Even the LORD Jesus Christ needed encouragement at times in His life. Twice He heard His Father say directly to Him, “Thou art my beloved Son.” At the Mount of Transfiguration Moses and Elijah were sent from heaven to strengthen His faith assuring Him of His victory. And then, in Gethsemane, Christ’s Guardian Angel, Gabriel came to Jesus and strengthened Him for the crucifixion that He was to endure, carrying to the grave "the sin of the world." After Gabriel's encouragement, Christ stood in the full stature of His faith and endured the Cross.

     Since giving my heart to the LORD Jesus Christ I’ve heard some tremendous testimonies from the brethren. There are three that stand out, and have proven to me there is a GOD in heaven, and He lives to serve His children just as Jesus came to serve and not be served (Matt.20:28).  The first two are testimonies from my dearest friends in the Church. And the third testimony will be my own personal account of GOD’S power displayed before my eyes.

     My first and dearest friend in the church was a Jamaican man named Hector Marr. He was a paraplegic in a wheelchair. He told me his conversion story that cemented his faith in Jesus Christ. He was raised in the church and heard the message of the Gospel. But like so many of our youth today he heard about GOD’S demand for perfection in Christian living: to be blameless as the Apostles admonished. Looking at his own family and other church members whose characters showed some odious traits he eventually became discouraged and said, What hope is there for me? So he went to live in the world. He partied. He followed his own inclinations and lived his life as if Jesus had never existed. But over time his riotous living threatened his health. He came down with Marfan’s Syndrome and developed a tumor the size of a grapefruit having tentacles spreading throughout his abdomen and spine.  He went to the hospital to have two surgeries: an artificial heart valve for the Marfan’s and a second surgery to remove the tumor.  It was during the second surgery that his EKG flat-lined. The surgeon worked to bring him back. Unable to resuscitate him the doctor came and told his mother and family, “We’re sorry Mrs. Marr, your son is gone.” Hector’s family immediately went to their knees and pleaded with GOD to restore him to life and give him another chance at salvation.  In the meantime the doctor had returned to the operating room and placed the death tag on Hector’s toe that read, “K 9.” Twenty minutes had passed, and while the hospital staff was clearing the equipment from the operating room the EKG light suddenly began pulsing. Rushing back to their stations they secured Hector’s vital signs and placed him in the recovery ward. The doctor then came and told Hector’s mom that somehow he came back to life; but being dead for twenty minutes his brain function would be severely impaired and most likely he would be a vegetable. A short time later, Hector returned to consciousness. But there was no brain damage. He was restored with full intellect and memory. He had no after-death experience of ascending to a warm light or descending down a dark fearful tube. To him, time went by as sleep goes by, “in the twinkling of an eye.”

     He lived many years after that. But my friend Hector recently passed away and sleeps awaiting “the first resurrection.” No one has spoken my name with the tone of affection as my first Christian friend Hector Marr.  I so look forward to the day in Glory when I can hear that light, airy Jamaican voice say once more, “GaryGary.”

     The most powerful testimony that I personally know of GOD’S deliverance from physical abuse came from my dear friend and sister in Christ, Bonnie Rille.  When she lived in Los Angeles she was abducted by a demonically violent man. From the moment of her abduction she knew that he was going to rape her and then kill her. The look on his face was that of demons and not that of a man. He drove her out of the city into a wooded area and parked. Continually praying to GOD for help, Bonnie believed her death was imminent. He demanded her to get out of the car. She, tremblingly got out and continued praying. But as he approached her, suddenly, her guardian angel appeared, standing between Bonnie and her assailant. And there was no way this man was going to get to Bonnie! A thousand men will not get past your guardian angel when GOD gives the command! Jesus said plainly that we each have a guardian angel from our childhood, watching over us, waiting for GOD’S commands to impress, to lead and guide—to rescue (Matt.18:10). And your guardian angel makes fictional heroes like Superman look like careless, clumsy weaklings! Now standing in the presence of Bonnie’s guardian angel this would-be rapist/murderer fell to the ground as a dead man (just like the mob of thugs in Gethsemane when they were arresting Jesus). This assailant, being truly ‘slain in the Spirit’ and incapable of any movement, Bonnie then made her escape. To this day she rejoices for the power of love of GOD in her life.

     Now, my testimony cannot stand up to the lofty standard of my two dear friends. But GOD has shown me what He will do for those who are willing to go out on a limb for Him. I typed a single page of the Bible’s prophecies for “the new earth.” I opened the letter with the words, “Suppose everything written in the Bible is true…” I assembled a short compilation of the prophecies of man’s future life with Jesus Christ. I ran off a thousand copies and then headed to Walmart in metropolitan Orlando, Florida.  It was a perfectly clear day and I spent an hour covering every windshield in the shopping center parking lot. But as soon as I was done, suddenly, wind, thunder, lightening and rain were swiftly moving overhead, and within minutes, all the work I had done to witness for Jesus Christ would have been wasted, because nobody wants to read a wet piece of paper. So I got on my knees and prayed, “Father, if there is one person who will be happy to read these words, don’t let this rain come.” At that very moment, a gust of wind hit me from the opposite direction of the storm, and within two minutes the sky was blue again! And not one drop of rain fell.    

     The reason these testimonies are so valuable to the Christian is twofold: 1. If we were in Hector’s or Bonnie’s shoes during these events, we would have received their experience of GOD’S deliverance as well as their unending praises to GOD for His deliverance. 2. And most importantly, when Jesus was being crucified, the leading strength of His faith to endure “the death of the cross” was in the evidences He had seen of His Father’s power to comfort the afflicted, to feed the hungry, to restore sight to the blind, cause the lame to leap like a deer, and raise the dead to life. Of His total reliance on His Father Jesus said, “I can of mine own self do nothing.” Jn.5:30. He relied on His Father’s love and power to accomplish every notable deed. And so it is with us.