenly Father. The wound of abandonment from both my earthly and heavenly Father. I began to weep and travail for the loss of my earthly father and for the realization that I had buried God the Father with an under my breath vow, “He is in the grave and cannot help me. I must do this alone.” Feeling distance from the Father and the reality of His involvement in my life has filled the same “under my breath” thoughts all these years. I am seeking healing in this area and asking the LORD to show when and where I have done this in our relationship. The LORD has assured me that He is not buried and has not abandoned me.
When our session was done I felt relief that this “wound” had been opened and disinfected by an immersion in comfort from the Holy Spirit and the Love of My Heavenly Father.