Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!
JESUS AT WORK IN US
As T. L. and Daisy read the New Testament, they were astounded to discover scripture after scripture, where Jesus gave them authority over demons and diseases and to speak in His name–just exactly like that man of God had done in that public meeting which they attended. Yet, in spite of what T. L. had heard, seen and learned up to this point, he still wanted the Lord to speak to him, personally, in some audible way. He learned later that when Jesus speaks through His Word - that is His voice.
In order to withdraw from people so that he could hear the voice of God, he announced to his church that he would not speak to anyone, by phone or in person, until he had heard from God. He shut himself in a small bedroom for three days and nights without food or a drop of water, and instructed
Daisy to “take the church and pastor it. Preach or do whatever you want, but don’t look for me. I don’t know how long I’m going to be in this room, but I’m not coming out until I have heard from the Lord.”
“That frightened me,” Daisy said. “I was petrified, because I had never had the responsibility of the church and of doing all of the preaching myself.” T. L. recounted his experience those three days, as he had approached it grappling, as well, with questions about the death of so many heroes and heroines of faith and about the global need for the ministry of healing faith. As he read the first chapter of Joshua, he was impressed of the Lord:
My son, as I was with Dowie, Woodworth-Etter, Lake, Wigglesworth, Ritchie, McPherson, Price, and others, so will I be with you. They are dead, but now it is time for you to arise, to go and do likewise. You cast out devils. You heal the sick. You raise the dead. You cleanse the lepers. Behold, I give you power over all the power of the enemy. Do not be afraid. Be strong. Be courageous. I am with you as I was with them. No evil power shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life as you get the people to believe My Word. I used those people in their day, but this is your day. Now I desire to use you.
T.L. recounts, “Daisy and I, both grew stronger those days. Something had to happen. When I went into that room and dropped on my knees and opened the Bible, in that instant, God spoke to me. But I did not know it was God. I did not recognize His voice. I stayed in that room for three days and nights, without food or water, asking the Lord to speak to me, and every time, the same message would come to me again and again–until I finally accepted it: "As I have been with others, so will I be with you. Wherever you go, I will give you the land for your possession. No demon, no disease, or no power can stand before you all the days of your life, IF you can get the people to believe My Word."
In retrospect, T. L. shared how that was, in reality, just a repeat of the revelation he had received in that meeting when William Branham had spoken and demonstrated that wonderful gift of healing. It was, in essence, the same message those voices over his head had said: You can do that! That is the way Jesus did it! That is what Peter and Paul did! You can do that! That proves the Bible is for today!
Now T.L. knew that he could do that, because he saw proof through another human being that what happened in the Bible was for today. Then he and Daisy discovered all of the Scriptures where the Lord had given them power and authority over devils and diseases, to cast them out and to heal the sick. And the Lord had said to T. L., again and again, As I have been with others, I will be with you. No demon or disease or power can stand before you, IF you can get the people to believe my Word.
T. L. realized, “That is why God spoke and said that I could do that! No power could stand before me, IF I could get the people to believe His Word. That was the secret–to get the people to believe HIS WORD! The Holy Spirit, working in us, would help us to teach the Word and would anoint us with power to show the proof of that Word.”
This is when the Osborn's discovered the purpose of the Holy Spirit in their lives, “that it was not just to make us feel good or to speak in tongues or to be holy, but that the Holy Spirit was in us to help us prove to the people that Jesus is the Christ, the risen Son of God.”
T. L. shared that when he came out of that room, after God had spoken to him again, he knew, “we had to DO something. God was with us, He would back up His Word. We had to DO something.”
T.L. and Daisy began to make announcements on the radio and in the paper. They became bold enough to invite the people to come to their church and to bring the sick, diseased, crippled, blind, deaf and dumb. They assured them that God would heal them.
T. L. confided, “That would have frightened me terribly to have made an announcement like that before. But we were revolutionized! I knew Jesus was with us and that He would do what He had done in Bible days.”
People came from everywhere. The church was packed to the door. T. L. taught the promises of Christ to heal, save, and deliver all who had needs. He and Daisy began to pray for the sick and to cast out devils. One after another was miraculously healed. “God confirmed with miracles His Word that we proclaimed, because we had taken Him at His Word. We acted on His Word. If God said it, then it was so. If God promised to do it, then He would do it.”
The first person they prayed for was a woman who had walked with crutches for fourteen years. Surgically and medically, she was considered an impossible case. She had been injured in an accident and her hip was crushed badly. An incompetent doctor had failed to set the bones, so the hip froze in a twisted position. The right leg was stiff and atrophied in a bent position, obliging her to walk with crutches. From all appearances, the lady would never walk normally again. While T. L. and Daisy ministered to her, Daisy took her crutches and started to hand them to T. L., but then took them from her and tossed them on the floor. She and T. L. knew God wanted this woman well!
Then T. L. commanded her, “In the name of Jesus, walk!” Her bones cracked loud enough to be heard, and her leg was healed instantly. With her hands held high and her eyes closed, she began walking as perfectly as anyone. Her rigid hip became flexible and free. For about thirty minutes, while T. L. and Daisy were ministering to others, that woman kept her hands up while walking about and she appeared to be listening to something marvelous. Afterwards she stated, “I’ve been listening to the heavenly hosts singing praises to our Lord.”
A girl who was born deaf and dumb was brought forward. T. L. drew her close, placed his fingers in her ears, and prayed a brief prayer: “You deaf and dumb spirit, I charge you, in the name of Jesus Christ whom God has raised from the dead according to the scriptures, to leave this girl, and to enter her no more.” Then in a quiet hush that followed, he snapped his fingers behind her head and she jumped and looked. He quietly whispered words in each ear and she repeated them clearly. The evil spirit had gone. The girl was healed. It was like Bible days.
- Legacy of Faith ( TL OSBORN )
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