The Lord’s MercyA spiritual lesson reported by Nick I. Ghosoph, Fresno CA, who
vows: These 4 parts were written by Nick, submitted to "The Molokan" (the UMCA newsletter) and distributed among American Jumper/Maksmists over a period of several months. They are submitted here as a collected first-hand report of how the Holy Spirit works among the Spiritual Christians. The Lord's Mercy: Part 1 -- Part 2 -- Part 3 -- Part 4 Psalm 145: Selected Verse: "The might of your awesome deeds shall be proclaimed, and I will declare your greatness." The Lord begins his work of mercy to my family with these words spoken by a messenger at about the year 1986. "The Lord has commanded me to tell you and your household (family) that 'death is crouching at you doorstep'". We called the elders to our home to pray, after our petition the deystvinik [Russian for "seer"] came to me and asked me for a hanky. When he opened up the hanky, I saw that it had some holes in it. The messenger then took the hanky and stepped outside the front door and wiped the sides and top of the doorjambs. He walked back in and said, "Death will pass over this house". The messenger then approached the altar and made an otkrisha [Russian for "opening" of the Bible], Psalm 144:17-21, (English Psalms 145:17-21). After the words were read, another messenger approached the altar and said, "I saw an angel place a brilliant shining penny on the table". Later that day a third messenger came and said, "I saw kneeling at the altar while in their home, two women giving thanks to the Lord and petitioning him on your behalf". Note! The meaning of the two women praying, the holes in the hanky and the brilliant penny were revealed to me later. I will explain the meaning in Part 2. On July 4th, 1989 I was sitting in my favorite recliner reading the morning paper. For a brief moment, I feel a strong urge or need to get up and check on my two boys playing outside, but a few minutes pass and then I hear the sound of screeching tires and a loud thump. (Today I try to respond more quickly when the Lord speaks!) I hear my 9-year son hollering, "My brother is dead! My brother is dead!" I jumped from my chair and ran as fast as I could on my bare feet down the graveled driveway to where I saw my son laying. I knelt by his side, bowed my head and prayed. "Lord be merciful!" At that moment I saw the Spirit of the Lord descending upon us. Immediately, my 11-year-old son opened his eyes and asked, "Papa, am I going to live?" The spirit of the Lord in me said; "You will live! You will live!" When the ambulance arrives, he is rushed to the hospital. The doctors are in awe that this boy is alive. His injuries were minimal considering that a car traveling at 45-55 miles per hour hit him while riding his bicycle. A broken collarbone and a leg badly damaged, and no injuries to his vital organs. The doctors said it was a miracle! And yes it was a miracle! I know that his internal organs were healed at that very moment when the Spirit of the Lord covered us. Due to the damage to his tissue and the bone loss in his leg, my son’s healing process will take another several years. When it finally looks like he is healed, an infection appears in his tissue. For several months the doctors try every medication to kill the infection, but to no avail. Several months later my wife has a dream and she sees us at church kneeling at the altar and praying. In this dream she sees three different men’s faces (deystviniks), and the Lord tells her "This is the man (she sees his face) I send to you. Hear his message." Note! More about the other two faces in Part 3. Later that week at the doctor’s office, he recommends amputating my son’s leg. Going to church Sunday morning, I remembered the dream and we decide to pray at the altar for mercy; we receive no blessing and stand back in our places. Later during church worship the messenger sent from the Lord begins his work. He goes to the table, picks up a coin, kisses the preacher, and arrives in front of me. The first thing he does is he shows me a penny in his hand, and asks me. Do you know what this is? I remember the brilliant penny seen in the vision in our home years earlier and reply, "Yes I do!" Then he said, "Not the way you want, but the way I want says the Lord". The messenger asked me to open my hand and then he very firmly pressed the coin into my palm and said, "Thus says the Lord, in exactly six months you will return with this coin and place it on the altar. Do you understand?" I realized that I demanded that the Lord do it my way and not according to his will. Note! More on His will and accepting it in Part 4. We advised the doctors that they will not amputate his leg and that we will do as the Lord commanded. A few days before the Blagodarnost [Russian for "blessing"] prayer in 1993 the infectious hole in his leg closed up. During the prayer a guest from L.A. was asked to speak, he stood and read Psalm 144:17-21. The next day a friend called and reminded me that these were the very words of the otkrisha that was opened during the prayer at our home in 1986. These words concluded the Lord’s promise as spoken, "Death will pass over our home". We thank the Lord daily. I promised Him that I would speak about his mercy until I depart! The Lord's Mercy: Part 1 -- Part 2 -- Part 3 -- Part 4 Psalm 145: Selected Verse -- "The might of your awesome deeds shall be proclaimed, and I will declare your greatness." In Part 1 of the Lord’s Mercy, I wrote about how the Lord used the words of scripture to send me a message. The Lord has shown to me that it is important for His followers to search and research His written words. These words of His have been recorded, to benefit those that have faith in Him. When we gird our mind with His word, and are anointed with His spirit, we will hear His message when He speaks. For it is His written Word and the Spirit that work together in harmony. (II Peter 1:3-10) Soon after the accident I began to inquire of the Lord as to why this terrible thing had happened. He quickly brought to my remembrance the holes in the hanky and when through His spirit, He had urged me to call the elders to pray again. At the time for some unknown reason, I disregarded His calling to pray once more (I remember my mentality to be as, I had already received an answer, so why should I ask for mercy on the same issue again). After my errors (lack of humbling myself) were revealed, I continued to seek from Him a full explanation of the deystvi, which occurred during the initial prayer in our home in 1986. As time progressed the Lord opened my mind to His message, using the scriptures of the Old and the New Testament and from the book Spirit & Life (Luke 24: 45-53). As stated in Part 1, the deystvinik wiped the doorposts with my hanky. When we read about the events in the Old Testament (Exodus 12: 23-29) we see that the Lord’s message was specific and clear. He promised to us that death would pass over our first born son. However, the holes in the hanky were a sign of a future event. This future event put our family through a test of faith, which brought us to the limits of our endurance. But the Lord who knows all things, including our weaknesses and strengths, used this event to bring us into submission, teaching us His will and strengthening our faith (Hebrews 12: 5-15). Next, the brilliant penny that was placed on the altar by the angel, and the two women seen in the vision praying to the Lord, will be explained. Several years before the accident, a believer in the Lord needed assistance. We helped this woman regain her footing and she returned home to her mother’s house. When she had heard we were making a prayer for mercy, she and her mother prayed, asking the Lord to have mercy upon our family, while at the same time giving thanks to Him for our help that we had given to her. These were the two women seen in the vision praying to the Lord, on our behalf. Because of these two women, the brilliant penny (known as an alm in the Word) was sent to us in answer to their prayer (Spirit & Life pg. 640 of EGK 7: 4). The Lord used this alm for our son’s time of need and for instructing us in His purpose. The Lord taught me that we have a responsibility to thank Him for all acts of kindness, especially when received from another believer. He commands His believing children to serve the destitute, homeless, sick, orphans, and widows…giving Him the honor and glory. Throughout scripture He says that this is the ultimate way to worship Him. When we do these things the Lord calls us "His faithful servants" especially when we do works of love in keeping with our faith. It is also written in I Peter 1: 7, "if you believe in the Lord, by your good deeds and conduct you prove your faith to be genuine". One of the most important things that I have learned from His instruction is that we are never in error when we pray. As a matter of fact, when we pray we are talking with the Lord, and when we talk with Him He hears us and answers our prayer. When we walk in His truth and put on His full armor, we are ready to clearly understand and hear His message. This is the walk of believers, as well as the way to spiritual maturity and salvation. Considering the outcome of the Lord’s mercy, I am grateful that He chose to use our stored alm for our son. Christ the Lord, was, is, and will always be, the supreme example of how to love one another. He commands those that have faith in him to worship Him and to serve Him by serving one another in the spirit of love. By doing these acts of love by His spirit, each of us is lead to our place of comforting by the Lord. (I Peter 1:15-24) Thank you Lord, for the loving kindness you have shown us through your servants, which helped us in our time of need. (Part 3 concerns the other 2 faces seen in the dream. In the next month’s issue) The Lord's Mercy: Part 1 -- Part 2 -- Part 3 -- Part 4 Psalm 145: Selected Verse --"The might of your awesome deeds shall be proclaimed, and I will declare your greatness." In Part 1 of the Lord’s Mercy, I wrote about the other two faces that were shown in my wife’s dream. In this dream she sees three deystviniki faces, the first face we know was sent by the Lord. The other two deystviniki were sent by Lord to teach me how He sees the other spirits that work amongst us. After returning home from church, we thanked the Lord for His mercy towards our son. While still standing at the altar in my home I placed the penny given to me during morning church in a hanky and I placed it into the prestol [Russian for "altar"] Bible for safe keeping. During lunch I shared the words spoken by the Lord with my family, and we decide not to go anywhere for the day, but rather to wait for the other two faces to deliver their messages. At about 10 PM that evening we decide to send our children to bed. Since no one came we decide to turn in for the night. While in bed at around 11 PM, we spend the next few minutes talking about the next mornings 6 AM doctor appointment. We decide that we would not let the doctor amputate my son’s leg and that in 6 months we will make a prayer as the Lord commanded. Just as we were ready to dose off, the phone rings, it is about 11:30 PM. We were told to get ready and prepare for guests that will arrive in about 10 minutes. I get up from bed and put on my church shirt while my wife wakes the children and gets them dressed. As soon as I put on my poise [Russian for "belt", this one of tasseled rope], the doorbell rings. I ask the guests to stand at the altar while we wait for my family to get dressed. When I stand before the prayer rug, I feel the Lord’s Spirit cover me and wrap me in his arms. I ask that the guests sing while we wait for the rest of my family. During the singing I continue to feel the overwhelming protection and presence of the Lord. When all my family was present, we greeted our guests in song and prayer. (Later that evening each one of my family members described the same feeling that I had, when they stood beside me at the altar) We requested to pray and after the prayer, the second (face) deystvinik approached and told me to "pray higher than what I have already prayed." I responded with, I have prayed to the highest God, how much higher can I go? Repeating his request he urged me again to "pray higher than I have already prayed. If I do this, then our prayer will be heard." I continued to respond with words that "I have prayed to the most high God! How much higher can I go?" After trying several more times to convince me to pray higher, I responded with, during the morning church services the Lord gave me a token and words of comfort with a promise, if you can add to the Lord’s words already spoken please do so. Without saying another word the deystvinik stepped back into his place. Immediately the third (face) deystvinik approaches, kisses me and then kisses my wife. He then proceeds to direct his finger at my wife’s heart saying, "mother where are your tears?" He repeats these words several times, each time saying them louder and louder, to which my wife does not respond, because she was already comforted by the Lord and was being comforted. Before he is able to finish the presiding person commands the deystvinik to "stop his work and to stand back in his place." They finish up with a prayer and go home. When I consider the meaning of the three faces shown in the dream, I see the first face as the Lord, the second face as Satan’s works, and the third face as Man’s own will. Note! The other two workers did what the Lord told them to do. I thank the Lord for His instruction. The Lord was the first face that spoke to us because His word fulfilled exactly as He had promised. As I look to the Lord with a simple faith, I know that He is faithful in answering each prayer, because we are ready and willing to hear His message, so that our faith in Him is strengthened. We see how the second face Satan works by trying to remove us from the Lord’s presence. He attempts to convince us that we must pray higher or harder, to be bold and arrogant in our petition, before the Lord will hear us. When we listen to Satan’s temptations, we fall until we turn back unto the Lord. The third face is the man who sheds tears and appears to have faith. Looking to be comforted by friends and family, using the tools of church services and the tools of this society. By doing these things, he / she looks good before the brotherhood and gains acceptance by the people, but the Lord hears them not. Let us remember to always gather together in His name. When we serve Him in this way, we please Him. The Lord's Mercy: Part 1 -- Part 2 -- Part 3 -- Part 4 To be continued shortly Sincerely, |