My personal chronicles and testimony of,
IN THE NAME OF JESUS...
January 11, 2010
Simply Faith
WRITTEN BY:
MARIAN C. CHADWICK, IN THE NAME OF JESUS
(EDITED BY BRFW)
I suppose I have always believed in faith and the scriptures in the Bible
talking about faith, without action, is dead (James 2:17) and so
forth. Having the faith of a mustard seed (Matthew 17:20) all seemed very
fairytale-ish to me, but it was something I was taught and believed because it
was in the Bible. I can remember throughout my lifetime calling on Jesus
in various situations, without any hesitation, knowing He would take care of me.
Almost certain – NO! – taking it for granted, that He would rescue me if I got
into a tight spot.
Back to that faith and action stuff, when I would get into a difficult situation
something inside me would always call on Jesus audibly, or in my mind, for HELP!
My parents used faith as often as needed to keep us healthy, both mentally and
physically. If we were sick, they would pray for God’s healing by laying hands
on us (Luke 4:40). Although they never hesitated to take us to the doctor
or give us medication, as needed, they would always first ask God to heal our
bodies. When we were sad or bad, as their first line of defense, my parents
would pray over us for God to help them bring us back in line.
Now, I look back and understand the verse in the Bible about bringing up
a child in the ways of the Lord (Proverbs 22:6) and, when they grow old,
they will not depart from Him. We had a strong foundation in the Bible,
our church, and our family. Were we perfect? Probably not. I think we
thought we were too perfect and that everybody else was having all the fun. We
found ways to create trouble so we could have some fun too. If our friends were
sick, we wanted to be sick. Daddy knew when we were not really sick and give us
Castor Oil….yuck, just in case. Of course, it tasted awful and cured any illness
we claimed to have . . . very clever!
You noticed I went from “me” to “we.” Yes, I have an older sister. We were four
and a-half years apart and definitely had our own agendas in life. I think we
fed off of each others’ strengths and weaknesses to our own advantages. I was
strong-willed and loved to play with Daddy and Sister hung out with Mom. As I
look back on life, it’s interesting how children acquire traits from their
parents, both good and bad. I must say how very thankful I am for all of the
wisdom and life experiences they poured into us as we grew up.
I could go into great detail with various stories and events of our lives from
day one; however, on January 11, 2010, one of the most important events in my
life happened when the power I have known my entire life became completely real
to me. At 6:15 that evening, I called on the “Name of Jesus” (Mark 16:17),
both in my mind and audibly, with absolutely no doubt He would be there to
protect.
The words still ring in my ears, “In The Name of Jesus, I bind you Satan by the
Holy Spirit, get out of my store!” There is not another script that could be
written to hold so much power over our spiritual enemy – Satan – appearing in
the form of a man and influencing a man, wanting to rob me in my store at the
hand of a gun. It all began around 5:30 that evening while I was visiting
with Kathy, my last customer of the day. My husband, Chuck, and I had discussed
what to have for dinner and had decided on spaghetti. Since Kathy and I were
talking and designing her new bracelet, Chuck said he would stop by the grocery
store and pick up the items needed to prepare dinner. He and our dog, Jaxx,
headed out. When Kathy and I finished up at the store, I would meet them at
home.
As Kathy and I continued to visit, I realized it was after 6 p.m. (closing
time). I went to the front door of the store and turned the CLOSED sign around,
not thinking to lock the door as I normally would, and walked back to the
counter. Kathy and I had been talking about the retirement of the Sparrow bead
and how she may need that one on her garden-theme bracelet. Kathy asked, “Isn’t
there a scripture (Matthew 10:29) about the Sparrow in the Bible?” I
replied, “Yes. He watches over me, He knows every hair on my head” and then I
began singing the old hymn to her. The two of us had just entered into a time of
worship – we both got chill bumps – the decision to have the Sparrow on her
bracelet was done.
We were finalizing Kathy’s purchase when a dark figure walked through the front
door of the store. Not too surprising since we had a lot of last minute shoppers
recently for birthday gifts and anniversary gifts – no internal alarms yet. As
the figure came closer, my mind started analyzing the situation. Was it that
cold outside? Is this a prank? Is this a friend of my husband’s? What does he
have in his hand? Kathy and I were looking at him when he starting
shouting “Give me all of your money!” With disbelief, and in jest, I told him
“We don’t have any money it’s all gone.” He said “This is a robbery; give me all
of your money!” I said “No. There is no money.” Again he said “This is serious.
Give me all of your money!” At that point, I went from kidding and thinking this
is a joke to “Here we go Jesus – HELP!”
Staring straight into the robber’s eyes trying to see through to his soul, even
though he was wearing dark glasses, a dark windbreaker, and a baseball cap in an
effort to disguise his identity, I shook my finger in his face and said “In The
Name of Jesus, I bind you Satan by the Holy Spirit, get out of my store!”
After tapping his gun on the glass counter, which angered me to no end and
embarrassed me in front of my customer, he stepped back, turned his weapon on
Kathy and told her to get down on the floor. She took a step back and I said,
“NO, she is not going to get on the floor! In The Name of Jesus, get out of my
store!” As he began backing out of the store, screaming profanities (by Kathy’s
account), I am still rebuking him to get out of the store, telling him that he
was on camera and that he would be arrested within five seconds.
My focus was so concentrated on the power of the Holy Spirit pushing him back
and out of the store; I did not hear anything he said. I felt like a wall of
power had come down between us and was pushing him away with every word spoken.
He said “I’ll be back _ _ _ _ _!” and he turned and ran out of the store with a
hop in his step. I came around the counter and headed for the front door to see
whether he was walking, running or driving away. In those last few seconds all I
could see was light blue or grey, small to mid-size car, driving away in the
dark without using its headlights.
At this point, Kathy had dialed 911 and handed the phone to me to provide
details to the emergency dispatch operator. I was barking information as to what
the gunman was driving, which direction he was headed and straining to remember
every detail about the past 45 seconds of our lives when the Frisco police
arrived. Kathy and I attempted to describe the entire event, still with awe in
our minds as to what had just happened, still with no fear, simply with relief
and disbelief.
The police were completely baffled when we relayed the information telling us
that the gunman had just attempted another robbery of a business just a short
distance away. Due to the adrenalin rush, Kathy and I were talking a mile a
minute – kidding around with the police officers saying that, if they haven’t
been trained to use the Name of Jesus when they have no other weapon for
protection, I was living proof of the power of the Holy Spirit. They, of course,
did their obligatory duty as police officers saying “Lady you should have
complied with the robber’s wishes.” “Oops . . . during those 45 seconds, being
complacent never occurred to me.” I justified my actions to the officers saying
“If I had complied and given him what he asked for, there was no guarantee that
he would leave without doing something terrible anyway.”
As I see it, here is the reality of this type of situation. First, you have no
control. Second, you have no control. What you do have are your instincts
and your faith in the power of Jesus and the Holy Spirit from a lifetime of
teachings, training and studying the Bible. My training was to call on
the Name of Jesus without hesitation knowing He would protect us. The Bible
says “No weapon formed against you will prosper (Isaiah 54:17).”
I believe this includes Satan when he is accusing us in the face of God, we
don’t have the faith to withstand his attacks.
That fateful evening Kathy and I felt a powerful energy, spiritual really, and
calmness in the store because we both knew Jesus was there in our midst
(Matthew 18:20). Before the robber came into the store, the Holy Spirit had
arrived as we were talking about the Sparrow and giving Glory to God in that
moment.
I am thankful God protected us; and NO, I don’t ever want to be put into this
type of situation again during my lifetime. If something remotely similar
happens again, I pray for continued faith and courage to react the same way
without dire consequences. If it turns out differently then I know, without
reservation, where I will spend eternity (1 John 2:17). And that, my
friend, is the most important message in this story – knowing Jesus as your Lord
and Savior.
If your Savior is not ALIVE (death, burial and resurrection for your sins),
sitting on the right hand of God the Father (Colossians 3:1)
in Heaven, and standing as an advocate (1 John 2:1) for you
to God the Father, you should rethink your salvation instantly! You can only
know that kind of assurance by asking Jesus Christ to forgive you for your sins
and invite Him to come into your heart and to change anything in your life that
is not pleasing to HIM – NOT Man!
As God has watched over me during my lifetime with all of the twists and turns
to prepare me for that one opportunity to declare His Name, I’m so very
thankful. By invoking the Name of Jesus and the
power of the Holy Spirit, a little, obscure, boutique owner has confounded the
wise, awed the doubtful, energized the faithful, and brought renewed faith to
her and hundreds of friends and acquaintances she has had the privilege to come
into contact with providing support and encouragement over her lifetime.
To God be the Glory – who is really the HERO in this story? I reaped the
benefits of recognition for having FAITH in HIM! It still amazes me how much God
loves us and how effortless it is to trust in Him. Never get too busy to thank
God for everything in your life, good and bad. He is listening!
May I also say, faith is truly found in the word of God. My sister and I
were always taught from HEART-to-HEAD that you really do have to come to Jesus
Christ as a child not mentally challenging everything you read, but asking God
to bring life from His words into your heart. Church is for people to come
together and celebrate what God has done in our lives. If church is the only
place you get feed and you are not feeding the spiritually sick and poor people
in your life, how do you expect them to be physically well and rich?
Metaphorically, we can be totally rich with health, family, friends, business
and so forth. It seems we have so much emphasis on money and building big
buildings, we abort our newborn Christians with so much rhetoric, before they
have a chance to mature into adult Christians, so they can continue to spread
the gospel of Jesus Christ. Simply said, John 3:16 – that would be my
little footnote.
I am SO not perfect and neither are you, but you are more precious to Him than
the Sparrows He created, feeds and watches over daily.
His
eye is on the Sparrow…..He watches over me! (Matthew 10:29)
Matthew
10:29-31
29Are not two sparrows
sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from
the will of your Father. 30And
even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31So don't be afraid; you
are worth more than many sparrows.
Mark 16:17 - 18
17And these signs will
accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they
will speak in new tongues; 18they
will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison,
it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick
people, and they will get well."
NEW
INTERNATIONAL VERSION OF THE BIBLE
Testimony.....continued...
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